More than 400 drinking water projects in Jajarkot district are said to be in the lurch. These projects were constructed since the last 10 years.
This condition of the drinking water projects is due to the negligence of the concerned government offices and the consumers committees for their repair and maintenance.
As a result of this situation, a dozen settlements including Khalanga Bazaar, Jagatipur, Punma, Bhur, Seema, Juga Thapachaur, Thalaraikar, Paink, Khagenkot, Dhime, Pajaru, Majkot, Suwanauli, Dasera, Nayakbada and Sakla are reeling under water shortage.
Three hundred families in Jiri, Barekot rural municipality are also dependent on a well and stream water for their water supply. Six hundred families at Jintala and Khurpa are also facing hard times to meet their daily water needs.
Likewise, 800 households at Kudu, Bheri Municipality-13 have been facing acute shortage of water for many years now. They are compelled to drink the murky water from a local well and the Bheri River.
It is said some 10,000 households in Jajarkot district do not have access to drinking water. Outbreak of water-induced diseases including diarrhea, cholera etc is common in Jajarkot due to drinking of contaminated water.
Meanwhile, the local levels have constructed 300 small drinking water projects in the district in the last fiscal year, benefiting some 13,000 households.
District drinking water sub-division office chief Maheshi Mahato said that the repair and maintenance of the old water supply projects and construction of new ones has not taken up speed due to lack of adequate budget.
