Melamchi Water Supply Project nearing completion

Sharachchandra Bhandry
KATHMANDU, 23 Feb: As the much awaited multi-million dollar mega project -Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) is coming to completion, the domicile of Kathmandu Valley are all set to quench their thirst by October this year.

The Government has made public a plan of action and schedule for the supply of water to the households of capital city by December.

Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Commission Plan was unveiled by the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation and Project Implementation Directorate at a Country Portfolio Review Meeting (CPRM) of Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported projects in the capital on Friday.

If things go according to plan, the 26-kilometer tunnel that will carry 170 million liters of water per day from the Melamchi River to the Sundarijal Water Treatment Plant, will be completed by May 2018.

The Sundarijal Water Treatment Plant receives raw water from the Melamchi River in the month of June and treated water will flow from the treatment plant to large storage tanks situated at the various locations of the Kathmandu Valley from July.

Finally the water from those large storage tanks will be available for testing and supply of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) customers through the existing and new network from October, 2018.

So far eleven large storage tanks in the valley have been constructed and they are almost ready to house water. These large storage tanks are situated in Arubari, Mahankal, Bansbari, Balaju, Panipokhari, Anamnagar, Minbhawan, Kirtipur, Khumaltar and Tigani and Katunje of Bhaktapur.

The MWSP was estimated to cost 464 million US dollars in 2000 prices. ADB is the largest partner of this flagship project. The other investors of the project are Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and Nordic Development Fund (NDF) including the Government of Nepal.