Sunday, 17th November 2019 – Balham Village near Pokhara

There are some things in your life that stay with you forever.

I was last in Balham village nearly forty years ago as part of a three month water supply project organised by Chantry Venture Scouts Unit and implemented with the help of the Scouts of Nepal.

Today I went back.

Balham Village Then

Forty years ago Pokhara was a small town and Balham village was a remote village a couple of hours or more walk away.

There were no roads and the only access was via a long walk down a gorge, over a dodgy bridge that had to be rebuilt after the monsoon floods each year and back up the other side. Everything, food, supplies, tools, a generator, fuel, all had to be carried in.

There was no water supply in the village and the women had to walk an hour or so several times a day to collect fresh water from a mountain stream whilst the men sat in the shade of the trees discussing important business.

With a lot of self-confidence, very little experience, the help of a do-it-yourself guide from the British Council and the support of Nepal Scouts, we designed and built a water supply system which included:

• a top reservoir to collect the water from mountain stream as it emerged from the rocks,
• an intermediate reservoir to reduce the head of pressure down the mountain,
• a single tap in the centre of Balham village a mile or so away from the source.

Our expedition medical team provided clinical services for the area. We also introduced a new form of wood burning stove that reduced the amount of wood needed and the smoke produced.

Balham Village Now

The village has grown along with Pokhara. As it grew, the water supply we installed was insufficient to support the growing needs of the village and the army installed a new pipeline from a different source.

To do so they had to build a road of sorts and the area now has electricity, a larger water supply – and water meters.

Despite the road it is still out of the way. Our driver had to work hard to find the right location.

• 

When we got to the village, we found a number of people who remembered the project.

The talked with some fondness about the ‘unity project’, the friendliness of the British people who had been there and how we didn’t like buffalo milk.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The village tap that we installed is no longer in use and the tap on the supply pipe has been recycled elsewhere. But that’s not as disappointing as it sounds.

When the army installed the larger supply for the village, the villagers diverted the supply we had installed to the school building we stayed in. So the system is still providing a useful source of water to this day.

Other People Have Fond Memories Too.

One of the villagers we spoke to had very fond memories of the project and still has a photo of everyone on the day the system was turned on for the first time. Dave is on here if you want to try and find him.

•