20th Jan, 2014
It was lunch hour when I got a piece of information about a talk show going on at Nepal Art Council, BabarMahal, Kathmandu as organised by ICIMOD. I learnt that I had missed a talk program on Climate Change, a topic which I am always keenly interested in, conducted on Jan 19th. I also came to know that the talk program for today was entitled “Water in Mid Hill, Nepal” which I particularly did not want to miss. For last couple days or so I was working on a paper “Water Stress on Agroforestry, An insights from Australia, India and Nepal” which has in fact rocketed my enthusiasm about the Water topic. The program was set to kick start at 1500 hours.
Reached on time and grabbed a chair, I was waiting with a bated breath for the program to start. The program was mainly focused on 3 speakers viz; Dr Aditi Mukherji, Theme Leader, Water and Air, ICIMOD, Mr Dipak Gyawali, Chair, Nepal Water Conservation Foundation and Mr Lokendra Yakha, Farmer, Eastern Nepal.
The program started with a short pictorial slideshow followed by presentation of Dr. Mukherjii where she shared her findings about the condition of water stress in Lalitpur district. We were both entertained and startled by the scenario description of rural Dhankuta village by Mr. Yakha. A delightful comments and views from audience, moderation and facilitation by Gyawali sir and at last but never the least experience sharing from 3 focal farmers from 3 different rural areas added spices in the program.
Nepal is one of the most water rich country. Paradoxically, the majority of people in the country face serious shortage of potable water and decline in water table being another burning issue. As water table goes down, the access to water becomes cumbersome. Additionally presence of toxic elements like Arsenic has made water less potable. Surface water is also at great risk. With only 27% of population in Nepal having access to basic sanitation, polluted waterways are causing number of water borne disease like cholera, typhoid and dysentery.
Water in Kathmandu
What we look for when we look a good flat or house to buy in Kathmandu? The first answer will always be “water”. Having a good access to water is something that is desirable and moreover a need in Kathmandu valley. It has also become a matter of pride and glamor. If we see the demand in the valley, its 350 million liters per day while the supply is just 90 million litres per day during dry season and 150 million liters per day during wet season reports say. This huge gap between the supply and demand clearly shows the status of water availability in Kathmandu Valley.  |
| Every Drop Counts! |
Lets think about it...
Here is one easier solution. If we can reuse the water and to be more precise use water more judiciously, there is in fact no shortage of water. Experts claim Kathmandu that receives approximately 1200 mm of rainfall annually should never be under water shortage but is. If we can harvest rainwater in pond and other reservoirs, we can have enough water three times more in the fraction of cost of that Melamchi Project.
(Should we not think about it too?)
Rainwater harvest can be the best solution for water problem in Kathmandu valley. If we calculate the number of underground and overhead tanks, we have storage capacity exceeding Kulekhani reservoir itself says Mr. Gyawali. So why are we not storing water that comes for free during monsoon and save some money that we spend to buy water during winter? Need to think about it too...
Water and Agriculture
Agriculture has supported livelihoods of millions of people around the world, but is now under real threat of losing its productivity and impacts due mainly to a range of water issues. Water stress has become a key challenge in agriculture in the context of climate change. Increasing diversion of water from rural agriculture to urban and industrial use, and a growing climate change induced stress on the flow and seasonal distribution of water in the agricultural landscape are two major woes of agriculture. As a result, the issue of availability of, and access to, water has thus become urgent in agriculture development.
The case of rural village in Dhankuta
Agriculture, Agroforestry, Livelihood and in fact whole society is under real peril as a result of water stress. In case of rural village of Dhankuta, people are really facing a grave problem of water stress as a result many are migrating from one place to another in search of adequate water. After all Water is life. People there receive water only on alternate days and have reported that they have just one kuwa for two wards. They have to walk miles for hours and then again wait for hours sometimes days to get water access. They have to move to river for washing clothes and other household activities which is really time consuming and thus making life difficult.
Mr. Yakha, a farmer from rural Dhankuta claims about the decline of water source since the infamous earthquake of 2045 BS. That can be very true on account of tremors affecting the underground water table. Moreover people are indiscriminately chopping down the woods which causes the imbalance in hydrological cycle. Also to add the woes, the constructions of roads haphazardly has surely disturbed the water table. He also adds emphasis on the need of afforestation to revive the declining water source. The scarcity of water has hit agriculture the most, subsequently poor and marginalized farmers being hit in a chain.
The main thing is..
We can see that people are being disrespectful to water, that is why we face water shortage. Otherwise dwelling in country that is claimed to be the second richest in water source, how come we face a grave problem of water in both agriculture and living? Lets stop being polite, people are in fact being criminally disrespectful to water use.
We are taking out more than what we give in. Should we not think about judicious and smart water use rather than smart and witty capture?
A dollar saved is a dollar earned. This implies in water too. A cup of water saved is a cup was water earned! Lets think about saving water. Lets think about agriculture practices that are more water smart. With changing climate, farmers got to be climate smart vis-a-vis water smart. Vegetable farming and high value crops can be made responsive to water stress by the incorporation of technical innovations and inventions like drip irrigation method and others which simultaneously addresses water problem and increase income generation.
Lets take an example; In Murray-Darling basin, Australia the government is ‘buying-back’ water previously given to farmers to increase the flow of ‘environmental water’ in the river. Farmers are shifting to cattle ranching away from water intensive cultivation practices. In Rupandehi, Nepal as water table is going down and farmers face increasing costs to extract water needed for rice-wheat system, they are switching to various cash crops,banana farming and other vegetable farming.
Current agricultural researches and policy failing to recognize the inevitable effects of water stress on agriculture in a changing climate is another vital issue.
(There is, we believe, no silver bullet here that provides a ready made solution. Rather the search for solutions is an experimental one. Agricultural scientific research is an essential part of this but too must engage appropriately.)
 |
| just a tip of iceberg! |
