Tulsipur Water Project Faces Six-Month Delay

Dang. Tulsipur Water Consumers and Sanitation Committee, which started three years ago with the objective of distributing clean, pure water easily to the residents of Tulsipur municipality, has announced that the project to bring water from the Babai River to Tulsipur through lifting will take an additional six months to be successful. The project was initiated under co-investment.

Although the infrastructure construction of the project has reached the final stage, the committee chairman Yamakanta Bhandari informed that it will take an additional six months as the electricity connection and home connection works are still pending. According to him, the delay occurred because the contractor who was awarded the construction work in the latest phase stopped working, citing an increase in the price of construction materials.

Chairman Bhandari said, "We are urging the construction company to resume work. Hopefully, the work will continue soon." According to him, the project is being carried out with a cost of Rs 56 crore 80 lakh 24 thousand 630. Under this project, water will be lifted from the Babai River and brought to Tulsipur.

Chairman Bhandari informed that works such as installing new pipes for water and constructing more than a dozen tanks in various places have been completed so far. The construction of a storage tank in Tulsipur has reached the final stage. The repair of old pipelines has also been completed.

Chairman Bhandari mentioned that once this project is completed, it will be possible to supply 100 liters of water per second. He expressed confidence that this will provide relief to the citizens living in areas such as the new bus park in Tulsipur, Ranijhruwa, and various villages in Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City-6.

Similarly, Vice-Chairman Narayan Prasad Sharma stated that the committee is working to prevent unauthorized excavation and protect the water sources in areas that are major sources of drinking water, including Mulkot, Ramri, Chisapani, Ghereni, Bakhre, Chharachhare, and Pahare. According to him, the committee has replaced the old sand and gravel at the Rakhachaur treatment plant.

"Water is being filtered through sedimentation technology in the Rakhachaur area. In this technology, the water is kept stagnant in a large tank for some time. The particles in the water gradually settle at the bottom of the tank. Then, the clean water from the upper part is sent to the next stage. After the water is completely purified, it is collected in another tank before being supplied to consumers' homes," said Vice-Chairman Sharma. He added that with the completion of this work, the problem of muddy water during the monsoon season will not occur.

The committee has constructed and fully secured approximately 100 drinking water distribution chambers in various locations. Vice-Chairman Sharma informed that they are moving forward with making service delivery technology-friendly by implementing GIS technology and a mobile app system. According to him, the goal is to provide consumers with a transparent billing system by installing smart meters in the future.

The committee is managing drinking water for more than 75,000 people through approximately 12,000 connections. Citizens are waiting for the Babai River water lifting project to be completed. Due to the increasing heat, the water sources are drying up, causing problems in water distribution.

As water has stopped flowing through the taps in some villages in the Tulsipur area, the drinking water committee has been distributing free water daily by carrying it in tankers. Although the committee had previously announced that the project would be completed and water distribution would begin by the end of the upcoming Ashad, it has now indicated that it may take about six more months for water distribution.