DHANGADHI: Leeches and insects have been found in the drinking water supply – managed by the Shivanagar Water and Sanitation Consumers' Committee – in Shivanagar of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, Kailali.

One of the big projects of the district, which was constructed with an aim to supply clean drinking water to locals, was found to have been negligent toward the quality of water.

Local consumers had complained about the supply of contaminated water in the past also, said Sabitri Upadhyaya, a resident of Devahariya of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City-7. But the quality has not improved, she added, expressing her anger over sheer negligence on the part of the Committee.

"We have been expressing our grievances to the Committee time and again when we found water infested with insects coming from the tap," Upadhyaya. "This time I found a crawling leech coming from the tap."

According to Sita Giri, a local of Debahariya, the number of patients suffering from jaundice and common cold has increased drastically after consuming water coming from the water supply. "Pipes were cracked in various places,"Giri said.

She further informed that the consumers have also complained about the problem to the Chief District Officer of Kailali, Mohan Chapagain.

The project, which has capacity of 400,000 litres, has been distributing drinking water to several localities of Ward No. 1, 5, 7 and 8.

According to Rejan Chaudhary, the chief of the project, the project has been distributing water to at least 1,884 houses.

He said that the leech and insects might have reached the consumers taps from the cracked pipes.

The project was constructed at the cost of around Rs 1.60 million.