KATHMANDU, Aug 2: Two workers have died of suffocation while cleaning up the water supply pipeline of Melamchi Drinking Water Project near Balaju Chowk on Friday morning.

Suresh Shah, 25 and Shivaram Shah, 20 of Saptari died of suffocation caused by asphyxiation, confirmed the Metropolitan Police.

The duo had entered inside the pipeline for cleaning but had not returned for a long time. They were rescued while unconscious and taken to the Teaching Hospital where they breathed their last, said SSP Shyam Gyawali.

KATHMANDU, June 25: Local contractors have agreed to allow the contract winning company to work in Melamchi drinking water project on two conditions.

An agreement to this effect was reached in a meeting of stakeholders Monday in Melamchi on the initiative of Sindhupalchowk Chief District Officer Gomadevi Chemjong.

The Melamchi project had initiated another bidding process after the Italian company, CMC, quit the earlier contract.

Local contractors, suppliers and laborers had been obstructing the project work demanding settlement of their payments from the Italian Company, CMC.

A consensus was forged to prepare and submit a report on payment to be received by local contractors, suppliers and laborers by July 6 and call off protest in the project site.

The meeting also formed an 11-member taskforce headed by Chairperson of District Coordination Committee, Sindhupalchowk, Krishna Gopal Tamang.

The taskforce will prepare a report on payment. The protestors had obstructed and returned the Shrestha Construction, the first company which reached the site to continue works after walkout of CMC.

At the discussion, Director of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, Surya Raj Kandel pledged to address genuine demands of locals. Chairperson of local struggle committee, Uttar Kumar Shrestha, however, warned to continue with project obstruction if their demands were not heeded by July 6. RSS

KATHMANDU, March 27: The Ministry of Water Supply has made it clear that the government was striving to complete the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.

Issuing a press release on Wednesday, Minister for Drinking Water, Bina Magar, shared that the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee has held various discussion waging different option to continue the project, so a concrete decision would be made soon to resume and intensify the project. She also expressed disappointment over the news on national pride project made with the intention of character assassination.

She asserted that the construction of tunnel was completed after she assumed office with the completion of most of the project. Some works were in limbo under the project construction after the Italian company CMC left the work all of a sudden some months back.

According to her, the sudden halt in the construction was created because of the financial bankruptcy of the contractor company. There is certain process and criteria of project construction, the Minister said, reiterating her commitment to the laws and government resolution to good governance.

The Minister has no right at all on the project because the Committee is an autonomous government body where the Minister has no hand at all to influence the decision of the Committee. Ministry’s Secretary is the Chairperson of the project and board of directors has the final say on the project activities.

Therefore, linking Minister to the obstruction of the project is political biasness and dishonesty, she said, warning, “If my involvement in the project irregularities is proved, I’m ready to face any action.”

It is said a complaint on Minister Magar’s involvement in the project has however been lodged at CIAA by the Bibeksheel Sajha Party. RSS

KATHMANDU, March 18: The government is preparing to appoint the new contractor to complete the stalled Melamchi Drinking Water Project, which was pushed to uncertainty after the Italian contractor Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti di Ravenna (CMC) abandoned the national pride project in December.

The government terminated the Melamchi contract of the Italian builder in January after it failed to resume works of the project. Since then the project has made zero progress with only five percent of the works left to be completed.

Even though the legitimacy of the CMC ended after the government scraped the contract, Minister for Water Supply Bina Magar has insisted in bringing back the CMC to complete the remaining works. But the officials of the ministry and Melamchi Water Supply Project are against Minister Magar’s will stating that legal grounds do not allow the CMC to resume the work.

But now, the government is looking to hire a new contractor to complete the remaining works through fresh bidding process, according to Rajendra Prasad Pant, the spokesperson for Melamchi Water Supply Project.

“A tender notice will be published within a few days,” he added.

Panta said that if the project is resumed and carried out effectively, the remaining works will be completed in three months. “The people of Kathmandu will get the Melamchi water by Dashin,” he added.

Minister Magar has reiterated that the project has been linked to the prestige of the ministry.

But there is no concrete basis to believe that the water from Melamchi will arrive in Kathmandu as claimed by Supply Project since the much-awaited project, which has been a long incomplete dream since 1990 and its deadline extended time and again, is stalled by the indecision of Ministry and Board.

KATHMANDU, Feb 7: Finally, the government has revoked the contract deal with Melamchi Drinking Water Project’s contractor, Italian firm CMC.

Executive Director of the Project, Surya Raj Kandel, said on Thursday that the contract agreement signed before with CMC was revoked.

Citing its failure to carry on the construction works of the much-hyped Melamchi Drinking Water Project, CMC had pulled out of its responsibility unilaterally some two months ago adding to new challenges and uncertainties.

With the cancellation of agreement, the national pride project has been pushed to further uncertainties.

Kandel said that the contractor company unilaterally declared its disassociation from the project just ahead of some percent of the project’s construction works were left to complete.

Earlier on 20 January, the government had written to CMC seeking its response within 14 days on why not to revoke the contract with CMC for leaving the project site without informing the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee.

However, no official response was received in the slated time from the contractor despite the government’s efforts to continue the same contractor firm. Under such circumstance, the bank guarantee amount of the company could be withheld with the project, officials said. The contractor company has the bank guarantee amount of Rs 2.65 billion.

Despite the deal was revoked, consultations are ongoing to proceed ahead with further process. RSS

KATHMANDU, March 21: Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation, Bina Magar, has said the Melamchi water would arrive in Kathmandu by the coming Dashain festival.

Speaking at an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Minister Magar said that she had already visited the site where the works under the Melamchi Drinking Water Project have halted since the past few days.

The people concerned had been directed to work in such a way so that the Kathmandu denizens could use the Melamchi water by coming October.

According to the information shared by her on the occasion, water from the Sindhupalchwok-based Melamchi River will be collected at Sundarijal Water Treatment Plant by the next 25 days.

“The government would announce the Nepal year 2075 BS as the National Sanitation Year. The Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers would be cleaned and developed into a tourist destination,” she furthered.

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.

KATHMANDU, Feb 13: A breakthrough in the Melamchi water project’s tunnel construction has been expected within the next 20 days if things go according to plan.

The tunnel construction is the important part of the long-awaited project.

Out of the total 27.5 kilometer tunnel under the project, now only 240 meters remains to be dug in nine kilometers from Gyalthum to Sindhu section.

Speaking at a ceremony organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation, Mahendra Yadav, shared information about this.

The project is capable of supplying 170 million liters of water daily to the people of Kathmandu and 340 million liters of water will be still needed to meet the demand here, according to the Minister who took the time to say that the KUKL should pay attention to ensure rights of the Kathmandu denizens to drinking water and sanitation facilities, the basic rights of the people guaranteed by the constitution. RSS

SINDHUPALCHOWK, Dec 30: A breakthrough has been achieved in the tunnel construction works of the much-hyped Melamchi Drinking Water Project along the Ambathan-Gyalthum.

Information Officer of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Rajendra Panta said the final point of 8.3 kms long tunnel was completed on Friday midnight after the two explosions.

Panta said the walls of the tunnel are being plastered after the breakthrough in the tunnel construction works.

Out of 27.5 kms tunnel from Ambathan of Helambu Rural Municipality of Sindhupalchowk district to Sundarijal, only 450 metres of tunnel construction works are now left from Gyalthum to Sindhu. Some three months more time is expected to take for the completion of the tunnel works.

The 9.5 kms tunnel from Sindhu to Sundarijal–the longest tunnel out of 27.5 kms– was completed last year.

The tunnel works being constructed with 80 per cent financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is likely to cost Rs 10.65 billion except the VAT amount. RSS

KATHMANDU, June 9: The laying of water pipes for much-awaited Melamchi Drinking Water Project has been sped up in Kathmandu valley. The project aims to supply water to valley’s dwellers within the Nepali month of Ashoj, a project official said.

Out of the total 670 kilometers of water pipes to be laid for the project, the installation of pipes has been over on 585 kilometers, said project chief of the project implementation directorate Tiresh Khatri.

Water that will be supplied through tunnel will be filtered in Sundarijal before distributing at homes of Kathmandu dwellers through various 11 tanks set up in the valley.

For some locations, old two water tanks located in Anamnagar and Minbhawan will be used while out of the total nine other new tanks to be built, the construction of five has been completed and 20 percent of the construction work of three has been over, said Khatri.

The construction of one will start from the Nepali month of Ashad, he added. RSS