By: Krishna Kisi

Kathmandu: Consumers are facing acute water woes after the private pipeline connections ran dry. As there has been no water supply from the taps, consumers are purchasing water from private tanker operators to meet the daily water needs. Sale of bottled and jar water is in rise with the acute water crisis in the Kathmandu Valley.

President of Nepal Bottled Water Industry Association Suman Pradhan told that water companies are selling around 0.4 million litres of bottled water daily. Bottled water ranging from 1 litre to 20 litres is being sold in the market by private companies. About 70 industries are involved in the production of bottled and jar water.
It is a common sight of people queuing up in the traditional stone-spouts with their empty water vessels. Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has not been able to supply even one-third of the total water demand. The Kathmandu Valley needs about 280 million litres of water daily but the KUKL is supplying only 100 million litres of water daily. Out of the total water supply, 38 percent of the water supply is lost through leakage in the water supply lines. The KUKL does not have any instant plan to address the acute water woes. Spokesperson at the KUKL, Rameshwor Shrestha informed that the KUKL is distributing water through tankers to provide some relief to the consumers from acute water woes. He told that KUKL is using 21 tankers to supply drinking water to its consumers in the Kathmandu Valley.
The traditional public stonespouts in the Kathmandu Valley are also drying up. According to a survey conducted by NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation, there are 165 stonespouts in Kathmandu out of which 35 stone-spouts have stopped functioning and 32 stone-spouts have disappeared.
Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works Umakanta Jha informed that the government is preparing to promote rainwater harvesting technology as an alternative to address drinking water problem to some extent.

Source: Annapurna Post, June 20, 2009