Dipayal, January 24

Sharada Bhatta from Doti headquarters Silgadi has to spend half her day managing water for her household.

Her daily routine involves waking up early in the morning, going to the stone spout and waiting for her turn to fill the pitcher ever since she got married almost 32 years ago.

Similar is the plight of other Silgadi residents. “Though water taps have been installed in everyone’s house, we continue to suffer from water crisis,” Sharda said. She added that they had to face water crisis throughout the year.

Then Minister Shivraj Pant had launched a water project in the village in 2017 BS to supply water from Jhokrekhola to Silgadhi residents. The project, however, has failed to meet demand for water in the area.

Nar Bahadur Bohara from Silgadi complained that though they had water taps in their homes, there was no water supply. “Even when the water is supplied some days, it is quite inadequate to meet our needs,” Bohara said.

Meanwhile, Silgadi Drinking Water Consumers’ Committee said it had been supplying water to ward number 1,2,3, 4, 5 and 6 of Silgadi Municipality. The committee said it had cut off water supply to ward number 13 and 14 due to shortage of water.

Secretary Ram Dhami, of the committee, said they did not have enough water resources to meet the demands of the growing population.

A proposal was put forward to bring in the water from Toleni VDC’s Bhelchhda in 2008. Regional Monitoring and Supervision Office Dipayal Engineer Prakash Baral said the government had allocated budget for the project.

“But, the project could not take off due to dispute between the locals of Daud and Toleni,” he said. Baral added that the only solution to the persisting water crisis was to find an alternative source.