Bhuikhel, a place
located near a world heritage site Swayambhunath, has a pleasant environment. I
along with my colleague visited the site. It was beautiful but we also could see
a dried out pond even though two recharge wells could clearly be seen. Later we
came to know that the ultimate reason for constructing the wells was for
retaining and recharging rainwater. Unfortunately rainwater is only being
recharged. It has 3 collection inlets: two
being the stairs of the Swayambhunath and one being the 9 ropani playground
lying next to the pond. However, the local authority had tried to use black mud
so that water could be retained but still the technique failed.
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| Bhuikhel pond |
“The formation of the
cracks in the bedding of the black mud used in the pond is not letting the pond
to retain rainwater”, says Narendra Man Dangol, director of Niva Rain and the
local resident. He also shared, “the decision to use red mud or plastic for
overcoming the problem is yet to be made.”
Kathmandu Metropolitan
City (KMC) has introduced a provision that waives 10 per cent amount while
approving house blueprints if they have integrated RWH in their design. It has
also enforced a mandatory provision of approving the construction of only those
houses that incorporate the Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system particularly in
this area.
The effort of KMC to encourage people to install RWH system in their household is highly commendable. And hopefully the pond could retain water not just recharge in times to come.
The effort of KMC to encourage people to install RWH system in their household is highly commendable. And hopefully the pond could retain water not just recharge in times to come.
