Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 30:

Government officials and experts today held talks on ways to cope with water shortage.

Inaugurating the two-day “Water Festival” by switching on a model developed for harvesting rainwater, Janak Raj Joshi, the secretary of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, said the government is committed to improving the present scenario of drinking water distribution and asked the private sector and non-governmental organisations to lend their help for the same. Director-general of the Housing Department, Purna Kadariya, said that old and poorly maintained pipelines were to blame for water shortage in urban areas.

Discussions were held on a wide range of water-related topics, including the current and proposed urban water and sanitation policies and their effects on the people of Nepal.

Sanjaya Adhikari, national representative, Water Aid Nepal, shed light on the “Millennium Development Goals (MDG)” and its impact on urban water supply and sanitation. He explained how the Melamchi Water Supply Project can impact the MDG. Stating that she had used the affordable environment-friendly technologies in the model pro-poor settlement built by LUMANTI, Lajana Manandhar, director, LUMANTI, called on other housing agencies to follow suit. Padma Sunder Joshi, the director of the Centre for Integrated Urban Development, dwelt on rainwater harvesting technology. He warned that water will be scarce tomorrow if ground aquifer is not sustained today. “It is a decentralised, simple, time-tested technology and should be revised — not only for collection of water from the roof, but also to recharge our groundwater,” he said.