KATHMANDU, Feb 13: "Hello, General Manager! Is it mandatory for people to pay tariff though they are not supplied drinking water regularly?"
It was not a gross question by any irate customer, but the public grilling of the General Manager at Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd (KUKL) by Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Prem Bahadur Singh during a programme organizhed to mark the 10th anniversary of KUKL in the capital city on Sunday. KUKL is the sole body to manage the supply of drinking water in the Kathmandu Valley.
KUKL has Rs 2.12 billion water tariff dues
Minister Singh was speaking the voice of four million Kathmanduities at the programme.
Currently, the daily demand of water in the Kathmandu Valley has reached as much as 350 million litre, while only 90 million litre is supplied. It shows how the Valley population is managing with meagre water facility.
However, other speakers at the programme tried to assure that after the Melamchi project is over, the Kathmanduities would get additional 170 litres of water every day.
Even the trade unions in the KUKL accused KUKL Chairman Suresh Kumar Basnet of sheer mismanagement in supply of drinking water, and reached to the demand of his resignation.
However, Chairman claimed that as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was lobbying against him, the trade unions had followed the suit. RSS
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