Melamchi tunnel test begins

KATHMANDU: Testing of Melamchi drinking water in a 26 km long tunnel has started from today. The Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation and Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee has completed all the necessary technical works and tested the water.

The Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee has stated that water filling has been started by holding a formal program at the project site Melamchi.

Minister for Drinking Water Mani Chandra Thapa inaugurated the tunnel test by pressing the switch of the control room at a program organized at Melamchi Headbox Site on Monday.

Minister for Youth and Sports Dawa Tamang and  State Minister for Urban Development Ram Bir Manandhar and former Law Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang were present on the occasion.

After that, a team of four experts under the grant assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the main donor body of the project, re-examined the structures including tunnels, estuaries and gates.

It will take 16 days to fill the 26 km tunnel from Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to Sundarijal in Kathmandu. As it is an early stage, less water will be pumped than the capacity of the tunnel.

The government has been conducting studies to identify possible incidents for drinking water supply since 2029 BS. The study conducted in 2041 BS identified 22 different options including Melamchi for a long-term solution to the drinking water problem in the Kathmandu Valley.

A subsequent study of 200 concluded that it would be appropriate to supply 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi, Yangri and Lakre to the Kathmandu Valley as a technically sound alternative.

Accordingly, the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee was formed in 2055 BS to implement the plan of the Government of Nepal to bring water from Melamchi, Yangri and Larke to Kathmandu in a phased manner.

The committee has also requested to take special precaution when going to the Melamchi River, Indus with audit tunnel, Gyalthum water flow areas, as well as Bagmati river as the water flow may increase at any time.