RAJBIRAJ, JANUARY 31
There was a time when the residents of Jagatpur, Kanchanrup Municipality, in Saptari, had to go out to the public tap in the village to fetch a pitcher of water. Not any more.
The residents of Jagatpur now have running taps at their own home. This was possible after the construction of a water project developed jointly by Unicef, Kanchanrup Municipality, and the local community.
Clean drinking water is being supplied to households now through pipeline from a 35 cubic litre capacity water tank. "We were forced to walk some distance to get water from the public tap or the nearby pond earlier, and the water was not safe either. I am glad these days to see running taps supplying clean water in my own home," said Shantidevi Pasawan of Jagatpur.
According to experts, locals were forced to drink arsenic- and ironlaced water earlier.
Construction of the water project targeting 172 households in Jagatpur had started in February last year.
According to Arunodaya-Jagatpur Drinking Water and Sanitation Project Consumer Committee team leader Bed Prasad Rauniyar, the project was developed at a cost of over 8 million rupees. While Unicef provided 6.023 million rupees for the project, Kanchanrup Municipality and the local community chipped in with Rs 1.2 million and 830,000 rupees respectively for the project.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 1, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
