By end of Chaith, Kathmandu will have Melamchi water

KATHMANDU: MARCH. 10 – The Melamchi Drinking Water Project, which was damaged by floods and landslides on June 15, is now 60% complete. Water has been brought to the Kathmandu Valley, albeit temporarily, within Chaith (April/May).

According to Padma Bahadur Kunwar, Division Engineer of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, Sinohydro, a Chinese contractor, has completed 60 percent of the work of cleaning the river by blasting stones with the assistance of the Nepal Army.

According to him, the repair work is nearing completion, as only Melamchi river gates 1, 9, and 38 will be used to temporarily bring water to Kathmandu.

He stated that due to the failure of the hydraulic system at Gate No. 38, additional repair work has begun on it, and plans have been made to temporarily connect a new gate to operate water due to the damage to the remaining gates.

The committee has stated that water can be sent to Kathmandu by end of Chaith (April/May) as the work of cleaning the stones and soil has been completed.

The dream of Kathmandu Valley dwellers to drink Melamchi water, which was damaged by floods and landslides on June 15, has been pushed back. By Chaith, the committee hopes to distribute 170 million liters of water per day in the Kathmandu Valley. However, Kunwar stated that if it began to rain, the tunnel would be forced to close for another four months.

He stated that the Asian Development Bank is conducting a study to prevent landslides after a large landslide occurred at the main entrance.

Kunwar stated that 60,000 metric tons of gregan soil had been removed from the tunnel and that it had reached the final stage of blasting. Gegran soil from blasting has been managed by constructing roads and dumping.