Himalayan News Service

Phidim, February 11:

A school located at Phidim-4, which was facing acute shortage of water throughout the year, began collecting rain water by installing pipelines on its rooftop for in-house drinking purposes from this week.

Mechi Boarding School with the financial cooperation of British Welfare Centre Phidim started collecting 28,000 litres of water daily in three tanks, said Sita Seling, the principal. Installed on the rooftop of the school, the water flows down into the tanks through pipelines with the help of plates which look like solar panels. Since the distillation system is fitted inside these tanks, the water collected can be kept clean and safe for a long time, head of the welfare centre in Phidim, Prem Kumar Tamang, told this daily.

This project has been completed at a cost of Rs 4,38,000. Altogether, 650 persons, including teachers and students, are benefiting from the system which is first of its kind in the eastern region. “Water collected during rainy season can be comfortably used in winters which is a distinct feature of this system,” added Tamang. Likewise, Balmandir Primary School at Phidim-4, completed a solar-powered pumping drinking water project with the cooperation of the welfare centre. The water is brought up from a source which is located 300 metres below the area. The project’s water source was made available by school teacher Prabha Joshi. The project completed at the cost of Rs 10,63,000 is benefiting the teachers, students and six families living nearby, said Gita Lama, the school’s headmistress.