ABSTRACT

Throughout the transformation of cities of the Kathmandu Valley—from the prehistoric settlement called grama to the commercial center dranga, during the Lichchhavi era, to medieval towns at the time of the Malla dynasty—water has shaped settlement patterns and influenced the daily lives of the inhabitants. This chapter explores the water management system in the rapidly urbanizing Kathmandu Valley, focusing on structural linkages among water, society and settlement. Rapid construction of industrial and service facilities and new high-rise apartments, including tourist-related infrastructure, have dramatically changed the landscape of Kathmandu. The overall consequences are twofold: the destruction of traditional water infrastructure and their interdependence, and inadequate and ineffective responses to water demand in the processes of socio-economic modernization of the Valley. The imported neoliberal model, backed by the new institutional set-up and series of water and environmental acts, is simply ineffective to address numerous emerging problems.