Today, even children feel no fear about the pond, thanks to the diminishing water level.
Water, which used to flow uninterrupted from local taps in the same locality, was the main source of water for the locals. These days, taps mostly remain dry.
Water sources are drying up in several areas of Kavre district. Locals say that worsening water scarcity has made their life miserable.
"Problem of water is getting worse. Rivers, streams and ponds are drying up," said Harkabahadur Shrestha of Dapcha, Kashikhanda.
According to Shrestha, while some new settlements have popped up in Kavre over the years, many people have migrated elsewhere due to the scarcity of water. "The trend of migration is high in the hills because the water problem is acute there," he said.
Sindhuli district faces similar problem. In the last two years, at least 10 public taps in Ratanchura of Sindhuli dried up. Many water sources have dried also in Khurkut, Bhimeshwor Sindhuli. "There are no ponds left anymore. It seems all water has dried up," said Narayan Baral of Ghoksila VDC.
Studies show that water sources in both hills and plains are drying up fast. According to Deepak Gyawali, chairman of Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, several reasons, including haphazard urbanization, deforestation and lack of water conservation mechanism, have led to the situation.
Nilhari Neupane, an expert with ICIMOD, attributed the problem to the disappearance of old ponds. "There's a need of a master plan to prevent water scarcity from getting worse," he said.
According to a local of Kushaha, human encroachment in Haripur, Shreepur, west of Kushaha and Laukahi VDCs after the destruction of a dam by the Saptakoshi River in 2006 had a severe impact on the environment, causing water scarcity.
"That incident changed the course of several rivers. Irrigation and other problems started and today we face acute water problem," said Surendra Kumar Yadav.
Until three decades ago, locals of Itahari-5 in Sunsari district could rely on different type of natural sources for water. Now, those sources exist only in namesake.
Some experts say deep boring and random tap connections have led to the scarcity of water, others point to the last year's great earthquake for the problem.
"The Gorkha earthquake has had serious effect on the underground water source. Due to that, water sources are not working as earlier. At some places they have dried, in others new sources have cropped up," said Hari Timilsina, senior division engineer at Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office, Kathmandu.
Timilsina maintained that over pumping of water by the Indian government in the Northern part of Tarai may also have been affecting water sources in Nepal.
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