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| Kathmandu Tuesday April 02, 2002 Chaitra 20, 2058. |
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Melamchi game
This refers to the news report entitled
"Melamchi water likely to be expensive," dated March 26, 2002, TKP.
It raises the curtain of the game plan led by
Nepali bureaucrats to wring out commission by bringing an unnecessary project to blow up
international funds. Hundreds of villagers have already earned fortunes in the name of
compensation to their land. Now, do the Kathmanduites want to buy expensive water? That is
just impossible. No Kathmanduites want water of Melamchi. Did the government or the
contractors make a survey whether the Kathmanduites really wanted to buy eleven times more
expensive water than what they are paying today? No. It was only the desire of a group of
people to introduce a lofty project and let the people of the Kathmandu Valley pay for
their needs. This is
a classic example of how the government bodies misuse their rights. It must be stopped.
Had the government or the Nepal Water Supply Corporation been sincere enough, it could
have prevented the 40 percent leakage in the distribution system. That could have been
much more than what the people need. They do not want to repair old pipes, control
leakage. Instead they try to bring about ambitious projects with political support. I say
those who have been involved in the Melamchi water project must be punished. And 225,000
rupees each Kathmanduit is bearing on his or her shoulders must be paid back from the
illegal treasures of those people. Just imagine what would happen if the people refuse to
buy that expensive water. Who is responsible? Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad
Bhattarai? The Nepal Water Supply Corporation? Or, the head of the Melamchi project?
Dil Kaji Shakya
Itumbahal, Kathmandu |
