Ramechhap, July 14

Locals of Manthali in Ramechhap have been compelled to drink contaminated water since the beginning of monsoon.

Most of the water sources in the district are polluted. The district dwellers have no option but to store water from a nearby stream in a water tank. Even the water supplied by the drinking water project is polluted.

As most of the locals drink polluted water without purification, diarrhoea and typhoid cases are on the rise in the district. “Scores of patients suffering from diarrhoea, fever and typhoid have been visiting the hospital daily,” said Manthali-based Tamakoshi Cooperative Hospital Director Dr Suman Karmacharya.

“Though Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office has been running awareness programmes, people don’t seem serious about maintaining hygiene,” said secretary of the drinking water consumers committee Krishna Bahadur Basnet.

On the other hand, locals in the southern belt of the district have been facing acute shortage of drinking water supply as water sources have gone dry. The locals have been forced to drink water from the Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi Rivers as a result.

“Around 80 per cent population consumes water directly without purification,” said Division Drinking Water Office Ramechhap Chief Lok Bahadur Chaulagain. District Public Health Office and health facilities operating under the office advised the public to drink water after filtering or boiling.