Melamchi water to reach Kathmandu by April: Minister Chaudhary

Minister for Drinking Water Umakanta Chaudhary has said that water will reach Kathmandu by April. Minister Chaudhary expressed his gratitude to the stakeholders for pouring water into the tunnel by mid-April as per the government's target.

Inaugurating the re-diversion of the Melamchi river today, Minister Chaudhary recalled the dream, sacrifice, and penance of saint leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. He said that the action plan will be made after the report of the geological study conducted by the team of the Asian Development Bank is submitted. Minister Chaudhary inaugurated Gate No. 38 by diverting water from Diversion Gate No. 1 today. The Melamchi Drinking Water Project was damaged due to the floods on July 20.

On the occasion, Helmu village chairperson Nima Galgen Sherpa drew the attention of the federal government and handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba through Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary.

Handing over an 11-point memorandum, Chairman Sherpa requested the federal government, state government and local level to provide Rs. 2,000,000.

He urged to take the concrete initiative to provide 25 percent of the royalty for the sale of Melamchi water to Kathmandu and 25 percent for the distribution of profit to the concerned village municipality.

The government had announced to supply water to Kathmandu by mid-April. It is said that it will take another two weeks to make water available in Kathmandu even though it was started today. The water of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project started flowing in the capital on April 3 last year. In the second phase in April, 170 million liters of water were distributed in the capital.

The Melamchi Project Development Committee had shut off the water in the tunnel on June 20 for testing. On the same day, the water distribution process of Melamchi was disrupted due to a flood in the Melamchi river. Executive Director of the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, Basudev Poudel, said that 265 liters of water were poured into the tunnel per second.

Minister for Health of Bagmati Pradesh Nima Lama, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Bishwa Poudel, Joint Secretary of the Ministry Tires Prasad Tiwari, Chief District Officer Bed Nidhi Khanal, and Village Chairman Nima Galgen Sherpa were present on the occasion.