The students have to either go back home to quench their thirst or run half an hour to Bansgaira stream. The teachers also don´t have any water to drink but are spared the ordeal. “Neighbors give them water if they ask. But we have no such option,” said Sangeeta Shrestha, a 10th grader at the school. [break]
She said bringing water from home, as advised by the teachers, is of no use as it gets exhausted very soon. Students mostly sit through their thirst for fear the teachers may think they are not interested in school if they ask permission to go out for a drink of water.
Principal Bishnu Kunwar says the school faces a hard time during summer. “We don´t have water to even sprinkle on someone´s face if he faints,” Kunwar said, conceding his helplessness.
Kunwar says there is no water source near the school and getting water carried to the school is not economically viable. “They charge Rs 25 for carrying a pot of water from Bansgaira stream and even 20 pots wouldn´t suffice during summer. We are not in a position to spend so much just on water every day,” he reasoned.
The District Education Office,when approached over the problem, said that providing water was not its responsibility, according to Kunwar.
The Bansgaira stream also can´t provide sufficient water and locals in Wards No. 4, 5, 6 and 7 in Birkot Village Development Committee (VDC) face an acute drinking water shortage.
They have brought water from Foksingkot VDC 14 kilometers away to ease their woe, but it is inadequate. The water is not enough even for homes and hence they have not given any to the school, said Narayan Shrestha, a local.
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