The receding groundwater level has inconvenienced government schoolchildren in the district. In most schools, either the installed hand pump is defunct or throws up contaminated muddy water, adversely affecting children's health.

Alok Kumar, a student at the government middle school inside Bhagalpur Central Jail premises had to replace his old water bottle with a larger one to quench his thirst and that of two siblings. "After the hand pump in our school started throwing up muddy water, in the absence of any other source of drinking water in the high-security area, we were left with no option than to carry water from our homes in Sachidanand Nagar, some 5 km away," Alok said.

Pritam Mishra, headmaster of CMS (Christian Mission School) in Adampur locality, admitted that schoolchildren had to arrange for drinking water from residents of Bank Colony behind the school.

Dipti Kumarai, headmistress of Mokshada Girls Primary School, also in the heart of the city, said a motor and hand pump for water supply at the school got burnt around five days ago, leading to acute water crisis. "We teachers and students have no option than to carry water from our homes," she said.

Rana Kumar Jha, a member of the Primary School Teachers' Association, accused government agencies concerned of not taking adequate measures to counter the drinking water crisis in schools at a time when the mercury has started touching 42 degrees Celsius even in April.

Ranjit Kumar, superintending engineer, PHED, Bhagalpur (west), admitted it was the department's responsibility to take care of hand pumps at government schools. He said they had got complaints but work gets hampered because of the ensuing model code of conduct for the panchayat polls. He assured repair of drinking water sources in government schools after the polls.