Hand pumps are dry, even deep borewells no longer provide enough water

The summer sun rises over Dhangadhi, Nepal, but for many residents, the day begins not with warmth, but with a desperate search for water. Across Kailali district in the country's farwest, families wake before dawn to join queues at the few remaining functional hand pumps or trek to neighboring villages with empty containers.

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The water shortage is beyond words. We cannot bathe, wash dishes or clothes, or even drink cold water. There is no water in the hand pump. What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go?

"The water shortage is beyond words. We cannot bathe, wash dishes or clothes, or even drink cold water. There is no water in the hand pump. What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go?" asked Kamala Puri, a resident of Phulbari, expressing the daily anxiety gripping the region. The prolonged drought and extreme heat have caused groundwater levels to plummet, leaving wells that once flowed year-round now dry.

Even deep borewells are failing to provide sufficient water, disrupting daily life and forcing residents like Urmila Puri to start their search for water "early every morning." The hand pumps stopped working as early as March, and the situation worsens daily, with long lines forming just to collect a meager amount.

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How are we supposed to survive this unbearable heat without water?

In response to the escalating crisis, the Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City has begun distributing drinking water to affected wards using water tankers and fire trucks. Deepak Bhandari, head of the municipality’s disaster management section, stated that approximately 14,000 liters of water have been distributed daily for the past three days in the Phulbari–Syaule area. The municipality is also installing a deep borewell in Syaule to address the severe shortage, with reports of similar issues in the Jali area.

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We have to start searching for water early every morning. The hand pumps stopped working as early as March. The situation is getting worse every day, and we have to stand in line just to collect water.

The crisis is not confined to Dhangadhi. Several villages in Kailari Rural Municipality are also struggling. Hariram Chaudhary of Deviganj shared that his family now relies on water brought from neighboring villages. "There used to be water throughout the year," he recalled. "For the past two to three years, the hand pumps have been drying up during the dry season."

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The shortage became so severe that we started installing a deep borewell in Syaule. We have also received reports of an acute water shortage in the Jali area of ward 6.