Miscellaneous
‘Basic drinking water supplies across country in two years’
Claiming that the Malemchi Drinking Water Project will be completed by October 2017, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Deepak Khadka said the government was working in line with the policy of providing basic drinking water throughout the country within two years.Claiming that the Malemchi Drinking Water Project will be completed by October 2017, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Deepak Khadka said the government was working in line with the policy of providing basic drinking water throughout the country within two years.
The first phase of the project is set for completion by October, which will allow to distribute 117 millions litres of water daily in Kathmandu, Khadka said during an
interaction at Reporter’s Club on Saturday.
“The preliminary work of second phase of the project has already begun.”
An additional 340 million litres of water will be brought in Kathmandu after the completion of the project’s second phase—which includes accumulation of water from Yangri and Larke rivers into the Melamchi project.
The construction of the remaining 5,800 metres of the tunnel on the project will be expedited, Khadka said, adding that the laying of water supply pipelines in Kathmandu would be completed in two months.
In the first phase, the project will pump water within the Ring Road in the Capital, while the second phase will cover the areas outside the Ring Road and those areas not covered in the previous phase.
The detailed project report (DPR) of the second phase will be completed within a year, Khanal said, “It will take another five years to complete the project.”
Around 112 million litres of water is being distributed in Kathmandu Valley daily, the minister said, assuring, “Once the waters from Melamchi start cascading down to Kathmandu, we will see an end to the problem of potable water in Kathmandu.”
The government is carrying out works with the objective of supplying basic drinking water throughout the country in two years and pure water in the next five years, Khanal added.
The government has already forwarded the programme of constructing 100 water storage tanks, enough to meet the needs of 700 families in 20 districts of the Tarai. Khanal said the government would prioritise upgrading the technology and conservation of water sources to address those issues.