Melamchi! Melamchi! Oh! My Melamchi!
You came to quench my thirsty neck!
I once thought, you were a fake!
I heartly embrace you despite your arrival late!
Long awaited Melamchi drinking water project that was mired in uncertainty and controversy time and again eventually materialized after nearly three decades when it was first conceived by the then Priminister late Krishna Prasad Bhattarai (Kisunji). When this project was first conceptualized, it sounded like a fairy tale, an impossible task to accomplish. Priminister KP Sharma Oli completed this project for which he certainly deserves the credit. Even those who may not like Oli do not have to shrink their hearts to give him a ‘Devil’s due’ for had it not been his utmost concern and commitment, this project still would have been in the limbo. Kisunji would have been very happy to see this day had he been alive today!
The most spectacular feature of Melamchi Drinking Water Project is its 26-kilometer long tunnel to transport water from Melamchi river in Sindhupalchok to drinking water reservoirs and Bagmati river in Kathmandu. This has been reported as the longest tunnel in South Asia and second longest tunnel in Asia. This was made possible with the use of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Technology. With the successful completion of Melamchi Drinking Water Project, Nepal enters into new era of TBM technology that has opened new vistas and possibilities of road infrastructures and multipurpose development projects that can integrate high dam hydro-energy, irrigation, and drinking water.
Some of these infrastructures projects have already been moving towards completion. One of them is Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project (BBDMP) that consists of diverting water from Bheri River in Surkhet district through a 12.2 KM long tunnel across the Siwalik mountain chain to irrigate 51, 000 hectares of land in Banke and Bardiya districts and also generate 46 megawatts of hydro-energy. Almost 80 % of this project completed and the farmers in Banke and Bardiya districts will have year-round irrigation in the next two years. It was made possible through the TBM technology. Likewise, construction of Naubise tunnel bypass and Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project (SMDMP) have already been started. Had it not been the TBM technology, these mega multipurpose projects would not have been possible. SMDMP consists of a dam of 12 meter high along the Sunkoshi River, a diversion tunnel of 13.3 km long to divert water from the Sunkoshi River to the Marin Khola which will provide year-round irrigation to 122,000 hectares of lands in Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi and Bara districts in the Terai and generate 30 MW of hydro-energy. These projects certainly raise and inspire our optimism that Nepal can leap forward in its development path.
With the use of scientific innovations and proven technology like TBM, Nepal can leap forward in its development endeavor and can catch up with its neighbors in relatively short period of time. All Nepal needs is a visionary and an honest leader with firm determination and commitment to the development path despite political hinderance and obstacles. As the saying goes, there is always a ‘silver lining’ in every piece of dark cloud. Only the future will tell which political party and its leader will show that ‘silver lining’ in the conglomerates of the dark clouds of Nepali politics.
TBM technology and optimism for Nepal’s development
More than 225 billion cubic meter (CUBECs) of surface water is said to be available every year in the country. This is a huge amount of water that can be used for the generation of much needed hydro-energy and irrigation infrastructures to increase agriculture productivity, however, due to non-uniform temporal and spatial distribution of the water resource, less than 10 % of available water has so far been utilized in the country for generating hydro energy and irrigating agricultural lands.
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology has made it possible to transport water from one river basin to the area of scarcity for irrigation, human consumption, and industrial and municipal uses. This is particularly important for Nepal where multipurpose high dam reservoirs projects can be designed and built in the valleys and mountains to generate hydro-energy and transport water across mountains through TBM technology to Terai and inner Terai to irrigate million hectares of arable lands to boost agriculture productivity. With recently completed Melamchi Drinking Water Project, Nepal has entered a new era of TBM technology that has raised high optimism for the use of this technology in the generation of hydro-energy, development of road infrastructures, irrigation infrastructures, and the transportation of water across river basin landscapes. This certainly offers tremendous potential for the development of Nepal.
Generation of hydro-energy in the river basin and development of irrigation infrastructures to leverage the abundant available water resources of Nepal provides the foundation for agriculture revolution that not only accomplishes the food self-sufficiency but also provides the basis for achieving prosperity of Nepal. Nepal’s prosperity and development is determined primarily by the contribution of hydro energy and agriculture to national revenue (GDP). The design of multipurpose development projects integrating hydro-energy and the irrigation infrastructures with the application of TBM technology can be the game changer in the development of Nepal.
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