This Dashain we experienced an unusual weather. There was rainfall for most of the days and on the ninth and tenth day of Dashain it rained continuously. This is a rare experience that occurred after 40 years. During Dashain we worship goddess Durga for ten days, and on the tenth we put tika from our elders and take their blessings. While many people cursed the rain and put tika from their elders this year, no one once thought it as a blessing from Goddess Durga to her devotees. During the festival of Dashain the water demand is high, there are more dishes to clean, more clothes to wash. As rainwater is soft and makes cleaning easier, the rainwater not only will make cleaning easier but at the same time will reduce our water demand.

Although most of them were annoyed by the rain, people of one community were definitely happy. They are the people of Dallu Awas, Swoyambhu. This community is the first community of Kathmandu that has made installation of rainwater harvesting system
compulsory. Among 751 houses 40/50 houses have already installed this system. People here have not only harvested rainwater for household purpose but also for community purpose and commercial purpose.

One of the business people who smiles when it rains is Mr. Ashok Magaya. He owns a local laundry shop. At one of our college field trips we visited him. He had said us that since he installed rainwater harvesting system it has been a blessing to him. He installed this technique four years ago. His water demand is 1000 lit/day. In the past it used to cost him Rs. 2,400 for 12,000 liters of water while now it is free of cost to him. He had installed it at the price of Rs 4500 and the rest of the cost was supported by LUMANTI. The rainwater helps him clean the clothes without having to buy water in tanks during monsoon. Because of this his profit is Rs 36,000/year. One beneficial investment it is.

Besides this a community center there has also installed rainwater harvesting system. This community center gives the locals skill developing trainings, mechanical trainings, and is also a women school. The cost there was also supported by LUMANTI. It used the rainwater for non-drinking purposes, which has helped them economically. The storage capacity of the community center is 12,000lt. The rainwater is enough for them to fulfill their non-drinking water demand throughout the ten months of a year i.e., April-January.

Thus, by installing rainwater harvesting system we can benefit ourselves economically, physically as well as mentally. Installing rainwater harvesting system in houses, office buildings, and schools is not difficult. Roof of the building can be used as a catchment area, here the water is collected. Through the connection of pipelines or conduits, the collected water is brought down where it can be passed in the storage tank. One of the most important parts is that the first rainwater must be flushed before sending it into the storage tank, as first rainwater contains debris, dirt of the roof, thus by first flush the unclean water can be removed. First flush can be automated or manual. In manual, for fifteen minutes if the first collected rainwater is thrown, rest of the water will be clean and usable. A recharge structure can be constructed to recharge the ground water, through excess rain, which ultimately contributes to declining groundwater table of the area.

So, do you still take the rainfall of this Dashain as a curse or blessing? If the rainfalls again this year make sure you have your buckets ready to catch the water, which can fulfill your water demand and make cleaning easier.