Water Week took place in Nepal at the beginning of April to raise awareness of issues surrounding drinking water quality and brought many stakeholders together to debate the issues.
Speaking at the closing of Water Week programme organized by the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) in April, the Minister for Irrigation Bal Krishna Khand stressed on the need for big projects to look at multiple use of water.
"We have been able to send the message that, along with quantity, quality of water matters," Kishore Thapa, secretary of WECS said. The meetings also drew attention to the need to protect sources of water. "Water sources are vulnerable. We strongly urge people to prevent leakage during the transmission and distribution of water."
Prakash Amatya, executive director at NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation and one of the organizing committee members of the event, emphasized the importance of such an event for bringing together government agencies and civil society groups to share their agendas and discuss policy reforms.
RAIN Ambassadors
In the closing programme, the government of Nepal and Freshwater Action Nepal jointly recognized RAIN Ambassadors for their contribution in promoting freshwater conservation at schools.
Saraha Savings and Credit Cooperative, Maiya Shah and Rajan Manandhar were all honored as RAIN Ambassadors. It recognized their contributions to promoting rainwater harvesting for freshwater conservation in Nepal. They established rainwater harvesting systems at Yagyamati Higher Secondary School, Kapan in Kathmandu and Balkumari Higher Secondary School, Sunakothi in Lalitpur.
Maiya Shah, 70, is a retired nurse. She has served as a matron at Prasuti Griha, the first maternity hospital in Nepal. She was among the first batch of nurses that graduated with a nursing degree at that time. She is currently enjoying her life at the Rotary old age home in Godawari and has donated her lifetime earnings to providing scholarships to nursing students as well as establishing a trust at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharjung.
Recently she contributed Rs. 40,000 towards establishing a rainwater harvesting system at the Yagyamati Higher Secondary School, Kapan, Kathmandu at the request of Lajana Manandhar, National Convenor, FAN Nepal. This system will provide 100,400 liters of water a year and support in conserving the freshwater underground.
Rajan Manandhar, 40, is a young entrepreneur who contributed Rs. 17,000 to establishing a rainwater harvesting system at Balkumari Higher Secondary School, Sunakothi, Lalitpur. He runs the pathology lab services and believes the best use of his money is contributing to the conservation of water for the future generations and spreading the knowledge of rainwater harvesting.
Saraha Savings and Credit Cooperative was established in Sankhamul, Lalitpur just a year ago. As part of its corporate social responsibility policy, it provided Rs. 17,000 to complete the rainwater harvesting system at Balkumari Higher Secondary School, Sunakothi, Lalitpur. The system will provide 100,000 litres of water a year for the 575 school children. Prabin Baidhya is the chair of this cooperative.
This is a great example of an initiative where the private sector has joined hands with communities to promote the freshwater conservation in Nepal.