The origin of stone spouts is linked with the Kirant dynasty in Kathmandu valley. However, stone spouts are regarded as natural springs that were developed and expanded as sites for public water consumption several hundred years ago, during the Licchhavi/Malla period. Similarly, people within the valley have been using these spouts in the regular basis for auspicious religious activities. Stone spoutsarechannelized structure constructed at the lower elevation within the locality and are equipped with at least one decorative spout, an outlet for water and idols of different deities. Stone spout, Dhungedhara in Nepali and Hiti in Nepal Bhasa, contributes significantly to urban poor as well as the residents nearby it at the present date too. Hiti is coined with two terms, Hi means moving and ti comes from tila that means conduit.
Although, stone spouts are constructed with the traditional knowledge, they have good engineering setups that comprises the components like intake, water conduits, filter, spouts and drainage. Intake is designed to direct surface water towards the shallow aquifer that helps to recharge groundwater and this ultimately works as the source of water for stone spouts. Water from shallow aquifer moves toward the filter through conduits and these may be artificial or natural. In the past days, artificial water conduits were developed from wood or burnt clay (Hitidun in Newar Bhasa). Simply, filter is placed at the place where groundwater drains from the surrounding periphery. Necessarily, all the stone spouts do not have filter but this is used to maintain quality of water. Usually, filters such as;Sedimentation chamber is used to lower the sedimentation load, Charcoal filter helps to reduce the nasty odour as well asSwastika filter filled with sand and gravel increases the travel time of water from filter and helps to settle most of the sediments coming along with water. After the filtration water passes to spouts and in the most cases these are made from stone, so, they are called stone spouts.Number of spouts at a spot depends on various factors such as, amount of water tapped at source, purpose of water use and number of water fetcher. In the similar way, drainage exists as an important component as it provides way for the unused water to pass out from the sunken area of stone spout.
KMC reports 154 stone spouts, with 61 in operation and 12 unacc...
Nevertheless, smooth functioning of stone spout is being collapsed in the recent decades and some of them have started to disappear. Open area encroachment and lack of maintenance is the key reason behind present miserable condition of stone spouts. Urban population is ever increasing and people have started to occupy open space in their surrounding and the land once used for agricultural purpose is now being concretized. This significantly reduces recharge zone of shallow aquifer. In contrast to this, previous ruler of the valley had made canals named as Rajkuloto bring water from the nearby areas to Kathmandu valley. Rajkulo was of multiple uses in those days, as it was used for, from drinking water purpose to irrigating rice fields. Contribution to groundwater recharge and maintaining groundwater table is one of its significance while talking about Rajkulo and this provided water to ponds and wells too. But, at the present context, areas occupied by Rajkulo and ponds are being considerably shrinked. This has resulted significantly reduced open space in one hand and in the next hand this has stopped water that used to come from periphery during the dry seasons through Rajkulo and constantly supplied water to the resident of Kathmandu valley. In a way, these used to play a significant role to recharge shallow aquifer.
Historians claim, once more than 600 stone spouts were functional in Kathmandu valley but these are in verge of collapse at the present date. Yet, stone spouts serve around 20 percentages of peopleliving here, according to Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).Kathmandu is already stressed with the issues related to water and the situation may get more devastatingwhen stone spoutcompletely fails to operate.So, it will be the precise decision of all the concerned stakeholders to develop a concrete idea for the future prospective of water source in valley.
In regard to stone spouts, authorities should plan some strategies that could provide suitable ground for shallow groundwater recharge, for example; evacuating the illegal encroachment of Rajkulo and ponds. In addition to this, proper mechanism of maintenance should be carried out in the cooperation with the local people. This will ensure the sustainability of stone spouts and help to conserve traditional source of water resource.
