Achham, May 27

Hotel owner Namsara Bhandari of Thulasain, Mangalsen Municipality, Achham, gets up at midnight with her daughter every day to rush to the local well to fetch water, where a number of women are already gathered, waiting for their turn.

After the water source near her residence dried up, Namsara has no option but to go to the local well. “If I don’t reach the well at midnight, I have to wait for hours for a single pitcher of water, and close my hotel,” she said.

Dharma Bhandari, a local of Thulasen, said that locals were facing a hard time because many water sources had dried up due to prolonged drought this year, with no possibility of them being restored soon. Other areas in the district have been facing the same problem.

The residents of district headquarters Mangalsen stand in queue to fill water all day, and even night. Clashes often erupt among locals when tensions run high in the queue.

Paleban Community Forest Chairperson Log Bahadur KC said that water sources in the area started drying every year after the reconstruction of the forest office at Paleban Community Forest.

Some locals have resorted to using murky river water for drinking and domestic purposes, with no way of providing water for their cattle. People from the headquarters travel far in vehicles to bathe in rivers.

Khamma Budha of Nandegada - 9, said that they have to walk for more than an hour for a single pitcher of water.