Melamchi resumes water supply to Kathmandu from today

Melamchi Project has resumed to pump water to the Kathmandu Valley from today.

The supply of water from Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to the Kathmandu Valley was disrupted after major floods and landslides in Sindhupalchowk some 10 months ago.

Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary inaugurated the distribution of drinking water from the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd (KUKL) branch office at New Baneshwar.

The mega project funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) that promised to quench the thirst of Kathmandu Valley was damaged by the devastating flood on 15 June, 2021. The flood damaged head works of the project obstructing the water supply that was just started few weeks ago. 

The water distribution in the Kathmandu Valley has resumed today after the reconstruction of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, the KUKL confirmed.

Minister Chaudhary had started the transfer of water from the head works of the project to the tunnel on April 12. Then, the water was purified at a treatment plant in Sundarijal before sending to 10 reservoir tanks of KUKL.

From today, the drinking water is being distributed to the Valley houses through pipes. But the water supply could be again halted when the rainy season starts, though the KUKL has claimed to have prepared the alternative to supply the drinking water. However, it seems a far fetched idea.

The Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) have targeted to distribute some 270 million liters of water on a daily basis. Of the amount, some 100 million liters will be supplied through the distribution mechanism of the KUKL, while the rest of 170 million liters will be supplied from MWSP.

Front today, the households connected to the water pipeline system in all the locations inside the Ring Road area will receive the water supplied jointly by the MWSP and the KUKL. Likewise, the water is supplied also to the locals of Kirtipur and Madhyapur, Bhaktapur from today.

Government still claims Melamchhi water will come on time

The government is terminating the contract with the Italian contractor of Melamchhi Water Supply Project – Cooperativa Muratorie Cementisti (CMC) di Ravenna – claiming that the already delayed project will complete on time. As less than five per cent work remains to bring the Melamchi water to Kathmandu, it is still possible to meet the deadline, claimed the project official.
The project has vowed to complete the remaining work of the Melamchi – even by awarding a new contract through a fast-track process – on time. But the cabinet has to decide on awarding the new contract as a special arrangement allowed by the Public Procurement Act (PPA). If the cabinet decides to award the contract for the remaining work to a new contractor, MWSP officials say, they can bring water to Kathmandu by mid-April. However, the Prime Minister has left for Davos yesterday – to take part in rich-nations club – for a week.
There are only five things remain to be done – fitting ventilation shafts in the tunnel, fixing three gates in the tunnel, finishing work in around a 500-meter stretch of the tunnel, some tunnel maintenance work, and construction of temporary coffer dams to divert the water to the tunnel, according to the consultant for the melamchi – EPTISA Engineering Services – has already did an assessment of the project site, evaluated the amount of remaining work and calculated the estimated costs, according to the ministry.
But it will take some more time to complete permanent construction of the dam and also complete the second phase of water treatment plant at Sundarijal. But water can be brought to Kathmandu even without completing the permanent construction works, the ministry claimed.
Secretary of the Ministry of Water Supply Gajendra Thakur today claimed that the Ministry of Water Supply will table a proposal at the cabinet for the purpose immediately after the process to end the contract with CMC di Ravenna is formalised. The Public Procurement Act 2007 has a provision to allow fast-track procurement by the cabinet, but the decision has to be appropriately justified.
The project has today formally started the process to terminate the contract with the CMC di Ravenna, which left the project site over a month ago, after the government did not pay compensation it had asked. The project office has sent a ‘notice of termination’ to the contractor and the notice, according to the procurement law, allows the contractor to correct its course within the 14 days. 
The contract between the project and the contractor – signed in 2013 – for tunnel works and building a dam will be terminated after 14 days, if the contractor fails to turn up at the project site. The project board meeting last Tuesday had decided to wait until Friday for the Italian contractor to return to the project site, which was almost unlikely.
After the termination of the contract, the government will seize all the equipment and construction materials of the Italian firm from the project site. The government will also seize two separate bank guarantees of Rs 1.34 billion and Rs 1.21 billion from Standard Chartered Bank and Nepal Investment Bank. But the Italian contractor owes Rs 1.3 billion to the local sub-contractors and suppliers. The government is claiming that it can pay the local sub-contractors and suppliers from the bank guarantee.