A study of 14 government schools in Biratnagar conducted by Nagarik Sarokar Manch (NSM) has concluded after tests of water samples from the schools´ tube wells that more than 30 per cent of the schools have been providing students with contaminated drinking water. NSM had collected water samples and observed the state of toilets in the schools for a month.
Assistant professor of Botany at the Mahendra Morang Adarsha Multiple Campus Radha Adhikari, who prepared the report for NSM, refused to reveal the names of schools but said they have been notified that the water is not drinkable.
The report revealed that most of the tube wells were drilled only up to 45 feet. Though water can be pumped by drilling 45 feet in Biratnagar, it is generally accepted that only water extracted by drilling more than 100 feet is suitable for drinking.
“The water storage tanks were not cleaned regularly and pipe flushing was also minimal,” Adhikari said. Seven of the schools use tube wells for drinking water, six use both tube wells and taps and one uses taps only. Six of the schools instead have blamed that the water supplied by the Nepal Water Supply Corporation is not fit for drinking. The report said the schools do not keep records of students remaining absent due to illness related to water and sanitation.
Similarly, the report concluded that 13 of the schools do not have well-managed toilets. Six of the schools do not have water in their toilets. Similarly, three does not have separate staff toilets while six had staff toilets to be used by both male and female. The report pointed that a school with 82 girls and 68 boys on its rolls had a single toilet.
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