Two hundred households in Sigana Lamichaur, Baglung Municipality-8 have been facing drinking water scarcity for years.
The Lift Drinking Water Project was started in January 2021 to supply water to the Dalit Community of Lamichaur with 200 families. The locals, hoping to have access to drinking water at their homes, are disappointed as the project had to be paused due to a lack of budget. The project was initiated over three years ago.
Water from Kathekhola Rural Municipality was planned to be distributed to Lamichaur of Baglung municipality through lift according to the plan of Gandaki Provincial Government to deliver drinking water at the doorsteps of the citizens. However, only 25 % of the project has been completed due to lack of budget.
Residents would have water in their houses, solving the extreme drinking water problem if there was enough budget. But no budget has been allocated for the project since last year resulting in the pause of the construction of the reserve tank and hopes of the locals.
The project was initiated with a budget of Rs. 4,00,00,000 to address the water issue for 200 Dalit families in this area. However, local Surya Bahadur Bishwakarma expressed doubt about the project’s completion due to the lack of budget allocation since last year.
The Dalit Community of Lamichaur is located in the most drought prone area of Baglung Municipality. According to Sanjay Koirala, Information Officer of Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office, Baglung, there is a problem in working with the budget of Rs 10,00,000 per year for the lift water supply project worth more than 4 crores. According to Koirala, a total budget of 53,84,000 has been spent on the project so far. He mentioned that there was an issue when the Provincial government allocated a small budget, leading to the halting of project work since last year. Additionally, even the 10 lakhs allocated for this year cannot be utilized as the payment from last year is still pending.
According to Koirala, a tank and power house have been constructed in Kathekhola Rural Municipality-7 Khanidulo and a reserve tank has been constructed in Baglung municipality-8 Lamichaur. Two hundred families here have been using tap water from 2 taps built before 1994. According to Muna Bishwakarma, a local resident, the daily life of the women here is spent fetching water.
Purna Bahadur Karki, Chairperson of the Lamichaur Dalit Community Lift Drinking Water Project Consumer Committee, expressed that despite the construction of one house and one tap in areas of Baglung municipality, the selected and initiated project in their locality has paused due to a shortage of budget.