KATHMANDU, March 5: A water supply pipe beneath the road from Thapathali Chowk to Paropakar Maternity Hospital burst on Tuesday morning, spilling about 500,000 liters of water. The incident disrupted the water distribution system in the area.
Melamchi pipelines have burst multiple times in the Kathmandu Valley. Engineer Chandrakumar P. Shrestha, spokesperson for the Project Implementation Directorate of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), said the new pipelines under the Melamchi water supply system have ruptured in about half a dozen locations over the past four to five years.
On February 12, a pipeline burst in Babarmahal, Kathmandu, while another ruptured in Naya Bazaar in December. Earlier, a pipe had burst in Pulchowk, Lalitpur. The Babarmahal incident alone wasted around 1 million liters of water.
KUKL has held the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) responsible for the pipeline burst in the Thapathali area. A preliminary study by KUKL’s Project Implementation Directorate found that NEA’s negligence in laying underground power lines damaged the water supply pipeline.
Melamchi water for the people outside Ring Road as well: KUKL
In a press statement on Tuesday, the Directorate stated that NEA violated the agreement to keep at least one meter of distance between the underground power lines and the Melamchi water supply pipeline. Instead, NEA placed the power lines directly over the water pipeline, causing the damage, said KUKL spokesperson Shrestha.
KUKL's Project Implementation Directorate's initial study suggests that the pipeline burst likely occurred due to increased pressure during water distribution after the pipeline sustained damage from the underground power line installation. KUKL also blamed the NEA for the pipeline burst in Babarmahal.
On February 12, the Directorate issued a statement stating that KEI, the contractor hired by NEA, damaged the water supply pipeline during reaming after pilot drilling without properly studying the GIS map.
Suspicion on quality of pipe
Between 2015 and 2020, contractors laid new pipes in the Kathmandu Valley as part of the Melamchi Water Supply Distribution System. They spent around 9 billion rupees, with four companies, including Sharma and Company, handling the work in four packages.
In 2010, workers laid new pipes in Sundarijal, and the project began within the Ring Road in 2015. According to a senior technical staff member of KUKL, the pipes used for the Melamchi water distribution in the valley are made of ductile iron (DI), a type of iron.
The technician says, "Ironically, Nepal lacks a laboratory to test the quality of pipes. The factories in the countries where the pipes are manufactured are the only ones that conduct quality tests. Once the pipes arrive in Nepal, we check their quality visually. What can we assess by just looking at them? We have to trust that everything is fine. Therefore, instead of solely blaming the Nepal Electricity Authority, we must also test the quality of the pipes."
KUKL made the decision to lay DI pipes in the valley. Spokesperson Shrestha himself acknowledges that Nepal has no laboratory to test the quality of pipes. The contractor companies imported the pipes used in the valley from India and China. These pipes have a 20-inch diameter. The technician pointed out that if the pipes have quality issues, such bursting problems could occur repeatedly. He emphasized the need for caution on this matter.
Questions in the way of working
The repeated bursting of Melamchi water supply pipes has raised serious questions about the working methods and quality in the government's infrastructure sector. It has also highlighted the lack of coordination among government bodies involved in infrastructure projects.
Government agencies increasingly shift blame onto each other. KUKL employees explain that such problems occur when these agencies fail to coordinate while laying underground pipes or cables and do not exercise proper caution.
