KATHMANDU: Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary has said that work is underway to distribute water from Melamchi in Kathmandu Valley within mid-April.

He said that an agreement has also been reached to bring water from the Yangri and Larke rivers to the capital as there would still be shortage of water even if 170 million liters is brought daily from Melamchi.

Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s dream of providing Melamchi water to the people of Kathmandu will be fulfilled by mid-April this year, he said, while speaking at a program in Kathmandu today (Tuesday).

He expressed the commitment of the ministry to supply water to the community schools which do not have access to safe drinking water.

Stating that the construction of large overhead tanks in the Terai Madhes with 80 to 90 percent state investment has not been completed, Minister Chaudhary said that the plan has been put forward to complete it.

Secretary at the Ministry, Suresh Acharya, said that it was necessary to make arsenic-laden water clean and safe, adding that further study and research was needed on groundwater resources.