An Excruciating yet Joyful Project Journey

2021-08-28

Date : 28th August 2021

A Hydraulic ram pump (Hydram) is an automatic pumping device that uses a large flow of water falling through a small head, to lift a small flow of water through a higher head. Hydram can be used to supply water in high-altitude areas where rivers cannot reach. Out of the 100%, water drawn by the machine 10% is automatically pumped to an overhead reservoir tank. On top of that, Hydram needs no power supply and is a completely clean and simple technology. Though it sounds like an easy solution for communities living in the mountainous terrain of Nepal, far from a water source, there are pros and cons in its functioning in rural villages of Nepal. We recently got this opportunity to visits some Hydram sites and talk with the beneficiaries and the local stakeholders in Dhading and Syangja.

On 28th August 2021, we started our journey towards our first project site of Dhading. On the first site in Dhading, the Hydram had made a significantly positive impact on local people’s lives when it was in operation. Locals revealed how the project had helped them to provide water for the construction of more than 25 houses in the area after the 2015 earthquake. After spending a few hours in this first site, we called it a day and went to the hotel to rest.

The following day we visited second site which was at a high altitude; a perfect site for testing the feasibility of project Hydram. Despite the rainy weather condition, we reached the village and interviewed the locals about the situation of Hydram in the village. The project had helped them a lot in the past to irrigate their lands and grow vegetables.

Similarly, the same day, we also visited the third site where Hydram had supplied drinking water to the village in the past. Most of these Hydram sites in Dhading are nonfunctional now due to road construction, landslides, lack of technical and financial support, the willingness of the community, and substitute water sources

The next day we visited the first site at Syangja. The first site was functioning perfectly and drawing water into the reservoir tanks however due to lack of distribution channels, people used to collect water from the reservoir. Moving forward, our next site was located on top of a hill directly above a river. People in that area had been helped a lot by project Hydram. It enabled them to irrigate their land and grow crops and vegetables and thus uplift their living standards. Unfortunately, even in that area, project Hydram was currently under maintenance.

We then set off towards our third and final project site in Syangja. On reaching the village we found out that the reservoir tank, which was supposed to be constructed on top of a hill was set up fairly lower which interrupted the water supply completely in few houses and fractionally in others. In course of our five days of research, we came across several challenges. The mountainous geography of our project sites and the rainy weather condition was the first big challenge for our team.

We traveled to many sites despite heavy rain and occasional landslides. While we were on our way to waling, our vehicle stopped due to parts malfunctioning. We had to order parts from Kathmandu to repair the vehicle. From facing tiny leeches in Syangja to encountering a mighty tiger, we encountered all. Taking every challenge as an opportunity, we completed our visit.

Locals have been benefited a lot from the project. Hydra had provided support for irrigation, supply of drinking water, and sanitization. However, lack of management, technical and financial resources have been the major challenge for the continuation of the technology. After completing five days of the excruciating yet joyful visit, and spending a night in the city of lakes; Pokhara, we returned to Kathmandu.