He was there to tell the teachers about a compulsion which is common among Kathmanduites.[break]
“Since the past three months, there has been not a single drop of water in my tap. How could my children bathe frequently?” he said.
He said his children complain to him about feeling humiliated before their classmates.
“The teachers scold them for not being neat and tidy. I explain to them about our problem and ask them to try to understand,” he said, adding, “Moreover, the school uniform is white and quickly becomes dirty.”
Suni Maharjan, 32, of Dalachhi in KMC-21 has a similar tale.
“I have not been able to wash my clothes for a month. We have worn all out clothes and have started to wear them a second time without washing,” she said, adding, “We do not even have water to moist our throats.”
For months she has been buying tanker water for her household chores, which is expensive.
She said they have to walk about a kilometer to purchase the tanker water. “We need 200 liters of water for the kitchen alone. For drinking we buy jar water," she said.
The Maharjan family is spending more than Rs 3,000 a month for water.
Surendra Singh of Teku hights complained that he is paying tarrif for nothing to Kathmandu Upatyaka Kahanepani Limited (KUKL), the body responsible for distributing water in taps.
“I paid KUKL Rs 900 for one year but there is water only three months in the year,” he said.
“Due to the lack of supply we are unable to put water into the toilet and it is therefore jammed,” he said.
According to Singh, most houses in his neighborhood are of old type, and do not have underground tanks to store water.
Shanti Pandey, 46, of Dalachhi said wasting even one drop of water at her home is a crime. “I used to alert my children before they use any water. “I would warn them not to use too much,” she said.
Pandey said they have not gotten any water since a month now. “We do not even have water to wet our throats,” she complained, adding, “It has been weeks since we took a bath. We have started to smell.”
The inhabitants of KMC Wards No. 12, 20 and 21 protested at KUKL head office at Tripureshore, and surrounded the utility officials, Tuesday. They complained that they have not been getting a regular supply of water since months.
“Due to our water worries, we cannot even sleep properly. We have to wake up at midnight to check the taps. Instead of water, only air comes out of the tap,” said Shyam Krishna Shrestha of KMC- 21.
He said people in his area are spending hours fetching water.
KUKL said that on average four such groups come to its head office every day. People from Chabahil, Baudha and Dhumbarahi areas staged a protest at KUKL´s Mahankalchaur office on Monday.
KUKL is providing water once a week. According to the office, the demand for water in the Valley is 330 million liters a day the but the supply is only 80 million liters.
It said that water output at both sources at Sundarijal has decreased about 80 percent this season.
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