Rainwater harvesting technique is yet to acquire a firm official backing in Nepal although sporadic efforts from the private sector have helped several families supplement their supply of water through it. The government’s silence on turning to the rain for the city’s water problem is quite striking. It is a known fact that at the present rate of supply and with the extent of pilferage and leakage, the state water utility, Nepal Water Supply Corporation, cannot meet all of the city’s water demands. Environmentalists and activists have been urging one another to adopt eco-friendly construction techniques by incorporating simple changes in the ordinary construction layout to collect rain water in a reservoir which could be used for non-drinking purposes. But in a city of nearly one and half million people, only 200-odd households now harvest rain water. However, lack of awareness is as much to blame as the ignorance factor of a population that is too happy to point finger at the government for all ills, including drinking water shortage.

The technique is cost-efficient and simple to adopt. It is estimated that at the peak season, as much as 35 cubic metres of water could be collected in Kathmandu from a 100 sq metre rooftop. But almost all of it is drained out as run off at present, thanks to the sealing of the earth’s surface through construction, because of which, water table has no other means of getting replenished. Hence, it is only a matter of time before the wells, currently supplementing the Corporation supplies, go dry and Kathmanduites face even worse water shortage. The government, engaged elsewhere and busy lobbying for funds to execute mega projects like the Melamchi, has shown little interest in promoting the rainwater harvesting technique. But one also wonders why the people have to wait for a government to give a green signal to embrace a technique that has no legal hurdles.

The amount of sulphurous and other compounds in the valley air is below the threshold considered dangerous for it to come down in the form of acid rain. That should make it safe for people to harvest rainwater. It is also important to reduce water consumption on activities wherever that is possible. But rainwater can be used for sanitary purposes, especially outside the kit-chen. The wisest thing for the residents to do is to be a bit more practical in their approach in conserving water in the first place and harvest rainwater to meet the water demand for other purposes. But the state must also encourage rainwater harvesting by adopting an approriate policy. A lot of water-deficient cities across the globe depend on precipitation for their water needs. Kathmandu can also follow suit. This requires a will to do so.