Kathmandu Valley’s stone spouts were once gushing with water. Now they’re slowly disappearing.

Threatened by haphazard development and a growing water crisis, Nepal’s ancient water management system is drying up.

The few stone spouts that are still functional provide respite for many locals who still depend on them for their water needs.  Elite Joshi/TKP

Chase Brush

Om Shrestha remembers when the gold-plated stone spout near his home in Patan Durbar Square flowed round the year with water so clear you could drink it straight from the tap. As a child, he would visit the fountains morning and night, using them to bathe, brush his teeth, and collect water for his family for cooking and cleaning. Even in the winter, when water was otherwise scarce in his predominantly Newar neighbourhood, Shrestha would be amazed to find crystalline water still pouring forth from the shiny mouths of the crocodilian motifs that adorned the spouts.

Kathmandu Metropolis to launch ‘Recharge Kathmandu’ programme

The Department of Environment Management of Kathmandu Metropolitan City is set to launch ‘Recharge Kathmandu’ programme from government offices and the houses of its employees soon. According to DoEM chief Hari Kumar Shrestha, the programme aims to raise level of groundwater of the capital city. The groundwater level of the city is depleting and needs to be recharged. Groundwater recharge is a process in which water moves downward from earth’s surface to groundwater.