Kathmandu govt buildings inundated while drinking water taps run dry

Kathmandu [Nepal], February 12 (ANI): Premises of Kathmandu District and Special Court along with other governmental offices were inundated on Wednesdsay as a drinking water supply pipeline ruptured, officials said.

A part of road at Babarbamahal in Kathmandu collapsed following rupture of Melamchi Water Supply inundating two courts and the Forestry Complex along other surrounding buildings. The road section collapsed as water gushed out to surface inviting disaster response team to rescue those stranded.

Tika Chaudhary, head of the Melamchi Water Supply Project implementation unit, stated that the rupture occurred during the underground cable-laying work by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

"The NEA's drilling work damaged our pipeline, leading to the burst. We halted the water supply to the area," Chaudhary told ANI over phone.
This incident adds to the ongoing challenges faced by the Melamchi project, which typically supplies 170 million litres of water daily to the Kathmandu Valley.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been carrying out works to lay underground electricity cables in the area. The NEA was using a machine to dig the road in the area for the installation of underground cables.

Mahananda Joshi, spokesperson for the Road Division Office in Kathmandu, informed ANI that the NEA had been working on laying underground cables in the area for the past few days. "The main Melamchi pipe was damaged while the Authority was carrying out the underground cabling work. There are five Melamchi pipes in that area, and the drilling machine struck the main pipe, causing water to burst out," Joshi told ANI over phone.
During the work, one of the five Melamchi water pipes laid under the road was damaged, as per the officials. The incident occurred at around 1pm (local time) and continued for more than four hours.
With water gushing into the premises of Kathmandu District Court and the Special Court, Justices of both the courts were evacuated crossing the metal bars. Since the pipes are laid in close proximity, it took some time for the Melamchi Drinking Water Project team to identify which pipe had burst.
The delay in identifying the damaged pipe led to widespread flooding in the area.
Following the incident, movement in the area was disrupted, and the Melamchi Drinking Water Project has halted water supply to the affected zone. (ANI)