Urbanization challenges the availability of water sources

Suffering is painful, even when you just listen to the problems.  The new generations are more aware of water scarcity suffering. Our ancestors always taught us to offer water for free. It was considered to be a holy deed. We never ever dared to utilize water for commercial purpose until… Well, until urbanization knocked on our doors and we happily let it march into our lives leading to all the catastrophe- concretization of surface being one leading to limiting the speed of recharge. In the mean time, extracting water was speeding up. That is how water problem started. 

We all want water for ourselves. It has now become a luxurious item, sadly not everyone of us can afford; at least a mother of three girls, Nhuchha Laxmi Basi, a 41 year old woman, currently living in Liwali IDP Camp, Bhaktapur cannot. She is not economically strong enough to purchase enough drinking water. Finding people who would discard a luxurious life is difficult but she does not have that luxury to enjoy as she has been suffering from water scarcity challenge since her house was completely damaged due to 25 April earthquake. Her life has gotten better as she now has landed herself a CGI sheet covered house to live as four months back, a family evacuated the existing shelter.

Despite her happiness of finding a place to live, she shares her difficulty stating, “I have to walk 30 minutes in every 3 days gap for fetching drinking water from my mother’s home as water from the nearby well cannot be used for drinking purpose. Even while cooking, the rice turns black when I use the well water. I also need to go to work so it sometimes get challenging for me to collect water.” She further adds with a smile stating, “But I am lucky that my daughters help me to fetch water. Still there is problem.”

Similar to her story, Sharmila Buya, a 30 years old, mother of three boys shares her story. She too dreads for accessibility to drinking water. the only difference is her husband goes to fetch water that too in bicycle cutting the travel to 15 minutes. Walking past others sufferings is always easy but living with similar sufferings compels us to look out for its solution. Not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy the solution but if we gave helping hands at least everyone of us will be able to enjoy the flavor of water sufferings and make a difference in lives, ours and others too.

Bimala Gurung

Program Associate, GUTHI