Kathmandu, March 23:

The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the utility responsible for distributing drinking water in the Valley, is set to adopt emergency measures to address the aggravating water supply situation.

Speaking at an interaction among stakeholders here today, Minister for Physical Planning and Works Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar said the Valley denizens would soon see an improved supply of drinking water.

“We will unveil a concrete action plan within seven days. This discussion will help identify people’s problems and suggestions to address them,” he said. Gachhadar said a single

political party was not responsible for the sorry state of drinking water and added that matters concerning people’s daily life should not be politicised.

Specifying the proposed measures, secretary at the Ministry Umakant Jha said the KUKL would supply water in crisis-hit areas by using 30 tankers in the coming days. “Bidding has been opened to procure 10 more tankers while another three will be borrowed from departments under the Ministry,” Jha said. Each of the 10 distribution units of the KUKL has also been authorised to hire tankers to supply water.

In areas where the distribution system has been rendered ineffective, KUKL plans to install polythene tanks and distribute water to locals. KUKL officials said plans were afoot to manage dedicated feeder lines to run underground water collection points round the clock. At others, generators will be installed to power the pumps during power outage.

As a mid-term plan, water supply projects that take below two years to complete will be undertaken as it would provide relief before the Melamchi project completes. Milan Kumar Shakya, manager of KUKL’s Maharajgunj branch, said the Valley needed additional 125 million litres a day during the rainy season and 175 mld during the dry season.

Minister Gachhadar said talks were underway with donor agencies for phases II and III of the ambitious project. Gyanesh Chandra Bajracharya, Deputy General Manager, KUKL, said 12 surface water sources would be tapped to collect 30 million litres of water everyday.