Water from Melamchi arrives Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Water from the Melamchi Water Supply Project has arrived Kathmandu, finally.

The water from Melamchi River, which is being diverted to Kathmandu to ensure uninterrupted water supply in the Valley, reached Sundarijal, Kathmandu on Saturday.

Addressing an event to mark the arrival of Melamchi water in Kathmandu on Saturday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said, “A pending and deferred dream of bringing Melamchi water in Kathmandu has been fulfilled today. It is a new beginning and many more such dreams will come true soon.”

The water from Melamchi reached Sundarijal as part of the tunnel testing process. The Melamchi Water Supply Project had started testing its 26.3 km tunnel by releasing water into it on February 22. The water was released into the main tunnel in the intake area at Helambu Rural Municipality-1, Sindhupalchok.

After 12 days of its journey from Sindhupalchok through the long tunnel, the Melamchi water reached Sundarijal, in Gokarneshwar Municipality, northeast of Kathmandu.

After several extensions, the project has now set a deadline of April 15, 2021, to supply the water to households.