Kathmandu, Dec. 18
Prime Minister Sher
Bahadur Deuba has unveiled a full-length statue of former Prime Minister and
saint leader Krishna Prasad Bhattarai on the water treatment centre premises of
the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) at Sundarijal in Kathmandu district.
Bhattarai, who envisioned
bringing the water from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk district to the
Kathmandu Valley about three decades ago, was the Prime Minister of the Interim
government formed after the 1990's public movement.
Recognising the vision of
Bhattarai to supply water to the people of the capital city, the Ministry of
Water Supply has constructed a full-size statue of him at the water treatment
centre at Sundarijal.
Speaking at the statue
unveiling event, PM Deuba said that the government had prioritised the
long-term solution to the water-supply problem. He said that the distribution
of water from Melamchi to Kathmandu Valley started about two years ago, but the
distribution was disrupted as floods and landslides upstream in the river last
monsoon damaged the infrastructure at the intake.
Prime Minister Deuba said
that necessary preparations would be made to ensure the regular distribution of
water to the residents of the valley. "I am happy that leader Bhattarai's
dream of providing water from the Melamchi River to the capital has been
fulfilled. The government is working to provide clean drinking water to all the
Nepalis honouring the constitutional provision for the same," he said.
Meanwhile, he expressed
his commitment to scrap the provision that asked the local people inside the
Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to pay entry fee while entering the park to
reach their home. Four villages of Ward No. 1 of the Gokarneshwor Municipality
are inside the national park.
Earlier in March 2021,
the water from the Melamchi River had trickled into the water pots
of the people of Kathmandu approximately after 19 years since the beginning of
the MWSP. In the first phase, Melamchi water was distributed in Mahankal,
Minbhawan and Anamnagar of Kathmandu and Khumaltar of Lalitpur area through the
Kathmandu Upatakya Khanepani Limited (KUKL)'s distribution network.
In the first phase, about 170 million
litres of water per day would be brought from the Melamchi River while in the
second phase of the MWSP, which is yet to begin, would bring another 170 MLD.
The first phase of the MWSP was supposed
to be completed in 2008 but it went through multiple deadline extension and
cost overrun. It was affected by the bureaucratic process, Maoist rebellion,
2015 earthquake, Indian blockade and, recently, fleeing of the Italian
contractor company CMC.
Later in April last year,
President Bidya Devi Bhandari had inaugurated the water
distribution from the MWSP by opening a switch of a stone tap built at
Bhrikutimandap in the capital.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 December 2022.
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