By A Staff Reporter
Bajura, Oct. 14: As many as 86 households of the Budhiganga Municipality-2 Brahmatola of Bajura are reeling under drinking water scarcity after recent floods caused by incessant rainfall destroyed the intake and pipes of the Thadakhola Drinking Water Project.
The project was the only source of drinking water for numerous households in Brahmatola including Dhunmuha, Kharsekhet, and Jamalbada.  
After the disruption in the water supply, according to Jay Bahadur Thapa, locals have been forced to walk for hours to fetch water from the river itself. Likewise, the toilets in the area have started permeating foul odour and getting increasingly unhygienic by the day. “Despite repeated pleading for reconstruction and maintenance to the local bodies, our voices have gone unheard,” added Thapa. 
In the year 2000, the Thadakhola drinking water project was completed with the construction of 14 taps in the village at a cost of Rs. 2.2 million.  A total of 86 households, including 35 dalits, and 51 non-dalits were reaping the benefits out of the project. “Thanks to this year's floods and landslides, there are neither grains in the granary nor water in the jar,” further elaborated Thapa. 
“After the local governing body failed to show any discernible concern for the villager’s plight, the inhabitants have no choice but to drink directly out of the river,” bemoaned Bahadur Thapa, a local teacher
Citing a dearth of funds at the Ward Office, Hira Thapa, chairrperson of Budhiganga Municipality-2, explained that they have been cooperating with various governmental and non-governmental organizations in the district in order to immediately repair the project but in vain. Since it isn’t possible to immediately reconstruct the disrupted project, he said that the ward is contemplating plans to supply water by connecting pipes directly from the source as a temporary measure. 
Chairperson Thapa said that they have requested the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office Number 3, Rajpurdoti to implement a comprehensive drinking water project in the village, which will materialise soon.