KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 9

The supply of drinking water from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to Kathmandu valley restarted today after six months of complete closure of the water tunnel.

Minister of Water Supply Umakant Chaudhary inaugurated water redistribution from Mahankalchaur tank. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Chaudhary pledged to find a sustainable solution to the valley's drinking water woes.

Speaking at the event, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, deputy executive officer of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd, said the Melamchi project would distribute an additional 170 million litres water per day to Kathmandu valley in a few days and several areas will receive water every other day.

'The demand for drinking water in Kathmandu valley is 430 million litres per day, but the current supply is only around 120 million litres. The additional 170 million litres from the Melamchi project will still be insufficient to meet the valley's demand,' Karki said.

The Melamchi project had first started distributing water from the Melamchi River to Kathmandu on March 28 last year. However, the supply was disrupted following major floods and landslides in Sindhupalchowk on June 15 the same year. The water supply to the valley was resumed on April 24, but it had to be halted once again on May 31.

Floods and landslides had completely damaged the headworks, blocking it with pebbles, sand, and mud. The government had tried to intensify the clearing of debris from the headworks by mobilising the Nepali Army. However, the process was delayed because the link road, along with couple of bridges that joined the headworks, had also been completely destroyed.

According to Information Officer of Melamchi Water Supply Project Rajendra Prasad Panta, water supply from Melamchi will be halted during the monsoon season for at least two years till the construction of permanent headworks of the project is completed.

'As the risk of landslides and floods remains high at Melamchi, the project should be reconstructed considering this risk factor. The Asian Development Bank is preparing a report on it. It will be published towards the end of the month,'

Panta, who is also the senior division engineer of the project, told The Himalayan Times. 'The report will help us come up with a permanent solution to ensure regular supply of water to Kathmandu valley from Melamchi.'

A version of this article appears in the print on December 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.