The construction of a tunnel under the much-awaited Melamchi Drinking Water Project has begun its final phase.  On 28.12.2016 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Nepal celebrated the breakthrough of the first key section of the Melamchi Tunnel. When completed, the Melamchi Tunnel will carry water to Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley 170 million litres of water per day from the Melamchi River and another 340 million litres of water from the Yangri and Larke Rivers by 2021. 

The completed 9km tunnel section runs between Sundarijal at the end of the Melamchi Tunnel, where water will flow into a water treatment plant for distribution to Kathmandu residents, and into Sindu, further upstream. 

Two other sections which are 5.5 km in total once finished will complete the 27.5 km Melamchi Tunnel. This should be by the middle of 2017 with the tunnel expected to start carrying water towards the end of the year. 

Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti from Ravenna was awarded the contract for constructing the tunnel in 2013. Click here and in/14 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit www.adb.org, www.melamchiwater.org and http://mowss.gov.np/content/melamchi-water-supply-project.html. 05/17.