Rapti Drinking Water Project seeks support from Nepalgunj Sub-metropolis

By Siraj Khan,Nepalgunj, May 18: Started with an aim to end the scarcity of drinking water in Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City of Banke district, Rapti Drinking Water Project's officials said that they would have reached final stages had they received proper support from the local level.

Currently, the physical progress of the project stands at 80 per cent.

"The project's construction started five years ago to bring water from the Rapti River in Ward No. 5 of Duduwa Rural Municipality of Banke. After the project's completion, 25 million litres of water will be distributed in Nepalgunj daily," said Hari Kumar Shrestha, chief of Nepalgunj-based Water Supply Corporation.

"However, had we received necessary support from the Nepalgunj Sub-metropolis effectively, we would have reached the final stages of the project already," Shrestha added.

Among the required 16.8-kilometres pipeline installation to bring water from the Rapti River, ductile iron (DI) pipe has been laid along the 13.3-kilometre section. The pipes have a diameter of either 500-mm or 250-mm.

The contract for the pipe installation is awarded to Hirachan Malla JV. The contractor informed that 70 per cent of the pipe installation work has been completed.

"The remaining 30 per cent means that the pipeline has not been installed in the main bazaar of Nepalgunj. The work has been halted because the sub-metropolis has not given permission," said Shrestha.

Shrestha also informed that pipe installation along the 2.9-km section from Phultekra to Bageshwori has also been left stranded. 

"The corporation has now decided to bring the water from the river via Karkaando and Alanagar to the overhead tank in Puraina. Earlier, the plan was to bring the water first to Bageshwori and then to Karkaando," said Shrestha.

Meanwhile, Nepalgunj's Deputy Mayor Kamaruddin Rai informed that they could not permit the project to lay pipes in different areas due to the damages it can cause on the main roads.

"We know that the road gets damaged when the pipe is installed and is later repaired. Our reservation is regarding the poor repairment of the roads by the water supply corporation," said Rai.

Since the project is essential for the local level and its people, deputy mayor Rai said that he would try to reach an agreement with the corporation soon.

"The work has not moved forward in expected speed due to several delays caused by disagreement. The pipe installation work's contract deadline has already been extended more than thrice," said Bhupal Bhandari, a sub-engineer at the water corporation office in Nepalgunj.