Lalitpur, January 3

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today laid the foundation stone for a sewage treatment plant at Balkumari of Lalitpur.

The plant is to be constructed by the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation. It is expected to be completed in five years. Such sewage treatment plants are located at Guheshwori, Sallaghari, Balkumari (Kodku) and Sundarighat in Kathmandu.

Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony, Prime Minister Oli said the government was working to complete the Melamchi Water Supply Project and distribute water in Kathmandu at the earliest possible. “Although its progress was at a snail’s pace for 27 years, it has been accelerated now,” he said. PM Oli said 70 per cent of the total water flowing in the Ganges River in India was the water fed by rivers flowing through Nepal, which has saved Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of India from desertification.

Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation Bina Magar said water that is treated at the plant could be used for various purposes.

Water supply ministry Secretary Gajendra Kumar Thakur said the Ministry is working on reviving rivers that are on the verge of becoming ‘dead’. He added that besides supplying water to cities across the country, works on sewerage have also been undertaken.

Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Chiri Babu Maharjan said the locals of Balkumari have been assured that no stench will come from the sewage plant and discussions were on with the locals of Sundarighat regarding construction of such a plant there.