Four interest groups from Sindhupalchowk and Kavrepalanchowk have locked the office in Panipokhari, alleging that their demands have been ignored.
Affected and stakeholders from Sindhupalchowk and Kavrepalanchowk have locked the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee office in Panipokhari, Kathmandu.
They have locked the Melamchi project, saying that the grant given by Melamchi in the name of the local social upliftment program has been stopped for three years, that compensation and housing for flood and landslide victims have been ignored, that the amount to be given to the affected people from the water charges paid by Kathmandu residents has not been determined, that the road leading to the project site has been neglected for years, and that the problems of the affected areas have been ignored. The Melamchi Development Committee has stated that the Melamchi project was locked on Sunday, saying that their demands have been ignored.
Melamchi had been giving about Rs 230 million annually for local development through the four stakeholder committees for two decades. The locals are most angry after the amount was stopped from 2078. The formation order 2078 had made a provision to send the grant given to the local stakeholder committee through the local level. The stakeholder committee has been saying that the formation order has taken away the rights of the affected people. The Melamchi project is currently supplying water to the Kathmandu Valley residents. Melamchi water distribution, which was stopped during the monsoon, has been resumed for two weeks.
Jagarnath Das, executive director of the Drinking Water Development Committee, informed that his office has been locked. He said that he has informed the Ministry of Drinking Water about the details of the incident and the demands of the locals. “I have also informed the higher authorities that they have talked about locking the drinking water source and shutting off the water,” he said.
There are four local level concern committees for those affected by the first phase of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project and the second phase of the Yangri-Larke project. Even though Melamchi is complete, construction has not started to bring water from the Yangri and Larke rivers to Kathmandu. The committee formed at the local level had been spending the money on education, health, income generation, electrification and other topics.
In the 2078 budget, then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had made a statement to abolish the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee. But the committee was not abolished. Bishnumani Acharya, chairman of the Indrawati Melamchi Valley Social Upliftment Program, said that the grant was stopped by the subsequent formation order. He said, ‘We were forced to lock it after the Ministry of Drinking Water ignored us when we raised the problem repeatedly.’
Nearly four hundred families were affected by the floods in Melamchi and Helambu areas in 2078. Stakeholders also say that the project ignored them. Currently, the oldest in the project-affected areas are the Hyolmo Sindhu Melamchi Valley Social Upliftment Program, Indrawati Melamchi Valley Social Upliftment Program, Mandan Valley Social Upliftment Program and Yangri Larke Concern Committee. The Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee has been recognizing these committees.
Executive Director Das said that the formation order itself should be changed to meet the demand. He informed that this issue has already been discussed at the level of the Prime Minister and the Minister. He said that information has come from higher authorities that the formation order cannot be issued as this is a caretaker government conducting the election.
