KATHMANDU, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation Limited has been employed to complete the remaining works related to tunnel works of Melamchi Water Supply Project, Nepal’s largest water supply project, Melamchi Water Supply Board said.
After the termination of contract with Italian contractor Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti di Ravenna, in January this year, the new contract was awarded to the Chinese company, after conducting a fresh bid, the board said Sunday.
The project aims to supply 170 million litres of fresh water per day to capital Kathmandu. Together with available supply of water from existing sources, the commissioning of Melamchi project will largely fulfill the existing water demands in the capital city, nepali officials said.
“Tiresh Prasad Khatri, executive director of Melamchi Water Supply Development Board and Wang Hua, authorized representative of Sinohydro Corporation Limited, China signed the contract agreement for the implementation of the work of supply, installation, construction, testing and commissioning with one year organization and management of tunnel works,” the board said in a press statement on Sunday.
The contractor has been given one year deadline to complete the work. It is the contract signed for the package-2 of the project.
The Chinese company also won the contract for package-1, which is related to supply installation, construction, testing and commissioning with one year operation and maintenance of headwork. “Contract will soon be signed for the Package-1 too,” Ritesh Kumar Shakya, spokesperson at the Nepal’s Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation, told Xinhua on Monday.
The project, which was launched in 2000 after several years of conceptualization, has long been seen as a sustainable solution to Kathmandu’s chronic shortage of drinking water.
The water will be brought to Kathmandu from Melamchi River in Sindhupalchok district which lies north of capital Kathmandu as per the plan. The project is being developed with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank.
The project is one of the oldest under-construction projects whose implementation delayed due to a number of factors including local people’s obstructions, earthquake in 2015 and dispute between the board and the previous contractors.
Sinohydro has been involved in Nepal in a number of development projects as a contractor.
The Chinese company jointly developed 50MW Upper Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Nepali company Sagarmatha Power Company, which has already started producing power. The Sinohydro is also a contractor for under-construction 456MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, the largest domestically funded hydel project in Nepal and 140MW Tanahu Hydropower Project, a storage type project, which is undergoing construction phase soon.
