4th International Conference on Rain Water Cistern Systems
Manila , Philipines - August, 1989

Section B: Community Participation

Paper B.6

Community Participants In Drinking Water System: Project Experiences Of Women Development Section Ministry Of Panchayat And Local Development, Nepal

Uma Pradhan

Country Backgound

Nepal is a sovereign and mountainous Kingdom situated between the two big countries People's Republic of China and India. The country in the south, east and west is bordered by India and the North by Tibetan region of People's Republic of China. It is more or less rectangular in shape with 8¢5 kilometres in length and an averages of 200 kilometre in breadth. The total area of the Kingdom is 147181 Square Kilometres. Topographically, the country is divided into three distinct regions, the Tarai in the South, Hill regions in the middle and high land of the Himalayas ranges in the north. The altitude varies From 500 ft. in the south from sea level to 29,00 ft. in the north. Of the total Land, only 20% is cultivable and the rest being mountainous and barren. Its economy is basically agrarian and subsistence prevails in economic activities. accessibility is limited, 35 percent of the population has to walk about three days to reach a motorable road. Administratively, the country is divided into 5 regions, 14 zones and 'l5 districts. Each district is divided into Ilaka, town and viallage panchayat and urban centres. The total population of Nepal is around 16 million with an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent.

Drinking Water- System in Nepal

In 1976 eighty one percent of urban population and five percent of rural population had access to piped water. The urban population is small (6.4 percent in 1981) and concentrated in the three cities of Kathmandu valley it accounts for about 40 percent of the total urban population in 1981. A little more than 10 percent of population in the country had access to such system in 19'6. At present scarcity of piped water is increasing in the urban areas where as no significant. progress has been made in the rural areas because most of the annual investment has gone in maintaining the past projects.

PDF of full document available to members (8pp, 220kb)