March 24: The government has revealed that only 27 per cent of the total population of the country has access to pure drinking water.

According to the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation, seventy-three per cent of the population is deprived of this facility due to the lack of minerals including iron in water sources owing to the dilapidated water pipeline and water tank of more than 100 years. Sources of drinking water become more polluted during times of natural disasters like landslides and floods which affect people's health.

Speaking at a recent programme, doctors said drinking unfiltered and untreated water due to lack of public awareness can have serious impacts on public health. Under-Secretary at the Ministry, Madhu Timalsina, said the ministry was working to increase people's access to pure drinking water. Problems have surfaced in distribution of clean drinking water as water sources have become polluted due to distribution of water from pipelines installed some120 years ago, he shared.

Timalsina, however, urged people in Kathmandu to drink water supplied by Melamchi Water Supply Project without any doubt as it is in accordance with standards of the World Health Organization. He suggested drinking underground water only after testing it as the iron content in the underground water is generally high. People can suffer from different diseases and infections like diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, typhoid and cholera as well as the high risk of hepatitis 'A' and 'E' due to consumption of polluted drinking water, shared doctors.

Similarly, infectious disease Specialist Dr Sher Bahadur Pun suggested one and all to drink water only after purifying or boiling it, stating that serious problems might arise in public health due to consumption of contaminated water. "Until 20 years ago, people used to die from cholera due to drinking polluted water. People are losing their lives due to consumption of polluted water even these days," he said, referring to the lack of access to pure drinking water.

According to Dr Pun, water is more polluted after monsoon-induced disasters like floods and landslides, and drinking the polluted water will cause water-borne communicable diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis, dysentery and others.

Public health expert Dr Sameer Adhikari warned against using contaminated water in view of public health. He suggested keeping the water sources clean and drinking boiled water and using clean water to wash fruits and vegetables.

Rajendra Aryal, the President of the Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal, said the constitution has made provision that all citizens have the right to drinking water as their fundamental right. However, he complained that this fundamental right was not implemented in an effective manner. Aryal called on the government to give priority, in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2024/25, to programs related to access to quality drinking water to all.

"Still many consumers have to line up for hours to collect water, and on top of this, they do not have access to pure water.

Programs for distributing clean drinking water should be moved ahead through collaboration among all the three tiers of the government," he emphasized.

As per the National Census Report, 2021, 34.6 percent of the total 6,660,841 households use taps/pipe water within the premises of their homes while 22.4 percent used taps/pipe water outside of the premises of their homes and 29.8 percent used water from tube well/hand pump.

Similarly, the report states that 1.5 percent of the total 6,660,841 households used water drawn from covered wells, 3.9 percent used water from spring taps while 4.6 percent used jar and bottle water. It is stated in the report that 2.1 percent of the total 6,660,841 households use open well water as their main source of water while 0.4 percent use water directly collected from rivers and streams.

The government has also adopted the Global Sustainable Development Goal 6 to ensure the availability and sustainability management of water and sanitation for all. By 2030, the government aims to increase the number of people using safe drinking water to at least 90%. Similarly, UNICEF's new country program (2018-2022) in Nepal initiated efforts of WASH programs to secure enhanced and equitable access to safe and sustainable drinking water, sanitation services, and improved hygiene practices for children and their families.

This program is guided by WASH Sector Development Plan (2016 - 2030). It supports improving water quality through strengthening the water regulatory body, implementing water safety plans, and raising community awareness on household-level water treatment. -- RSS