Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of USD 80 million to modernise and expand the sewage network and treatment facilities in the Kathmandu Valley home to 2.5 million people.
"Better and broader sewage and wastewater systems will improve health and�living conditions and reduce river pollution in the Kathmandu Valley, where the population has vastly outgrown the existing wastewater network," said Manoj Sharma, Senior Urban Specialist in ADB's South Asia Department.
This project continues the Manila-based ADB's collaboration with the Nepal Government since 2000 to improve water supply in the Kathmandu Valley. The project includes the development of the 27.5 kilometre Melamchi tunnel, which will bring an additional 170 million litres of water per day to the Kathmandu Valley by 2016. Currently, it receives around 100 million litres of water per day.
The USD 137 million project will also be financed by USD 40.7 million, provided by the Government of Nepal and USD 16.3 million from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development (OFID).
Despite its dense population, Kathmandu valley has witnessed low investment in sewerage, forcing communities to dump waste into Bagmati River, increasing health risks.
The latest project, set for completion in 2018, will rebuild or lay around 514 kilometres of sewers and modernise and expand five wastewater treatment plants, increasing the treatment capacity from around 16 million litres per day to around 90 million litres per day. The goal is to ensure that the systems collects more than 80 per cent of the area's sewage in 2018, up from 5 per cent in 2012.
