Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, January 22:
The long-awaited handing over of the assets of Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) to an “autonomous” body, Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), will take place in three weeks. Coincidentally,Timila Yami Thapa, Physical Planning minister Hisila Yami’s sister, was nominated as its chief on January 13 .
The government is now set to hand over those portions of NWSC, which belong to sections of the valley, to Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) on February 13 and the board will transfer those assests to the KUKL to facilitate the process of reformation of Kathmandu Valley’s water management.
“The handover will take place on February 13. By handing over the assets of NWSC to the board, we will open gates for further development in water management for the Kathmandu Valley,” said Suman Sharma, joint-secretary at the ministry.
He added that the ministry is working to make it happen on time, as lots of processes have to be gone through before the handover.
Earlier, the handover was scheduled for October 1 but it was delayed due to the lengthy process of valuation of the NWSC assets and political changes.
The handover was one of the conditions set by the donors for a loan of US$ 500 million to the Melamchi Water Supply Project. The donors, mainly Asian Development Bank, had demanded that the water distribution body in Kathmandu Valley be handed over to an autonomous body before the loan for Melamchi project is sanctioned, so that it could be kept away from political intervention.
Before the handover takes place, the property of NWSC has already been sent to the ministry, following a cabinet decision, so that it would now be authorised to hand over the government property to the semi-government institution KVWSMB.
