"I feel very insecure and vulnerable in this city where you can hardly trust anyone," she said. She is thinking of taking tuition classes to compensate for the missed classes.[break]
But insecurity is not the only thing she grouses about when she talks about Kathmandu city. She also complains about water crisis, skyrocketing prices, rising house rent, deceitful traders and poor regulation by the authorities.
She said that water never flows from the taps at her home and that has been dependent on tankers that supply water since long.
"You have to compromise on so many fronts in the city," said Khanal, adding, "A shopkeeper once gave me a biscuit which was past the expiry date. When I complained, instead of accepting his fault he threatened me." She said that the shopkeeper refused to take the biscuit back and return her money.
Petrol crisis: People in petrol queue. (Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)
Sabitri Devkota, 36, who is from Jiling in Nuwakot, said she came to the capital in the hopes of providing better education to her two children. She complained that protracted load shedding has been hampering the studies of her children.
Devkota, who sells goods on the streets after six in the evening, complained that the regular power cut has pushed her sales down. "No one comes to buy in the dark," she said. "Moreover, I have to return home early because of the fear of being looted."
Deekshya Lamichhane of Kharipati Bhaktapur has other grievances. She is reluctant to go out even in the daytime as she worries that she might not find a public toilet when she´d be in urgent need of one.
For that reason, she never drinks water before leaving home. She said that she either has to enter a restaurant and eat something just to use the toilet or hold the urine until she returns home. She also loathes the unpleasant condition of public restrooms. "They charge money but do not maintain the cleanness," she said.
Water crisis: Locals queue for water at Patan Durbar Square. (Photo: Bikash Karki)
Dr Baburam Gautam, chief of Health Department at Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), concedes that people in the metropolis have been facing multiple difficulties due to the KMC´s inability to provide basic services.
"When we asked people to boil water before they drink it, they asked us to provide water to boil," said Gautam, highlighting the government´s inability to provide something as essential as water.
The department had operated health camps at several slum settlements recently. Lots of children in the slum settlements were found to be suffering from different types of water borne diseases, the department said. He said that even the water that slum dwellers buy from tankers is of poor quality.
Likewise, Gautam said when the department asked meat sellers to store meat in refrigerator, they asked the government officials to provide the electricity first.
Gautam said that a lot of people in the metropolis do not have access to health facilities.
Ramchandra Simkhada, secretary at Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights-Nepal, said that the KMC has failed to provide even the basic services to the people living in the metropolis. "The KMC does not provide any service to the people, but never fails to charge fees," said Simkhada.
He said that people in the metropolis have been fulfilling their duties by paying all the taxes enforced by KMC, but the office has failed to ensure their basic rights.
"We are compelled to wait for a long time for a public transport. When finally a vehicle arrives there´d barely be space to keep a foot. If you complain about the overcrowding, you get scolded by the bus staffers," he added.
"Due to lack of awareness about consumer rights, unscrupulous people have been taking undue advantages," he added. He said that state mechanism has also failed to ensure rights of the people. He concedes that consumers have been enduring such problems silently making it difficult for the consumer rights organizations to stand up against traders, who are capable to influence even the policy makers.
Kedar Bahadur Adhikari , executive officer of KMC, concedes that the office do not have control over basic services like water supply system, electricity, sewage management system, security and others. He also acknowledged the metropolis´s failure to build and maintain public toilets.
"We have asked all petrol pumps in Kathmandu to build public toilets within this fiscal year," said Adhikari, adding, "The problems of toilets will be solved soon." The KMC, in the past, had also planned to install solar panels to light the street lamps but the effort did not materialize.
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INTERVIEW
Ramchandra Simkhada,
Secretary, Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights-Nepal
What are the problems faced by people in the metropolis?
There is a long list of problems people face in this metropolis. They pay all kinds of taxes imposed by the authorities but do not get any services. They are being deprived of drinking water, electricity, security, health and others services. Protracted load shedding is affecting the studies of our children. People are being cheated by dishonest traders. The government has failed to ensure quality goods and medicines. People are fleeced even at government hospitals. Market monitoring mechanism of the government is so weak that no one trusts the government agencies are doing anything for the better. Prices have soared but the government has failed to address the problem.
What is your organization doing to address such problems?
We can only advocate for people´s rights and make them aware about their rights. We are not the body to ensure consumer rights. A lot of people including journalists understand how much sensitive this issue is. But we have to do a lot. The government agencies do not seem serious about the difficulties faced by people. Voice of businessmen is stronger than that of consumers´ right bodies.
We have been time and again pressing the government agencies to take necessary steps. I also urge the consumers to raise voice against such problems. Until and unless we do not pressurize the government, things will not change.
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