Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 21:

Some 400 million children in the world lack even the bare minimum of safe water they need to live, while some 40 children die each day in Nepal from diarrhoea and other water borne diseases, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “In Nepal, access to clean water and sanitation are also critically important to the health of children,” said the UNICEF representative, Dr Suomi Sakai. “Some 40 children die each day from diarrhoea and the disease also weakens thousands of others,” she said in a press statement issued today by UNICEF to mark World Water Day tomorrow. According to UNICEF’s State of the World’ Children 2005, 21 per cent of children in developing countries are severely water deprived, living without a safe water source within a fifteen minute walk of their homes.

A staggering 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. These deprivations cost many their lives and account for at least 1.6 out of 11 million preventable child deaths every year.She said that less than one in three Nepalis had access to a sanitary latrine, and open defecation is common. UNICEF has been working with its partners on improving sanitation and also on improving the hygiene habits of school children and through them, to introduce these new practices to the rest of the community. Dr Sakai noted that much better progress had been made on provision of water, with some seven out of 10 Nepalis now having access to a water supply. However, where there was no improved supply, again ther burden of water carrying tended to fall on women and girls.

The United Nations General Assembly at its 58th session in December 2003 had agreed to proclaim the years decade 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” and beginning with World Water Day, March 22, 2005. To observe this occasion, United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR), Nepal is also organising various activities and events in the Bhutanese refugees camps tomorrow. “Clean up campaigns, art and essay competitions for school children and awareness sessions will be held in the seven refugee camps,” stated a press statement issued by UNHCR in Nepal.

Dolphins declining in Asian rivers: WWF

Kathmandu: The WWF on Monday warned that the population of the river dolphin is fast declining due to polluted water, dams and entanglement in fishing nets. A press statement issued by the world conservation body has said that it has initiated a campaign to save some of the world’s most threatened mammals. WWF lists industrial, agricultural and human pollution and use of dams which restrict the dolphins’ movement as some of the major threats facing the aquatic mammals. Accidental catches by the fishermen are also contributing to the decline of dolphin population. River dolphins are key indicators of a river’s health and that of the availability of clean water for the people living along its banks, the statement adds.

“River dolphins are the ‘watchdogs’ of the water, the release quoted Jamie Patrtock, the director of WWF’s Global Freshwater Programme, as saying, adding, “The high level of toxic pollutants accumulating in their bodies are a stark warning of poor water quality. This is a problem for both dolphins and the people dependent on these rivers.” In the context of Nepal, the dolphin population has declined dramatically in recent years. They are vulnerable to external threats as their habitual requirements often place them in areas where human activities are most intense. — HNS