KATHMANDU, March 2: The government is likely to face fund crunch to meet its target of providing people across the country with access to safe drinking water and effective sanitation facilities by 2017.
While the government was already struggling to meet the resources to finance its various projects to meet the target, the devastating earthquakes of April and May have made it more uncertain to meet the national target for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The government has set a target of achieving universal access to improved water supply and sanitation by 2017. According to the census of 2011, only 85 percent of the population has access to improved water supply. Similarly, 62 percent of the population has access to sanitation facilities.
Though the government boasts that 85 percent of the total population already has access to clean drinking water, many practitioners doubt the figure, arguing that many drinking water projects in government records are defunct or dysfunctional. Yet officials say that the government has stepped up its efforts to increase access to drinking water to sanitation by 2017.
The government says it needs Rs 20 billion to increase access to clean drinking water for all within the deadline.
According to Sector Financing Study, WaterAid in Nepal, 2008 and Red Book of Ministry of Finance, 2009, the country needs to make investment of Rs 7.5 billion annually to meet the universal access to basic water and sanitation facilities by 2017.
“Nearly 15 percent of the population still does not have access to clean drinking water. Our estimate is that we need to invest Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per person to make clean drinking water accessible which means we have to commit a fund of nearly Rs 20 billion over the next two years,” Rajan Raj Pandey, under secretary at the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS), told Republica.
Pandey further said that the government and donor agencies should increase their financing to meet the national target. “The economic returns of the WASH make it worth more investment. The government and donor organization should loosen their purse strings so that it can pay off later on,” added Pandey.
According to an estimation of World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008, the economic return in terms of health, education and livelihood benefit from every Rs 100 invested in water and sanitation is worth about Rs 900.
Pandey also said that the government has started nearly 2,700 small and large-scale drinking water projects in line with the plan to meet the universal access to drinking water.
However, officials fear that their target might hit a snag due to the recent devastating earthquakes.
“Our plan to meet the target may face obstacles because of the damage made by the earthquake. However, we are serious and committed toward overcoming such challenges by arranging more resources,” Pandey added.
According to Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DoWSS), nearly 300,000 toilets and 6,000 drinking water sources have been damaged in 31 earthquake-hit districts.
Ramchandra Devkota, director general at DoWSS, told Republica that the earthquake-hit districts alone need an estimated budget of Rs 18 billion to ensure WASH services.
“The earthquakes have added additional financial burden and made our task challenging. However, we are leaving no stone unturned to meet the target,” added Devkota.
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