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The Ministry of Water Supply has urged one and all to trust the quality of water supplied through the Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project which was resumed from Monday in the Kathmandu Valley.

Issuing a notice today, Ministry Joint Secretary and Spokesperson, Meena Shrestha, said the water supplies from the Melamchi River meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards as it is distributed to consumers only after processing it at the water processing plant at Sundarijal.

The Ministry said that initially, the water may appear muddy due to soil residues within the water pipes, a consequence of the prolonged disruption in water supplies. It assures the public that the water will become clear with continued flushing after the resumption of regular supplies. The notice urged consumers not to be swayed by rumors and to trust in the water quality.

Simultaneously, the government has established a facilitating committee to address any issues in the Melamchi drinking water supplies. In case consumers encounter problems, they are requested to contact the committee.  The government aims to supply 170 million liters of water daily from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to meet the needs of the Kathmandu Valley.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has instructed the relevant authorities to expedite the police adjustment process.

During today's meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and security officials at his official residence in Baluwatar, the Prime Minister expressed concern over the sluggish progress in the police adjustment process, despite the enactment of the Nepal Police (Province Police Operation and Coordination) Act, 2076 BS.

According to the Prime Minister's Secretariat, he directed them to complete the process within the next 15 days.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister was concerned over the challenges arising from delays in enacting federal laws and executing the police adjustment, adversely affecting the functioning of provinces. He urged the concerned authorities to consider the matter seriously.

"The status of implementation of federalism has not met expectations, and provinces are experiencing direct consequences. The functions of Chief Ministers and provincial governments have been hampered, he said, adding that anti-federalist forces have got a chance to criticize the system and the presence of provincial governments due to this. He called for the prompt conclusion of the adjustment procedures within the next 15 days, in accordance with the Act.

Federal ministers, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Home Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai, Inspector General of Police Basanta Kunwar, and officials from the Home Ministry were present on the occasion.

Nepal will be presenting a report on its progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the United Nations. The report to be prepared through the voluntary national review (VNR) on SDGs is to be presented by July.

The National Planning Commissions today organized a workshop on the Voluntary National Review of SDGs in Kathmandu today, gathering valuable submissions from various stakeholders.

Prior to this, Nepal conducted the first VNR on SDG in 2017 followed by the second in 2020.  According to the NC, the third VNR will be concluded by the next six months.

In today's workshop, the NPC Vice -Chair Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha said the event aimed to assess Nepal's efforts towards the sustainable development goals, learn from successful practices in other countries, and gather submissions from various sectors to promote coordination and cooperation with diverse agencies.

According to him, Nepal is fully committed to achieving the sustainable development goals and efforts towards this end are underway from the federal, provincial and local governments.  There has already been the localization of SDGs in Nepal and the budget has accorded priorities to them. Effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are in place for projects and plans related to the SDGs.

The 16th five-year periodic plan that will be coming into effect from the fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-24) has prioritized the endeavors to graduate Nepal from the category of the least developed country and to accomplish the SDGs, he added.

The Sustainable Development Implementation and Monitoring Committee under the coordination of the Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission has been working to prepare a third voluntary third national voluntary review related to sustainable development.

The Economic Management Division of the Commission is working as the secretariat. Shrestha shared that Nepal would present this report in the meeting of a high-level political forum under the United Nations in July.

Lauding the activities carried out by Nepal for achieving sustainable development goals, UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy pointed out the need of making efforts for further progress-oriented results.

"Nepal's progress in achieving sustainable development goals is admirable. Compared to other countries in the world, the progress of Nepal is better. But it is necessary for us to make further efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals within the stipulated time", she added.

She stressed that Nepal from the position of Chair of least developed countries should be more responsible in the activities of sustainable development goals and upgrading.

All UN member countries in 2015 had approved sustainable development goals (2016-2030) and started implementing it.  Nepal has prepared sustainable development goals 2016-30 roadmap for Nepal and implemented it. 

As per the recent statistics of the National Planning Commission, Nepal has achieved around 43 percent progress so far in sustainable development goals.

According to the NPC, the workshop was organized at the coordination of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Representatives from line ministries, Nepal Rastra Bank, Policy and Planning Commission of all provinces, National association of Rural Municipalities, Municipal Association of Nepal, private sector, representatives of government and non-government offices and cooperative sector were present on the occasion.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has called for collaborative efforts on disaster reduction and local resilience. For this to happen, all three tiers of government could work together, he stressed.

During a program of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) organized at Bhugol Park of Kathmandu on the occasion of the Earthquake Safety Day this morning, the collaboration of KMC with federal and province governments would emerge as a model, which, he argued, could be replicated to other local levels.

He reminded that the constitution has mentioned disaster management as the rights of local governments as well, so all sides' responsibilities are required to tackle the problems on it.  "Federal government is ready to work together with local levels for their capacity building," DPM Shrestha said, adding that the local levels were provided equipment for emergency and rescue operations via the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

According to the DPM, even the volunteers have a significant role in making disaster management effective. So, the volunteers could be brought under a national system.

DPM Shrestha expressed happiness over the KMC's mobilization of volunteers and initiatives taken for necessary training. He lauded the assistance KMC provided in the quake-hit area following the Jajarkot Earthquake. He wished KMC as the leading local level with resources and capacity to continue such works.

The initiatives taken by the KMC could be replicated by others, he suggested.

Moreover, DPM Shrestha commented, "KMC's role on enforcement of building code for earthquake safety and assessment and retrofitting of unsafe structures is a significant job."

On the occasion, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Sunita Dangol, said Nepal must pay heed to building quake resistant structures in view of the earthquake security.

The locally available resources and technology could be used to make infrastructures robust, she viewed, underscoring the need for further collaboration and coordination among three tiers of government.

Earthquake Safety Day is observed every year on Magh 2 of Nepali calendar since 2055BS. The Day commemorates the devastating earthquake that occurred on Magh 2, 1990BS. Huge number of lives and properties perished in the quake that measured 8.4 in Richter scale. It occurred at 2:24pm.

Senior seismologist at the National Seismology and Research Centre, Lok Bijay Adhikari, informed that as many as 8,519 Nepalis had died, while 80,000 houses were destroyed in the 1990 BS earthquake.

Total 207,248 structures perished in the earthquake.

The recent devastative quake Nepal witnessed was the Gorkha Earthquake of Baisakh 12, 2072Bs. It claimed the lives of 8,670 people and destroyed more than 700 thousand houses.