“Multiple inspections and monitoring have
shown that the bottled water lack quality, and it’s the MoWS that has to face
the criticism from people. In order to ensure the desired quality in the water
products, the MoWS should have the right to monitor and punish the guilty,”
said Minister for Water Supply Bina Magar at the meeting of the Development and
Technology Committee (DTC).
Previous monitoring had concluded that as
much as 80 per cent of the jar water was unsuitable to drink.
Currently, the water industries are
registered and regulated under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply
while the Department of Commerce, Supply and Protection of Consumers (DoCSPC)
and Department of Food Technology and Quality Control are the monitoring and
inspection agencies.
The minister also questioned the branding of
the bottled water.
“So far as I know, they don’t actually have
any minerals but are sold as mineral water. There must be some standards to be
called as the ‘mineral water’, and the government will develop such standards,”
she said.
The DTC directed the ministry to prepare the
quality standard of drinking water to ensure the supply of clean drinking water
to everyone as per the fundamental rights included in the Constitution.
The committee has also directed to make the
provision of providing Nepal Standard to the drinking water supplier based on
its purity and quality.
The lawmakers urged the ministry to manage
safe drinking water at the office of every local government and, if possible,
in all government offices.
They said that the people should not be
forced to buy drinking water while in the government offices.
Meanwhile, the DTC directed the MoWS to
complete the Melamchi Water Supply Project within the stipulated deadline.
Stating that frequent postponement of the dates
to supply drinking water from the Melamchi project to the Kathmandu Valley has
raised questions over the trustworthiness of the government, the committee
directed the ministry to address the problems faced by the project and complete
it within the stipulated time.
The project was, the last time, stipulated to
be completed in October this year before the Dashain festival.
Earlier, the project postponed the deadline
of its completion several times in different pretexts.
In today’s meeting, the committee Chairman
Jip Chhiring Lama also directed the ministry to formulate a long-term strategy
by making the demand assessment of drinking water and managing resources to
address the long-term demand.
To address the high demand of drinking water
in the Kathmandu Valley, the committee directed the government to focus on the
sub-project of Melamchi Drinking Water to add 340 million litres extra water
from the Yangri and Larke rivers.
Similarly, the committee also directed the
ministry to submit the condition of sewage system in Kathmandu and its
management in 15 days after bringing the water from Melamchi to Kathmandu.
The committee also directed for the effective
implementation of the Water Sector Development Plan, 2016.
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