Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, June 7:

The locals of Sundhara, who rely on water spouts to meet their daily demand of water, have been facing a shortage of water. They say the amount of water flowing through the Patan Sundhara stone spouts decreased once the Patan Industrial Estate (PIE) began drawing excessive amount of water from the wells located on its premises. According to them, Nayakhel, a ground which lies a kilometre away from Sundhara, is the source that feeds water to the spouts of Sundhara. Water flow becomes erratic when the PIE, which is situated next to Nayakhel, begins drawing water. “We can assert the problem has arisen due to drawing of water by the PIE,” Prem Bahadur Baidhya, a local, said, adding the flow of water is smooth when the PIE is not drawing water (on holidays).” Bhim Hari Joshi, another local, said, “As over 10,000 people rely on these spouts for their water needs, it is crowded for 20 hours.” PIE’s acting manager, Anand Karki, disagrees with the locals. “The PIE has been using water from wells for four decades and no one has come up with a plaint.” He added the locals had no right to stop them from drawing water.