Good Luck ti Lubhu Water Resource Committee

Lubhu water resource committee was constituted after the intervention from the nec-peri-urban research team at Lubhu. The team is committed to improve the water services at Lubhu and aims in establishing water security in this VDC. On August 25^th, 2012, Lubhu Water Supply and Sanitation Committee had its first general assembly. I represented the Nec peri-urban research team.

Participating in the VDC as an invitee was a refreshing experience as I was going to back to the field after a short gap after the source conservation campaign. More to that, it was really good to see that the Water Supply Committee constituted (after the initiation of the Peri-urban Water Security Project) in the area has been persistently functioning and exploring every possible alternative to overcome decades long water insecurity at Lubhu.

The half a day program constituted local people from different wards with a good converge of both male and female and had of the presence of  VDC Secretary. -Since, it was the wedding season, participation from the women was a little doubtful. However, despite their hectic schedule, a good number of them have turned up for the event. This is due to the significant activity of providing good water services to the Lubhu residents. From project perspective, I was satisfied for selecting Lubhu as the Pilot Intervention Site.

During the program, the key functionaries of the committee disseminated the information on the current status of the committee, activities conducted since its initiation and the constraints in achieving water security at Lubhu. They have also provided the details of various organizations which are supporting us in this endeavor. Additionally, the Committee not only acknowledged Nepal Engineering College and the project team for the continuous support and guidance; but also appealed the local community to support the Committee in its journey towards establishing water security.

The committee elaborated how the activities of the committee have currently been affected due to limited budget disbursement from the Governmental Annual Budget. It was said that the impact is not only in delaying the construction of the water related infrastructures, but the knock on effect has been on the entire project planning and decision making for the further activities. The social unity and determination in achieving water security has come to light when a local individual Mr. Basudev Kumar Shrestha provided NRs. 200,000 to the committee on loan. This helped in the progression of the construction of the reservoir..

However, the committee is still under the financial constraints and has been exploring for the possible support.

We, the Peri-urban Research team express our  hearty thanks to the LUBHU residents for their continuous support in achieving water security at Lubhu.

Diverting the flow

SaciWATERs comes up with another publication…

“Diverting the Flow” provides an overview of gender, equity and water issues relevant to south Asia. The essays empirically illustrate and theoretically argue how gender intersects with other axes of social difference such as class, caste, ethnicity, age and religion to shape water access, use and management practices. The book clearly shows how understanding, and changing the use, distribution and management of water is conditional upon understanding and accommodating gender relations.

Dr. Anjal Prakash has also a chapter in this.

http://zubaanbooks.com/zubaan_books_details.asp?BookID=199

Newspaper article published in National English Daily Nespaper THE RISING NEPAL on 21st July 2012 Changing Climate: Records of Kathmandu Shows Warming Trend

Climate change is primarily resulted from human-made activities resulting greenhouse gases emissions and appearing as an increase in temperature and variability in precipitation. According to NASA (2009), in total, average global temperatures have increased by about 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880 (the year that modern scientific instrumentation became available to monitor temperatures precisely). World Meteorological Organization (2011) reported over the ten years from 2001 to 2010, global average temperature is 0.46°C (0.83°F) above the 1961-1990 average. This is the highest ever recorded for a 10-year period since the beginning of instrumental climate records.

The general trend in the Nepal record is quite similar to what has been found in the global records although the magnitude of trends are different, suggesting that the climate variations and changes in Nepal are impacted by global climate change. Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) estimated from 1977 and 1994, the mean annual temperature to have increased by 0.06°C, and is projected to increase by another 1.2°C by 2030, 1.7°C by 2050, and 3.0°C by 2100. Analysis on rainfall data from station records all over Nepal show distinct cyclic characteristics  but does not reveal any significant trends, as observed in temperature records.

Nepal Engineering College under the research grant of International Development Research Center, Canada, analyzed various attributes of rainfall and temperature for seven stations of Kathmandu (Khumaltar, TIA, Godawari, Changu Narayan, Naikap, Panipokhari and Sankhu) selected considering their proximity to the peri-urban research sites of the ongoing project.

The analysis of temperature record showed a clear decrease in number of days below 0°C and increase in number of hot days (> 30°C). The highest and the lowest temperature of both daily Tmin (Minimum Temperature) and daily Tmax (Maximum Temperature) showed an increase. This increase in temperature was the lowest for the summer season and the strongest for fall and winter season. Tmin showed an average increase of 0.04°C per year and Tmax showed on average an increase of 0.05°C per year. More clearly, days and nights are both becoming warmer and cool days and cool nights are becoming less frequent. Similarly summer days with maximum temperatures above > 30°C are also increasing.

While the changing trend of temperature can be expressed in terms of the mean over time and the amount of variance about the mean, other meteorological variables require more complicated statistical calculations. For instance, rainfall is episodic. Considering WMO statement, in certain parts of the world especially in the arid regions of the world precipitation are likely to decrease whereas in the northern hemisphere the likelihood is that the precipitation would increase.  In Nepal, much of the annual rainfall falls in a short rainy season. Analysis on rainfall data from station records all over Nepal does not reveal any significant trends.

The analysis of rainfall data from the above mentioned seven stations for understanding the long term rainfall trend in Kathmandu showed no clear increasing or decreasing trend in the number of days with rainfall. Similarly, the trend for the total annual rainfall is not clearly defined. Upon concentrating the analysis for monsoon period (June to September), no defined trend could be drawn. An increase in the number of extreme rainfall events (daily rainfall > 50mm) was found but concerning the intensity of rainfall conducted for monsoon period in the study no recognizable pattern could be concluded.

Uncontrolled urbanization and spreading infrastructure in Kathmandu has contributed to reduced agriculture land, increasing congestion, and environmental degradation associated with the poorly managed disposal of solid and industrial wastes and other forms of pollution. An increased frequency of extreme weather events attributed to anthropogenic climate change can make the prospects for environmental sustainability and human security disconcerting for example in unplanned land p. Increases in seasonal temperatures are likely to affect agricultural production and yield. Higher temperatures have also been associated with an increase in diarrhea, mild winters tend to increase rodent-borne diseases, and can also increase dengue-fever transmitted by mosquitoes. Though the amount of rainfall has not undergone decline, the water availability has been declining. This decline is commonly perceived to be ensued from declining rainfall. Therefore, strengthening the adoptive strategies in Kathmandu need activities investigating knowledge, expertise and resources to raise awareness against the challenges of pressure on resources and environment associated with urbanization, changing climate and the compounded effects.

Newspaper article published in national English Daily Newspaper THE RISING NEPAL on 4th May 2012

Novel approaches for water management

The current water demand in Kathmandu valley has been estimated to be 320 MLD (recent estimation 350 MLD, unpublished). The existing capacity of KUKL, the current water supply in the wet season (Jun/July to Jan/Feb) is only about 105.17 MLD which during dry season (Feb/March to May/June) further reduces down to 75.72 MLD, making the average water supply 95.36 MLD (KUKL, 2009/10 Third Anniversary). While current water services in the urban areas continue to underperform, the peri-urban VDCs have spearheaded towards community initiations innovating ways to facing intractable problems of water management. The water management in these peri-urban areas have revamped through community determination. One particularly interesting case relates to Godawari VDC where water supply services handled by Godawari Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Committee initiated in 1994 A.D. With the registration of two natural spring sources, this distributing water to over 390 households. This organization has been functioning as an independent local organization, mobilizing financial resources through contributions made by the water users for the infrastructure development and water tariff collected from among the users based on the volume of water consumed to ensure equitable share of water services. Similarly, Matatirtha VDC, well known for its water endowment has established eight different communities managed water supply schemes financially stabilized through community investments and governmental funds allocated for local development. Apart from these, the VDC has been collecting revenue from the neighboring Tinthana and Naikap VDCs in exchange of the water service provided, significant part of which has been invested in supporting these community managed schemes. This hilly VDC has been supplying water from three spring sources lying in the low lands through lifting- storage and distributing for certain hours on a daily basis. While the majorities of the existing community managed schemes in the VDC have been operating through household based private water networks, Dharapani Drinking Water Scheme in this VDC has continued to serve the community through public stand post focusing the households unable to afford the private water connections. Considering the growing water demand, this has added deep tube well to expand its water services through ground water extraction.

Changunarayan, Jhaukhel and Duwakot VDCs in Bhaktapur district have been working synergistically to overcome the challenges of water sector. Initiated in 1982, Changunarayan-Jhaukhel-Duwakot water supply started functioning in 1993 through public tap connections and extended its service to household metered tap connection since 1994 onwards. The water services started with 75 household level taps has now expanded to cover approximately 1000 households and approximately 300 to 400 additional tap connections are in the process of getting approved. Construction of an additional sump well in the well field of Manohara River has been completed with the aim of expanding the water services.

Dadhikot VDC in the same district has five drinking water schemes currently in operation, of which the largest scheme is Dadhikot-Uttisghari Community Water Supply and Sanitation Scheme serving 1400 households. The construction of piped drinking water scheme in the VDC started only after 1984. Though these schemes received external assistance of some form in the initial construction and development, there have been also substantial community investments in their construction. Dadhikot, being easily accessible and located close to Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, continues to be the preferred destination for new settlers. Increase in the population and rapid pace of urbanization led to search for alternative source of water and there has been significant increase in the number of schemes developed in the VDC after 1995. In order to keep pace with the growing demand of water, construction of a deep tube well was carried out in 2008 at a cost of NRs. 17,600,000. The construction of an additional 200 m3 water reservoir has been completed and currently local communities have been outsourcing to undertake watershed conservation program for the sustainable management of drinking as well irrigational water requirements.

Lubhu is a traditional Newar settlement. While the traditional water structures playing pivotal role in water arrangement are on the verge of extinction, the VDC in its own does not hold any reliable water source to revitalize these systems. The intractable challenge forward was to obtain water from neighboring VDC and equitably distribute in view of rapid population growth and simultaneously growing water demands. The people in the VDC managed to divert water supply from Chapakharka spring located in Bisankhu Narayan VDC. The Chapakharka spring source has been in use since 1981and supplies water to five VDCs- Lamatar, Sirutar, Bisankhu Narayan, Tikathali and Lubhu. Water from this spring is supplied through public stand and monitored by Users' Sub- Committee. To meet the deficit water needs, the VDC has developed another water supply system with water tapped from Dovan River. At present, total of 52 public taps have been installed, each serving approximately 100 households. The quality of this water is poor and the user committee has been exploring the possible financial assistance for developing a filtration tank and water treatment facility at Dhovan River so that quality of water supply from this source could be improved.

From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that while the state crafted initiatives have floundered, several community led innovations, both technical and institutional have emerged. In the light these findings, appears the essence of exploring efficient and flexible innovations for community participation in urban water management.

Availability, Consumption and Water problem in Budheda and Sadhraana

Budheda, a village situated in the outskirts of Gurgaon is located at about a distance of 15 kms form the city. In Budheda, the water is a little saline; making it very hard to drink. Many of the households use PHED water. But this process of supplying water is dependent on electricity. as electricity is used to store water. However, our study revealed that sweet water is also available in some of the places. Due to the climate change  and less rainfall, the underground water level is decreasing. Another reason is that the ground water is being extracted at a very fast rate, and hence the scarcity of pure drinking water. Some areas of the village witness sweet drinking water, hence the number of boring (using submersibles) in those areas are more.

Rainfall is a reason to celebrate in Budheda, because rainfall has gone drastically down with the years passing by and when it rains, it brings relief to the people. Elder sections of the people usually recall the heaviest rainfall in 1977. According to them, in 1977 it rained so heavily that the place flooded for a couple of days, and boats were used for transportation . 

We also surveyed another village named Sadhraana. It is about 20 kms from Gurgaon city and 5 kms from Budheda. Sadhraana is also called as “pandito ka gaon”, which means the village of pandits. Shadrana, again houses people of different castes which include SCs, Rajputs, Brahmins, Yadavs etc. Water is again a problem in Shadrana. The water supplied by the PHED is sweet, i.e. the area where the PHED boring is done, has sweet water. But the PHED water supply doesn’t reach to all parts of the village. The water supply by the PHED is completely dependent on electricity. The water is supplied only when the power is available. The richer section of the village draw water from the pipes using an electric motor first. Hence, the poorer sections of the village always have to face the difficulty in accessing the water. Budheda and Sadhraana, both face water problems. But, the  fact that water being wasted can not be ignored. Hence, people should be made aware of conserving water. 

A meeting with the PHED officials and the Panchayat members of Sultanpur and Jhanjhrola khera was organized, in which it was decided that people found guilty of wasting water would be fined. Hence, in this way there would be a check on the wastage of water.

In these two months of field survey in Budheda and Sadhraana, I had a great experience, and learnt many new things. . First of all, the issues of water in peri -urban area can be seen from different perspectives of vulnerability, accessibility, etc. Culture, tradition and life-styles of those villages were interesting to note.

In Assam the water problem is very much different from Haryana. In Assam, water is a reason for many problems in the village. Every year, thousands of people become homeless due to flood. Flood washes away the crops fields; many households even face famine like situation. The situation is very devastating there. Many diseases have spread by the floods like cholera, malaria, etc. People died because of flood and the crops are also washed away. But here in Sadhraana and Budheda people face problem due to water shortage. The ground water level is about 80-90 in there. The irregularity or scarcity of monsoon rains is the main reason of low productivity of monsoon crops.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Prithviraj Borah

                                                                        IIT Guwahati

                                                                                           Student Intern  

(Gurgaon), SaciWATERs