Surkhet. The state government has allocated 118 million rupees in the current financial year to complete the incomplete and abandoned drinking water projects that were transferred from the federal government to the Karnali state government.
The provincial government plans to complete projects that have been incomplete for years, rebuild structures damaged by floods and organize projects that have problems in operation.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development, Ramesh Subedi, the work is being done according to the data collected from the incomplete water supply projects transferred from the federal government to the states. He said that the status of the project transferred to all 10 districts of Karnali has been identified and the implementation has been started.
The state government has allocated budget under three headings to implement old and ongoing water supply projects in the current financial year. 20.4 million rupees have been allocated for water service expansion and rehabilitation program. Under this program, the ongoing and incomplete projects handed over to the provincial government in the financial year 2075/76 will be implemented. Similarly, Rs. 90.1 million has been allocated for climate-adapted comprehensive drinking water project and Rs. 75 million for water quality improvement program.
The total budget of these three programs is 118 million rupees. The main objective of the budget is to advance old and incomplete projects, expand water supply services and improve water quality, spokesperson Ramesh Subedi said.
According to the data of the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development, an additional 2 lakh 10 thousand 523 people have benefited from drinking water services during the first five-year plan of Karnali Province.
According to government information, basic level drinking water facilities are available to 88 percent of the population in the province and high and medium level facilities are limited to about 4 percent. This shows that despite the expansion of access to drinking water, more work needs to be done to ensure quality and reliable service.
According to National Census 2078, 162,619 out of 3,66,37 households in Karnali have considered the public tap outside their premises as their main source of drinking water. The number of households with private pipes within the premises is 130 thousand 465.