Water Management
Judicious Policy Needed

By Uttam Maharjan

THE earth consists of large bodies of water covering over two-thirds of the surface. Water forms part of a life-support system. All life forms will cease to exist without water. Therefore, water is most essential for the perpetuation of life.

Although the earth has abundant sources of water, not all water is usable. It is estimated that only 2.5 per cent of water is actually usable, with the remaining portion, ie 97.5 per cent, being salt water. As most water is in the form of polar ice, the usable sources of water like rivers, lakes and underground sources are very minimal.

With the population of the world burgeoning and their lifestyles changing over the years, the patterns of the consumption of water have also changed. In Asia, the consumption of water has increased by 300 per cent over the last forty years.

For good health, an individual is required to drink 2 to 5 litres of water daily. But much more water is required for washing, cleaning and other purposes.

Contaminated water is responsible for most of the diseases. Lack of awareness about health and sanitation is equally responsible for inducing such diseases. It is believed that 50 per cent of the diseases are water-borne. Typhoid, diarrhoea, dysentery, conjunctivities and dermatoses are some of such maladies.

It is an irony that despite the existence of abundant sources of water in the world, it has become something like a problem in the recent years. As per the World Water Forum, 20 per cent of the people in the world are beset by the water problem. It is conjectured that by the year 2025, 30 per cent of the people and 50 nations would have been badly affected by the water problem.

In fact, water supply has been declining over the past few years due to population growth, over-exploitation of water sources and poor management of water. Further, natural disharmony induced by human activities has contaminated water sources. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the Nepalese people are compelled to drink polluted water due to the absence of alternative sources.

The problem of water is very acute in the Kathmandu Valley. The valley requires 160 million litres of water daily but only 90 to 100 million litres are being supplied at present. The problem has further been compounded by leakages due to an antiquated distribution system. Forty per cent of the water is estimated to be wasted: 23 per cent due to leakage and 17 per cent due to misuse. If only such wastage were checked, the inadequacy of water supply in the valley could be mitigated to a great extent.

Underground water may be used to meet the increasing demand for water but the geological structure of the valley is a major setback for drawing as much water as required. It is suggested that not more than 30 million litres of water be drawn daily. Overdrawing of underground water might result in land subsidence and cracking, which may badly affect plant life. It would, therefore, be judicious to draw water from local sources in the valley.

Underground water contains deleterious chemicals and pathogenic bacteria and therefore not drinkable. As such, proper purification of such water is a must for distribution among the people.

Rainwater might be used as an alternative source to overcome the problem of water. Seventy-two per cent of rainwater runs off, with the remaining evaporating. Rainwater collection is popular in Japan and Israel. Ponds and tanks may be used as collection centres of rainwater. The utilisation of rainwater would also help in the prevention of soil erosion. To viably utilise rainwater as an alternative source of drinking water, intensive technical studies need to be made.

The Ninth Plan has a target of supplying all the people with clean drinking water. Similarly, the current budget has given priority to drinking water schemes and income-generating activities to be conducted through the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund, small town drinking water schemes and districtlevel drinking water projects.

The budget has put emphasis on increasing water supply for the Kathmandu Valley by improving the existing water supply system and conducting rehabilitation programmes.

The budget has also paid attention to the much-hyped Melamchi Drinking Water Project. It is surmised that the first phase of the project will be completed in 2006, the second phase in 2011 and the third phase in 2018. It is hoped that only after the completion of the project will the water problem of the valley come to an end.

It would be germane to note herein that the 2nd Conference of the World Water Forum was held in The Hague in March 2000. The theme of the conference was water for food, water for people and water for the environment. There is participants presented their own visions on the use of water. Unfortunately, the vision of Nepal-water used for energy- was spurned at the meeting, which goes on to reveal the domineering attitudes of the powerful countries towards the small developing countries like ours. This may be taken as a reflection of the so-called global gag theory. At present, there are regional, national and international conflicts on water. If the conflicts cannot be avoided, they may fester into world conflicts, putting at stake the lives of humankind.

Water management has now been a crucial issue. To solve the issue, a participatory approach involving both public and private sectors should be developed. It is an irony that though very rich in water resources, Nepal has not been able to harness more than one per cent of the total potential for hydropower.

The management of water, being very crucial in the present-day world, the government should formulate water policy even at local level, involving the locals in the operation of the water schemes. Besides, water distribution and management systems should be improved and public awareness about the economical use of water instilled in the people at large. And much water consuming factories such as carpet, dying and garment should be translocated outside the valley.

Bhata Atanka

By Bishnu Gautam

BHATA (a small and long flat piece of a matured bamboo). Though a typical Nepali word, many Kathmanduites may not know what bhata means, because it is not an everyday item for them. In fact, it is almost useless in the jungle of concrete like Kathmandu. But for village people, whether they live in Terai or hills or even in the periphery of Kathmandu life without bhata is certainly difficult.

To grow beans or peas village people, especially the farmers need bhata. Farmers in the Valley need bhata to carry kharpans full of fresh vegetables on the shoulders.

Bhata is necessary for farmers to drive the oxen while ploughing the field, to control the herds of cattle in the pasturelands and even to make a yoke. Without bhata they cannot construct pens and cowsheds, nor can they prevent standing corps from domestic as well as wild animals.

People need bhata while building thatched-roof houses, the most common in the rural areas. They use bhata to support the roof on the top and to divide the rooms underneath. In the ladders used in such houses bhata is necessary. Even the poor villagers who cannot afford to buy wooden furniture, use bhata to make beds.

Besides farmers, some cruel teachers in villages use bhata to punish the students. The old man need it to make sticks while walking. Children need it while playing Dandibiyo.

However, recently such useful bhata seems to have become synonym of panic in the villages. Visiting Jhapa, Ilam and Panchthar districts in the eastern region, one can realize how the local people are terrified with the mere utterance of the word ‘bhata.’

"Palighare Jetho was thrashed fourteen bhatas and his son six. Chaulagain was also beaten with a bhata. Prasain’s son suffered 14 bhatas and his domestic eight." These are some example how people talk at Chautari, local teashops and in paddy fields about the growing bhata terror in the villages.

Bhata is not the thing that it itself can find the victims and hit them. Everyone is sure about this fact.

And who uses the bhata then? The obvious answer will be: MB. The local people in the village use MB (Maobadi) to denote Maoists and their local organizations.

Till date the Maoists are reportedly carrying their activities in the region under its sister organizations such as revolutionary students’ organization. Yet MB and bhata are the very common words to refer Maoists.

And with the increasing such ‘bhata culture’ in the villages, many social evils like liquor consuming in public places, gambling, playing cards, carom boards, have disappeared. Similarly, some men who deliberately want to cheat or torture the others have been discouraged to do so. Rude men have given up the habits of wife-beating. These are, indeed a positive impact of the newly introduced ‘bhata culture’ on our society.

But at the same time there is a danger that the innocent people who disagree with the ideology or activities of the group may fall prey to ‘bhata culture’.

A few weeks back, a broadsheet daily carried a story and photograph on how Maoists mistakenly beat a youth who had been to Jhapa from Kathmandu to check his farms.

Also ‘bhata culture’ can be a good weapon for individual member of Maoists’ organization to terrify and manipulate his or her familial foes. "I will show you after becoming a Maoist," some aggressive youth can be heard saying this while quarrelling with his uncle or neighbours. And when the same aggressive man joins the Maoists’ organization, there is a high chance that his uncle or neighbour will be his first prey.

In fact, ‘bhata culture’ seems to have disrupted peace in the village, though it has been successful in eliminating some social evils. No one is sure whether he is safe or not from those who take laws in their hands.

Now the government and the Maoists are planning to sit for dialogue to resolve the six-year-old Maoist problem. Everyone, familiar with the losses the country suffered during these years, appreciates the move. And the village people of eastern Nepal are eagerly waiting whether the dialogue will be successful to eliminate ‘bhata culture’ from the village and no MB will come to thrash them with bhata in the future.