People in various quake-hit villages in Nuwakot, Kavre, Ramechhap and Dolakha districts are grappling with shortage of drinking water after local sources of water dried up following the April 25 earthquake.

Samjhana Pathak of Balkumari in Nuwakot said she has been facing difficulties fetching drinking water after the earthquake. “It takes almost three hours to collect water daily,” Pathak said, adding that people living in bazaar areas have been severe crisis. Some wells, springs and small streams in the hilly areas have shrunk or disappeared in Nuwakot. Some springs at Shera and Gangate in Bidur-3 and 5 have started drying up whereas damaged pipelines have not been repaired yet. Narayan Acharya, a local resident, said managing drinking water has become a tough task. Locals said the Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Division has not paid attention to reconstruct the damaged infrastructures. Staffers at the office said they have to repair 576 drinking water projects. Engineer Om Hari Tamrakar said they have demanded budget to repair the projects.

Similarly, sources of water at Dunuwarbasti, Hinguwapati and Ratamate areas in Mahadevsthan VDC, Kavre, have also dried up following the earthquake. Dinesh Nepal of Hinguwaptai said they have to walk for half an hour to fetch water as nearby wells and springs dried up. He said they are facing the problems after the earthquake. Around 100 households of Chunegupha in the VDC are also deprived of drinking water. Likewise, Khadananda Gautam of Pokharichauri-2 said around 150 households in the village are also grappling with water crisis following the earthquake. “We have no drinking water pipes to bring home water from the local river,” he said.

According to Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Division in Kavre, around 600 drinking water projects have been destroyed due to the quake. Officials said sources of water in various villages, including Chandenimandan, Mahadevsthan, Jyamdi, Koshipari and Mangaltar, dried up. Division Chief Mohanlal Jaishi said they are awaiting budget to repair the damaged infrastructures.

In Dolakha, around 40 landless families at Chathali are facing hardships after the earthquake damaged a water tank in Bubuwati.

Around 200 landless families in the area now depend upon a source of water located at half an hour’s walking distance following the earthquake. Local Ram Bahadur Thami and Urmila Thami said they have been compelled to line up for several hours to fetch water.

Concerned authorities in the district said they have received applications to repair damaged drinking water projects in 31 VDCs. It is learnt that around 180,000 people are facing difficulties due to the shortage of drinking water in the district.

Meanwhile, of the total 492 drinking water projects in Ramechhap, 486 were damaged by the earthquake. Sources of water for 20 projects have dried up whereas 466 projects sustained several damages.

Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation chief in the district, Lok Bahadur Chaulagain, said they have demanded budget to repair the quake-damaged water supply projects.