Birgunj metropolitan city residents face drinking water crisis as chapakal dries up

लगानी न्यूज

२४ असार २०८२, मंगलवार १४:२३July 8, 2025

Birgunj. There is a shortage of drinking water in Birgunj. The residents of Birgunj Metropolitan City are facing water crisis as the chapakals installed in their homes have dried up. The number of people coming to the Nepal Drinking Water Corporation branch office to request for the installation of new taps has increased after the chapakal dried up. There are more than 100 people reaching the ward office and metropolitan city every day with drinking water problem.

Praveen Kumar Sah, chief TAG_OPEN_div_34 of Nepal Drinking Water Corporation branch office, said that there is a shortage of drinking water throughout the district. “The number of people coming to install drinking water lines has increased with the drying up of the common people here,” he said.

Abdul Ahmed TAG_OPEN_div_32 of Birgunj Metropolitan City-13, Sripur complained that his daily life has been disrupted due to lack of drinking water. “We have been facing acute shortage of drinking water in the metropolitan area,” he said, adding, “There has been a shortage of drinking water here for the last three years.” ’

He lamented TAG_OPEN_div_30 that although the Minister of Drinking Water represents this district, he could not solve the problem. Birgunj Metropolitan City-26 ward chair Shambhu Mishra also said that more than 90 per cent of the chapakal in the ward has dried up. “There have been a lot of complaints from the general public about the shortage of water,” he said, adding, “We have distributed water by digging two borewells this year at the initiative of the ward office.” But that’s not enough. ’

Ward chair Mishra complained that the ward could not dig the borewell as per the needs of the people as it had limited resources. TAG_OPEN_div_28 Rakesh Sah, chief engineer of birgunj metropolitan city’s forest and environment disaster management section, said most of the chapakals dry up during the dry season due to the depletion of groundwater level.

According to Birgunj Metropolitan City, there is a shortage of water in ward no. 1, 2, 11, 13, 16, 25, 26 and other places. TAG_OPEN_div_26 In the current fiscal year, Birgunj Metropolitan City has been providing water through ‘deep boring’ at more than 75 places in coordination with the state government.

TAG_OPEN_div_24 “We have been distributing water to the general public by digging more than 75 borewells at a cost of Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000,” he said, adding, “The federal government is trying to take forward the drinking water project in partnership with the Asian Development Bank for a long-term solution to the water in Birgunj.” ’

The TAG_OPEN_div_22 Drinking Water Corporation distributes about 10 million litres of drinking water every day. However, 40 percent of the water of the institute is said to be leaked.

Shah, who heads the office of the

branch, admitted that water supply could not be expanded relatively due to the structure of the pipeline. In the current fiscal year alone, around 600 people here have demanded the installation of new taps.

More than 350 drinking water lines are waiting for connection. There are 12,000 consumers in the metropolis. On the recommendation of the ward office, the institute has been installing a new tap by charging Rs 6,370.