Chandra Luitel

Kathmandu, April 29:

With the construction of two elevated water tanks almost complete in Anamnagar and Minbhawan, it is likely that Kathmanduites will not face the kind of water scarcity that they have been facing in the previous years.

Anamnagar, Ason, New Road, Baneshwor, Dillibazaar, Maitidevi, Minbhawan and many other places face acute water shortage specially in the summer months. But the newly constructed tanks will probably solve the crisis to a great extent in the area.

"Two tanks with a capacity to store 27,500 million litres each are almost complete," said project manager of Anamnagar tank, Mahendra Shrestha. Water from Manohara river will be stored in the tanks and supplied in the city whenever there is a high demand, Shrestha said. The Anamnagar tank is expected to be ready by the mid of May.

The tanks are being construction under the joint collaboration of Ministry of Physical Planning and Construction and the Japanese government.

"The Japanese government is assisting Nepal in three phases for the improvement of drinking water supply in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur," said Krishna Prasad Kandel, chief of the Nepal Drinking Water Corporation (NDWC), Lalitpur. The first phase of the programme has been completed in Bhaktapur. The second phase under which the Anamnagar and Minbhawan tanks come, is on the verge of completion. A water tank will be constructed in Bhainsepati, Lalitpur, in third phase.

"The Japanese government has provided Rs 531.006m for the construction of the tanks," said deputy general manager of NDWC-Kathmandu, Narendra Man Pradhan. "We are excited because once the tanks are complete, the demand for water in the city will be met to a large extent," enthused Pradhan.

The main objective of the project is to increase the volume of water in the city and improve distribution.The Valley needs 91m litres of water a day but the supply is only of 9.5m litres. Hence, the completion of tanks is sure to boost the morale of water department officials.