Water laws in Nepal - WaterAid

CHAPTER 2Drinking water2.2 The Right to DrinkingWaterThe right to drinking water in Nepal is notexplicitly guaranteed by any legislation or bythe Constitution. However, it is universallyrecognised that the right to access safe drinkingwater is a basic human right and an integralpart of the right to life. (See Chapter 1.2 abovefor a full discussion of international law.)Nepal has acknowledged the right to drinkingwater in government policy. In the WaterResource Strategy 2002 (2058 BS) the Stateacknowledges the public's right to drinkingwater and sanitation. It states that:"Every Nepali Citizen, now and infuture, should have access to safedrinking water and appropriatesanitation as well as enough water toproduce food and energy atreasonable cost." 6Similarly, the National Water Supply SectorPolicy 1998 (2055 BS) also places the provisionof drinking water and sanitation as its principalobjective. 7 The recent Rural Water Supply andSanitation National Policy 2004 (2060 BS) aimsto provide water supply and sanitation servicesto 100% of the population by the year 2017(2073 BS). 8The concept of a right to drinking water hasalso been supported by the Supreme Court ofNepal. In the Godavari Marble Case 9 theSupreme Court of Nepal extended the scopeof right to life to include the right to live in aclean and healthy environment and in theDrinking Water Corporation Case 10 theSupreme Court acknowledged the right to safedrinking water as a part of the right to life.Also, under Nepali law, drinking water isconsidered to be a consumer commodity. TheEssential Commodity Protection Act, 1955(2012 BS) deems drinking water to be anessential commodity and as such declares thatit should be strictly protected. 11Although there is no explicit right to drinkingwater provided for in Nepali legislation, sucha right can be implied from certain provisionsof the Water Resource Act 1992 (2049 BS).For example, drinking water and the domesticuse of water, is given priority over all otheruses of water. 12 This implies that the public dohave a right to drinking water, if not inabsolute terms, then at least in priority to saysomeone wishing to use water for irrigation orhydropower. The Act also exempts users ofwater for non commercial drinking purposesfrom obtaining a licence 13 , again implying aright to drinking water, which is notconditional upon having a licence.2.3 State Ownership ofWater ResourcesThe Water Resource Act 1992 (2049 BS)declares that ownership of water found withinthe Kingdom of Nepal is vested in the state. 14This is also supported by the public trustdoctrine that the state owns natural resources(including water resources). What this means8