The Melamchi Mirage

Twenty years ago this week, a new Chinese contractor was hired to work on the Melamchi project, and we wrote then that when completed in 2010, the $500 million water supply project would bring 170 million litres of snowmelt to Kathmandu through a 26km tunnel. It took till 2021 to complete, and cost $300million more. A flash flood nearly destroyed the project, and this week its water mains burst in Kathmandu, flooding the central administrative district.

Excerpts of the report published on issue #234 11 – 17 February 2005:

The much-delayed Melamchi project designed to boost Kathmandu Valley's drinking water supply is set to roll again with the appointment of a new Chinese contractor.

The project had faced uncertainty and delay ever since the Korean contractor, Haniel Koneko demanded cost over-runs due to Maoist threats and walked out without finishing even five percent of the work on the access road. Koneko was demanding Rs 100 million extra as compensation while its bid amount was Rs 450 million.

Negotiations between Koneko and the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) were deadlocked for over a year and construction ground to a halt. The government finally terminated the contract with Koneko last year, seized its performance guarantee of Rs 50 million and called for new bids. The China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCEC) was chosen over five Chinese, Indian and Japanese bidders…

…But whether CCEC will live up to expectations remains to be seen. For one thing, Sindhupalchok is a heavily Maoist-affected area and it is accepted wisdom that construction can only resume with the blessings of the rebels… Progress has been delayed because the access road to the headworks is not finished yet. Only once the road is ready can foreign engineers come for the tunnelling phase.

For archived material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: nepalitimes.com