Nepal, April 12 -- Ekendra Giri, a 28-year-old man from Chhapdanda in ward 12 of Mangalsen Municipality in Achham, was thrilled to learn last year that the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office was planning to fund the construction of eight public taps in Chhapdanda.

Giri's joy didn't last long. Even though the local consumer committee has built the taps, none of them supply water, because the water source that fed the reservoir dried up merely two weeks after the taps were inaugurated. It turns out that the contractor had warned the committee about the source spring drying up, but they disregarded the alarm.

With a population of around 750 as per the municipal records, Chhapdanda village has been grappling with water shortage f...