SUKHKHAD, KAILALI: Locals of Jahari village have been facing acute crisis of drinking water in Kailali district. There is only one tube-well at the centre of the settlement where children and women stand in a queue for hours waiting their turns to fill water.

500 households of Jahari village — which is situated some nine kilometres north of Sukhkhad Bazaar in Ghodaghodi Municipality-8 in the district — are facing drinking water scarcity. The locals, who with much difficulty get drinking water, can hardly find water for washing and cleaning.

The children of the age group 5-12, who should be going to school, are more concerned about fulfilling their day to day need of drinking water. They are forced to stand in the line to get water during school hours.

Local Kalawati Dhami, while waiting in line for her turn to fill water, shared, "We have to wait around two hours to get water. Sometimes, when finally our turn comes, the tube-well stops working. Then we have to return home without any water."

She lamented that each household has to pay Rs 50 per month for using water from the tube-well, and if the tube-well goes out of order then they are expected to pay Rs 100 that month.

"As the summer season progresses, the flow of water decreases in the tube-well, which further adds to our problems," says another local Basudevi BK, adding, "when that happens, we need to walk three kilometres to find water."

The settlement of Jahari village comprise people from Doti, Bajhang, Kailali, Dadeldhura, Achham, Surkhet, Kalikot, among others. Majority of the locals say they came to the area after being displaced by flood and land erosion. 80 per cent of the households belong to Dalit community. The locals hold land from three to five kattha.

The scarcity of water has affected education of the children and agricultural production to a large extent, making the development of drinking water project in the area extremely crucial.