KATHMANDU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Staffers of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) have been on strike for the past three months, hitting drinking water supply in the capital Kathmandu, The Himalayan Times reported on Thursday.

    According to the government records, the capital is in need of 190 million liters of water daily while the government body has been able to supply only 80 to 90 million liters per day.

    The water supply has been in disarray for years. After every government change, hundreds were appointed in the corporation due to political pressure, the daily reported.

    "Over-staffing is spoiling our corporation. We have to employ more persons after every government change but there is no one to take care of the degrading distribution system," Gautam Bahadur Amatya, the general manager of the NWSC, was quoted by the daily as saying.

    As many as 12 staffers are working on 1,000 pipelines in Nepal. "The pipeline to staffers ratio is incredibly high. Countries like Singapore, Philippines and South Korea are rendering far better service with one-third staff," said Amatya.

    Chairman of NWSC Management Board Dr Laxmi Prasad Devkota said the board needed to take the bold and unpopular decision of cutting its staff.