Kathmandu, July 16 : The testing of the tunnel of the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) by sending the water of the Melamchi River in it has been stopped temporarily.
This came after a tragic incident in which two workers of the project went missing and two others sustained injuries. The very incident could be attributed to the high pressure water released through one of its tunnels on its routine test on Tuesday (July 14).
The gate built for the purpose of flushing excessive water in the tunnel at Ambathan of Helamu Rural Municipality-3 in the Sindhupalchowk district had opened suddenly which led to release of high-velocity water from it.
Now whatever quantity of water sent to the tunnels for test have been reverted back emptying the tunnel, informed Project’s Spokesperson Rajendra Prasad Panta. “The technical team which made the on-site visit of the accident site concluded that the knot bolt of the flushing gate was loose and the Project staffers who were there to oversee the tunnel testing related works were swept away by high pressure water that was accidentally released from the tunnel.”
In a bid to minimize the risks and untoward incidents like on Tuesday, the Project has come up with an idea to install CCTV camera on the sites for monitoring where the water would be sent to the tunnel, according to Panta. As all water-filled tunnels have been emptied, it would take 15 to 20 days to fill over 27-km tunnel yet again. But the Project has no immediate plan to release water to the tunnel, according to Panta. “We will fix all the errors first and then only we continue with the next moves,” he said.
The much-awaited national pride project is expected to supply 170 million litres of water to Kathmandu Valley on a daily basis in few months. The testing and commission of the tunnel had begun since July 5 this year. It would take at least 15 days to carry out testing of the tunnel, according to the Ministry of Water Supply.
In a press conference organized by the Ministry here Wednesday (July 15), it was shared that works in the Project was forwarded in such a manner that regular water supply to the Kathmandu Valley would begin by the beginning of September. It was also shared that those injured in Tuesday’s incident, Consultant Dorje Pemba and engineer Shekhar Khanal were airlifted to Kathmandu on Tuesday and they were receiving treatment at the B & B Hospital at Gwarko, Kathmandu.
Similarly, Area Police Office, Melamchi’s police inspector Fal Bahadur Tamang shared that search operation for the missing ones in the incident, driver Radha Krishna Thapa Magar and engineer Satish Gohit was ongoing. A vehicle with Ba 1 Jha 8764 number plate has been swept by the intense flow of water in the incident. The locals residing in the lower rim of the Project site have been asked to remain alert, police said. RSS
