Kathmandu, September 22 : Preparations are being made to adopt a new technology to excavate the diversion tunnel to bring the waters of Yangri and Larke rivulets to the Kathmandu Valley under the second phase of the much-awaited Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP). Such tunnel was being excavated by applying the Drilling, Blasting and Mucking (DBM) method.
However, the very technology proved so time-consuming with change in contractors that it hampered the entire works of the MWSP. So, the Ministry of Water Supply and Melamchi Water Supply Development Board have mooted the new technology of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to excavate the 11-km long diversion tunnel to divert the raw waters of the Yangri and Larke rivulets to the Sundarijal outlet.
The TBM technology was also successfully applied in the construction of Bheri-Babai project.
