For Maya Sunar of Yamgha Ratmata in ward 6 of Baganasakali Rural Municipality in Palpa district, fetching water has become a daily struggle. Despite her morning rush to send her children to school, securing water remains her top priority. "My morning is spent carrying water," she said while returning from the community tap. "I can't fetch more than four gagri (metal water pot). My back hurts from carrying them." According to her, it takes nearly an hour to fetch a single gagri of water.

Dhruba Adhikari from Maure village shares a similar ordeal. He says he spends almost six hours collecting six gagri of water. The journey is exhausting as he must climb steep paths on his way back. "For the past six months, we've been carrying water like this," he said. "I can't leave my elderly parents alone at home as it is quite difficult for them to manage drinking water."

This is not just the plight of Maya and Dhruba but also the entire communities of Ratmata, Maure, Kolkharka and other villages in Yamgha. Hundreds of families living in the village are reeling under acute shortage of drinking water.

The Maure Jimire Lifting Drinking Water Project, which supplied water to the villages, has been non-functional for six months as the motor of the water pump broke down. As a result, residents must travel long distances to fetch water from natural springs, said project chairman Rajendra Sunar. "Our consumer committee has no funds left. We've been pleading for help, but months have passed with no solution,” he said.

Since the community lacks the resources to repair the motor, the locals have no option but to walk for one to one-and-a-half hours through steep and forested paths to collect water. Though every household has a meter-fitted tap, they have been forced to carry water manually for months.

Previously, the water system was powered by solar energy, but later, a three-phase power line was installed for more efficiency. However, after the motor broke down, there was no budget to replace it. "Solar power was unreliable. But even after switching to electricity, the motor burned out quickly, leaving us in crisis,” said Rajendra.

Yamgha is not the only area facing this problem. Jalpa village in Purbakhola Rural Municipality is reeling under a drinking water shortage. The Maidan Drinking Water and Sanitation Consumers’ Committee has been unable to repair a water pump motor that broke down three months ago. The project was initiated in 2015 to solve the water crisis.

"Every time the motor breaks down, it causes a major crisis. The Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office has repaired the broken water lifting motor so far,” said Mohan Rakhal Magar, chairman of Maidan Drinking Water and Sanitation Project.

According to Mohan, it takes months to repair a damaged motor and if replacement is needed, it costs between Rs300,000 to Rs500,000, leaving consumers in distress.

The Lumbini Provincial government constructed more than 75 lifting water supply projects in 10 local units—two municipalities and eight rural municipalities—in Palpa. There are additional water lifting projects under the federal and the local governments as well.

Many of such water lifting projects, however, face constant disruptions due to pump failures.

When water supply systems fail, the impact extends beyond drinking water shortages. “The villagers rear animals like goats, cows and buffaloes. It is quite difficult to manage water for them. The locals also cannot not grow green vegetables round the year due to lack of water,” said Govinda Adhikari of Maure. "Elderly people, women and students are the most affected due to the water crisis,” he added.

While the federal, provincial, and local governments have actively promoted water lifting projects, they have not addressed the long-term sustainability of these systems. According to Engineer Sandip Adhikari from the Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office, Lumbini Province has 150 such projects, with 18 federal projects and over 100 at the municipal level. As natural water sources dry up, nearly 50 percent of these projects are water lifting projects.

Without sufficient budget allocation for maintenance, many communities face long-term water crises. The growing dependency on electrical and solar-powered lifting systems demands sustainable funding and proactive repairs to prevent communities from returning to traditional water-fetching methods.