NATIONAL 6 -(Spotlight Weekly)]

Stream Of Woes

A key drinking water project is caught between local residents' displeasure and donors' demands

By AKSHAY SHARMA

"This project has created nothing but trouble for us," Krishna Prasad Lamichane, chairman of Melamchi Village Development Committee, said at a recent press conference. That pretty much sums up what local residents think of a project Kathmanduites have been thirsting for.

Tankers wupplying water : Temporary solution

Although doubts linger about the implementation of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, there is some optimism in the air. The concerned agency is working on the final design of the project, which is likely to be completed by April.

Residents of Melamchi complain they are being asked to suffer to quench Kathmandu's valley's insatiable demand for water. The Lamichane and other locals urged reporters to highlight their plight.

The project cost, initially estimated at US$ 271 million, is escalating with each passing day. Further delays could shoot costs well beyond the current estimate of $464 million. "The inordinate delay in implementation is the main factor behind the rise in costs," a source at the project said. The project was originally scheduled to come into operation by 2004 but has been pushed back till 2007.

"The project was never expected to be completed by 2004," said a source closely associated with the project. "Those who made that claim were members of the political establishment who never had a fair idea of the issue." Privately, project sources are saying the facility may not be ready even by 2007.

The delay has been attributed to a series of unforeseen circumstances. The project had to be after authorities dropped plans to include a hydropower plant. "The delay is also the result of reluctance of contractors to use explosives in constructing the access road and tunnel," said a senior engineer with the project. "They are under the impression that the explosives might be stolen by [Maoist] rebels."

The government has earmarked Rs.1.42 billion for the final design of tunnel and treatment plant, construction of necessary road, pipe alignment for bulk distribution, land procurement for reservoir and for the construction of the access road. All this is expected to be completed by April.

The Asian Development Bank has committed US$ 120 million to the project while the World Bank is to provide $ 80 million. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation is to make available $45 million while the Nordic Development Fund is to provide $90 million. The other donors are NORAD, OPEC, SIDA, and JICA. Funding will be available in the form of grants and soft loans.

The fate of the project is linked to calls to privatize Nepal Drinking Water Corporation (NDWC) in order to inject efficiency in the exercise. The privatization effort can be expected to last two years. The last call for tenders had ended in vain when two out of three bidders backed, resulting in re-tendering.

There is a likelihood of a second phase getting underway by 2011, under which Yangri river will be diverted to generate additional 170 mld of water, which is expected meet demand up to 2018. A third phase, likely to begin by 2020, would involve diverting Larke River, adding another 170 mld of water to the distribution system. Experts say this phase would meet demand until 2030.

Kathmandu Valley gets around 120 mld of water each day, which goes down to 80 mld in the dry months. With the population of the valley increasing by 4.5 percent a year, the rush for the Melamchi gush is obvious.

But concerns over whether the project is practical persist. Some say Melamchi would affect other projects in the pipeline because of donors' policy of limiting assistance to $500 million per year to Nepal.