Dhangadhi: The upsurge in the migration of villagers from Olani village has exacerbated the worries of Chandra Singh Badaila, a resident of Godavari Municipality-12, lately. The Badaila family, who moved to this village from Doti district some five decades ago, is preparing for second migration in single generation. “People have migrated from here in hordes and many others are preparing leave,” he shares.
Around 200 people including Chandra Singh resided in Olani of Chure by clearing the forest. In those days, there was famine in the hills. They used to come and go via Olani while visiting the local market (hat). The water in the Machhelikhola, and the widely sprawling pastureland drew the people affected by the famine. But times have changed, and people are no more attracted to the place. They have come to the conclusion that life is not good anymore as Olani village is already running out of water.
“In the past, there were plenty of water in Machhelikhola for irrigation and drinking. But now there is acute shortage of drinking water here,” says octogenarian Udaya Singh Badaila of Godavari-12. With the water sources drying up, the livelihood of locals has suffered a serious setback and the crops are affected. The situation became even worse after the water level receded further following the accumulation of pebbles in Machhelikhola.
“Don’t reside in the lowland of Chure. I will manage land for you in other sites. You will have to face shortage of water in the future,” he recalls, Dr KI Singh telling him before he moved here. “Now this has turned into a reality.” Those who could afford economically have already migrated, but the underprivileged families are left to face the harsh situation. No one wants to buy land in Olani because of water shortage. The people residing in Godavari ward-11 and 12 do not have enough land. Locals shared that each family owns five Kaththa to one-and-a-half Bigha of land because the settlement was established by clearing the forest. These days, the people in Olani fetch murky water from the river. Senior AHW Satyaraj Phulara says people in this area are affected by various diseases due to consumption of polluted water. According to him, mostly the patients with diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid and scabies visit the hospitals due to the polluted water.
“Now, no one wants to marry their daughters off in Olani,” Udaya Singh fears. They have to share the fact that they possess a house beyond Olani. Most of the people in these two wards have dual settlements, as they have built their houses in Attariya, Dhangadhi and near the East West Highway for kids’ education and other facilities.
The human settlements of Godavari have run out of water for years. Life becomes harder here when the water sources start drying up during dry season when they have to walk 2-3 hours to fetch water in the communal collection centers. Almost all wards of Godavari are reeling under drinking water crisis. Wards no 4, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12, which are the most water-stressed, are located at the foothill of Chure. The drying up of water resources has forced the local residents to migrate to other in recent years.
Tularam Badaila, of Godavari-1, is residing at Chaukidanda of the same municipality for the past two years. Kadak Singh Badaila left the place he had been living for the past three decade to join the team with Tularam. Similarly, Lalbir Koli recently migrated to Geta in Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City after ending his seven-year-long association with Olani. Likewise, Saud and Kadayat families, who arrived in Olani from Doti for lack of sufficient foodstuff back in the hills, have now moved to Attariya.
Tularam, Khadak Singh and Lalbir are just the representative characters. Chairman of Ward No. 11 of Godavari, Shiva BK admits the number of people from ward no-11 and 12 moving to Attariya, Chaukidanda, Jhanjhatpur and Dhangadhi is on the rise. He said the details of the migration would be obtained from the houses built in the village and the barren land because very few families in Olani have received the document of migration from the local office of the vital registration office. So the official records don’t identify the migrated population. But the reality is different. Only 35 persons have emigrated from ward no. 11 and 12 of Godavari during the last seven months. According to Govinda Raj Joshi, an official of the vital registration office of the municipality, the emigrants outnumbered the immigrants during the review period.
Likewise, ward chairman BK says there are 991 households in ward-11 and 1006 households in ward-12, according to the census, 2011, adding that concentration of Dalit population is higher and almost all members have gone to India for work. Political party candidates won the elections by assuring people of making arrangement for drinking water in Olani. But the people are still calling on the leadership to meet their demands. They have been assured many times but they are not sure whether their demands will be address in their life.
“We were hopeful that our problems would resolved after the formation of local government,” said Pathan Singh BK of Godavari-11, adding the local representatives did not even prioritize the drinking water projects in the first budget unveiled after their election. “Locals would have been a happier lot, if the drinking water was managed to all. It would resolve long-standing problem and also stop the growing out-migration from the village,” BK voices.
Chief Administrative Officer of Godavari Municipality Mohan Prasad Marasini said the entire budget for drinking water purpose in the municipality for this fiscal year is just Rs 6 million. Surprisingly, the municipality has accorded priority to culvert development with allocation of d Rs 360 million budget for the project. Marasini, however, promises to allocate more budget for drinking water in the next fiscal year with due priority.
The municipality has allocated Rs 6 million for deep boring and maintenance of water wells. Of them, deep boring is in the plan phase in ward no. 4, 6, 7 and 12. Marasini estimates the cost for a deep-boring project from Rs 1 million to Rs 1.5 million. The rest of the budget would be spent for maintenance of traditional wells and feasibility study. It is estimated to cost up to Rs 2.4 million while installing a deep tube well in Olani–the most water-stressed area in Godavari.
Former chairman of Godavari VDC Bhansingh BK said a mega project for drinking water is needed since the water wells have gradually receded in recent year. Degradation of Chure forest, climate change and increased human activities have resulted in disappearance of water sources, he said adding, “The water of Thuligad River flowing through Chure Rural Municipality and border of Doti district should be availed by constructing a tunnel for a long-term solution of water crisis.”
Though the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office, Dhangadi, constructed two deep tube wells in the last fiscal year, there is no regular drinking water supply in Olani. A total of 21 taps have been installed to supply the water from two deep tube wells, Division Chief Narayan Prasad Kafle said.
No one visits the Division Office albeit there is acute shortage of drinking water, Kafle claimed. Water can be reached some 300 ft down the earth surface in Olani while fixing the deep tube well, but locals don’t have regular access to water due to irregular power supply. Division Chief Kafle said that new planning survey is on the cards for the new upcoming fiscal year in Godavari-10 and 11.
According to Underground Water Resource Expert Nabaraj Shrestha, water can be taken out from the flatlands down the Chure since there is sufficient underground water. The rainwater in the rainy season gets into the ground from the boreholes and the same water can be used by pulling from deep tube wells but it requires arrangement of electricity supply, Shrestha suggests. He says transmitters can be fixed in different locations by working in coordination with state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the water can be distributed from deep tube wells.
Experts blame the unplanned development and the topography of Chure region for the crisis of water. Geologist at Tribhuvan University Dr Subodh Dhakal says that mudstone made up of highly fragile and too small soil particles; sandstone from sand, and conglomerate like rocks developed from gravels is the major composition of Chure region’s geology. According to Dr Dhakal, the ongoing development construction works led to physical degradation and soil erosion in Chure region. The roads constructed along the stiff areas of Chure region have caused landslides and erosion in many sites. Deforestation, unplanned, and unscientific settlement in the region have contributed to the loss of water sources, Dr Dhakal observes.
Underground Water Resource Expert Shrestha said frequent ‘attacks’ on Chure are taking place due to growing trend of new settlement by encroaching the Chure, deforestation, extracting stones and pebbles from the sloppy region and rivers. Excessive exploitation of Chure by extracting sands and pebbles in an uncontrolled and unscientific manner should be replaced by the scientific measures to control the overexploitation of Chure, he recommends.
Chure is viewed as the vital water recharge zone for Bhavar and Tarai belts. The landslides and soil erosion in Chure would result in seasonal flood creating more problems as the rivers flowing through the Chure go unchecked.
Chure is a non-fragmented range of hills in Nepal and it has linked the Tarai and hilly regions, expert on Chure Dr Dinesh Bhuju says on the importance of Chure region. Chure is also the habitat for bio-diversity and the ancient botanical species and many others flora and fauna as well as the fossils of human species are found in Chure. “Nepal’s nomadic community Raute and highly underprivileged community Chepang also rely on this very Chure region. But Chure region with such an importance is like a king without crown for lack of water, Bhuju further describes the importance of Chure.
The water goes down the surface as the sand itself is like graveled in Bhavar region. There is crisis of water in Chure because water can’t remain stagnant on the surface in border areas of Chure, Dr Dhakal argues. The underground water won’t get recharged until the rainwater enters into the ground. So the experts suggest that control of soil-erosion and conservation of forest is a must for the protection of water. There shall be no water crisis if the lakes in Chure region were conserved, they say.
According to Bhuju, failing to deposit water is not the flaw of Chure rather a geographical reality. Chure can be conserved if it is left in its own original form and human settlements were not built, Bhuju argues. But there is no alternative to conserving it as the people in Tarai would not have an access to drinking water in absence of Chure.
Third attempt for irrigation project
An irrigation project in Olani has become too expensive for the government because the project failed here twice. A dam was constructed in 1985 with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) but the flood in 1989 damaged the dam. Another dam was built in 2001 with the investment of Rs 30 million only to be damaged yet again within three months. More than Rs 130 million has been spent for the construction of dams as of now. Irrigation project is still a far cry.
The locals have attempted to irrigate some 20 per cent of the farms with their own efforts. They won’t have irrigation facility during the winter when the water level recedes in the river. Though 13-km long Mohana Irrigation Project is in place from Machhalikhola to the East West Highway, the canal is out of water in 8-km distance even in the rainy season.
Senior Divisional Engineer Ganesh Marasini of Regional Irrigation Directorate, Dhangadhi admits that the construction works are slow due to lack of budget for the construction of Mohana Irrigation Project in Machhalikhola. “As per the agreement, it should have been completed till the end of the last fiscal but the construction period has extended due to budget crunch and other reasons. This project is being developed with a budget of Rs 257.6 million,” he revealed.
The project is expected to irrigate 3,300 hectares of farm land in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts. Engineer Marasini said the project is targeted to supply irrigation facility in 1800 hectares of land in the then Godavari and Malakheti Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Kailali district and 1500 hectares of farm in Golariya and Krishnapur VDCs in Kanchanpur district.
The productivity of the winter and summer crops is forecast to grow better with the supply of irrigation facilities by the project. This is the third of its kind project in the site after the failure of the two earlier projects. There are skepticism about the sustainability of this project as the locals fear that the stones, sand and pebbles coming from the Chure hill during the rainy season is likely to collapse the dam in the rainy season.
