By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, Mar.19: While the biggest city of the country has been undergoing massive drinking water scarcity, traditional stone spouts in Kathmandu and the Kathmandu Valley which provided water to the denizens before the connection of water pipes are on the verge of extinction.

Out of 387 stone spouts recorded in the Kathmandu Valley, 67 have gone out of use and many have much decreased flow of water.

According to a report of the NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation (NGOFUWS), 2006, 11.75 percent of the stone spouts in the Kathmandu Valley were already depleted, whereas, 16 percent of the stone spouts were on the verge of extinction.

Anil Sthapit, NGOFUWS secretary, estimated that additional 10-15 per cent depletion in the hitis or stone spouts may have occurred in the years since the report was prepared, from 2006 till present.

He attributed haphazard water extraction process and deep boring invited by the increasing modernization of the valley to decreasing water discharge of ponds and hitis.

Of the total 66 stone spouts, eight are not working in the Madhyapur municipality of Bhaktpur, which makes 12.12 percentage. Out of a total of 87 stone spouts in Bhaktpur, 18 are not working which makes 20.68 percentage. Similarly, seven out of 58 stone spouts in Lalitpur have dried up which makes 1.20 percentage.

In addition, of the 176 total stone spouts in Kathmandu, 34 are not dysfunctional which makes 19.31 in percentage. However, none of the stone spouts in Kirtipur are dysfunctional.

Furthermore, 1.149 percentage of the stone spout in Bhaktpur has been already depleted, the percentage stands at 4.54 in Madhyapur, 23.07 percentage in Kirtipur, 12.06 in Bhaktpur, and 18.75 percentage in Kathmandu.

Padma Sundar Joshi, an urban planning expert, said that the depletion of the stone spouts has been on rise since 2006 as the ground level water extraction continues for lack of proper management water supply. Among these is Mangal hiti, where the water discharge was round the clock, but currently it is on depleted state.

Saying that hitis are for water supplies, but due to the excessive water extraction in every nook and corner, the water table of the valley has gone down, which has dried up many hitis, Joshi added that the news about the arrival of the Melamchi Drinking water project is like a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Melamchi water project will help in fulfilling the demand of the residents and will decrease the activities of deep boring and this will play the role of balancing the water table of the valley, he said.

Joshi further stressed that the government should seriously work on regulating the water resources so that the extraction will be minimized so as to balance the water discharge level.

A stone spout, which is a type of traditional Nepali water resource, consists of a stone, through which water is channeled to serve as a tap. Stone spouts are usually attached to a shrine and arranged symmetrically on a vertical wall. An uninterrupted stream of water flows from the channel in the carved stone utilizing rain, surface, and groundwater resources to maintain the flow.

Chiri Babu Maharjan, Mayor of the Lalitpur Metropolitan City, said the LMC has taken initiatives to revive traditional stone spouts.

"We are mainly working on improving the water sources to maintain the water balance and flow", he said.

He added that the LMC is reviving three stone spouts, namely Sundhara hiti, Manda hiti, and National hiti.

While sharing his own story of childhood, Mayor said that the water table on the Kathmandu Valley some just 40 years ago was highly regulated. "We had to get just a few feet down to see water level, however, now the situation is exactly the opposite as you have to dig down a lot to get the water level."

The three main reasons of water scarcity and risk of depletion are heavy construction, water table imbalance and recharging system, he said.

Stone spouts serve multidimensional purposes, said Mayor Maharjan, adding that besides Nepal, India and Tehran have the existence of stone spouts.

So, stone spouts are those scare heritages that need to be preserved, he added.