Residents of Dakle village in Amargadhi Municipality-8 are finally relieved after water taps were installed in every household, ending years of acute drinking water shortages. According to Hansha Bahadur Thapa, Chief of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office, around Rs 250m has been spent on providing drinking water to these villages since the fiscal year 2019/20.

In the current fiscal year, every house in the village has at least one tap, installed at a cost of Rs 1.6m. Since last year, 80 households have received water connections. The Division Office stated that once the ongoing work is completed this fiscal year, the community will have sufficient drinking water.

Under the Dadeldhura Lift Drinking Water Project–Ugratara, water is being pumped using solar energy from a source located 750 meters below the village. The project spans two kilometers and began in 2020 with an initial investment of Rs 3.6m. According to Shyam Sanki, Chairperson of the Consumers’ Committee, the project’s funding has increased to Rs 2.5m this year. He added that only the construction of the watchman’s building remains and that the drinking water supply has been fully restored.

Dakle village, which comprises around 100 households, previously relied on just two to four shared taps. Under the ‘One House, One Tap’ scheme, the Division Office is investing Rs 15m in the current fiscal year 2024/25 alone.

Previously, under the Pokhara Drinking Water Scheme in Amargadhi-7, residents had to walk over 30 minutes to fetch water—carrying 50-liter containers from two public taps near the Ugratara Temple, the temple’s own tap, or a community tap. “We had to walk even farther during dry seasons, as nearby wells would dry up, forcing us to fetch water from neighboring villages,” said Nar Bahadur Sanki, Chairperson of Amargadhi-8. “But since last year, that problem has been solved with tap connections in every home.”

Similarly, in Kade village, located in Amargadhi-3 of the Doti area, a tap has been installed in each of the 90 households under the Ghatal Kalakhaya Drinking Water Scheme. The project, completed this fiscal year at a cost of Rs 2m, has brought significant improvements.

“There were only 10 taps in the village earlier,” said Ganesh Seti, Chairperson of the Consumers’ Committee. “Five to ten families would have to queue at a single tap to collect water for drinking, livestock, and sanitation. Now, with taps in every house, access to water has become much easier for everyone.”