Despite being rich in water resources, the majority of the Nepalis have been deprived of access to clean and safe drinking water. This is a rights violation. Vested interests have come to stay in the water resource management. Solving the problem of lack of safe drinking water distribution is not simply a matter of building a wealthier country or defeating poverty, it is more about building ethics and changing frames that respect concepts such as conservation, indigenous rights, and the importance of sustaining and sharing our common intergenerational water resources. At the heart of the case for right to water is the demand for not just action, but discourse in which equity is the core value.

There is already a considerable rise in the awareness level about right to water amongst the masses. Analysts argue that the growing trend of private and corporate takeover of water resources is a threat to the rights of the people. Nepal is now aggressively moving towards privatisation of the water sector. The government has already decided to privatise first the water supply system in Kathmandu as a donors’ pre-condition to Melamchi Water Supply Project. The scheme is also being criticised for neglecting the basic need and right of the poor to have access to drinking water in an affordable manner.

As regards the inefficiency of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation, the main problem is not lack of policies, but undue political influence and adverse aid conditionality of the donors. This “inefficiency” can be found not only in public institutions but also in the executive, legislative and judiciary. This is Nepal’s overall larger problems associated with the issue of democratisation and socio-economic justice.

The Government of Nepal, without wider consultation and public discourse, made a decision to hand over Kathmandu water supply management to foreign water company, Seven Treat of UK. This may create social conflict in future which has been a big issue in public domain and is now controversial.

As a response to these threats and challenges, the people and various groups have been opposing the policies, laws, regulations and pro-corporate lobbies. They have also been fighting for recognition of water as a human right and opposing the idea that water is an economic commodity. But the political leadership is still silent on the issue of right to water. In the agenda of making a new Nepal, this issue should be taken up with rights-based approach to development and management of water. So there is a need to draw an understanding among civil society for the way forward and making water a public discourse.

The MNCs and donor agencies must evaluate the implementation of deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation of water sector for a developing country like Nepal. Locals, experts and consumers must be consulted while formulating any policies. The public must be consulted and engaged as an equal partner with government in establishing water policies to ensure the human right to water.