Government revives Melamchi Water Supply Development Board

KATHMANDU, April 20: The government has revived the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board. A cabinet meeting held on recently issued Melamchi Water Supply Development Committee (Formation) Order-2079 and established the Board.

After the cancellation of the budget of the current financial year 2022-23 by the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board, the rest of the project was stalled. Due to this, the working Melamchi Water Supply Development Board became powerless.

Even though the budget said that the works being conducted by the committee would be conducted under the Water and Sewerage Management Department, it was not possible to do so.

Recently, the government issued a new formation order and cleared the knot in the Melamchi water supply project. However, the government has made new arrangements to increase its grip on the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board.

It has been arranged that one person from the local level of the project-affected area and one person from the beneficiary local level of Melamchi's water supply can be selected and appointed by the Ministry of Water Supply in the board of directors of the committee.

According to this, the way has been opened for two new operators chosen by the Minister of Water Supply and Sanitation in the board. Now, the head of the Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Board has also joined the board of Melamchi as a member.

In the board chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Water Supply, the executive director of the committee will be the member secretary, while a representative of the affected area, the joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance will also be a member.

The government is still undecided about who to send to such a committee formed in agreement with donor agencies including the Asian Development Bank to bring water from Melamchi to supply drinking water to the valley. Due to this, the plan prepared to proceed with the rest of the project has been stalled.

The flood and landslide on June 15, 2022, in the Melamchi River caused great damage to the headwork of the project, and the project is in a situation where water can only be brought in for about six months a year.

After the flood of Melamchi, the water filtering mechanism (descender) that has been prepared and ready for operation has been buried at the source. It has not yet been excavated to understand the condition of those structures below the surface of the river. Although the technical team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has studied the geological conditions at the source of the project and above it, the findings have not been made public.

Melamchi tunnel should be closed every May 29 until the rainy season ends and winter sets in until the spring of the project is restored. There is a risk of damaging the tunnel due to flood if it is not closed during rainy season.

Rajendra Pant, spokesperson of the project, said that since the committee has been revived, the way has been opened to move forward with the construction work so that water can be brought within 12 months. "After the board meeting, the action plan will be discussed and decided accordingly," he said.

He said that the board has already prepared a cost estimate to prepare a permanent spring to bring water from Melamchi during the rainy season by constructing a temporary structure. The committee should study and decide on where and when to build the fountain structure.

There is also confusion as to where to build such a spring and who will invest for it, as a structure has to be built to protect springs that can experience large floods in the future. ADB has withdrawn from the Melamchi water supply project. Now, after building a new structure, the government is confused about where to get investment to prepare new structures so that water can be brought from Melamchi for whole year.

"There is a plan to continuously bring water from Melamchi to Kathmandu by preparing permanent structures," said spokesperson Pant. He said that the committee will now proceed to make full use of the structure including the tunnel, which was built at a cost of about 34 billion.