HETAUDA, June 5 -- Dudhimaya Chepang wakes up at three every morning and heads off to a spring in Kholsi to fetch water. When she gets there after a two-hour long walk, several others like her are already there, lined up in a queue.

"One has to wait for at least half an hour to fill their water jar," Chepang said.

The spring-well, which is the only water source for the locals of Mahakal and Todake villages, is enough to fill only 30 to 40 jars a day. The locals have to wait a whole day for the water to replenish in the spring-well.

During monsoon, however, the villagers use rainwater to meet their water needs.

"It will take a lot of money to build the infrastructure needed to supply water to the villages," Ram Krishan Chepang, Mahakal...