The Nepal Weekly 
April 19, 2022The people of Kathmandu valley will receive drinking water from Melamchi Project within Baishakh 11 (April 24) , announced Minister for Drinking Water Umakant Chaudhary during the programme organized by Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Management Board during its 17th anniversary at Bhaisepati, Lalitpur district on Monday.
The water from the Melamchi river has already been sent to Sundarijal Water Treatment Centre by the end of Chaitra as per the government’s commitment and the water will come to the household in Kathmandu within a week, he said.
The Melamchi Project will supply 170 million litre of water to Kathmandu valley on daily basis in the first phase and in the second phase the capacity will double by supplying 340 litres. Kathmandu Valley Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the body entrusted to supply drinking water to the people of Kathmandu’s three districts has to shoulder a big responsibility as it might face unseen problems like flood and landslides that damaged the parts of the project last year, he pointed out.
Therefore, we must always be ready to find out alternatives to Melamchi for such natural disasters, he added. We have also launched feasibility study of Sisneri and Thosne rivers in a bid to finding additional sources of water, he said.
Minister Chaudhary on the occasion also inaugurated the Water ATM War Room meant for monitoring water ATMs located at the Board’s office. There are 16 Water ATMs being operated in Kathmandu valley at present.
With a view to providing pure drinking water to the general public 16 Water ATMs have been installed, 10 in Kathmandu, 4 in Lalitpur and 2 in Bhaktapur, according to Dr. Sanjib Bikram Rana, CEO of the Board. “There is a plan to install 15 more Water ATMs in the valley in the next fiscal year.”
“The Ministry of Drinking Water has initiated Water Security Mapping with a view to locating water sources and preserving them for the future,” remarked secretary in the ministry Suresh K.C. After pouring water from Melamchi, testing of the water is being conducted to determine the quality of the water, he informed. So far, testing has been completed on 410 km pipes and the remaining testing works will be completed soon, he added.
According to K.C., at present 40 percent of the drinking water is being leaked due to lack of proper water management. Efforts are being made to reduce the leakage to 15 percent as per the international standard, he pointed out.
On the occasion Mayor of Bhaktapur Sunil Prajapati and Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Madan Sundar Shrestha underlined the need for coordinating with the local representatives while formulating policy related to drinking water management.
