“When it breaks, the only tool I have for maintenance is a knife in my kitchen.”
“We are all aware that we need to drink boiled water and our water sources need to be clean. However, the people here have a mindset that boiled water does not quench thirst so many don’t bother. The government has a policy of assuring clean drinking water to each house but it has not been implemented to my knowledge. Although some water outlets are built in the village, it is not sufficient, as not all the outlets supply adequate water. It is the traditional water source that has been quenching our thirst for a very long time. However, no one knows how safe the water is and how long it will sustain. Even the reserve tank is not well-managed.
Life has been difficult here for a long time. After our only mother eloped away, I had to take care of my brothers, sisters and myself. I was the eldest son in our family. When my siblings were still young, I was already an adult. Our father remarried. Life was difficult. We were like orphans, bereft of our mother’s love. Polygamy is a thing that is still practiced in our community. Furthermore, child marriage used to also be practiced in our village. There were no laws in the past. There’s a law against it now and people are also conscious. In spite of all this, some people ignore it and child marriages still take place. Talking of discrimination based on caste, it is not very prevalent here.
We were kids when a foreign agency built the only water supply in the village which was brought from the source. The supply was adequate in the past as the population was less. Since the number of households has increased, we have experienced an acute shortage of water. We can’t use it for washing and cleaning purposes as we need to save it for cooking and drinking.
Eventually, I also got married when I turned 18 and the very next year, I was a father to a daughter. Today, I have 4 children. It is also only now, as the place is connected to the road network, that things here have become a bit easier despite the difficult topography.
Even so, I had to struggle a lot while getting water supplied to my home. I used to fetch water in a gallon from a nearby river. My house was the only house here and no one would care. I bought the pipes myself and installed them to get the water supply from the nearest source. And it is very frustrating to see cattle and kids breaking it time and again. Moreover, occasional landslides during monsoons also create trouble in the water supply. It is only me who has to repair it. When it breaks, the only tool I have for maintenance is a knife in my kitchen.
Anyway, now I’ve extended my personal water supply to the roadside for others to drink. Since there’s no other water source nearby, many people admire me for this generosity. Even cattle in the neighborhood drink from it. The travelers who pass by during summer thank me, which makes me happy.
People stop by to drink water. But when they ask me for a place to urinate, I become speechless. Then they understand the situation and go to the forest. I invested in the water supply and now it is serving people and animals. However, constructing toilet facilities wasn’t in my capacity. When no one listened to my request for support, I didn’t even feel a necessity for it, as there was a lot of open space around. It is easier to defecate in open space and no one has a problem with that so far. However, it’s not that I don’t want to have a toilet built. If I get support, I will construct a toilet as well and it will be used not just by my family but also by the travelers passing by.”
– Karma Torche Tamang, Maangri, Mugum Karmarong-8, Mugu
“हामी सबैलाई थाहा छ, पानी उमालेर खानु पर्छ, पानीको मुहान सफा हुनुपर्छ भनेर । तर उमालेको पानीले तिर्खा नै मेटिदैन भन्ने सोचाइ छ मानिसहरूमा । त्यसैले पानी उमाल्ने कष्ट कसैले पनि गर्दैनन् । एक घर एक धारा हुनुपर्ने सरकारको नीति त छ । तर मलाई थाहा भएसम्म त्यो नीति कार्यान्वयनमा आउन सकेको छैन । गाउँमा केही धाराहरू बनाइएको भए तापनि पर्याप्त छैनन् । भएका धाराहरूमा पनि यथेष्ट पानी आउँदैन । परम्परागत मुलबाट आएको पानीले नै आजसम्म हाम्रो तिर्खा मेटाइरहेको छ । तर कसैलाई पनि थाहा छैन, यो पानी कत्तिको सुरक्षित छ र कहिलेसम्म यसले धान्छ भन्ने । पानी सिंचित गर्ने ट्याङ्की पनि व्यवस्थित छैन ।
मेरो जीवन दुःखै दुःखमा बितेको हो । सानै छँदा हाम्री आमा अर्कोसँग पोइला जानु भएपछि मैले नै मेरा भाइबहिनीलाई हुर्काउनु परेको थियो । घरको जेठोबाठो म नै थिएँ । भाइबहिनीहरू सानै हुँदा म नै ठूलो थिएँ । जब बुबाले पनि अर्की आमा ल्याउनुभयो, तब जिन्दगी निकै गाह्रो हुन पुग्यो । आमाको माया नपाएको हामी टुहुरा जस्तै थियौँ । गाउँमा अहिले पनि बहुविवाहा गर्ने चलन छ । पहिले त झन् बालविवाह पनि निकै हुन्थ्यो । त्यतिखेर त यस सम्बन्धी कानुन नै थिएन । अहिले त कानुन पनि छ र मानिसहरूमा अलि चेतना पनि छ । यति हुँदाहुँदै पनि कहिलेकाहीँ केही मानिसहरू कानुनको उलङ्घन गर्दै बालविवाह गर्छन् । जातिय भेदभाव चाहीँ त्यति छैन हाम्रो ठाउँमा ।
एउटा विदेशी संस्थाले मुहानबाट पानी ल्याएर हाम्रो गाउँमा पहिलो धारा बनाउँदा हामी त सानै थियौँ । त्यतिखेर जनसंख्या पनि कम भएकाले जसतसो पानी सबैलाई पुगेकै थियो । अहिले त जनसंख्या पनि वृद्धि भएकाले बेलाबेलामा पानीको चरम अभाव भोग्नुपर्छ । हामी लुगा धुन, सफा गर्न पानी प्रयोग गर्न सक्दैनौँ किनभने पिउन र खाना पकाउन पानी जोगाउनुपर्छ ।
१८ वर्ष पुगेपछि मैले पनि विवाह गरेँ । अनि अर्को साल त छोरीको बाउ नै भएँ । अहिले मेरा ४ जना बच्चाहरू छन् । यो गाउँमा बाटो आएको पनि भर्खरै मात्र हो । त्यसैले यहाँको भूगोल अलि अप्ठ्यारो भए तापनि वातावरण सजिलो हुँदै गएको छ ।
यति हुँदाहुँदै पनि मेरो घरसम्म पानी ल्याउन साह्रै संघर्ष गर्नुपर्यो । कुनै बेला खोलाबाट ग्यालिनमा पानी ल्याउनुपर्थ्यो । यो क्षेत्रमा मेरो मात्रै घर भएकाले कसैलाई पनि मतलब भएन । म आफैले पैसा हालेर पाइप किनेँ अनि नजिकैको मुहानबाट पानी ल्याएँ । यति दुःख गरेर ल्याएको पानीको पाइपलाई गाईवस्तु र बच्चाहरूले बेलाबेलामा बिगारिदिँदा निकै दिक्क लाग्छ । त्यति मात्रै कहाँ हो र । वर्षा याममा आइरहने पहिरोले पनि पानीको आपुर्तीमा समस्या ल्याइदिन्छ । बिग्रियो भने बनाउने म आफै मात्र हो । बिग्रियो भने बनाउने औजार चाहीँ मसँग भान्साको चक्कु मात्रै छ ।
जे भए पनि बाटोमा हिड्ने बटुवाको लागि भनेर मैले मेरो निजी पाइपलाई बाटोसम्म ल्याएर धारा बनाइदिएको छु । यहाँ वरपरी पानीको अर्को स्रोत नभएकाले धेरै मानिसहरू मप्रति कृतज्ञ भएका छन् । कहिलेकाहीँ त वरपरका गाईवस्तुहरू पनि आएर यहीँको पानी खान्छन् । गर्मीको समयमा यो बाटो हिड्ने बटुवाहरूले त मलाई धन्यवाद नै भनेर जान्छन् । मलाई यसैले धेरै खुसी दिएको छ ।
मानिसहरू पानी खान यहाँ रोकिन्छन् । तर जब पिसाब फेर्ने ठाउँ कहाँ हो भनेर सोध्छन्, तब मलाई के भन्नुँ, के भन्नुँ हुन्छ । त्यसपछि कुरो आफै बुझेर उनीहरू जंगलतिर पस्छन् । मैले आफै पैसा हालेर ल्याएको पानीले अहिले मान्छेको मात्रै होइन, वस्तुहरूको पनि तिर्खा मेटाएको छ । तर अब एउटा चर्पी बनाउने क्षमता मसँग छैन । चर्पी बनाउन सहयोगको लागि मैले धेरैजनासँग बिन्ती गरिसकेँ । तर कसैले नसुनेपछि मैले पनि त्यसको आवश्यकता महशुस गर्न छोडिदिएँ । हेर्नुस् न यहाँ जता गए पनि खुला ठाउँ छ, जता पसे पनि भइहाल्यो । खुल्लामा दिसापिसाब गर्न पनि सजिलो नै हुन्छ र कसैलाई त्यसप्रति आपत्ती पनि छैन भने म मात्रै कति कराउने? तर यति भन्दै गर्दा मलाई चर्पी बनाउने इच्छा नै छैन भन्न खोजेको चाहीँ होइन है । कसैबाट सहयोग प्राप्त भयो भने म अवश्य चर्पी बनाउनेछु । चर्पी बन्यो भने मेरो परिवारले मात्रै त्यसको प्रयोग गर्ने छैनन्, यो बाटो हिड्ने बटुवाहरूले पनि त्यसको प्रयोग गर्न पाउँनेछन् ।”
– कर्मा तोर्चे तामाङ, कर्मारोङ-8, माङ्ग्री
