Locals of Namdu VDC in Dolakha district picketed the District Administration Office (DAO) on Tuesday demanding regular supply of drinking water. Namdu residents have been reeling under acute shortage of drinking water since a month after owners of the lands the water pipelines ran through cut them, disrupting the water supply to the village. Seventy households of Namdu-3 depend on a water source located three kilometers away in Kabhre VDC-1. "The pipelines supplying water to our VDC was laid in 1967. At the time, we didn't care to register the water source. Hence, the water source has now been privatized taking advantage of that loophole," said Laxmi Prasad Dhungel, a local. The infuriated locals carrying empty water containers surrounded the DAO and demanded stern action against the land owners, Dilli Nath Dhungel and Rabi Chandra Dhungel, as well as immediate resumption of water supply to the village. "The land owners have been troubling the whole village time and again. After a month of being deprived of drinking water, we are forced to organize the protest and draw the attention of concerned authorities toward our problem," added Laxmi. According to her, the land owners claim that there was enough water for their own lands as the source was gradually drying up due to the catastrophic earthquake this year. "We did not get justice even after visiting the police post numerous times. Hence, we felt the need to draw the attention of the chief district officer," she added. Lal Mani Dhungel, a local, said that they have been facing lots of hassles since the obstruction in the pipelines began. "We have to walk for two hours to get drinking water from the nearest available source. We have suffered enough already due to the devastating earthquake. This drinking water crisis only adds to our woes," he said.