The sixth series of Dhulikhel Paani Chautari was organised on 27th Feb 2020, jointly by Dhulikhel Municipality and SIAS. The Paani Chautari focused on the topic ‘Institutional mechanism for upstream and downstream collaboration for water management’ to discuss among wide range of stakeholders. The forum was participated by 60 participants including local elected representatives, representatives from water user committees, water users from upstream and downstream areas, representatives from neighboring municipalities, women leaders, researchers, officials from Kavre Valley Integrated Drinking Water Development Project and media persons. The main objective of the program was to reflect upon the ongoing relationship between upstream and downstream communities regarding water management and develop an institutional mechanism for collaborative relations between two communities for sustainable water management in Dhulikhel.
In this event chaired by Mayor of Dhulikhel Municipality (Ashok Byanju), Dr. Dil Khatri, Mr. Kamal Devkota and Mr. Kaustuv Raj Neupane from SIAS gave presentations. In the discussion session moderated by Dr. Dil Khatri, participants stressed upon the importance of longer-term relationship between source and supply region for sustainable supply of water to both streams. In his closing remarks, Mayor of Dhulikhel emphasized that the stakeholders should not limit their involvement in collecting water from the source and providing compensation, rather it is high time to make individual efforts to contribute for resource conservation and sustainability. For this, he proposed to form a water council with the representation from both upstream and downstream communities and other related stakeholders so as to ensure collaboration of both communities and sustainable use of water.
