41 projects of deep boring which were started in Mahottari to facilitate water supply have been stalled for years. In the financial year 2075/76, 31 projects transferred from the federal government to the states and 10 projects started by the state governments are incomplete.

Major water supply projects such as Kataiya and Madwahi have been stalled for years in Manrashisawa municipality, which is being distributed by tankers due to the extreme problem of water supply. Arun Chowdhury, Chairman of Manrashiswa-10, said that the projects are incomplete due to the problem of not having enough budget and even the budget that has been received is withdrawn when the contract is not awarded on time. He also mentioned that there is a problem that the locals do not even donate labor in some of them. 

According to Ward President Chaudhary, 5 tankers are distributing drinking water in 8 wards except 6 and 7 out of 10 wards of Manrashiswa Municipality. Now there is a water crisis in Bhangaha, Matihani, Jaleshwar, Ramgopalpur, Sonama, Bardiwas and other municipalities of Mahottari. According to Mahottari Water Supply Institute, there have been requests to solve the water problem from some municipalities and settlements. Jatahi tol of Manrashisawa, Bardiwas 12, Bhangaha Municipality has submitted a request to fix the water system in the office. 

According to the Water and Sanitation Division office, some old projects are stuck in the last stage due to lack of budget, some projects are stuck in land acquisition. Some projects have been stopped after little work. "Since the pending project is not even included in this year's budget, there is confusion as to how to proceed," said Sanjeev Kumar Sah, head of the division office. He informed that there are 5/6 projects that can be put into operation immediately with a small investment. "Projects that are stuck in work like laying pipes and installing meters can be brought into operation immediately," said Shah. 

The division office chief Sah says that the local people understood the importance of deep boring only after the water crisis started. "Now, there are requests to not proceed with the project quickly," he says. 

According to the Ministry of Energy, Irrigation and Drinking Water, there are about 400 deep boring drinking water projects in all the eight districts of Madhesh. According to the ministry's water supply department, there are more than 300 union projects and deep boring water supply projects in 80 provinces. But the ministry is not aware of the status of which project. Lakshmi Pant, head of the division, said that details about the project have been requested from the water supply and sanitation offices in the district. 

Administration's permission to dig deep boring 

The District Disaster Management Committee has curbed the random digging of deep borings in drought-hit Parsa. The Disaster Management Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Parsa Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal has decided that recommendations must be made mandatory before installing deep boring in the district. 

The general meeting held in the district administration under the chairmanship of Prazia Aryal has decided to collect the data of water pipes and deep borings connected from the water supply institute and other agencies, to identify the areas where there is a lack of water supply, and to prepare a concept paper for water supply in the areas where the need has been identified. UNICEF Nepal and District Coordination Committee in coordination with Birgunj Metropolitan Municipality have decided to identify areas with water shortage within seven days and install minimum 5000 liter capacity tanks in required number.