The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has pledged to reconstruct the road sections that were dug for laying drinking water pipelines.

The KUKL and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect.

The water utility office had been digging road sections in different parts of the Capital for laying pipelines to supply water from the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

The tunnels and trenches dug during the process were simply filled with debris, which had become a nuisance for pedestrians and motorists alike.

As per the MoU, the KUKL will have to bring the dug roads to the previous condition-if they were black-topped, they must be black-topped.

Tej Raj Bhatta, Director of KUKL’s Project Implementation Directorate (PID), said all road sections that were dug in the past

and the roads that are yet to be dug will be repaired as per the understanding reached with the KMC.

As per the deal between the two entities, the KUKL has to keep the local community posted on the development work that it is carrying out. The KUKL now onwards will dig only one side of road sections at a time.

The KUKL also has to clear all the debris and coordinate with KMC’s Physical Development and Construction Department regarding the condition of the road sections.

All roads less than eight metres in width in Kathmandu are under the jurisdiction of KMC.

Nuisance created by pipeline laying work for the Melamchi Water Supply Project had resulted in several complaints from citizens in the metropolis.

Chief and Executive Officer of KMC Rudra Singh Tamang said that potholes and ditches in roads will no longer be a problem in the Capital after the deal with KUKL.

In total, KUKL has to install 700-km water distribution network and 55-km bulk distribution system in the Kathmandu Valley for the Melamchi Water Supply Project.