BIRGUNJ, July 22: Several places in Birgunj Metropolitan City, Parsa district, are currently grappling with drinking water problems.

Prolonged drought and excessive hot temperatures (ranging from 40 to 45 degrees Celsius) have led to the drying up of water springs one after another. As a result, residents in ward no. 12, 6, and 14 in the metropolis in particular are facing an acute shortage of drinking water recently.

Hand pumps and taps installed in areas like Chapkaiya, Minabazar, Biswa, Nagawa, Murli, Tejarath Tole, Pratima Chowk, Brahma Chowk, and the customs office area are among those facing an acute shortage of drinking water lately.

Ladu Prasad Shah of ward no. 12 managed to collect six liters of drinking water from a tube well after walking about five kilometers with a water jar. He shared that he had been fetching water from various major market places since the early hours of today. "The tube wells are drying up as there has been no rainfall in our locality for a long time. Although I managed to collect some 5 to 6 liters of water today, I am worried about how to manage more water for daily use," Shah said, adding that his five-member family requires at least 100 to 150 liters of water daily. He expressed that their top concern lately is how to sustain with such scant water.

Rajesh Gupta of Birgunj Metropolitan City-6 used to start his day with religious worship after taking a shower regularly in the morning. He shyly admitted that it has been four days since he bathed due to the lack of water. "The tube well installed at home for drinking water dried up," shared Gupta, adding that they have been fetching drinking water from the neighbor.

Sumitra Devi of Ward Number 14 has been catering to the need for drinking water by borrowing from her neighbor. The requirement of drinking water for her 10-member family is enormous. "We need water for cooking food, but the tube well is drying up. In such a situation, our top concern is how to cook and manage water for other activities amid the water crisis?"

Although there is a drinking water problem every year during the summer, there has never been such a crisis in a long time, said 75-year-old Shankar Shah Kalwar.

Maya Lama of Ward Number 15 said that the scorching heat from morning to evening had dried up the tube well, resulting in problems with drinking water. "Since water is an essential element for humans, we are suffering a lot from the lack of water," she said.

Apart from private residences, the drinking water problem persists in schools, private offices, and industries operating within the metropolis. Considering the drinking water problem, the metropolis has been distributing water from water tankers for some time now. The metropolis has been pumping underground water and collecting it in tankers to distribute it to the people, said Laxmi Prasad Poudel, chief administrator of the Birgunj metropolis.

Furthermore, the metropolis has been coordinating efforts with the Water Supply Corporation and Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office to permanently address the shortage of drinking water, as informed by Poudel. He said that the metropolis is tightening the noose against illegal deep water boring as part of the efforts to prevent the spring water from drying up.

Niran Maharjan, Branch Manager at the Nepal Water Supply Corporation, said that a plan was afoot to install a public tap in each ward of the metropolis to resolve the drinking water-related issue.

It may be recalled that Pradeep Yadav, a federal parliamentarian elected from Parsa-1, had recently drawn the attention of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal towards the drinking water shortage in Birgunj after holding a meeting with him at his office.

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