First impressions of Kamalamai, Sindhuli District

Our visit to Nepal took us on from Itahari to the municipality of Kamalamai, in Sindhuli District, which was a five hour drive from Biratnagar. 

As we drove through the villages and plains in the Terai region (meaning 'plains'), it dawned on us how different the landscapes and contexts are, even just within Nepal. We heard about the challenges of improving water and sanitation in the Terai region, such as the high levels of arsenic in the water which comes from shallow tube wells, and the very high temperatures which put people off using latrines, simply because they are so hot inside. 

The landscape started to change and we were impressed by the bright greens everywhere as we had arrived during the rainy season. The terrain became more hilly and there were more and more trees as we approached Kamalamai. At the entrance to Kamalamai (pictured above), there is a Buddhist temple accross the river, the Kamal temple, from which Kamalamai takes its name. The name Kamal refers to the incarnation of a goddess. 

Our host from CIUD, our local partner organisation in Kamalamai, told us that there is 58% forest coverage in the municipality. The population has grown in recent years due to the Maoist insurgency, which caused many people to move from rural areas to towns. Despite being categorised as 'urban', as a municipality, we learnt that two Village Development Committees (or VDCs, a rural administrative area in Nepal) were merged to create Kamalamai municipality, which explained its rural feel, particularly on the outskirts. It is mainly in these isolated outskirts that WaterAid and our partners are working, in order to connect the poorest communities to a water supply and to sanitation and hygiene services.