National
Kalikot drinking water projects in state of disrepair
A majority of drinking water projects in Kalikot are in dilapidated condition due to lack of repair and maintenance.Tularam Pandey
A majority of drinking water projects in Kalikot are in dilapidated condition due to lack of repair and maintenance.
Out of 400 drinking water projects in the district, only 18 percent of them are in working order. Most projects have been cut off from their water sources due to floods and landslides. As a result, there is a scarcity of water in several parts of the district.
Chitra Singh Gaule, district chairman of Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation, claimed the water projects in the district were poorly built in the first place.
“There was no regular maintenance and the District Drinking Water and Sanitation Sub Division Office never bothered to monitor these projects,” he said.
The sub division office has been claiming that nearly 79 percent of the households in Kalikot have access to drinking water made available by different projects.
“The reality is far from it,” argues Raj Bahadur Malla, a villager from Daha Pili. “Yes, there are drinking water projects in most parts of Kailali. Whether they are functioning is a different matter.”
He said even those projects that could be operated with a minor fix-up are in a state of disrepair because the authorities concerned have refused to provide funds.
Kammar Bahadur Bam, an official at the District Development Committee,
said that they have started assessing all drinking water projects for repair and
maintenance.