'Most rivers in urban Nepal unfit for human use'

By Bishnu Budhathoki

KATHMANDU, Mar. 19: Most rivers in Nepal's urban areas are polluted and their waters unfit for human use. In Kathmandu Valley, drinking water has been found to contain coliform bacteria, iron, ammonia and other contaminants, says a latest UN report.

Demand for water in the Kathmandu Valley is about 190 million litres a day, while total supply is only about 80 million litres, forcing people to use contaminated and untreated water.

The situation will ease to some extent with the addition of about seven million litres of water from Manahara from April. If the rivers from this stream can be used properly it can generate up to 20 million litres of water a day, says officiating General Manager of Nepal Water Supply Corporation Narendra Man Pradhan.

But the supply of water, which is 'fit to drink from the tap', is still a far cry. The corporation has a treatment plant at Sundarijal and at Bouddha Mahankal. Water gets contaminated mainly during its distribution.

Open sources of water, sewer lines that run almost parallel to the water distribution system, and leakage, which allow pollutants to seep into the distribution system, are the major causes of contamination.

Pradhan says groundwater, which is being used extensively, contain iron and ammonia and they are very expensive to treat.

Inadequate supply and contamination of drinking water are problems faced by most of the poor countries of the world.

Worldwide, over one billion people lack adequate access to safe drinking water and nearly three billion lack access to basic sanitation mainly in the Least Developed Countries.

Water stress is having particularly adverse affects on the world's poorest countries, which have few resources to cope, according to a report presented this week at the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, by Anwarul K. Chowdhury, the United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

The report "Critical Development of Water Issues for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)" states that severe water scarcity in the poorest countries is largely the result of uneven distribution of both surface and groundwater resources, deteriorating water quality and growing demands on existing water resources. More than half of the water available from rivers in the LDCs, for example, is being consumed on an annual basis. This figure is projected to increase to more than 70 per cent by 2025.

Water quality is also an important factor that is especially problematic in LDCs. Untreated sewage, chemical discharges and petroleum leaks are among the common sources of contamination, which the poorest countries do not have the resources to address. Poor water supplies and sanitation are resulting in increasing cases of water-related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery.

Book on Everest released

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Mar. 19: Mt. Everest has always caught the imagination of on-lookers as well as climbers. Although the world's highest peak has been climbed more than 1,550 times, it continues to awe climbers.

'Everest From the Air', a book containing almost everything about Mt. Everest was released here today. The book includes information about the peak, the precaution needed while climbing the 8,848-m peak and about the Everest summiteers.

The book written by Captain Bed Upreti to mark the Everest Golden Jubilee celebrations in May is available in English, Japanese and French languages.

The book was jointly released by Minister for Physical Planning and Works Narayan Singh Pun, Ambassadors of Japan, UK, France and USA in their respective languages.

Speaking at the programme organised by the Everest Summiteers Association, chairman of the Raj Parisad Standing Committee Parshu Narayan Chaudhari said that the book containing valuable information about Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) would help promote the tourism industry.

As every sector of the country has been adversely affected in the last seven years by the Maoist insurgency, the Nepalese people are hopeful that peace will be established, now that the ceasefire and the code of conduct for the peace talks have been announced, he said.

Minister Pun also said that that book would enhance tourism in Nepal given the additional information about mountaineering.

US ambassador Michael E. Malinowski said that the book would be useful to the climbers as it describes in detail about the situation of the mountain and high altitude problems.

A lasting peace is needed for the tourism industry to flourish and for the overall prosperity of Nepal, he said.

Claude Ambrosini, Ambassador of France to Nepal, said that the French version of the book would be useful and meaningful for the French people who want to know more about Mt. Everest and Nepal.

Japanese ambassador Zenji Kaminaga said that the book is full of information and guidelines for the climbers. "The Japanese version will help to attract Japanese tourists in Nepal," he said.

Author Upreti said he is thinking of publishing the book in three more languagues - Italian, Spanish and German - in the near future.

Upreti said that the foreign countries regularly issue and update their travel advisories to inform their people. But only the UK and the USA have been updating their travel advisory to Nepal. The other countries must also do the same, he said, if Nepal's tourism business is to prosper.

'Rights condition worsening'

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Mar. 19: Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Nayan Bahadur Khatri has said that condition of human rights in Nepal has been worsening in recent years due to various domestic and international factors.

Addressing the intelligentsia during a talk programme on "Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights" organised by the Nepal Council of World Affairs in Lalitpur this afternoon, chairman Khatri noted that economic, social, political and cultural disparity prevalent in the Nepalese society since a long time were the root causes of this problem.

"But because the infrastructure for safeguarding human rights is being built, the situation could improve," said Khatri. Now that an environment for talks has been created to end the seven-year-long Maoist insurgency and commissions such as the National Dalit Commission, National Women's Commission and an Office of a National Rapporteur for Trafficking in Women and Children have been established as an integral part of the NHRC, the nation has moved a step forward in securing human rights, gender justice and ethnic equality, he added.

Referring to the recent cease-fire and the announcement of the code of conduct for the talks with the Maoists, Chairman Khatri said that peace must be taken as a starting point by all the people towards revitalizing the institutions of democracy and establishing an effective rule of law.

The NHRC had drafted the code of conduct, which both the government and the CPN-Maoist have agreed to implement.

Khatri, who has held various bureaucratic, diplomatic and legal posts in the last three decades, said that the rule of law and human rights were the milestones for strengthening democracy in any country.

"It is the practice of the rule of law that forms the cornerstone of the whole judicial system in a democracy," Khatri said.

Stating that the law was seen solely as a tool of those who wielded power and used it as they thought fit, the hangover of which is still prevalent, Khatri said, "This is a great challenge to the rule of law in our society."

Prof. Dr. Soorya Lal Amatya commented on Khatri's deliberation while president of the NCWA Keshav Raj Jha shed light on the topic of the talk programme.

IT essential for development: Devkota

RSS

LALITPUR, Mar. 19: Minister for Health and Science and Technology Dr. Upendra Devkota inaugurated a 10 day long workshop seminar here today.

A total of 25 participants from different organisations have been participating in the workshop, which is jointly organised by Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) and UNESCO.

On the occasion Minister Devkota said development is not possible without the development of information technology therefore we will give continuity to the in formation technology development programme in the future.

Stating that there is a lot of development in the field of information technology in Nepal for the last few years he said we should adopt the computer education as an integral part of our life.

Vice Chancellor of the RONAST Dr. Dayanand Bajracharya said the RONAST has been launching various programmes from central level to the district for the promotion of information technology in the country.

Resident representative of the UNESCO Dr. Yoshiko Kitamura said the training would be very instrumental to enhance the ability of manpower involved in library and museum.

Gyawali appraises Japanese officials of peace process

RSS

KATHMANDU, Mar. 19: Minister for Water Resources Dipak Gyawali met with Tadahiro Matsushita, Japan's former senior vice minister for the cabinet office in Tokyo this afternoon.

During the meeting, they discussed matters of mutual interests, according to a press release from the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Tokyo.

Minister Gyawali apprised Mr Matsushita of the on-going peace process in Nepal and of the need for accelerating developmental work.

Mr. Matsushita expressed his utmost happiness to know that the cease-fire has brought a great sign of relief to the Nepali people.

He further hoped that the Nepalese people can now indulge in the task of nation building and said Japan as a true friend, is always ready to extend possible help to the Nepalese people.

Earlier, Minister Gyawali visited the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) headquarters in Tokyo.

Senior executive director Akihito Furuya briefed Mr. Gyawali on the activities of JBIC in project financing in developing countries including Nepal.

Later in the evening, Minister Gyawali also visited the headquarters of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Minister Gyawali and vice-president of JICA Kenjiro Izumi discussed matters of mutual concern.
On both occasions, Minister Gyawali apprised the high-ranking officials of JBIC and JICA of the peace process in Nepal.

Minister Gyawali further said that at present the biggest challenge to the government is to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development, reconstruction of damaged infrastructures and to deliver services to the people.

Minister Gyawali expressed his thanks to the officials and experts of JBIC and JICA for their kind cooperation and service to the Nepalese people.

On the all occasion, Charge d'Affaires Moham Krishan Shrestha of the Royal Nepalese Embassy, Dr. Janak Lal Karmacharya, managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority, and senior divisional engineer Shiv Prasad Sharma of the Ministry of Water Resources were also present.

Yesterday, Minsiter for Water Resources Gyawali attended the session on water and nature initiatives organised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature at the 3rd World Water Forum which in being held in Kyoto from 16 to 23 March.

During the session Minister Gyawali described the constructive engagement efforts under way in Nepal between different social solidarities - state, market and civil societies - in re-defining under Nepali conditions the 26 guidelines of the World Commission on Dams.

He also presented descriptions about the successes achieved in Nepal in involving the local people in conservation, especially in Chitwan and Annapurna areas by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation.

Minister Gyawali also attended a session on groundwater in the grand cube in Osaka and presented Nepal's viewpoints on the occasion as related to its use in poverty alleviation.

Later in the evening, Minister Gyawali met with the Norwegian Minister for Hydropower Johannes Farjford Inkyoto.During the meeting, they discussed matters of mutual concern.