DANG: The Gadhawa Rural Municipality-8 of Dang district that lies close to the Indian border is facing a critical shortage of drinking water, thus, forcing the locals to cross the border to fetch water.

Water resources at Gadhawa are running dry, pushing the entire village to an acute water crisis. Sustained and rampant extraction of river products and lack of conservation of water resources put the Gadhawa folks in this situation who reach the Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) camps to fetch water, said a local resident Rasib Siddiqi.

The Gadhawa Rural Municipality which was known by Koilabas before the fresh demarcation of local levels was a trade gateway to the entire Rapti Zone but remained backward in terms of development.

The village is home to a population of around two thousand people. Though the District Committee had endorsed the construction of a drinking water project in the village 10 years ago, it is yet to be implemented.

The Gadhawa Rural Municipality folks have no other way except visiting Indian territory for water every year during the dry season between mid-February to mid-July.