KATHMANDU, March 12: Rama Poudel, 40, of Thokarpa-2, Bagbhairab of Sindhupalchowk district complained that she has to spend over six hours every day to fetch drinking water. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake of April 25 not only destroyed her house and the village but also dried up the water sources.Over 325 water sources of 14 quake-hit districts have dried up after the devastating earthquake. Similarly water production of 617 sources has shrunk. The data provided by the Department of Water Supply and Sewage (DWSS) show that 3,067 water sources of the 14 highly-affected districts have been completely damaged and 4,836 sources partially damaged by the quake.
"We don't know where to go to fetch drinking water," complained Poudel, adding that the water tap, where she and her villagers currently rely for water will dry from April to July every year. She informed that some of her neighbors have migrated to other places due to the water scarcity in the village and others are selling cattle for low price. She said that villagers have to wait for hours in queue as over 200 villagers rely on a single water tap, whose production is diminishing.
"How shall we give water to cattle when people are struggling to manage water for themselves," said Hari Krishna Poudel, a teacher at Balsiksha Primary School at Thokarpa-3 Jamune. He said that the entire population of ward no 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Thokarpa VDC have been affected, as all the water sources have dried up. He said that the villagers will forced to migrate en masse to other places if the existing water crisis gets prolonged.
Shiva Neupane, a local at Thokarpa said that the entire village has been reeling under acute water scarcity after the devastating earthquake. "We do not have water sources in the nearby areas," said Neupane.
Aforementioned are just a few representative cases. The water scarcity has severely affected 27, 82,834 people of 4, 63,611 households, according to the data provided by the DWSS. The government has allocated Rs 2.13 billion for the DWSS in the ongoing fiscal year to explore new water sources and repair damaged water sources but confusion over jurisdiction between the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and DWSS has hindered the work.
"Budget has been passed from the National Planning Commission (NPC) but other concerned agencies have not yet authorized us to use the budget," Ram Chandra Devkota, director general at the DWSS, said. He said that the suffering of the affected people will be prolonged as the confusion over jurisdiction has not yet settled.
"We do not have dearth of budget. The government has allocated the budget and NPC has passed it but due to confusion over jurisdiction, we are unable to use the amount," said Devkota. He informed that over 5,200 drinking water projects have been affected by the devastating quake.
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