"We have been regularly refilling the pond to preserve its image, which is important from historical as well as aesthetic point of views," Milan Kumar Shakya, spokesperson at the KUKL, said. He informed that the KUKL has been refilling the pond by one of its deep tube wells.Shakya, however, claimed that the KUKL has not poured the water supposed to be supplied to its consumers' taps. "We have made a tacit understanding to recharge the pond with KMC and have been filling water regularly in dry season," added Shakya.
Rabin Man Shrestha, Chief of Environment Division at the KMC, said that water level in the historic pond goes down alarmingly in every dry season and the KMC has been refilling it in coordination with KUKL. "Buddhist monks too fill water by private tanker when they feel that fish in the pond are at risk due to the declining water level," said Shrestha.
According to Shrestha, the KMC is well aware about the importance of the pond and is doing its best to preserve it in dry season. He informed that the environment division of the KMC has urged the public to install deep tube wells to recharge it during the dry season. "But the public objected to do so," he said, adding that the majority of the public opined that the importance of the pond will diminish if water is filled with the deep tube wells.
The pond is one of Kathmandu's most famous landmarks and is known for its religious and aesthetic significance.
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