Sati Devi lives with 3 sons and 1 daughter in Garigaon squatter settlement of Sinamangal in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-9. One evening three weeks ago, she ran into trouble. Miley's 5-year-old daughter suddenly had stomach ache and vomiting. Veer took her daughter to the hospital to be checked. Doctors said that the problem was caused by contaminated water.

He is not the first to face such a problem in Garigaon's squatter settlement. Due to the lack of access to clean water, most of the villagers are forced to drink contaminated water and fall sick from time to time. There are 12 tubels in this settlement with 165 households. But from all of them always either yellow or cloudy water comes out . In the slums, the poor eaters buy bottled water and use tap water only for washing clothes and washing clothes. But the poor families are forced to filter the tap water with a cloth or drink dirty water. 

Sati Devi arrived in the squatter settlement from Kalaiya in Bara 7 months ago. Her husband works as a dyer at home. Although some of the neighbors bought and drank water, they could not buy clean water due to lack of money, she said. She says, 'There is always no money and how to buy water?

Due to lack of access to clean water, diarrhea, typhoid and other infectious diseases keep recurring in this settlement. Sati Devi said that her 5-month-old son would be sick due to lack of clean water. Once he himself also suffered from stomach ache . She said, "I only request the government to have good water facilities for us."

Miley Lama's story is no different from hers . She came here in the year 2060 and has the experience of getting sick many times due to dirty water. In 2069, he was diagnosed with typhoid. "During treatment at Shukraraj Tropical and Communicable Disease Hospital in Teku, the doctor  If I had typhoid,' she said, remembering the times, 'It happened to me because of the polluted water.'

is at one end of this settlement, Reena Lama's tower. It has been years since he saw clean water. She moved here from Dhading around 2077 and lives with her husband and 4 children. She has heard not only the slogan of clean water but also that it is the right of citizens. But he does not have access to clean water. She says, 'Clean water is like the song of the remembered water for us.' She filters that water . At other times, he has no choice but to rely on the yellow water of the stream in the slum. 

Most people in this settlement have many experiences of getting sick due to dirty water. She came from Jhapa 26 years ago and started living in this settlement                                               

Residents of this settlement have been waiting for clean water for 20 years. Some people are also using the cloudy water coming from the tubel by putting sand in the drum and filtering it. Some people filter such water with a normal filter. Most people choose to use slightly less turbid water to wash clothes and wash dishes . Those who can buy water from a jar and consume it, while those who can't use this water by collecting it. 

Photos: Suryansh Upreti/Kantipur

^{Since coming to this settlement in 2055, Devi Vick's permanent problem has been clean drinking water. She has a family of seven including her eldest son who works as a house painter and her younger son who is a wage laborer and her husband. But the little earnings are enough to cover their house expenses . She said that since she cannot always buy water and drink it, she has to buy water from a jar when she has money, and when she doesn't, she has to make do with yellow water from the stream.}  

Maili Lama, who came to this settlement from Makwanpur Manhari, is remembered to be assured of drinking water by the people's representatives who come to ask for votes before every election. But after the election, the leaders will not remember, their sorrows are the same. He has the experience of typhoid twice in 2069 and 2075 due to sewage. She said, Melamchi water is like a dream for us. When will the drain be completed?' Lal Bahadur Lopchan told that in 2077, his son's stomachache and fever were due to water. He said, 'When my son was sick, we didn't even use the tube water.'

Chief Medical Officer of Shukraraj Tropical and Communicable Disease Hospital Dr. Sher Bahadur Pun said that problems like diarrhea and fever will recur due to lack of clean drinking water. He says that the risk is high because the bacteria of these diseases are more active in the summer season. He suggests that the water should be boiled well and consumed as water causes diarrhea.

After the problem of drinking water intensified, last Monday, Aam Sukumbasi and Unorganized Residents Association submitted a memorandum to Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Limited (KUKL). In the memorandum, it is mentioned that lack of water in the society is an unconstitutional act that even the enemy should not be deprived of drinking water.