KATHMANDU, June 13 :Locals in Dallu residential area have decided to observe 2014 as the ´Rainwater Harvesting Year´ and encourage all the households in the area to install rainwater harvesting system.

Rainwater Harvesting and Recharge Management Committee (RHRMC), a committee formed by the locals to implement the rainwater harvesting program in the residential area, is all set to announce the year 2014 as ´Rainwater Harvesting Year´ amid a formal function Saturday. Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, executive chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), will announce the campaign Saturday. 

Within a year, the committee aims to encourage at least half of the households of the residential area to install rainwater harvesting system. There are altogether 356 houses in the residential area, which was planned and developed by the government itself under its land pooling scheme. 

"Water scarcity in the valley is never going to decrease, and instead it is only increasing. So, we want the households to utilize the rainwater to deal with the water crisis by installing rainwater harvesting systems in their houses," said Prakahs Shrestha, coordinator of RHRMC. 

The Dallu Residental Local Welfare Committee, a coordination committee formed to intermediate between the government and locals, had formed the RHRMC and made it compulsory for the newly constructed buildings to install rainwater harvesting system. Since then, as many as 50 households in the residential area have already install rainwater harvesting system. 

In lack of proper groundwater recharge system, various water sources like wells and tube wells are drying up in many parts of the Kathmandu Valley. As a result, people have been forced to spend heavily to deal with the water shortage problem.

Prakash Amataya, an environmentalist, welcomed the decision of the locals to celebrate the year as ´Rainwater Harvesting Year´. "Locals have themselves come together advocating for the rainwater harvesting system, which is remarkable. The efforts of the locals will set an example for other communities to follow suit," said he. 

He also said the collective adoption of rainwater harvesting system by the residential area will have a distinct impact on the water management system and groundwater recharge process and ending the water crisis. He said the local bodies should encourage those who have already built their houses to install rainwater harvesting system by providing financial subsidies.