Kiratikhola drinking water project

As reported by the World Bank, Nepal is one of the poorest nations in the world with an estimated GDP per capita of US$470. With a staggering 42 percent of the population living below the poverty line and only 27 percent with improved access to sanitation, there are quite a number of issues facing Nepal. Some of these significant challenges are related to water pollution and water scarcity.

According to the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage in Nepal, even though an estimated 80% of the total population has access to drinking water, it is not safe. Those belonging to poor and excluded groups in rural areas have limited to no access.

Kiratikhola, the site of this project, lies in the foothill of Mahabharat mountain range in Chitwan district. The Chepang are predominant in this area. The Chepang are an indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic group mainly inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal.

Over the past two or three generations, the Chepang have begun to slowly shift from a semi-nomadic (slash-and-burn) lifestyle to a more settled way of life, relying increasingly upon the production of permanent fields of maize, millet and bananas.

The Unica Foundation was connected with this area since 2014 via solar lights project and later on irrigation project. This is the first drinking water project of the Unica Foundation going to be launched here. Shanti Griha Nepal, a NGO active in this region since long time, will be our implementing partner.