Kathmandu, April 7 The Project Implement Directorate of the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited has claimed that it will finish construction of the Distribution Network System for the Melamchi Water Supply Project on time. According to the PID, 85 per cent of the pipeline installation works  of the Distribution Network System has been completed. The PID informed that they have finished 570 kilometres of pipeline installation of the 670 kilometres that needs to be installed. “We have expedited construction work so that we can complete the task by mid-July this fiscal,” Deputy Project Director of the PID Anil Bhadra Khanal told The Himalayan Times. “We also intend to complete installation of the Bulk Distribution System by the same deadline.” Khanal said of the 61 kilometres of Bulk Distribution System to be installed, construction of 44 kilometres had been completed. The Melamchi Water Supply Project has a set a deadline for completing installation of the pipeline by June 14 in order to begin supplying water to the Valley by September this year. The PID also said that it had been sprinkling two to five tankers of water on roads every day to control dust pollution caused by the ongoing Melamchi pipeline installation project. The PID is also working hard to renovate roads dug up to install the pipeline. The PID has also scheduled the bulk of its pipe laying works during the night to reduce dust pollution and minimise inconvenience to the general public. Started in December 21, 2000, the Melamchi Water Supply Project is assisted by the Asian Development Bank and aims to reduce drinking water shortage in Kathmandu Valley. The Melamchi Project envisages supplying 510,000,000 litres of water per day to Kathmandu Valley from the Melamchi, Yangri, and Larke rivers of Sindhupalchowk district. In phase one, the project will supply 170,000,000 litres of water per day to the Valley. Advanced machines being used for tunnel excavation Kathmandu, April 7 The Melamchi Water Supply Project has imported advanced machines to speed up the pace of tunnel excavation with additional financial support of 3 million USD from the government. The contracting company CMC Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti di Ravenna had asked the government to provide additional funds to make sure that the project is completed on time. Melamchi Water Supply Development Board informed that after the payment of additional financial support, the contractor has brought in machines to lay concrete slabs at the invert of the tunnel. “As per the proposal, the contractor has expedited the tunnel excavation using advanced machines,” MWSDB Deputy Executive Director Ramakanta Duwadi told The Himalayan Times, adding, “The contractor has assured us that the self-drilling bolt that will be imported soon will accelerate the pace of tunnel excavation.” He said the contractor had proposed importing self-drilling rock bolt machines to excavate the crown portion of the tunnel where weak rocks appeared. This, and laying concrete slabs at the invert of the tunnel would allow work to be carried out without difficulty. The project said the government had provided additional support after the contractor said they were unlikely to complete tunnel excavation on time without using new technology. The additional amount will reportedly be deducted while making the final payment.