Urgency Required

KATHMANDU Valley, with a population almost touching the 1.6 million mark and the growth rate is 4.9 per cent, needs at least 200 million litres of drinking water a day. But the government owned drinking water supply agency is being only able to distribute only 120 million litres which is far below the actual demand of the valley. A workshop, to focus on potential water supplies, water demands and the factors affecting these, was organised the other day, in Kathmandu, by the Optimising Water Use in Kathmandu Valley Project (OWUKV). The potential for optimising drinking water supply is possible but the lacklustre way of the water supply body is one of the factors responsible for the plight of the Kathmandu valley residents. Water connections are given without taking into account the ability to meet the demand. It is short as well as long term projects that are necessary to meet the water demand of the people. Working on an ad hoc basis leads no where. When the dry season is here, there is a lot of hue and cry with a lot of taps going dry. With the coming of the rainy season a part of the problem is solved but not all. And water from Melamchi to come will take, at least, another six years. It is a long time to wait. Till then seriousness has to emerge to mitigate the problem.

Speaking on the occasion, member of the National Planning Commission Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said that it is the concerned agencies and the consumers who should make suggestions and on its basis the government can implement programmes in the long run. This may be a valid argument as far as streamlining drinking water supply in the valley is concerned. First of all, the water sources have to be identified and conserved as well. Some works regarding this has been undertaken but it is still not enough. Another major problem is the leakage. With age-old water supply pipes in many areas, water leakage is very high. To change them all will require huge investment which is very difficult seeing the difficult situation that the country is going through. In this regard, it may be worthwhile mentioning that the use of underground water has increased dramatically and experts point that the water level is going down. This means that grave problems will arise in the near future. All these means that urgent steps ought to be taken not only to conserve water but also be able to supply adequate drinking water to the residents of Kathmandu Valley, many of whom are paying heavily even without a trickle from their taps.

Beyond Self-Reliance

DESPITE the fact that an average Nepali consumes much less tea than some other South Asians, the country's tea production has not been able to keep up with the domestic demands for tea. Per capita Nepalese tea consumption stands at 350 gms per year while an average Indian uses 600 grams and a Pakistani one kilogramme annually. That even this relatively small Nepali domestic demand for tea has not been fulfilled mirrors where our tea production stands even after all these decades of recognition of tea as one of the cash crops with big potentials of economic returns. However, it was heard at a tea seminar the other day that Nepal would finally be self-reliant in tea production by next year, meeting the annual demand of 78 million kg.

Though the expected self-reliance in tea indeed comes as news that cheers a la the proverbial cuppa, there is more to the tea story. Tea connoisseurs are all praise for Nepalese tea for their good taste. But it is quite strange that Nepalese tea is still largely unknown in the international markets. Tea entrepreneurs lamented the fact at the seminar that Nepalese tea was being sold mostly through Indian dealers by putting them first under Indian labels. It is indeed a sad state of affairs that Nepalese tea products have to first don an Indian label before they are accepted in international markets, though they are in no way inferior to Indian tea. This is plainly a case of utter brand unawareness-an unfamiliarity with Nepal as a good tea producer. Apparently, not enough has been done to project Nepal abroad as a quality tea grower. Both the government and private tea entrepreneurs must put their heads together on how to mount a sound marketing strategy that spreads the good word around about Nepalese tea globally. The fact that Nepal does quite a bit of organic tea farming must be used to the fullest advantage in implementing a promotional strategy, as organic tea is increasingly preferred among the health conscious in the western countries. Another issue to be addressed by such a strategy is how best to support small tea farmers who need exporting outlets. In all, Nepal's tea farming has to go beyond self-reliance in tea production and be an activity that also contributes to its fullest potential to Nepal's exports volume.