By: Dinesh Karki

Kathmandu: Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) is preparing for a pre-Melamchi Drinking Water Project before the completion of Melamchi Water Supply Project. KUKL has demanded the government to allocate the budget of Rs. 520 million in the coming fiscal year for the project.

Managing Director of KUKL Rudra Prasad Gautam told that about 66.3 MLD will be added in the drinking water supply system of the Kathmandu valley after completion of the project. About 38 million litres of water will be produced from surface source and 25 million litres from underground source. He informed that the project will be completed within two years.
Under the Melamchi Project, the government has planned to bring 170 million litres of water from the Melamchi River of Sindhupalchok to the collection centre at Kathmandu within 2014/15. “Considering the acute drinking water shortage in the Valley till the completion of the Melamchi Water Supply Project, KUKL is preparing for the Pre-Melamchi project,” Gautam said. KUKL plans to construct a pond reservoir having a capacity of 320 million litres in 580 ‘ropanis’ of KUKL owned land in Nakkhu and Dhobighat.  KUKL states that the estimated cost of the project is Rs. 880 million.
The government had provided Rs. 64.9 million to KUKL two months ago to address the drinking water problem in the Kathmandu Valley. With the budget KUKL has constructed tanks and inject points in the supply line and the company is distributing water by tankers in dry areas of the Valley.
Asian Development Bank, the major donor of Melamchi Water Supply Project, had sacked two foreign managers three months ago for not coordinating with the KUKL board and failing to improve water supply in the Kathmandu Valley. ADB had sacked General Manager Richard Austin and Financial Manager Kelvyn Palmer on the recommendation of the KUKL board. The board has decided to appoint Gautam as the managing director till selection of a new General Manager from free competition.

Acute water woes

Kathmandu: Kathmandu Valley is coping with acute shortage of drinking water after the residents near the water sources used the water for irrigation. Managing Director of KUKL Rudra Prasad Gautam told that there is a shortfall of about 40 million litres of water every day in the Valley after the locals have diverted water from the source to irrigate their fields.
Drinking water problem has augmented after the locals of Sundarijal, Pharping, Manohara and Bode area diverted the water in the middle from main supply lines. There is a practice to let the farmers living near the water source to use the source water for irrigation from June 1 to July 1. “We cannot stop this practice as this type of practice has been there since the establishment of Nepal Water Supply Corporation,” said Gautam. 

Source: Nagarik, June 25, 2009