Myagdi residents lead recovery efforts as infrastructure remains crippled
As Myagdi district recovers from the floods and landslides of late September, Beni is working to restore its water supply while villagers in Paudwar rebuild through volunteer labour.
Communities across Myagdi district are working to restore essential services after the floods and landslides that followed heavy rain in late September. While the water users' body in the district headquarters repairs damaged pipelines, residents of remote villages are rebuilding with their own labour.
Beni water shortage
In Beni, the district headquarters, the Beni Drinking Water and Sanitation Consumers' Organization is repairing the pipelines that supply the town. According to Nepal Television and Nagarik, Beni needs more than 20 litres of water per second but is currently receiving only eight. The organization serves about 25,000 people in roughly 1,200 households in wards 2, 7 and 8 of Beni Municipality. The pipeline from the Rithakharka and Dandakharka sources in Annapurna Rural Municipality-8, which normally carries 22 to 25 litres per second, has been shut for a month.
Organization president Ramesh Giri said temporary and alternative pipelines are being built on the Rahupare–Galeshwar and Dallepipal–Beni sections. Because landslides started on the slopes at Khoriya and Khareni, he said, the route had to be changed and about three kilometres of new pipeline laid through Dallepipal, Kalipul, the Beni ring road and the Darwang bus park area. Secretary Keshav Prasad Regmi said a temporary line is also being run along the Beni–Jomsom road to bring water from Rahupare. The organization has sent the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management a proposal estimating Rs 14.7 crore for immediate work and Rs 70 crore for a long-term plan, according to Regmi.
Volunteer rebuilding in Paudwar
In Paudwar, in Annapurna Rural Municipality-5, residents are repairing damaged infrastructure through labour donation. Onlinekhabar and Nagarik reported that the landslides that followed continuous rain from Asoj 8 to 11 (September 24 to 27) cut off Paudwar along with the settlements of Giwang, Nepane, Kindu, Dhoskekhor and Ghirwang.
Ward chair Rajesh Tilija Pun, himself a Paudwar resident, said groups from three neighbourhoods are working on water supply, trails and electricity. Power returned this week after a transformer was flown in by helicopter, and the trails from Ghar to Paudwar and from Paudwar to the tourist spot of Khopara have reopened, he said. Resident Hari Tilija said villagers did what they could themselves because waiting for help from government agencies meant delay and hardship.
The road from the rural municipality's centre, Pokharebagar, through Paudwar and neighbouring villages to the ward office at Shikha remains badly damaged, and even pack mules carrying food and daily supplies cannot use it. Residents told Onlinekhabar they are worried that a similar disaster could strike again in the next monsoon.