Extreme heat, water crisis irk Surkhet locals

By Nabin Subedi,Surkhet, June 4: Living in Birendranagar, the capital of Karnali Province, is extremely challenging due to rising temperatures and frequent power cuts. 

On Sunday, Birendranagar and the entire Karnali Province were without electricity and communication for the whole day. A storm on Saturday evening disrupted electricity, Nepal Telecom’s network and internet services throughout Karnali. 

With the onset of summer, Birendranagar is experiencing an acute water crisis. Groundwater levels are decreasing, so people face extreme water scarcity in dry seasons. There is no proper schedule for dispensing tap water.

In some areas, locals face significant difficulties due to taps running dry for weeks. Shanta Shahi of Bangesimal in Birendranagar Municipality-1 said, “We don’t have enough water to quench our thirst." When she lived in Dailekh she never face faced water scarcity. After her family moved to Birendranagar, battling with water scarcity problems in the dry season has become their daily routine, as the water supply is irregular and their well dries out in summer.

The water problem in the Surkhet Valley is not new, the denizens have been reeling under the problems for years. After becoming the capital, the population grew, intensifying the problem of water shortage.  It is estimated that the total population, including those who have settled from outside, in the capital city is over 300,000. The current water sources do not even suffice for half of this population.

According to the Surkhet Valley Water Supply Consumer Organisation, out of 38,000 households, only 20,350 have had taps installed. About 4,200 households have applied for taps, but the installation has not been completed. About 850 taps are waiting to be installed on the list.

For households with installed taps, 374 litres of water per second is required daily. Currently, due to the drought, only 52 litres per second is being supplied from sources, leading to a severe water crisis, according to Balaram Tiwari, an engineer from the Water Supply Consumer Organisation.

Irregular electricity supply has left the residents equally exasperated. Unscheduled load shedding has become a significant issue. “Whenever there is a wind, the electricity disappears,” they said. This problem has persisted for the past three decades. Particularly, the irregular and low-voltage electricity has made living in the provincial capital Birendranagar very difficult for the locals.

There have been lawsuits and repeated protests regarding the irregular electricity supply, but the people of Karnali have not yet been freed from the hardships caused by it. The currently operational 33 KV transmission line is an infrastructure that was expanded back in 1988. 

The Surkhet distribution centre alone has 60,000 consumers, and the line currently supports a load of 10 megawatts. Since the main Kohalpur-Surkhet line carries the load for all districts, low voltage problems have arisen, said Beni Nepali, the Information Officer at the Surkhet Electricity Authority.