The morass that is Melamchi

The government must hold an inquiry into the tunnel disaster that killed two persons.

In early July, the Ministry of Water Supply announced the start of hydrostatic testing of the Melamchi Water Tunnel. The 27-km-long tunnel was constructed to convey water from the Melamchi River in Nepal's eastern hills to Kathmandu. The test involved filling the main tunnel with water and pressurising it to check for leakage. Upon successful testing, water from Melamchi will start flowing in Kathmandu's taps. Kathmandu was euphoric at the announcement. Then tragedy struck. On July 14, the bulkhead in one of the tunnel's adits—a side entrance to the main tunnel—broke open and the ensuing torrent swept away the members of the technical team monitoring the test. Two of them died. The bulkhead, also called a gate, is supposed to stop the uncontrolled entry of the water in the main tunnel into the adit. That did not happen.