The long-awaited Salu-Sunarpani lift water supply project in Manthali Municipality remains incomplete, leaving local residents in hardship.

Residents of Salu in ward 4 and Sunarpani in ward 5 are without reliable drinking water despite the government’s promise that the project would transform daily life.

The project, initiated in June 2021, was designed to lift water from the Tamakoshi river using lift technology and supply approximately 2,400 households across both wards. Its completion date was originally set for June, 2024. But contractor delays, negligence, poor adherence to technical standards and unresolved land disputes have prevented the project from being delivered on time.

Local people complain that the problems have worsened for those in upper areas while the settlements in lower places have received water from local springs. There is an acute shortage of drinking water in the settlements in higher altitudes.

“We have been suffering from water shortages for years. When the project was launched we were hopeful, but now the situation is chaotic. Pipes lie exposed by the riverbed and there is no sign of project completion,” said Januka Karki of Sunarpani.

Sharma-Sagoon JV was awarded the project with a total budget of 316.1 million. The completion deadline was extended till October 17 this year. However, the work is still far from over.

According to Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, Ramechhap chief of the Federal Water Supply and Sewerage Management Office, only around 55 percent of the physical work and roughly 50 percent of the financial progress have been completed so far.

The locals blame the construction company and the authorities for the delays. “We the local people even collected Rs7 million from the community hoping to accelerate progress. But both the construction firm and the contracting office seem to have become unaccountable. The project is half-done, yet our water problems remain the same," said Sumant Karki, another resident.

According to Rabin Karki, chairman of Manthali-5, the work is riddled with flaws. “Millions have been spent, and the project is still incomplete. When—or even whether—our thirst will be quenched remains uncertain,” he laments, pointing specifically to rusted pipes laid across the Suka-Jor stream that are already deteriorating because they are substandard.

“Electrification works are ongoing. The contractor aims to begin partial water supply by November, and to finish the project by April next year,” Shrestha said.

For residents of Salu and Sunarpani, these patterns only deepen frustration. “We were told this would be a long-term solution. But seeing the half-finished pipes, broken promises, and no clear completion, we are losing faith,” lamented Bishnu Karki.