With several drinking water sources dry because of drought, people in many parts of Gulmi district are relying on water transported on tractors from Gaurikhutta. They have been paying up to Rs 2,100 for transporting 1,000 litres of water.

Bhawana Thapa of Daugha-8 said only those families that can afford to pay the tractor fare get the clean drinking water. “As for people like us,” she said, “we are using polluted water from a nearby pond.”

The villagers of Daugha-8 used to get their drinking water from Dharapani which has now completely dried up.

Headmaster of Nepal Rastriya Secondary School Loknath Gyawali said the shortage of water has caused a great difficulty. “We don’t have drinking water at school,” said Gyawali.

Meanwhile, some families have started to leave the village because of drinking water shortage. Former VDC Secretary Juddha Pachhai informed that there are 700 households in the VDC. “Out of 700 households, 500 families have been deprived of drinking water,” said Pachhai.

The drought has mostly affected 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 wards of Daugha VDC. Kalpana Nepali of Daugha-8 said it takes her several hours just to get a bucket of water. Gulmi has not received enough rainfall for past several months.

Drinking water shortage has also emerged in Shantipur, Balektasar, Shringa, Birbas, Gaidakot and Resunga Municipality.