Kathmandu,22 March 2015: The 23rd World Water Day was marked across the country today around the main slogan: Water and Sustainable Development.
Experts attending a programme held jointly by Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Society of Public Health Engineers, Nepal (SOPHEN), the World Health Organization underscored the importance of water to which is linked the lives of all living creatures.
Urban Development Ministry Secretary Arjun Kumar Karki said water and sanitation had a direct link with human life while grieving that the government had failed to heed to its importance. He called on the government to accomplish construction of projects related to drinking water at the soonest.
“People’s problems cannot be seen by living inside Singh Durbar, so the people must take initiative,” he said.
National Planning Commission former Vice Chairman Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota underlined the huge role of water in human civilization and stressed the government must be more serious towards drinking water sector.
According to SOPHEN, drinking water facilities have spread to all 75 districts, 84 per cent of the people are using clean drinking water while 23 districts have been declared open defecation free zones and 70 per cent of the people are living in clean environment. During the programme, SOPHEN’s Annual Newsletter was made public.
On the occasion of the World Water Day various organizations held a ‘Wash Fair’ at Basantapur in the capital city.
In the fair jointly held by Pashim Paila, INFO, Marie Stopes, Sunaulo Pariwar among others, various experimental exhibitions related to water were put on display.
Pashim Paila network coordinator Buddha Bajracharya stressed on promoting collection and purification of rain water as drinking water in Kathmandu Valley rather than waiting for Melamchi Drinking Water Project’s completion.
The Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Ltd has barely supplied enough drinking water to denizens of the valley. The demand for drinking water in the Kathmandu valley currently stands at 320 million litres per day while the water supply organization manages only 90 million litres during dry season and 160 million during rainy season.
Source:RSS
