The Water Supply Ministry has formed a technical committee to study about rupture of the gate of tunnel of Melamchi Drinking Water Project at Ambathan in Helambu rural municipality.
A team of six technicians led by Joint Secretary Ramakant Dawadi has been formed on Wednesday, according to Ministry Spokesperson Ritesh Kumar Shakya. "We have been told that the tunnel gate suddenly opened. The team will probably go to the site today itself to find out the reasons," Joint Secretary Shakya said.
The committee has not been set any deadline but instructed to submit the report as soon as possible. The tunnel will again have to be tested for water flow after doing repair works if necessary.
An engineer and a driver have gone missing and two were injured after one of three gates of the audit tunnel around 800 meters away from the intake gave in to the pressure of water inside the tunnel Tuesday afternoon.
Project Chief Tiresh Prasad Khatri said the reason behind bursting of the gate will be known only after the technical committee submits the report. "It is estimated that the gate may have opened after the bolts gave in to the water pressure," Khatri added. "We don't think that the gate burst. The gate may not have been locked in a way it should have been and opened suddenly as the water pressure rose. The team including engineer must have been swept away by the intense force of water."
Four persons were swept away along with the vehicle they had taken after the gate gave in when they were returning after checking the water pressure.
Engineer Satish Goit of Dhanusha district working for contractor Sinohydro and driver Radha Krishna Thapa of Godavari in Lalitpur employed by the project have gone missing. Two others including engineer Shekhar Khanal of the project and consultant Pemba Lama, a resident of Melamchi, were also in the vehicle when water gushed out of the tunnel. They were rescued by locals.
The missing duo has yet to be found.
The water collected for around 10 days has gushed out after the gate gave in. Water will again have to be collected from the source once the gate is repaired.
