As per national census of 2021,only 56% of households, out of total 791,428 households in the districts of Kathmandu valley has access to Tap/piped water (within or outside Premises). The remaining rely on alternative sources of water(National Population and Housing Census 2021, 2021). KUKL (Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited), responsible for water production and distribution in Kathmandu valley, reports in their latest annual report of 2022/2023 that their average daily production ranges from 102.66 ML/day(dry month) to 154.68 ML/day(wet month)(KUKL, 2079). As per data published at the end of 2021, demand of water stands at 430 Million Liters daily(Rashtriya Samachar Samiti, 2021).
There is clear indication that alternative water sources do play vital role in water security of the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu Water Supply Development Board (KVWSMB, 2019) identified 224 spouts out of 573 were functional. These functional spouts were the primary source of drinking water for low-income households and had total discharge estimated to 2.4 MLD. The water source from hitis have been very important for the livelihood of the urban poor and internally displaced people.
Understanding the importance of relation between heritage and water resources of Kathmandu Valley La: Tiki- Water Heritage Initiative has been launched on the first day of the new year 2023-01-01. Although the group has been trying to promote the works done by heritage advocates since many years, now La: Tiki (literally means a drop of water in Nepalese language) - a Water Heritage Initiative intends to do tangible contributions to the heritage along with associated water security.
The aim of the initiative is to:
- Helping to solve water crisis through heritage preservation
- Promoting works done to revive Hiti Heritage
- Providing solutions in water heritage preservation
- Leveraging new technologies in water heritage preservation
- Research and documentation of water heritage
- Facilitate and collaborate with different stakeholders, communities, groups, government and non-government entities
Specific activities La: Tiki will be performing are:
- Awareness programs
- Research and documentation on water heritage elements/systems including visible and underground (geo)hydrology
- Bring new technologies like GPR, scopes, micro-bots, chemical tracing etc
- Conduct physical restoration, so that Hiti sites are usable (source-wise and drain-wise, store-and-use etc)
La: Tiki - Water Heritage Initiative is supported by CCO( Chiva Chaitya Organization). Chiva Chaitya Organization ( https://chivachaitya.org.np ) has been working for promotion and preservation of heritage since more than ten years.
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