Local communities take the lead in Nepal Red Cross efforts to create sustainable safe drinking water systems following the 2023 Karnali earthquake. ‘I want to make this water system work for generations,’ says one participant. As key local water users, women play a leadership role in planning, design and construction.
The devastating earthquake that struck Nepal in November 2023 not only damaged or destroyed over 75,000 homes and disrupted the livelihood of thousands of people, it also severely damaged critical water sources that communities rely on for everyday survival.
In many places, the Karnali earthquake, as it’s called here, altered the local geology enough it disrupted long-time underground water channels. In many cases, springs and wells dried up, or shifted downhill to another location, due to the shifting ground caused by the earthquake.
On top of that, the earthwyake severely damaged the infrastructure that brought water to people’s homes and communities. For many communities, this has meant washing, cooking, and irrigating with a lot less available water.
To get at the source of the challenge, the Nepal Red Cross Society went directly to the impacted communities. As part of its Karnali Earthquake Response and Recovery Operation, theNepal Red Cross has been working closely with remote rural mountainside communities to create new water sources and systems.
From the beginning, the construction of safe drinking water sources involved extensive consultations with local water-use committees, formed to lead the process and ensure that system design is based on a thorough understanding or how and where communities need water delivered.
Because most of the intensive household users of water are women, there was significant and enthusiastic female participation, with women taking on important roles of the water committees. One of those women is Mani kumari Khatri, who worked along with her neighbours and the NRCS during the construction of the water supply system.
“We now have water from our household tap even after a dry winter this year,” says Mani Kumari Khatri, a local resident of Rukum West. “This water scheme has also provided additional opportunities to grow vegetables in kitchen garden which can be our food, or we can generate some income by selling those vegetables in local market.”
“The Red Cross recognised our need for the water and supported the entire building of the water scheme in our community,” she adds. “They worked together with the community to complete the scheme that now benefits twenty-four houses.”
With the support of IFRC network, the NRCS supported several communities with safe drinking water systems, along with help with repairs and maintenance in all three earthquake affected districts of Karnali province (Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan). In total, this operation has has so far led to:
- Construction of 23 water supply projects, out of which 16 were repair and maintenance of the existing systems, and 7 were newly constructed.
- A total of 951 households (322 Jajarkot, 397 Rukum West and 232 Salyan) benefited from these schemes.
These efforts are meant to complement the Nepal government’s nationwide implementation of its “One house, one tap” policy as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for universal access to safe drinking water by 2030.
Getting involved in water scheme construction
Hajari Oli is another representative among many who have actively contributed to the construction of water supply scheme. As the committee that was formed, Hajari was appointed treasurer. Besides managing the financial expenses for the water supply scheme, she regularly provided much-needed input in the construction of the water scheme, including a lot of hands-on work with many aspects of the building process.
“Our village lies at the top of the hill and remains mostly dry, so we, especially the women, have to take a time-consuming trip to collect and fetch water for drinking and for other household purposes,” says Hajari Oli.
Now with the support from Nepal Red Cross, the community is constructing two water reservoir tanks and drinking water will soon be available at household level. “We are very happy and excited with this support from the Red Cross. After it is completed, we will use water for drinking as well as for irrigation,” she adds.
Local women also helped to collect and manage locally obtained materials, and participated in pipe laying, digging ground, and active leadership in the water user committee.
“We had formed a group and divided the responsibility as per our abilities,” says Bhadi Kumari, a member of the committee*. “Everyone from the community, including many older people came out together to contribute with great enthusiasm*.”
Many community members were also able to contribute their own technical skills and experience. A plumbing technician by trade, Karna has over 30 years of experience in water supply systems under his belt and has been involved in the construction of more than 250 water schemes and reservoir tank building.
For this reason, the community commissioned him to help with the construction of the two water schemes in Rukum West district, especially for the building of reservoir tanks and plumbing works.
“I had received training on water supply scheme construction a long time ago,” says Karna*. “From then onwards, I have been working continuously in constructions of the water schemes in many communities including in the neighbouring districts*.”
Experienced technicians like Karna were not the only ones that were engaged for the construction of the water scheme but opportunities were also provided to young aspiring students like Bibek so that they can acquire practical hands-on skills and exposure.
“I got the opportunity to work as technical volunteer for the Red Cross and it was a privilege to serve my community,” says Bibek, technician from Jajarkot. “In addition, I gained practical experience which expanded my knowledge and confidence.”
The Water Safety Plan includes the provision of the maintenance fund, caretaker/plumber and include agreed monthly tariff collection from the users, based on the consumption of water through meter reading.
From the beginning, it was clear that the local communities shared the NRCS goal of creating durable solutions.
“I am voluntarily leading the construction of the water supply scheme in my community,” says Ram Karki, Chairperson of Water User Committee of Jajarkot. “I want to make this scheme work for generations, as we have faced a lot of challenges for safe drinking water before. We have set water pipeline from more than 8 KM from tough terrain in search of quality and durability of source for this scheme.”
Transparency and accountability
In Karnali Earthquake Recovery Operation, all the construction of the schemes were done in the leadership of the water user committees. From the beginning of the construction work, NRCS had shared the amount of contribution from the organisation as well as from the community.
NRCS had organised public audits in the presence of the community members and local stakeholders before handing over the schemes to the communities. During these public audits, detailed expenditure reports were shared. Information boards with detailed budgets were also put up at construction sites for wider information dissemination and transparency.