After 25 years, water supply project comes into operation in Dhanusha

By Biijay Kumar Shah,Dhalkebar, Aug. 7: A water supply project has come into operation in Dhanushadham Municipality-4, Laxmipur, 25 years after its construction began.  The project was officially launched on Monday, bringing clean water to the community for the first time.

Construction of the project began in 1999 with government investment.  Initially, the Water and Sanitation Division Office Dhanusha aimed to complete the project in five years. However, it took over 25 years for its completion and four separate consumer committees were formed over the years. 

Manoj Yadav, ward chair of Dhanushadham Municipality-4, expressed his happiness over the inauguration of the water supply project. 

He expressed his gratitude to the current office bearers of the consumer committee, noting that he also worked hard to complete the project.

He stated, “Let’s not dwell on the past and why the project remained incomplete for so many years. I don't want to blame anyone for this. I am happy that people now get clean water.”

He also urged locals to maximise the use of tap water, highlighting that it is purer than water from tube wells and wells.

Bijay Yadav, chairman of the drinking water and sanitation consumer committee, said that the drinking water project’s operation was successful after considerable effort. 

He informed that the project would benefit 700 households of the villages, including Laxmipur, Sarsa, Kesharkutti and Chiraiya.

Yadav said, “First, we will supply water to the settlements where there is water scarcity. So far, the main pipeline has been extended for about three kilometers, with plans to expand more pipelines as per the requirement.” 

He noted that people who have been forced to drink contaminated water for years should now use clean drinking water. 

Yadav mentioned that private taps have been installed in 10 houses as a test, and from now on, taps would be installed in every house

The Water and Sanitation Division Office has constructed an overhead tank with a capacity to hold 125,000 litres of water and a deep boring for water distribution. Additionally, it has built office buildings and houses for employees. Local residents are very happy now that the water project is in operation. Deepak Yadav, a local and Dhanusha coordinator of the CPN (Maoist Center), attributed the delays to the laziness of former consumer committee officials and a lack of sufficient budget.

He emphasised that to complete any project on time, the planning committee must be active and the government should allocate a sufficient budget.

Coordinator Yadav said, “I find both the committee and the government responsible for delaying the implementation of the project. The government of Nepal allocated only Rs.1-2 million annually for this project, which was insufficient.  “The government should provide a separate, adequate budget to ensure timely completion, and the committee should use the funds effectively and work on schedule,” he added.