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| Kathmandu Tuesday March 26, 2002 Chaitra 13, 2058. |
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Melamchi water likely to be
expensive
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, March 25:The same old good news that
the Kathmandu Valley is getting a huge volume of water from the Melamchi Drinking Water
Project (MDWP) from 2007 BS has its bitter side too. The experts say that the drinking
water of the capital city will be eleven times more expensive than the present tariff in a
few years to come. Are the Kathmanduites ready to pay that much of money for water?
"After the completion of the Melamchi
project, per 10,000 litres of water people use in a month will cost Rs. 440, which is
available at Rs. 40 these days," said Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, executive director of
Environment and Public Health Organisation (ENPHO).
Five NGOs, including ENPHO, believe that new
tariffs should be set at the level that recovers the total cost of the loans and
investment, which will also help to ensure autonomy for NWSC (Nepal Water Supply
Corporation) during its operation. The NGOs have recently formed a consortium to study the
availability, price and quality of drinking water in the Valley.
According to the calculation of the consortium,
the water will cost Rs. 30 per 1,000 litres per month for first 6,000 litres and Rs. 65 up
to 15,000 litres and Rs. 85 for over 15,000 litres of water per month.
"The ambitious project of Melamchi will in
total cost Rs 35.1 billion or US$ 468 million." That is, each of the residents of the
Kathmandu Valley will bear a loan of Rs. 22,500 on his or her shoulder.
"Since the residents of the Valley are the
only people who would be benefited by the Melamchi project, the loan should not be paid
back from the national treasure. It is the responsibility of the beneficial community
alone," he said.
Shrestha alleged that the government did not ask
for any suggestion with the Kathmanduites before bringing in such an extravagant scheme
for less than a million people living in the Valley. The local governments like
municipalities were not involved in making the decision.
"The municipalites are divided concerning
the use of Melamchi water. In this situation, the government must also pay attention to
what might happen if one of the municipalities refuses to use the costly water of
Melamchi," he said.
According to the new provision, all the
connections, including the public tap stands will have metres and one or other
organization will have to pay money for that. In addition, homes and business houses with
deep tube wells will need to have a licence and make payments for the water they extract.
However, the Executive Director of MDWP, Raj
Kumar Malla, said that the water from Melamchi would only cost Rs 24 per thousand litres
of water.
Divisional Engineer Sujan Sharma at MDWP
admitted that the price of water is certainly going to be increased after 2007 BS but
added that the cost would not be as much as the water consortium had calculated, because
the government is paying back only half of the total of the loans and grants.
"It has been decided that both 59 percent
of the loans and 11 percent of the grants will be treated equally and only 50 percent of
the cost will have to be refunded," said Sharma.
The MDWP consists of 59 percent of loans, 11
percent of grants and 30 percent of investment by the government.
He also added that the people of the Kathmandu
Valley are willing to pay that much of the money for quality and sufficient water.
The project also had a debate whether the 50
percent of subsidy should be provided to the consumers or not. The water will certainly
cost a lot if subsidy is not given."
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