KATHMANDU: The Melamchi Water Supply Project has intensified the installation of water pipes in the Kathmandu Valley as the government targets to supply water fetched from the Sindhupalchok-based Melamchi River to the Capital denizens by the upcoming Dashain festival (October-September).

Under the project, around 670 kilometres of pipeline need to be installed to supply water to the target groups. So far, water pipes have been laid underground along around 470-km roadways, Project Implementation Directorate Manager Nanda Bahadur Khanal said.

Water collected from the Melamchi River will be brought to the Kathmandu Valley via a tunnel and it will be processed in a Water Treatment Plant in Sundarijal before supplying to the Valley people.

To facilitate distribution of water, the Directorate has constructed water tanks at various 11 places in Kathmandu valley including Aarubari, Mahankal Chaur, Panipokhari, Bansbari, Balaju, Khumaltar, Katunje, Kirtipur and Naya Thimi, it is said.

Likewise, old water tanks in Anamnagar and Minbhavan will also be reused.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Dipak Khadka said the government was working to supply drinking water within nine months.