Kathmandu: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has announced that the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, which was damaged severely by the floods and landslides, will be repaired and water supply will be resumed by mid-April 2022.

“Arrangements will be made to supply Melamchi water to the valley soon. I have allocated a budget for the immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation of the damages caused by river erosion and floods,” he said, while unveiling a supplementary budget in parliament on Friday.

Similarly, Finance Minister Sharma said that international financial assistance will be mobilized by linking it to the national interest and needs, priorities and budgetary system. Acceptance of such assistance will be based on technical preparation of the project, cost and benefit analysis, implementation capacity and ownership, and effectiveness of assistance.

Also, resources will not be included in the budget without ensuring availability of assistance. The government has made it clear that resource assurance will not be provided to any other projects and programs except those that fall within the criteria of multi-year contract 2020/21, purchase of COVID-19 vaccine and other health essentials and resource management within the medium term expenditure structure.

The government will make arrangements for the ministries and agencies to increase the capital expenditure by dividing the monthly target and making progress as per the target. Finance Minister Sharma said that he will work against the contractor’s tendency of taking more contracts for works beyond their capacity and not completing the work on time.

The government has also prioritized the development of technical manpower. The government will also bring the policy of preparing detailed project reports of the project through government engineering companies and public institutions as far as possible.