KATHMANDU: The Melamchi Water Supply Board has suspended the water supply from the Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk to the Kathmandu Valley from Monday.    
The Board’s Executive Director Ratna Lamichhane said the decision was taken after the flood in the river turned the water murky, leading to the closure of the water supply to the valley. The supply will be restored once the rain halts.    
The board had earlier planned to halt the supply from June 13 but the schedule was postponed as no significant rains occurred.
The government halts water supply from Melamchi during the monsoon bearing in mind its possible consequences on its headworks and other structures.    
According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, this year monsoon entered the country on June 10, three days earlier than the tentative date and generally exits on October 2.    
The project management consultants and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were advising the board to halt the water supply to save the project's structures from the monsoon-related hazards. "We decided to close it after the river water turned muddy," said Lamichhane. -- RSS