Melamchi water supply to Valley suspended over monsoon hazards

KATHMANDU, JUNE 24: The Melamchi Water Supply Board has suspended the water supply from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to the Kathmandu Valley beginning today.

According to Board Executive Director Ratna Lamichhane, the river turned murky due to flooding, leading to the closure of the water supply to the Valley. The supply will be restored once the rain subsides.

Though the Board initially planned to halt the supply from June 13, the schedule was postponed as no significant rains had occurred by then. Later, the Board also prepared to close the project last Friday, but the supply continued because the water flow in the river did not increase as estimated.

The government regulates the water supply from Melamchi during the monsoon, considering its potential impact on the headworks and other structures. According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the monsoon entered the country on June 10 this year, three days earlier than the expected date, and generally exits on October 2.

Project management consultants and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) advised the Board to halt the supply to protect the project's structures from monsoon-related hazards. "We decided to close it after the river waters turned muddy."