Drinking water project completes in 12 days

By Rajan Rawat,Humla, July 2: We are used to seeing headlines of projects taking years or decades to complete. But the Kumlik Jiula Drinking Water Project in wards 1 and 2 of Simkot Rural Municipality completed in only 12 days. 

And this does not only mean that it completed construction. No! In less than half a month, the project was able to finish building the necessary infrastructure and supply water to the consumers.

Local Tundup Lama said that this was because of the tireless dedication of everyone involved. "All of us (the consumers) worked day and night to lay the pipes, dig the ground, collect stone, sand and gravel and do all that was needed for the project," he said.

Lama added, "It seemed hard at first but since we all understood the need for the project and the benefits it would provide, we gave it our all and completed it in a short time."

Sushila Rokaya, vice chairman of the rural municipality, also stressed that project finished fast because it was based on an urgent need for clean drinking water. 

"The provincial government gave us the project almost at the end of the fiscal year. So, we were not particularly willing to implement it," she shared. "But the people promised they would finish it soon so we went ahead."

The provincial government only released the Rs. 2 million needed for the project on June 18. However, the local government moved quickly and signed an agreement with the consumer committee a day later on June 19. Work immediately began and people started receiving water on June 30. 

Rokaya informed that, under the project, an intake had been built at the water source, a water tank had been constructed to collect the water and 15 taps had been installed at community centres, schools, health posts and police stations to distribute the water. Similarly, 1,200 metres of pipes had been laid between the source and the tank.

"This shows the power of communal resolve and how quickly people can bring about development," she said.

Residents of the two wards previously used to fetch water from the Gyagru River to drink. Now, they get clean water from their taps.