Pipe dream

Water scarcity in Kathmandu 

Although there are no hard and fast rules on designating a city as a metropolis, the rule of the thumb is that the urban hub has to have at least a million residents (a test Kathmandu passes easily) and its people’s access to basic facilities like reliable power, water supply and sewerage systems (in all of which Kathmandu fails miserably). Take its erratic water supply system. During the rainy season, there is just about enough water for daily chores. But during the dry winter season, a household would be lucky to get a 1,000-liter tank-full of water in a week. The hard truth is that under the current arrangements, there is just not enough potable water for the fast-growing Kathmandu population (two million and counting). The current water demand of Kathmandu is 350 million liters a day (MLD), but the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the city’s only water utility, is able to supply barely 60 MLD. This acute shortfall is the reason KUKL has been forced to ration water. The problem is that many consumers are not getting even the bare minimum they need to survive. 

KUKL has dues of Rs 1.5 b

The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has unrecovered water tariff amounting to Rs 1.52 billion including Rs 700 million transferred from the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) six years ago.

KUKL plans schedule to ration water