Lalitpur, April 8:

As water shortage has gripped the city, Lalitpur locals have joined hands to conserve traditional source of drinking water — the stone spouts that have been serving them for over 300 years.

In a bid to conserve stone spouts of Lalitpur, representatives of 30 areas of the district today gathered at Alok Hiti area and held a discussion on ways to conserve traditional sources of water. They have formed a Stone Spouts Conservation Committee (SSCC) for the purpose.

It aims to mobilise communities in conservation of stone spouts, water distribution in areas with short supply of water and press the government to draft policies to support their drive, Sushil Shrestha, coordinator of SSCC, said.

“Taking into account low rainfall this winter that resulted in the drying of existing wells and stone spouts and the heightened water crisis, we have decided to take action at the local level.”

“Through our efforts we intend to discourage the trend of digging wells and taking out underground water. We aim to replicate the Alok Hiti Water Supply Project and Hiku Hiti Water Project in Dhobighat,” Shrestha said.

Under the Alok Hiti project, water is collected in a 10,000-litre capacity reservoir and supplied to 180 households every day through underground pipes. Prakash Amatya, executive director, NGO Forum, said water flow at the spouts of Sundhara and Chhyashal became erratic after locals dug up wells near their sources. “The NGO Forum will support local communities to help locate the sources that feed the spouts.”