Melamchi: Helping to Alleviate Katmandu's Chronic Water Shortage

Water is central to the health and well being of people. Inadequate access of water supply adversely impacts the health of the poor and stifles economic growth. The Melamchi Water Supply Project, MWSP, seeks to alleviate the chronic water shortage in the Kathmandu valley, an area of 500 square kilometers and home to 1.5 million people. This objective is to be achieved through both infrastructure and institutional change. In its first phase, which will be completed in 2007, the MWSP will divert water from Melamchi valley to Kathmandu valley through the construction of a 26-kilometer long tunnel to bring approximately 170 million liters of water per day to the Kathmandu valley. (Two other phases of development, tentatively planned for 2011 and 2018, will bring an additional 340 million liters per day, drawing from the Yangri and Larke rivers). The MWSP also requires developing a comprehensive institutional framework for water resource management within the Kathmandu valley. Most important, the MWSP requires that a private operator be in place for Kathmandu urban water supply to ensure that water brought to Kathmandu valley from Melamchi is efficiently and more equitably distributed. The Government is taking the latter effort as a parallel project with assistance from the World Bank.

The history of MSWP dates back to 1988 when a pre-feasibility study was carried out to investigate water resources outside the Kathmandu valley. Several studies have followed examining alternative sources of water to the Melamchi project, including studies on valley surface water storage, groundwater, and wastewater. Taken together, these studies point to some of the challenges facing water supply development for Kathmandu. Schemes involving large reservoirs within the valley pose issues including inundation of prime agricultural land, impact on downstream irrigation, and seismic risks. Groundwater extraction offers only temporary respite.

The Melamchi project remains the favored option for long term water resource development, providing the best combination of economy and yield to meet water requirements while offering the option of expansion to the Yangri and Larke rivers in the future. ADBs direct involvement in the MWSP began in 1996 when, at the request of the government, and in recognition of the urgent need to augment water supply, ADB provided technical assistance to review the problem. Based on the results of this assistance and other studies over the years, the Government committed itself to the proposed investment in infrastructure development. Both the Government and the donors recognize, however, that physical infrastructure alone will be not enough to overcome Katmandu's water shortage. Any infrastructure project must be accompanied by major reforms of the institutional and policy environment governing water supply in the Kathmandu valley.

The MWSP comprises infrastructure development, social and environmental support, institutional reforms, and project implementation support. Infrastructure development will include the Melamchi diversion scheme, including the 26-km tunnel, access roads, and a power transmission line, bulk distribution scheme, water re-treatment plant, and wastewater rehabilitation works. Social and environmental support will address specific needs of Melamchi valley residents and mitigate any negative impacts on the local population and environment in project areas. To optimize the use of water brought in from the Melamchi valley, the Government is establishing Kathmandu valley water Authority for comprehensive resource management.

The project will be executed by the ministry of Physical Planning and Works and implemented by a project management unit under the executive guidance of MWSDB, the Project's implementing agency. ADB as lead donor to the MWSP will assist the Government with a loan of US$ 120 million provided from ADBs Special Funds. The loan has a highly concessional interest rate of 1-1.5 percent per annum and a repayment of 32 years, including an eight year grace period. ADB funds will help finance the Melamchi diversion scheme, including a Special Uplift Program, the bulk distribution system, and some wastewater rehabilitation works. Other donors assisting with the Government's MWSP include Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and Nordic Development Fund, which are providing financing for the diversion scheme; Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which is providing funds for the water treatment plant; and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is providing financing for roads in total more than US$ 120 million in concessional loans and grants. The Government will contribute about 25% of the project cost.

In parallel to the MWSP, the Government with support from the World bank, will introduce a private operator, working under a management lease contract, to help the Kathmandu Valley water utility improve its delivery of water supply and sanitation services to valley residents. Support will also be provided for some priority upgrading of the urban water supply distribution network in Kathmandu.

The MWSP will benefit both the people of the Kathmandu and Melamchi valleys. While the population of Kathmandu valley will benefit from improved water supply, 40,000 villagers in the Melamchi valley will benefit from the Social Uplift Program designed to address community needs for improved health, education, rural electrification, and income generation, and from enactment of a levy to be paid by the water consumers of the Kathmandu valley. Melamchi valley residents will also benefit from improved market access thanks to the roads being constructed and improved under the Project and from employment during construction.

With the introduction of a private operator in parallel to the MWSP, the 1.5 million urban inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley will benefit from the improved water supply services with better water quality, increased quantity, extended hours of supply, more equitable water distribution, and better customer service. The greatest benefits will go to the poor in Kathmandu valley who do not have the resources to invest in alternative means of water supply: tanker trucks, wells, pumping systems, or illegal connections. They will benefit most directly from improved health with access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, and better hygiene.

Melamchi is in line with the primary objective of ADBs operational strategy in Nepal, which is to attain sustainable poverty reduction through equitable access to basic social services.

Text courtesy: ADBs News from Nepal Newsletter, Kathmandu ,Nepal.

Headline | 5 Question  | Editorial | 2nd Impression | International | Past |