Deep tube wells being repaired to meet water needs in Dhanusha

By Bijay Kumar Shah,Dhalkebar, May 11: After the hand pumps and wells dried up because of the long spell of drought, locals in the northern area of Dhanusha district, have been forced to repair the deep tube wells, which were not in use for years, to meet the water needs.

As a reliable source of water, many of the broken-down deep tube wells are now brought into operation after fixing them.

A deep tube well which has remained non-functional for almost 20 years at Digambarpur in Chhireswarnath Municipality-8, has been repaired and brought into operation thanks to the drought.

Ward chairman Mod Kumar Mahato said that the deep tube well was repaired and brought into operation after all the hand pumps and wells of the area dried up. According to him, maintenance of the tube well has solved the drinking water problem that locals had been facing for a month.

Similarly, a deep tube well that had also not been in use for seven years at Durga Tol of Chhireswarnath Municipality-7 has also been repaired.

Chireshwarnath Municipality's Mayor Sukhadev Yadav said that after the underground water level decreased, the hand pumps and wells dried up. Several workers worked day and night to repair and bring the deep tube wells into operation.

At Hirapur in Mithila Municipality-3, many deep tube wells have been repaired and brought into operation to address the problem of water shortage.

A deep tube well built one year ago in Lawatoli, Ganeshman Charnath Municipality has also been repaired for the locals after the area faced an acute shortage of water for the last one month

According to locals, the maintenance of deep tube wells has somewhat helped solve the water shortage problem.

After Digambpur and Durga Tol experienced water shortages, Chhireshwarnath Municipality used the fire brigade to supply water to the people for a few days.

Mayor Yadav said that a budget of Rs. 2 million each has been allocated for installing deep tube wells in Digambpur and Durga Tol, as these settlements face a water shortage in the dry season every year.

Suresh Sharma, General Secretary of Forest Technical Society Janakpur, said that the area which faced drought and scorching heat for a long time saw rainfall only on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, that is not enough to recharge underground water and thus water is not yet available in the wells and hand pumps that dried up recently.

He also said that while deep tube wells are a good option for now, over time they can cause issues because they extract water but do not refill it which can lead to landslides.