Now that the fuel crisis is just showing signs of being resolved, Kathmandu Valley is already coming under the grip of acute water shortage with taps across the city of 2.5 million people running dry.

Experts fear that the water shortage may only worsen in the days ahead.

The same story repeats itself every dry season: the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), the sole government utility looking after the supply of drinking water, has become unable to maintain normal supply to the Valley denizens. The end result is there for all to see – people rummage for even few buckets full of water at public taps and waterspouts so that they don’t have to go thirsty, leading to serpentine queues in front of them, with occasional brawls over who gets to fill their bucket first becoming a commonplace sight.

The daily water demand of the Valley is around 190 million liters daily (MLD) but the Corporation is just managing to supply 90 MLD to the valley this summer – a sharp 50 percent decline from the corporation’s original capacity of 160 MLD.

A report on the Valley’s water shortage in Monday’s Kantipur daily says water production capacity in most of the service reservoirs (or water resources) for Kathmandu Valley including the major ones in Farping, Sundarijal, Basbari and Manhara have decreased with the rise in the mercury level. There has been a sharp reduction of 10.8 MLD in the production capacity of Sundarijal, which is the main water reservoir in the Kathmandu Valley. The total production capacity of Sundarijal in normal period stands 40.8 MLD. Similarly, the situation in Basbari reservoir, the second largest reservoir after Sundarijal, is pretty much the same. There has been a sharp decline of 5 MLD in this plant from its original capacity of 10.5 MLD. In the same way, production capacity of Balaju reservoir has come down to mere 5 MLD from the original 10.2 MLD.

In Manahara water reservoir located in Bhaktapur also there has been a sharp decrease, something which has been attributed to the local farmers using water for irrigation.

In the same way, Farping, another reliable source of water, is also reeling under the same problem.

Now, because of this 50 percent decline in its supply the Corporation is supplying water in phases and as per it every area has its turn once in four days and, that too, only for about an hour. Also, morning, afternoon and evening are scheduled for different areas to get their water supply.

With the view to ease the acute water shortage to some extent, the NDWC has also mobilized its 18 water tankers to distribute 8,00,000 liters of water every day to shortage-hit localities in different parts of the capital city including New Road, Maitidevi and Baneshwore.

But as amazing as it may sound nothing concrete has yet been done to smoothen the distribution system which is prone to frequent leaks and bursts. An estimated 40 percent of the city’s water supply is lost through leakages.