Kathmandu. Locals of Sundarijal, the main drinking water supply hub in the Kathmandu Valley, have been forced to suffer a miserable fate as they have not got drinking water for years.

Although the Melamchi water supplied to the capital city is processed at Sundarijal, many settlements in Gokarneshwor and Kageshwori Manohara Municipality are dependent on stone taps, wells and public taps for lack of regular drinking water supply.

Local and federal representatives have been drawing the attention of the government for many years regarding the lack of drinking water to the locals of the source area, but the problem has not been resolved.

In a meeting of the parliamentary committee related to drinking water and infrastructure last week, lawmaker from Kathmandu constituency-3, Rajunath Pandey, warned that if the drinking water problem at Gokarneshwor area was not addressed, the Melamchi water would not be available to the Kathmandu Capital. Holding a meeting with representatives of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) at Sundarijal-based Water Processing Centre on Saturday, Minister Pun directed them to take necessary initiatives to resolve local problems.

The water from the Melamchi River that reaches Sundarijal from Helambu rural municipality-1 of Sindhupalchowk through a 27.5-km tunnel is processed here and supplied to the capital city. In addition, the water from the Bagmati River is also being treated from Sundari Jal and distributed to various areas of the Kathmandu Valley.

Sabitri Sapkota of Kageshwori Manohara Municipality-3, Bhadrabas, said she had to walk for half an hour to a public tap at Rupsetar in Gokarneshwor Municipality-1 to fetch 10 liters of drinking water. “There is always a long queue at the tap, it is only after hours of waiting for it,” he lamented.

Keshav Prasad Pudasaini of the same ward complained that the locals have been deprived of their right to clean drinking water guaranteed by the constitution for lack of sustainable management of drinking water though the municipality has claimed that it has completed several drinking water projects.

Spokesperson of Gokarneshwor Municipality Narayan Bahadur Subedi admitted that although the municipality had handed over the pipes to KUKL from its own budget, the supply of drinking water has not been as expected.

According to Prem Shrestha, a local, the supply of pure water has been affected in the local area as the old Bagmati water treatment plant has not been in operation for a long time. He demanded the immediate maintenance of the centre and regular and clean drinking water supply to the locals.

Ram Ratan Sah, managing director of KUKL, said that the problem in Sundarijal area is due to the old distribution system. According to him, an agreement has been reached with lawmaker Pandey to construct a new distribution system as the pipeline constructed during the Panchayat era is not in a position to handle the current population density.

Norsang Sherpa, a local of Attarkhel, complained that the water supplied to Bouddha area has been polluted due to lack of effective operation of the old water treatment plant towards Bagmati in Sundarijal. According to him, the clothes do not clean properly while using such water and the body becomes itchy after bathing. He said that although the civil society has been raising this issue for a decade, the concerned bodies have not received effective hearing.