Kathmandu, February 8:

The delayed water supply project, which targets to bring 170 million litres of water daily to Kathmandu valley from Melamchi river through a 26-km long tunnel, nears reality as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to sanction $137 million loan for it.

“ADB agreed to new terms for the project for which, it is the lead financier. It is providing a loan of $137 million equivalent for the project,” says an ADB statement, issued here from its head office in Manila, today.

The project has been considered essential for the residents of the valley, who have been suffering from water shortage and mismanagement of the available water sources.

Leonardus Boenawan Sondjaja, the head of the Project Administration Unit of the Urban Development Division of ADB’s South Asia Department, was quoted as saying, “this project is the realistic way to obtain a sustainable, long-term supply of drinking water for Kathmandu Valley”.

Other donors are the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Nordic Development Fund and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development. The Government of Nepal is contributing $90.6 million.

Similarly, ADB also agreed to remove a loan agreement requiring the award of a private sector management contract to support the new utility as a precondition for awarding the tunnel civil works contract.

Deputy executive director of the MWSP Purnadas Shrestha said that following the sanction of the loan agreement will open the doors for the project to move forward on war-footing. “We have been waiting for this. Now, nothing is going to stop us from working in full speed on the project,” he said, adding the project will concentrate on selecting best of the bidders to dig the 26-km long tunnel which will make people believe that the project is really working.

“Though we have faced some problems from social and development side, the project is going to be a successful one,” he said.

At the same time, we will use the money to improve distribution network in the city area, where there has been worn out network of pipelines but it should be replaced with new one to accommodate the water from Melamchi.