CHAUTARA, June 15: The long wait of Kathmandu dwellers for the much-awaited Melamchi project may continue a bit longer as the project is unlikely to be complete within the stipulated time (by Dashain that falls on September-end this year).
The project is unlikely to be complete in time as three kilometers tunnel of the total 27.5 kilometers from the water source at Helambu rural municipality of Sindhupalchok to water processing plant at Sunsarijal, Kathmandu is yet to be dug, said deputy executive director of the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, Rama Kanta Duwadi.
No fooling on Melamchi
"There are challenges ahead as soft rocks found in the digging process are making the process hard. Only 15 to 23 meters tunnel is constructed on a daily basis at present. So it is difficult to complete the project in time," he said.
Equipment breakdown time and again has also contributed to the delay, he added.
He said the call of the contractor to find an alternative to the problem of tunnel digging could not be addressed as the process would cost almost double the existing digging cost. RSS
