Kathmandu. A full-size statue of the founding leader of Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has been installed in Sundari Jal. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba unveiled the full-length statue of Sant Neta Bhattarai, built at the Melamchi water treatment plant complex at Sundarijal, Kathmandu, during a ceremony on Sunday.
In the general election of 2048, the Prime Minister of the interim government, Bhattarai, who was then a candidate for the member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu Region No. 1, made a resolution and announcement to the voters to bring water from Melamchi to Kathmandu. Bhattarai’s dream has come true with the people of the capital getting water from Melamchi, the Ministry of Water Supply has said that a full-sized salik of him has been constructed at the water treatment plant at Sundarijal.
While unveiling the Shalik, Prime Minister Deuba said that the government has prioritized the long-term solution to the water supply problem and said that necessary preparations would be made to ensure that water can be distributed to the people of Kathmandu Valley at all times. Deuba said that he was happy that the dream of saint leader Bhattarai to feed Melamchi water to the capital’s residents has been fulfilled.
Water Minister Umakant Chaudhary said that the Shalik was built to commemorate the contribution of Bhattarai, a sainted leader who had the dream and determination to feed the people of Kathmandu valley with pure water. Water Minister Choudhary said that to meet the shortage of water in Kathmandu valley, the option of bringing more water from the Bagmati river, Mahadeb river, Sisneri river, and Thosne river has been put forward.
Minister Chaudhary said that the government is ready to complete the plan to bring water from Yangri and Larke to Sundarijal, saying that they are waiting for the supplementary report of the Asian Development Bank to build a permanent structure at the dam site of the Melamchi water supply project.
Former Minister and Member of the House of Representatives elected from Sindhupalchok Region No. 2, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, demanded that 5 bridges, river control, and settlement management should be built on the Melamchi River, saying that 55 million rupees had not been paid for the completion of the headworks of Melamchi and that foreign donor agencies and consultants had been negligent in the construction of the project.
MP Santosh Chalise expressed his displeasure over the fact that the National Council collects money even when visiting the local residents and said that the people’s representatives of Kathmandu district are positive about Melamchi’s water distribution. Secretary of the Ministry Maniram Gelal, Executive Director of Melamchi Water Supply Project Kamal Shrestha, Head of Gokarneshwar Municipality Deepak Rizal, and others said that the water distribution work of Melamchi should be long-term and that Kisunji’s Shalik construction commemorated his contribution.
On that occasion, Executive Director Shrestha requested the Prime Minister to solve the problem saying that the Melamchi Water Supply Development Committee was canceled due to the failure of the project.
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