Rain water is considered as the pure form of water. Rainwater harvesting locally collects and stores rainfall through different technologies, for use to meet the demands of human consumption or human activities. The art of rainwater harvesting has been practiced since the first human settlements. It is the simple technique. Rainwater can be harvested using roof and other above-ground catchments and stored in tanks for use. The roof catchment is connected with a gutter and down-pipe system to deliver rainwater to the storage tank. The quality of rainwater is directly related to the cleanliness of catchments, gutters and storage tanks.

It is estimated that about 1600 mm of rain fall in Kathmandu valley in average. But due to urbanization and Infrastructure development (commercial building, residential areas, school, and colleges) and population growth day by day. The open land fields are being covered by these infrastructures. The deep ground water aquifers being extracted massively to meet the demand of these areas that is leading to the ground water table reduction. So instead of recharging this rainwater it into the ground, water is washed out into river as drain.

Thus, in the mean time to overcome this challenge of water scarcity and wasted water faced by our communities, Urban Environment Management Society (UEMS) a Non-Governmental organization of Lalitpur District as a implementation partner for UNDP/GEF/SGP have been making effort to promote Rain Water Harvesting and Ground Water Recharging as feasible tools to tackle water stress in Lalitpur ward -15. With the primary funding from the Coca-Cola Company and initiative through UNDP this project launched under Every Drops Matters have been able to install RWH and recharge system at 120 places in three areas of Lalitpur ward -15 to increase the ground water level. Till now they have recharged about 22 million liter of water within short period of time in this monsoon. Around 6,000 locals in these areas are benefiting from this technology and water availability. Most important of all artistic stone spouts are flowing water and traditional dug well are recharged.

Besides providing technical and financial assistance for the installation of rainwater system UEMS have also been able to raise public awareness regarding RWH/R benefits and as adaptation tools for the climate change, capacity building of people and communities and providing knowledge regarding rain water management and its system maintenance for the sustainability.

I am glad to share you this article as I,myself with NYG team member (Manisha Shrestha, Bimala Gurung, Prathistha Sharma, Neha Basnet and Bhawana Kuwar ) went to the field for the impact findings along with the Program Officer Mr. Netra Lal Sapkota of UMES. We studied the perception, practice, utilization of water by the community and interacted with them. Beside this we got the opportunity to observe the construction technique used by the UMES in these areas.

 Source: Data from UMES and Nepali Youth at Guthi ( NYG )