The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) will introduce a water supply schedule starting March 15. The water utility will segregate areas and assign specific time and day for specific neighbourhoods. Officials said that with the release of the schedule, consumers will be relieved of odd timings, as water is distributed mostly at night. “We are committed to releasing the schedule to give our consumers a respite and are on the process of acquiring information from our branches,” said Milan Shakya, KUKL spokesman.

“For the first 15 days, we plan to trial the schedule and measure its efficiency. Later, we will assess the impact and improve our weaknesses before we release a full fledged routine,” he told the Post.

The consumers will be able to access the schedule via internet which will be made available on the KUKL website.

Although the KUKL had released a schedule earlier too, it was not effective. Shakya said they had been unable to follow the supply timetable as there was a mismatch between water production and supply.

He said the utility is working on the areas for the schedule to meet consumers’ demands with feasible timings this time around.

After numerous complaints from consumers and lawmakers, the KUKL finally decided to bring out the schedule. Last week, a team led by Constituent Assembly member Nabindra Raj Joshi submitted a memorandum to KUKL officials seeking assurance of smooth water supply in the Capital.

Citing critical anomalies in water supply affecting thousands of consumers, one of the demands was to promptly release a supply schedule. “The KUKL blames a resource crunch for the failure so I plan to nudge the government,” said Joshi.

He said the KUKL is positive about designating “dry zones” where water is not accessible by taps. “We plan to conduct a survey and define dry areas where water will be supplied by tankers,” a KUKL official said.

Joshi’s team had also demanded that the dry areas should receive water at least twice a week. Similarly, formation of new consumer committees and reviving the existing ones are on the pipeline. “These consumer committees will act as a medium to exchange information with consumers,” said Shakya.

However, Joshi thinks that the first priority should be to ensure smooth supply. “When water is guaranteed, consumer committees can work on enhancing supply. Right now, the only complaint is the insufficiency of water,” said Joshi.

Last year, the KUKL doubled water tariff from Rs 77.50 to Rs 150 for 10,000 litres per month. Households without meter are charged as much as Rs 835 for the same volume of water.

Currently, the KUKL supplies barely 60 million litres of water daily (MLD) while the demand is 350 MLD.