NATIONAL7Spotlight Weekly)]

A Shot In The Arm

Japan pledges a loan assistance up to US$44 million for the implementation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project

By A CORRESPONDENT

In what is seen as good news for thirsty Kathmanduites, the Japanese government has decided to extend a loan assistance of up to US$44,606,000 to the Nepalese government for the implementation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

The Japanese assistance, extended through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will be utilized to construct a water treatment plant at Mahankal village near Sundarijal, northeast of Kathmandu. The water treatment plant will obtain raw water from the tailrace of the tunnel constructed under the Melamchi Diversion Scheme component. In this facility, the raw water will be converted into World Health Organization-standard potable water through a treatment process which includes aeration, sedimentation, rapid filtration and other methods.

The Melamchi Water Supply Project is expected to be jointly by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Norwegian Aid Agency (NORAD), Nordic Development Fund (NDF), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), OPEC Fund and JBIC.

Melamchi Water Supply is a multi-million dollar worth ambitious project that aims to divert 510 million litres of water daily from Melamchi, Yangri and Larke rivers in Sindhupalchowk district, via a 28-km long tunnel, to Kathmandu. The first of the three-phase project, which expects to be completed within next three to four years will divert 170 million litres of water daily.

Tagged at US$400 million, the project has four major components -- diversification scheme, water treatment plant, bulk distribution and the rehabilitation and expansion of the distribution network in the capital valley.

Different donors have assured to support different components of the project. NORAD has agreed to finance the diversification scheme (up to US$24 million). The ADB has agreed to provide loan for the bulk distribution and the World Bank has agreed to chip in with the assistance in rehabilitation and expansion of Kathmandu Distribution System.

At present, the government is able to provide less than half the daily water requirement of the capital residents. This project has the objective to quench the thirst of Kathmanduites.

The percentage of the Nepalese population with access to water supply stood at 61 percent as of 1997. However, compared to the rural area, where the access has greatly increased, the urban area is lagging behind and unable to meet the rapidly increasing water demand brought about by the significantly accelerated population inflow since 1980s.

Water resources within the Kathmandu Valley have been almost exhaustively developed. In addition, except for the upstream of a river on the northeastern edge of the valley, it is extremely difficult both technically and economically to divert water from rivers running through the surrounding regions to the valley, which is situated at an altitude of 1,200 meters.

At present there are more than one million people living in the Kathmandu valley. The population is growing by 4.5 percent per annum. Any delay in the implementation of Melamchi project will create further create chaos in the country. Already during the dry months like March and April, many residents of the city have to stay awake till midnight to get hold of few buckets of drinking water as the supply is limited.