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The water from the Melamchi river brought to Sundarijal of Kathmandu is being distributed in the federal capital from today. The water was channeled via the tunnel aqueduct at Ambathan, the source of the Melamchi stream at Helambu Rural Municipality-1 in Sindhupalchok district. The water released into the conduit had reached the end point of the tunnel at Sundarijal, Gokarneshwar Municipality-1 on December 4. Initially this water was discharged into the Bagmati river for flushing the tunnel. "The tunnel was shut in June year after a massive landslide occurred in the Melamchi area damaged the tunnel structure at its source at Ambathan. So, the water that had been filled in the tunnel has been released into the Bagmati river to flush out the silt and debris in the tunnel," said Ram Chandra Poudel, the engineer with the Melamchi Water Supply Project. According to him, the water was filled in the tunnel since December 5 and the water filled in the tunnel has been released to Mahankalchaur branch since Thursday. Only a small amount of water has been channeled into the tunnel conduit in the beginning on a trial basis since the tunnel was closed for a long time. This water took a week to reach Sundarijal. Project spokesperson Rajendra Panta said that 175 million litres of water from the Melamchi river would be released into the tunnel daily from today. The project had first started distributing the Melamchi water to Kathmandu on March 28 last year. However, the supply was disrupted following major floods and landslides in Sindhupalchowk on June 15. The headworks of the project were completely damaged, accumulating dozens of feet high of pebbles, sand, and mud at the headworks. As the construction of the damaged headworks at Ambathan intake have not been completed yet, the water from Melamchi stream will be channeled into the tunnel and brought to Kathmandu only during winter. Minister for Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhary is scheduled to inaugurate the distribution of the Melamchi water from Mahankalchaur water tank today.

A foreign national died and two others were injured when a mini-truck and a motorcycle collided with each other at Phisling of Ichhakamana Rural Municipality-3 in Chitwan. The deceased has been identified as bike rider Meyer Olbersleben (60) from Germany. He breathed his last in course of treatment at the Chitwan Medical College, DSP Bijay Raj Pundit, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Chitwan, said. The Bullet motorcycle (Na 41 Pa 548) heading towards Kathmandu from Narayangarh collided head-on with the mini-truck (Pra 03-001 Cha 1682) at around 10: 30 am today. One of the injured has been identified as Bir Bahadur Tamang (73) of Galchhi Rural Municipality-5, Dhadhing. He was traveling in the pickup van. He is also receiving the treatment at the Chitwan Medical College. Police said that they are looking into the case.

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has offered his best wishes for happiness, peace, prosperity and good health to all Nepali people home and abroad on the occasion of 'Udhauli' and 'Yomari Punhi' festivals. May these festivals energize all Nepali people to pursue prosperity while strengthening unity and cooperation among us, he said in a message of greetings today. He also wished that these festivals contribute to conserving and promoting Nepali art, culture and custom. He also thanked the Election Commission, the government, and all Nepali people including security personnel, government employees and poll observers for their help in concluding the elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly. Voting took place on November 20. 'Udhauli' is celebrated by the Kirat communities, and 'Yomari Punhi' by the Newar communities.

Udhauli, the second most important festival of the Kirant community, is being celebrated across the country with joy and fervor today. Udhauli festival is celebrated every year on the full moon day of month of Mangsir in the Lunar calendar. During the festival, the Kiranti folks gather together to celebrate the festival in an organised manner and exchange good wishes. According to the religious book Mundhum of the Kirants, time is divided into two parts, Udhauli and Ubhauli. The Kirant community believe that these two periods are divided on the basis of farming. The Ubhauli festival is celebrated on full moon day during the month of Baisakh. Ubhauli is a festival celebrated during plantation while Udhauli festival is celebrated at the time of harvesting of the crops.