ABSTRACT
Water provision has become a major area of intervention by the state in developing countries. The chapter argues that state provision of water supply in the hills and plains of Nepal is as much about becoming modern, as it is about saving labor, reducing drudgery and increasing convenience. It begins with discussing literature and ideas from the "anthropology of modernity" and examines the history of water supply and sanitation in Nepal before and after 1951. The chapter also examines the budgetary allocations for the sector in the five-year plans, the government's economic surveys and unpublished reports and documents. The history of rural water supply and sanitation in Nepal can be divided into five phases where it reached different social strata — the aristocracy, 1880s-1950; urban areas, 1951-1970; district headquarters, 1971-1980; outlying areas, 1981-1990; and further outlying areas, 1991-2002. The chapter concludes with a note on the consequences of water provision by the Nepali state.
