Kathmandu, August 27:

The delay in the endorsement of the National Water Plan (NWP) has stalled the much awaited reorganisation of the Water and Energy Commission (WEC). The study, conducted since 1997, had recommended that WEC be put directly under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as part of reform in the water resources development. While the proposal had been forwarded to the Cabinet Secretariat on March 23 for the second time, it has not been endorsed yet, thus casting a doubt on water resources development in an integrated manner.

“We have defended the proposal at various levels. Now it is up to the government to pass it,” said Navin Mangal Joshi, NWP project manager. He also said the fallout of not having the water plan in place includes “no headway in the integrated development of water resources, which is a global trend and something that donors ask for”. Once the NWP is endorsed, it is expected to ensure a sea-change in the way the water resources related issues are treated by generalists in the higher echelons of bureaucracy.