VP Pun announces completion of Melamchi tunnel construction

Kathmandu / Apr 12: Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has announced the completion of the much-awaited construction of the tunnel digging work under the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) on Thursday.

The Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation, Bina Magar, other VIPs and media persons were presented in the program held at Sindhu Gyalthum, tunnel.

The project has been completed on Tuesday afternoon, seven years after the digging started. The breakthrough under the dream project, which has been much talked about for over three decades, has paved the way for bringing Melamachi river water to Sundarijal through the 27.5 km tunnel. This will entail continuous work for about three more months including finishing and work in concrete.

The tunnel breakthrough took place in the 7.5 km Sindhu Gyalthum section. The two other major sections were already dug through before this.

Melamchi water is expected to reach Sundarijal by the end of July, said Rajendra Raj Panta, spokesperson of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

Despite a delay in construction work on the project dams, 170 million liters of water per day will be diverted into the tunnel through temporary pipes so that water will be received at the treatment plant at Sundarijal.