Long delayed plans to build a 26km water diversion tunnel as part of Nepal’s US$317M Melamchi water transfer project are set to go-ahead after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to revised terms of the project.
The scheme has been deadlocked since 2000 in wrangles over aid financing. The ADB said the scheme looked set to proceed after financiers split it in two, one segment covering tunnel construction and the other involving water treatment facilities.
The tunnel will divert 170m litres per day from the Melamchi river to Kathmandu Valley to ease chronic water shortages.
The bank also dropped its requirement for the appointment of a management company to oversee Nepal’s water resources. UK water utility Severn Trent Water was initially chosen for the role, but the Nepalese Government refused to ratify the utility’s appointment and the scheme foundered.
Commenting on the changes that have allowed the scheme to be resurrected, ADB official Leonardus Boenawan Sondjajago, said: ‘While the need to address the water crisis is growing, the changing circumstances surrounding the project required adjustments in scope and implementation arrangements.’
Sondjajago heads up the project administration unit at the urban development division of the bank’s South Asia department. He added: ‘This project is the only realistic way to obtain a sustainable, long-term supply of drinking water for Kathmandu Valley.’
The ADB will lend US$137M to the scheme while the Nepalese Government is to contribute US$90M. The remaining US$90M will be split among a raft of aid agencies comprising the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Nordic Development Fund and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Fund for International Development.
