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, July 20: Repair of roads which had been dug to lay the water supply pipes for the Melamchi Water Supply Project has started following directives from Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to fill up the ditches and potholes on roads in the Kathmandu valley within 15 days.

PM Deuba on July 16 summoned the representatives of the bodies concerned and instructed them to fill up the ditches and potholes on the roads within 15 days, following the death of a girl who died after falling into a waterlogged ditch on the road.

A mechanism has also been set up under the convenorship of Chandra Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, for coordinating in the road repair works.

The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited Project Implementation Directorate had laid the pipelines for supplying the water from the Melamchi Project. The Directorate has called a total halt in digging the road at more places for the purpose of laying the pipeline as the monsoon has already started and digging roads during this time would create problem in the movement of people and vehicles.

Directorate spokesperson Lila Prasad Dhakal said that the Directorate is serious over the road accidents occurring due to the bad condition of the roads in the Kathmandu valley as they were dug for laying the water pipelines.
“The Directorate does not have the program of laying water pipes in Samakhusi area and it has focused its attention to efforts at restoring the roads that were dug for the purpose of installing the water pipes, in line with the Prime Minister’s directive,” he said.

The Directorate has so far completed the work of laying water supply pipelines on 51.5 kilometres up to Pani Pokhari for bulk supply of water. It needs to lay down the pipe line on total 60.6 kilometres for this purpose.
Similarly, as against extending the pipelines on 670 kilometres for distribution network improvement, the Directorate has so far laid the pipe line on 610 kilometres.

The work of construction of reservoir has been completed at Mahankalchaur, Panipokhari, Bansbari, Tigni, Balaju and Khumaltar.

Following the Prime Minister’s directive, Project Director at the Directorate, Tiresh Prasad Khatri, inspected the roads at different places in Kathmandu that are in bad condition and in the spot instructed the contractors to promptly carry out the repair works.

The Directorate has stated that the repair of roads which are in worst condition has started at Battisputali, Ratopul, Chabahil, Chuchchepati and Kapan areas. Spokesman Dhakal said the repair works are underway with the target of completing them in 10 days. RSS