Kathmandu, April 5:

In the backdrop of several deaths due to water borne diseases during the rainy season in the Capital, a group of organisations are set to hold a campaign dubbed as ‘Water Caravan’ at 10 different places of the Valley to raise public awareness on water and sanitation.

The programme funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be executed by Guthi, NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation and the Nepal Red Cross Society.

As part of the programme, that begins on April 22, three-day water and sanitation fairs would be organised at Barahi Square in Bhaktapur; Panga in Kirtipur; Chyasal and Ikhachhen in Lalitpur; Dui Pokhari in Thimi and at Balaju, Lazimpat, Bagbazaar, Lagan and Chhetrapati in Kathmandu.

The programme to be held in association with local youths and clubs will put on display new and modern technologies used in purification of drinking water like SODIS, chlorination, bioSand filter, rain water harvesting, solid waste management and sewage water treatment, said Anil Sthapit, the director of Guthi.

He said the WCs would not only inform the locals but also mobilise the local youths who would carry on the awareness programmes in the local communities even after the completion of the WC. “This is not a one-time event, but it aims at facilitating local youths to continue the awareness programmes as an ongoing process.”

The need for the programme was felt after outbreak of water borne diseases, detection of thousands of cases of Cholera and deaths due to such diseases were recorded during the rainy seasons in the previous years, said Sangha Ratna Shakya, the secretary of the Nepal Red Cross Society.