The Melamchi Water Supply Project has intensified the installation of water pipes in the Kathmandu Valley as the government targets to supply water fetched from the Sindhupalchwok-based Melamchi River to the capital denizens by the upcoming Dashain festival (October-September).

Under the project, some 670 kilometers of pipeline needs to be installed to supply water to the target groups. So far water pipes have been laid underground along some 470-km roadways, Project Implementation Directorate Manager Nanda Bahadur Khanal said.

Water collected from the Melamchi River will be brought to the Kathmandu Valley via a tunnel and it will be treated in Water Treatment Plant at Sundarijal before supplying to the Valley people.

To facilitate distribution of water, the Directorate has constructed water tanks at various 11 places in Kathmandu valley —including Aarubari, Mahankal Chaur, Panipokhari, Basbari, Balaju, Khumaltar, Katunje, Kirtipur and New Thimi, it is said. Likewise, old water tanks at Anamnagar and Minbhavan will also be reused.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Dipak Khadka said the government was working to supply drinking water within nine months. RSS