Baitadi district is reeling under drinking water problem as most of the water supply projects in the district have become decrepit.
The problem arose since the water supply schemes were not repaired and renovated. According to the District Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office, 87.69 percent of the total households in the district have access to basic drinking water facility but the shortage of water is compounded as most of the projects are old.
"A survey of the drinking water projects in the district carried out in 2014 showed that 40 percent of the projects needed to be repaired. The management of these projects was handed over to the local consumer committees after the completion of the projects. But the committees failed to carry out the repair and maintenance of these projects regularly leading to the problem," Division Office chief Mohan Bahadur Kunwar said.
There are 1,185 big and small drinking water projects in the district and the consumer committees lack funds for their maintenance and repair, he added.
Seventy-two drinking water projects are being constructed in the current fiscal year.
