The residents of Raya in Kharpunath Rural Municipality-3 have been facing drinking water problems for years. Due to the lack of drinking water, locals in this area suffer hardships every year. Although taps were installed in the settlement in 2015, they have no water due to the lack of a system to supply it. As a result, residents rely on river water, according to local Tek Bahadur Budha. Although water sometimes flows from the taps, residents are unable to use it due to the lack of an overflow system. As all the houses are closely connected, the overflow issues have caused water to enter livestock sheds, leading to damage. As a result, the taps have been closed, and in the absence of drainage, people have to spend an hour fetching and drinking murky river water, according to local Surya Rokaya.
According to Rokaya, poor-quality pipes were installed from the intake to the taps with financial support from the Rural Water Resource Management Project, in coordination with the Rural People Upliftment Development Program (RPUDP) and other Drinking Water and Sanitation Project Construction Committee. These pipes could not withstand the water pressure and burst in several places, preventing water from reaching the taps. Recently, as the water source has dried up, even modern mills used for grinding grains have stopped working. He added that despite the taps being installed long ago, not a single drop of water has flowed from them.
Despite various Government and non-government organizations making efforts to install taps in houses, the water problem is never solved, complained Rawal. A total of 40 taps have been installed to serve more than 200 households in the settlement. A consumer committee has also been formed to manage the water supply. However, the project has been abandoned due to negligence by the committee and supporting agencies. The use of poor-quality pipes has caused residents to face problems for years. Chief Administrative Officer Bishnu Bahadur Shahi of Kharpunath Rural Municipality said that the lack of a drainage system in Raya has caused the problem. He added that they are coordinating with the provincial government to solve this issue.