Municipality distributes water from tankers

By Bhaktibilash Pokharel,Gaighat, Apr. 3: As previously reliable water sources in Udayapur begin to dry up, residents of rural villages and district headquarters, Gaighat, are experiencing a severe shortage of drinking water.

The crisis has worsened due to several factors, including the Small Urban Drinking Water Project's inability to meet growing users’ demand, the Gaighat Drinking Water Project being left incomplete and the depletion of wells, tube wells and other underground water sources.

The situation has been worsened further due to deforestation, soil erosion, excessive exploitation of natural resources and human encroachment in the Chure and Mahabharat regions of Udayapur as well as rise in the temperature. The drying up of water sources in these areas has increased over the years, worsening the water crisis for local communities.

With the destruction of Chure hills due to excessive extraction of stones, silica sand, gravel, soil and forest products, the region’s existence itself is under threat. As a result, wells, ponds and tube wells in surrounding settlements have run completely dry at the onset of the dry season, according to local Prakash Tamang of Gaighat.

Chakramani Pokharel, 75, a resident of Bhulke in Triyuga Municipality-3, said that water sources in Chure settlements started drying up about five years ago. Similarly, Bam Bahadur Katwal, a resident of Chap in Ward No. 3 of the municipality, reported that his neighbourhood has been struggling with dearth of drinking water since the beginning of the dry season.

The water shortage has affected most areas of Udayapurgadhi Rural Municipality and the municipalities of Katari, Triyuga and Chaudandigadhi. Many natural springs, wells and ponds that have existed for centuries are drying up, causing drinking water shortage not only for humans but also for wildlife.

With upper Chure drying up, wild animals such as blue bulls (nilgai), Himalayan tahrs and gorals are moving into human settlements in search of water, said Dambar Bahadur Thapa, a resident of Shripur in Triyuga Municipality-5. Nearly three dozen streams that used to flow from Chure to Siraha, Saptari and Udayapur have now dried up.

Due to the water crisis, livestock farming and agriculture have also been affected. Farmer Nara Bahadur Khadka from Lalpatta, Triyuga Municipality-6, said that continuous drying up of Chure’s water sources has worsened with the onset of the dry season, making large-scale water management projects necessary.

For the past four years, tube wells in Gaighat Bazaar and Gairun of Triyuga Municipality -9, have been running dry during the dry season, said local Devaki Sada. 

To address this crisis, the municipality has been transporting and distributing water from tankers, said Mayor of the municipality Basanta Kumar Basnet.

Currently, the municipality delivers drinking water daily to around 30 households in Gairun’s Manakamana Tole Development Organisation and other affected areas. Each household receives between 500 and 700 litres of water per distribution, Basnet informed.