The people of Dhage settlement in Maranthana, Pyuthan, are reeling under acute shortage of water.

There is one communal tap for every 40 families in the settlement and it takes hours for one family to collect water. Dhage has around 200 families. “A person on an average has to wait for three hours to get his or her turn to get their daily share of water,” said Chitrakali Nagarkoti. 

The settlement gets its water from Chimphe Sim Drinking Water Project which was constructed 31 years ago.

Pim Bahadur Pun, one of the village elders, said the entire settlement was excited when the water project got completed.

“Water was plenty for every family. But now there are too many people in the village and not enough water to quench the thirst of everyone,” the 75-year-old said.

Ward Chairman Neher Singh KC of Pyuthan Municipality-9 said they were considering building a water pumping station to address the problem of water shortage in Dhage, but did not have the funds to build the facility.

“We have urged the governments both at provincial and federal levels to allocate funds to build the water pumping station,” said KC. 

Deputy Mayor Shanta Acharya said the municipal office had a plan of installing water taps in every home in Pyuthan-9 in the next five years.

“As for the existing water scarcity in parts of Maranthana, we are holding discussions at our regular council meetings to find an effective solution,” Acharya said.