Nepal sinks more money into river diversion project hit by dispute, delay and disasters
The work that began in 1997 was aimed at meeting Kathmandu’s growing demand by supplying water from the Melamchi river.
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Three years after devastating floods damaged the headworks of the Melamchi water supply project, reconstruction efforts are now underway 60km northeast of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. Despite the disaster, plans are advancing to divert water from two more rivers, Yangri and Larke, east of the Melamchi River, to supply much-needed drinking water to the city.
Initially proposed in 1997, the project aimed to channel 170 million litres a day from the Melamchi basin through a 26.5km tunnel. The Melamchi Water Supply Development Board was established the following year to address the challenges of “inadequate water supply, increased water demand and poor management of the available water resources”.
This was largely due to Kathmandu’s rapidly growing population, which had ballooned from around 150,000 in the 1950s to over 500,000 by 1991, putting immense pressure on the water sources of the metropolitan area.
Former water resources minister Dipak Gyawali explained that “The Melamchi water diversion [project] was just one of the 30 sources of drinking water for Kathmandu Valley, suggested by a 1973 study report.” These included the local rivers of Kathmandu Valley, like the Balkhu and Kodku, the Roshi River in neighbouring Kavre, and snow-fed rivers such as the Sunkoshi and Trishuli.
“But Nepali officials preferred the Melamchi [project], saying it...
