INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, MARCH 27Melamchi Water Supply Development Board has made preparation to utilise the Melamchi tunnel by
channelling water of the Melamchi River through alternative method after finding it impossible to remove dozens of metres high debris
collected at the headwork of the tunnel due to flood and landslide in the monsoon last year.
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The MWSD is planning to channel the water of Melamchi
River directly towards the Ambathan audit tunnel from gate No 1.
For this, gate no 9, that leads outside the Ambathan audit
into the river, will have to be closed
After closing the gate, water from gate no 1 can directly reach the centre at Sundarijal where the tunnel ends.The MWSD had earlier said the
tunnel was safe from the June 15 and July 30 flooding of 2021 which had wreaked havoc on the headworks of the multi-million dollar project
that had finally come into operation 26 years after its inception.As the main gate at the headworks was closed on time before the flooding,
the tunnel remained safe.Spokesperson of Melamchi Water Supply Development Board Rajendra Prasad Panta said workers were inspecting and
cleaning the tunnel by entering through Ambathan audit
"If everything goes as per plan, we will let water of Melamchi River flow directly inside the tunnel from gate no 1 and divert it towards
Sundarijal in Kathmandu valley," he said."We have found this alternative after realising that it was impossible to remove dozens of metres
high debris spread over hundreds of square metres on the hilltop at the headworks anytime soon,"Pant said
He however, stressed the current plan would only be temporary as channelling water directly inside the tunnel without headworks might cause
permanent damage to the tunnel
"This system will be used until we are able to clear the headworks and start operating it again," Pant said.The main infrastructure at the
headworks is the 211-metre long diversion tunnel, which passes from the Melamchi River to gate no 1 of the 27.5-kilometremajor tunnel that
extends to the valley.As per the alternative plan, Kathmanduties are likely to get water by mid-July once again.Rigorous work has been
carried out to remove the debris at Melamchi Drinking Water Project that started in mid-January in a bid to deliver water to Kathmandu
within the stipulated time.Approximately 23 years after the inauguration of Melamchi Drinking Water Project, authorities had tested the
water on 28 March 2021 and Kathmanduites had been able to get water supply to their homes for the first time.Soon after, the project started
supplying 170 million litres of water per day
But, the ill-fated project was struck by devastating flood in the Melamchi River on June 15
The flash flood eroded millions of tonnes of pebbles and sand, wreaking havoc on the low-lying Melamchi Bazaar.A version of this article
appears in the print on March 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.