Project Location: Singhabahini, Jhayukiri and Singfring sub-watershed of Mai river including Ilam Bazaar 

Completed in Summer 2009

    The existing drain and waste management system in Ilam municipality has always been a problem. The settlement area within Ilam municipality has been expanded thereby resulting high accumulation of solid waste in streams. These streams have been used for various purposes particularly for irrigation, cleaning/washing, livestock and drinking water etc in 3, 4, 6 and 7 ward of the municipality. Contamination of such streams with drain, and solid waste is the major problems faced by the communities residing nearby these streams. Besides, these streams are directly connected to Mai River, the main river system of Ilam, originating from Sandakpur. The Mai river runs 88 km within Ilam, and it has been used for drinking water, irrigation, fisheries, hydro electricity, water mill, cleaning/washing, and livestock farming. Mai River has been identified as water tank for lower belts. In addition, the forest along the bank of Mai river has been identified as one of the important bird areas of Nepal. All the streams of the municipality connected to the Mai River have been causing deterioration of water quality, spoiling riverine beauty, and above all the tremendous negative impacts to the lotic ecosystem. 
    Due to lack of proper management, the waste (degradable and non degradable), toilet, and drain in Ilam directly go to the streams which are the major cause of stream pollution causing various negative environmental impacts. The Mai river gets polluted after the streams connected to it which has caused the conflict between communities of down stream and up stream