Kathmandu: Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) is preparing to cut off pipeline connections of big hotels, business houses, schools and businessmen who have not cleared their water bills for years. KUKL has declared this at the time when the water company is monitoring the tariff dues of these groups.

By: Bishnu Prasad Aryal
 
Kathmandu: The government has welcomed international companies to set up the ‘refuse derived fuel plant’ for the Kathmandu Valley. “We’ve removed the hurdles allowing both the national and international companies to compete for the installation of the plant. The call for Expression of Interest (EoI) to this effect is likely, soon,” said Dr. Dinesh Chandra Devkota, coordinator of the much-touted High Level Committee for Waste Management, and a member of the National Planning Commission.

Kathmandu: Water Tariff Review Commission is conducting a public hearing to review the water tariff. Water tariff Review Commission was formed on the ministerial cabinet decision on September 15, 2009. Former Attorney General Chetnath Ghimire has been appointed as the president of the commission and a water expert Narendra Man Pradhan and finance expert and Chartered Accountant Kunja Bihari Kayal have been appointed as the members.

Lalitpur: The high level committee on solid waste management is to manage the garbage produced from the five municipalities including Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi and the surrounding urbanizing VDCs. At present, only the local agency under the government is managing garbage produced in Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

Kathmandu: Campaigners against global warming all around the world celebrated the first ever International Day of Climate Action on October 24 with a universal message to reduce carbon emissions. Celebrations were held throughout the world with a call to cut carbon emission to 350 parts per million (ppm).

Kathmandu: The Urban Environmental Improvement Project (UEIP), which started in 2004, has an aim to bring about sustainable urban development in nine urban areas of Nepal. The project is conducted by the government with loan assistance from Asian Development Bank.

Kathmandu: Freshwater Action Network (FAN) Nepal has demanded with the government to ensure clean drinking water and sanitation as the fundamental human rights in the new constitution. FAN Nepal has made necessary steps to put pressure upon the officials of Constituent Assembly and said that the concerned authorities are to be made alert for ensuring such a right for the people.

Kathmandu: Garbage disposal at Aletar landfill site resumed today following a breakthrough in dialogue between the government and a group of people led by a UCPN-Maoist cadre Bhavana Karki. "We've reached an agreement with the aggrieved party. The garbage disposal will continue unfettered from today," said Rabin Man Shrestha, chief at the Environment Management Department, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC).

Kathmandu: Claiming that the pledge to fulfill their demands was not translated into action, a group of people led by UCPN-Maoist cadre Bhavana Karki disrupted garbage dumping at Aletar landfill site today. According to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), eight trucks, which were en route to the site to dump the garbage, were forced to return by the group this morning.

Kathmandu: Freshwater Action Network (FAN), network of various civil society organizations working for water and sanitation sector on Tuesday demanded that rights to drinking water and sanitation be ensured as fundamental rights in the new statute.

Lalitpur: The High Level Committee on Waste Management formed two months ago, has sought additional four months to deal with the private sector for establishing garbage-fuelled plant in the Valley. "It is impossible to deal with the private sector within the stipulated time," said Dr. Sumitra Amatya, member secretary of the committee. "So we have prepared a draft to be submitted to the cabinet for extending the tenure till mid-April," she added.

Tanahun: The villagers of Salsisne in Bhanu VDC-5 have been forced to drink the undrinkable water of the local streams of Marsyandi and Chudi after a water storage tank in the area was poisoned by some unidentified persons on Monday night. The local residents of some 150 households said that they were left with no option but to consume the murky water after their sole source was poisoned.

Dadeldhura: About 200 families of Malum in Amargadi municipality-1 are forced to share a single tap for drinking water after a drinking water project constructed by a NGO some 12 years ago stopped functioning due to lack of repair and maintenance.

Achham: The child clubs in Mangalsen, Dhakari and Sodsha VDCs have spent the money collected in ‘Deusi’ and ‘Bhailo’ to construct toilets. Ganga K.C., president of Ekata Child Club-Mangalsen told that the club had collected Rs. 20,000 from ‘Deusi’ and ‘Bhailo’ and distributed Rs. 500 each to all the households in the village to construct toilets. “We have done so to make our village an open defecation free village,” he said.

Banke: The regional Drinking Water Laboratory of Nepalgunj has remained unutilized owing to absence of technical staffs in the office. The laboratory was established with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB) six months ago with the aim to distribute water according to the standard set by World Health Organization (WHO).

Nepalgunj: Regional drinking water laboratory established in Nepalgunj with the support of Asian Development Bank remains unutilized due to lack of technicians. The laboratory was established some six months ago to supply water according to the standards set by World Health Organization (WHO). The laboratory aims to test water samples in Mid-western region.

Dhading: Toilet construction in all the houses of the Kumal settlement in Maidi VDC has been completed. About 94 households in the Kumal settlement have constructed toilets in their houses. Earlier, the locals were using the pig’s pen for toilet purposes. Similarly, Ujyalo village in Gajuri VDC-1 is going to be declared an open defecation free zone.

Makwanpur: Locals of Khaliban have witnessed a lot of changes after construction of pitchers in their own courtyards for collecting rainwater. The villagers have started to earn some money by devoting their time saved from fetching water in other income-generating works. Earlier, the women in the village had to spend their whole morning to fetch a pail of water.

By: Hari Sharma

Parasi: Residents of southern Nawalparasi are engaged in constructing toilets in their houses. Earlier, the villagers used to defecate in the open due to lack of awareness on health and sanitation. The villagers have started to construct toilets after the Disaster Management Centre Butwal launched Drinking Water, Toilet and Health Promotion programme in 10 VDCs of the district including Rampurwa, Rampurkhadauna, Bhujhawa, Pratappur, Thulokhairtawa, Trivenisusta, Narayani, Prasauni and Kolhuwa.

Damauli: About 150 households in the Salbisne village of Bhanu VDC luckily escaped the potential disaster. They escaped the potential disaster after some of them shortly find out that someone poured poison in the water tank. The villagers informed the police after they smelt poison while washing face on morning. Police Inspector Ashok Regmi informed that the villagers then emptied the water tank to clean it.

Damak: Local Forest Users Group has started to manage garbage produced from the Beldangi Bhutanese Refugee Camp. The refuges living in the camp have been demanding to manage garbage produced from the camp. Mahendra Singh Niraula, president of Forest Users Group told that the group has provided 10 ‘Kattha’ of land in the forest area for managing huge amount of garbage produced from the refugee camp daily.

Khotang: Diktel, the district headquarters of Khotang, is reeling under acute shortage of drinking water for the past three days as the damaged pipelines in Ratnapark have not been repaired yet. Water fetchers queue up in the local water hole after the taps in the market area ran dry.

Rukum: Drinking water supply has been halted after the thieves stole away the pipes of Small Irrigation Project in Peugha-1 and 8. About twenty nine households are deprived of drinking water after the thieves stole away the pipes of the project.

Dadeldhura: Over 200 families of Amargadi Municipality-1, Malum area are sharing a single tap for drinking water — their last resort. The large families’ members are facing routine problems as they have to queue up for about an hour to get a bucket of water.

By: Maya Adhikari

Parbat: Ward no. 4 of Durlung Village Development Committee of Parbat has been declared an open defecation free zone in the initiation of local Janajagaran and Deurali mother group. A local child club is actively engaged in making the village an open defecation free zone.

Khotang: A drinking water project constructed in Mattim VDC of Khotang some 14 years ago is in dilapidated condition. The project was constructed at an investment of Rs. 10.5 million including financial support of Rs. 8.6 million from the Asian Development Bank and labour contribution worth Rs. 1.9 from the local consumers. However, the project had stopped functioning within some days of its completion.

Rajbiraj: Raj stadium, the biggest stadium in the Sagarmatha zone, has turned into an open toilet for the general public due to lack of proper repair and maintenance. The stadium, where dozens of national tournaments including taekwondo, kabaddi, judo, wrestling etc were held, is now not in a condition even for a normal tournament because of its sanitation and drainage problems.

Sydney: Drinking untreated rainwater is safe for your health, according to an Australian study. Researchers from Melbourne's Monash University looked at 300 homes that used rainwater collected in water tanks as their primary drinking source in what they described as a "world first" study that comes amid growing criticism of bottled water.

Geneva: Diarrhoea kills at least three times more people than previously thought, the World Health Organization said on Friday, citing latest data showing that 1.1 million people die yearly from the ailment. "The burden of diarrhoea is significantly higher than was previously considered," said Jorgen Schlundt, director of food safety department at the WHO.

We can see that the Bagmati River, the holiest river of Nepal, is being polluted by unwanted activities of human beings, especially people of Kathmandu valley. It emits a foul odor which makes it difficult for people to walk along or close to the river.

The locals have once again disrupted the disposal of garbage at Aletar landfill site. Once again we can expect to see garbage accumulate in the capital. Time and again we hear about demands being made by the locals and most of them being met. However, the locals allege that the authorities have not made good their commitments.

The management of garbage in the capital city has proved to be a hard nut to crack. Every day about 460 metric tones of garbage is produced in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and the Lalitpur Metropolitan City. After much study and research, it was found that the Sisdole area was appropriate as landfill sites.

By: Sharada Adhikari

Kathmandu: If there is no proper planning or management, urbanization, a worldwide phenomenon meant for improving living standard, can create environmental chaos. Banepa, a small town situated around 25 km east of Kathmandu in Kavrepalanchowk district, is on its urbanization threshold. However, like other unplanned urban areas, it too is facing problems of drinking water, solid waste management, disposal of sewage, and haphazard settlements among others.

By: Laxmi Prasad Khatiwada

Kathmandu: Historic stonespouts in the Kathmandu are on the verge of extinction due to lack of proper conservation. Over 60 percent stonespouts in the Kathmandu Valley are at risk due to destruction of their water sources and increasing human encroachment. According to a recent survey conducted by NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation, about 28 traditional stonespouts in the Kathmandu Valley have already disappeared. Similarly, water does not gush out of 33 stonespouts among the total of 159 stonespouts in the Kathmandu Valley, as shown by the survey.