Kathmandu, 16 August

Water being basic need of people is the prime concern for all and at present scenario rainwater is being source of water through Rainwater Harvesting System (RHWS) for many people. An interaction program was organized at Rainwater Resource Centre (RRC), Lainchaur, Kathmandu to interact about ?future of Rainwater Harvesting and Recharge in Kathmandu Valley: Possibilities and Constraints?. The interaction program was organized by Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD).

The participant of the interaction program were Rainwater implementation partners such as: CIUD, NEWA, BSP-Nepal, UEMS, Smart Paani, Guthi, UN-Habitat, CREEW, SEN, ECCA.

Research works regarding Rainwater harvesting potentiality in various places of Kathmandu Valley and services provided by RRC were informed by Mr. Suresh Shrestha from CIUD. After the delivery of information an interaction session started and interaction was mainly focused on RRC promotion and sustainability, Rain Club Formation and Groundwater recharge/ Recharge Kathmandu Campaign.

For the promotion of RRC, many participants suggested to train plumbers and remain in contact with them. So, economic benefit can be taken from service seeker and plumber/service provider but representative from UN-Habitat, Mr. P.S. Joshi suggested  RRC must seek budget from donors and act effectively to promote Rainwater Harvesting System (RHWS). Regarding rain club all participant suggested that, School/College club must be made active as rain club to promote RWHS, instead of establishing separate club within School for RWHS.

A participant from Smart Paani, Mr. Suman Shakya suggested to make RHWS sexy and fancy through architectural design and he also added that RRC must be centre for research hub regarding RHWS as well as he mentioned that Smart Paani has developed new data base software system to know about already installed RWHS. Mr. Robin Shah from CREEW mentioned about assessment of grey water and its management in Kathmandu, which can be used for rainwater management.

Participant of the interaction discussed about Groundwater recharge in Valley and executive director of CIUD, Mr. Puskar lal Shrestha informed about Recharge Water Campaign, which started from 2010. A participant put forward an idea to recharge Groundwater (GW) within premises of Government office and Schools because they have large catchment area and recharging is high. Participant involved in GW recharge shared their experience regarding possibility of recharge in Kathmandu and initiatives to be taken for 

(by Mr. Nabin Bhandari, member NYG participated in the program and gathered news)