While corruption occurs, the cost of connecting a household to a water network increases by 30 per cent, raising the price tag for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation by a staggering $48 billion, the report estimates.
Now, the multi-million dollar Melamchi Water Supply Project has added another feather to its notoriety cap, thanks to the Transparency International's Global Corruption Report 2008 released today, which has portrayed the controversial project as a showcase of water related corruption in Nepal.
The $371 million project, which plans to duct 170 million litres of water every day from the Melamchi Valley to the parched Kathmandu valley through a 26 km tunnel, has been presented as a case study of water related corruption in Nepal. "The project was bogged down by vested interests," states the Nepal section of report, contributed by Ramesh Nath Dhungel from Transparency International-Nepal. Controversy flared in the project when the then king Gyanendra's regime jailed former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and one of his ministers Prakash Man Singh for alleged corruption while awarding a contract related to the project.
"Incoming governments appear to cancel previous commitments and award contacts to their supporters. It is still to be seen what the effects of the decision to cancel the contract will be, but it is likely to delay the Melamchi project further, by at least a year," the report says.
The project was conceived more than 17 years ago, but the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
The Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in Water Sector, released today states that corruption in the water sector is a root cause but also a catalyst for global water crisis that threatens billions of lives and exacerbates environmental degradation.
The report demonstrates how corruption obstructs effective enforcement of water-sharing pacts and resettlement arrangements, both key to confronting the fallout from climate change.
While corruption occurs, the cost of connecting a household to a water network increases by 30 per cent, raising the price tag for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation by a staggering $48 billion, the report estimates.
"The report, first of its kind to explore the impact and scope of corruption in different segments of water sector, identifies a range of problems, from petty bribery in water delivery to procurement-related looting of irrigation and hydropower funds; from covering up industrial pollution to manipulation of water management and allocation policies," says a TI statement.
Himalayan News Service Kathmandu
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें