It has been 5 years since the contract expired, when will the water come?

असार १०, २०८२

प्रकाश बराल

It has been 5 years since the contract expired, when will the water come?

If the work was completed on time, the residents of Baglung market would have received drinking water from the lift scheme of Kathekhola in 2077. Kankai Jaimata Joint Construction Company has not finalized the completion of the water supply scheme even after 5 years of the contract period.

Since the plan has not been completed, the residents of Baglung, the headquarters, have been waiting for the distribution of pure and sufficient water for years. The pipeline of the previous scheme, which is currently being distributed, is blocked by landslides in places during monsoons. After a week/ten days of water shortage, the Baglung Nagar Water Sanitation Consumer Organization prepared a new contract for the lift water supply project.

According to the preparation, the Water and Sewerage Department made the design of this project through a consultant. According to the design, in 2075, Kankai Jaimata Joint Construction Company started the construction of Baglung Nagar Sahalgani Water Supply Project at a cost of 302.6 million rupees. After not working at the appointed time, there were many obstacles. The contractor has not been able to do the work even after the deadline extended three times . Instead, by extending the deadline and increasing the price, the cost price has now reached 340 million . The contractor has not yet confirmed the transfer of the plan.

So far 5 Samwells (water cooling tanks) have been built in Kathekhola for this project. One 5 lakh liter and 2 2 lakh liter RBT tanks have been built. Two slucent tanks have also been built. A 'DI' pipe has been designed for the pipeline from Kathekhola to Bhirlakuri via Ratmata. The work could not proceed as the pipe started to burst before being connected. Hari Prasad Shrestha, the former chairman of the consumer committee, said that the pipe was designed that did not match the geography of the place, so it could not be connected and it broke. Shrestha said, "While lifting the water with the Jodball, the pipeline broke. "No matter how hard we tried, it could not be saved. This method has come to a standstill as the water could not be taken even to the first stage tank.

It has been 5 years since the contract expired, when will the water come?

In order to supply water immediately, an attempt has been made to take water to the first tank by connecting some 'GI' pipes in the Federal Water Supply and Sewerage Office Beni, Division Water Supply and Sanitation Office Baglung and the office of the Consumer Committee. Although there is a plan to lift 70 liters of water per second, not even a third of it has been lifted yet. Since the project will not be successful until the pipeline is changed immediately, the consumer committee has suffered a loss of one and a half million crores .

Sonam Thapa, head of the Federal Water and Sewerage Office, claimed that there was no design error, but geography was an obstacle. "Technically, this pipe works for a long time, it does not rust," she said, "only here is the failure of this pipe." She said that GI pipe is 50 percent weaker than DI. In this project, DI pipe has been replaced by GI pipe. 

Contractor Krishnahari Choulagai said that although he was about to finish the work, he was not able to finish it because the pipe broke and he was disturbed. "We have also come to the conclusion that this is not suitable for the geography, we have to find an alternative to this pipe," he said, "Since it is a matter of contract agreement, we could not talk about it, but the government agency must take care of it." About 1 km of DI pipe has been used for the lift only. When this pipe breaks, only 10 to 15 people are needed to connect one piece .

It has been 5 years since the contract expired, when will the water come?

This project is under construction with 70 percent investment from the Nepal government and 30 percent from the consumer. Of the 30 percent investment, 25 percent of the urban development fund's loan assistance has also been raised. Even though this project could not be built, the consumer committee has been paying 80 lakhs of principal and interest annually. According to the accounting branch, there is an obligation to pay more than 10 million rupees in the current financial year. "If this project is completed, clean water can be fed to 50,000 people at once," Hari Bahadur JC "Santosh", the acting chairman of the consumer committee, said, "We are shocked by the pipeline problem and the danger of land collapse." This work also added one and a half crore debt burden to the Consumer Committee.

Under the leadership of the then Division Chief Shekhar Chandra KC, a plan was made to lift Kathekhola water from Kailampokhari in Baglung Municipality 3. When the work started according to the plan, the settlement itself was at risk due to frequent landslides. There is a risk of landslides in Deurali Chowk and Narayan Chowk areas of Baglung Municipality-3. Many have left their homes after the landslide started falling near their houses.

In 2051, after the drinking water brought from Bhundi and Resh rivers, 14 km from the headquarters, was not enough, in 2067, the small urban water supply project was started and the springs were managed. Consumers were surprised by frequent bursting of DI pipes there too. After making more than 300 piles of cement to make the pipe immobile, it became easier. According to the design, after the locals did not give water to Dudiakhola, the division brought the lift method of Kathekhola . From this project, 4 thousand 100 water pipes have been connected in wards 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the headquarters. Permanently and temporarily, 50,000 people drink this water.

Singer and poet Dharmaraj Thapa remembers Shrestha when he came to Baglung in 2027 and sang a song called 'Baglung's market, Pardheni lai dukh azar'. At that time there was a shortage of drinking water in Baglung market. Even after 55 years, this suffering is still the same. The small population at that time reached the river and fetched water. Now there are taps in the houses but the water problem is still the same.

In 2064, Baglung municipality handed over the drinking water project to the consumer committee by giving 17 lakh rupees and 7 employees. The committee collects 15 to 20 lakh rupees from the water tariff. 5 lakh monthly electricity  Treasurer Krishna Prasad Sharma said that the fee had to be paid. He said that if the water is fully operated, the fee will be up to 7 lakhs per month. Spending an additional 7 lakhs on staff and office expenses did not save even 5 to 7 lakh rupees per month . After collecting the same amount, 80 lakhs interest is paid annually.

प्रकाश बराल बराल कान्तिपुरका बागलुङ संवाददाता हुन् ।

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