Kathmandu, Sept. 2
Melamchi Water Supply Project, the largest water supply
project in the country, is not likely to supply water to the houses in the
Kathmandu Valley before mid-2021 due to the extended work period and
obstruction created by the local contractors and vendors who were cheated by
the erstwhile contractor CMC.
New contract award designed by the Melamchi Water Supply
Development Board (MWSDB) to construct the remaining work projects to complete
the headwork in 15 months, which is six months longer than the earlier plan.
The board is yet to sign the final contract with the
selected bidder Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation. It said that the
contract would be signed as soon as the contractor submits its performance
report and bank guarantee.
If the contractor starts the work immediately, it can
complete the work by the end of 2020. But it will take another 2-3 months to supply
water from the Sundarijal-based main reservoir tank of the project since the
pipeline that was laid more than a year ago need to be flushed and cleaned.
The government is facing hard times in settling the issues
with the sub-contractors and local vendors of the project who worked for the
CMC, but the contactor fled the country without paying its liability of Rs.
1.53 billion to them.
The Ministry of Water Supply (MoWS) had proposed to seek
'all-party consensus' to pay the amount which was the liability of the
contractor as the sub-contractors and vendors threatened to obstruct the
construction unless they were paid.
But it could not move ahead with the proposal, and as the
district level committee in Sindhupalchowk formed to study the case also failed
to offer solutions, the government had formed a committee led by a
joint-secretary of the MoWS which also included members from the Ministry of
Labour, Employment and Social Security and Ministry of Law. The committee is
yet to submit its report.
Owing to the threat, Sinohydro had urged the government to
provide security in the construction site.
"The construction of the headwork can be completed in
nine months at the earliest, but we don't want to take the risk," said
Rajendra Prasad Pant, Spokesperson at the MWSDB.
However, he said that since Sinohydro is working in the
Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectricity Project, it can immediately start the work
with the available machines and equipment.
About 95 per cent work of the project has been completed,
including the 27-km long tunnel, water processing unit, reservoir tanks and
pipeline laying.
The Rs. 33 billion project that is supposed to bring about
170 million litre water per day (MLD) to the Kathmandu Valley, is in a standstill
for the last eight months after the Italian contractor CMS left the work in the
middle in December last year.
Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament
has summoned the MWSDB on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the project and
ways to expedite it.
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