JAJARKOT: Locals of Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jajarkot, are reeling under acute shortage of water for the past eight years, thanks to the apathy of the authorities concerned to address the crisis over the years.

According to the locals, they have to walk for almost an hour to reach the Bheri River to fetch water. While the government and non-government offices and hotels ferry water on vehicles, locals have no option than to carry water from the river.

According to data maintained by the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub-Division Office, around 85 per cent of the households in the district and all households in the district headquarters have access to water.

But locals say ‘it is only on paper’ and dismiss the data as bogus. “There is no water in the district headquarters Khalanga,” said Raju Kumar Shakya, Chairman of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Main Users’ Committee Scheme No 1.

Shakya attributed the acute water crisis to the gross inaction of the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub-Division Office despite rapid growth in population.

“The population has grown exponentially in the past few years, but the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub-Division Office has failed to act accordingly, hence the water crisis,” he said.

Rajendra Bikram Shah, coordinator of civil society, echoed Shakya, pointing at the need to develop more water projects to cater to the increasing households. “The population has almost doubled over the years but we have the same supply capacity that was built 15 years ago. So it is quite understandable why locals are facing water crisis,” said Shah.

When asked, Maheshi Mahato, chief of District Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub-Division Office, said his office was doing preparations for long-term solution to address the water shortage. “We have an extensive water project for the long-term, but as it takes years for the project to complete, for the time being we’re preparing to increase the capacity of the existing projects,” he said.