सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Sarlahi. The construction of the drinking water project has been stalled for six years, and the locals of Hariban Municipality-5, Sarlahi, have been suffering from a severe shortage of drinking water. Sarita Lama, 35, a resident of Siddhartha Tole, who had been waiting for a long time to see the under-construction project in the hope of getting clean drinking water, complained that she had not been able to drink water. She said that she was very saddened by the delay in the drinking water work.
The tube well buried in Lama’s yard used to contain a lot of arsenic. After rumors spread that arsenic water was causing cancer in the village, she also stopped using the tube well water. However, he said that poor families cannot afford to buy bottled water as an alternative. “Sometimes when the water comes in the morning, there is a rush to send children to school,” Lama said, “the water has already come and gone. It is not even possible to catch it. Even in the evening, there are only two hours of electricity. Even water for cooking has to be bought or asked for.’
Like Lama, Premshila Kumari Sah, a resident of Hariban Municipality-5, has the same problem. She says that she has had to buy drinking water many times when she is alone at home. She also has experience that the water problem has troubled many women. She said that the water problem has led to disputes in the family and even subjected women to domestic violence. She said that when they return from the fields, they are late in fetching water, which leads to quarrels in the neighborhood. Those who can afford it buy water from jars and drink it, and poor families are affected by abandoned projects, she said. Sah complained that he had to sell his livestock due to the water problem.
After the project, which began construction in 2075 BS, was severely delayed, the consumer committee has started distributing water directly through deep boring. On the one hand, this has forced the locals to wait for water. On the other hand, Siddhartha Toll Drinking Water and Sanitation Consumer Committee Chairman Manoj Lama complained that the committee’s expenses, including electricity investment, are more than the income. He said, “The cost of the project is also increasing when the work that should be completed in seven months is left unfinished for six years.”
Ward Chairman Nagendra Sah of the ward said that even after reaching out to the city, district drinking water, provincial and federal governments, he has received nothing but assurances. He said that even though the pipeline and tap have been distributed to provide water, the overhead tank has not been constructed. Due to the stalled work, 99,300 households in the ward have been deprived of clean drinking water facilities.
This ward has been plagued by deadly cancer-related diseases for almost a decade and a half. Locals affected by cancer have stopped using tube water, considering the water problem. Since then, more than a dozen villagers in this ward alone have been facing a drinking water crisis. A large amount of arsenic was found in the test of the tube water in this area.
After news spread in various media outlets that water containing high levels of arsenic was found and that there was a cancer epidemic among the locals, the Ministry of Water Supply under the federal government had conducted a water test. The provincial government had started the water supply and sanitation project, stating that the tube water in this area was unfit for drinking. Hariban Municipality Mayor Ramesh Budhathoki said that the locals’ drinking water problem has become a major problem after the construction of the overhead tank under the project was stalled. He claims that since the project was initiated by the province, the municipality has not been able to invest and has refused to do so even when requested.
Meanwhile, Ramnath Sah, acting chief of the Divisional Water Supply and Sanitation Office, Malangwa, said that the work could not be completed on time due to lack of budget. “This is a federal government plan,” he said, “The work has been delayed because only a small amount of budget has been received every year.” He expressed confidence that the work will be completed as the provincial government has allocated Rs. 4 million this year. It is said that the federal government has already spent 8 million rupees for the construction of a tank with a capacity of 225,000 cubic meters until last year.
He said that since the federal government did not provide additional budget this year, the province has planned to complete the work by investing Rs. 4 million. Kamlesh Nirman Sewa Laxmipur-5, Sarlahi, had won the overhead construction contract on 20th Shrawan 2077 with the aim of completing the construction in one year. The Division Drinking Water Office has stated that the construction company has won the contract for a total of Rs. 74,99,342.75.
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