Water drawn from Melamchi River in Sindhupalchok district has been discharged into Bagmati River to increase its water level in view of the upcoming Shivaratri festival reports RSS.

According to the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Board, water was diverted from Melamchi through a 26.5-kilometre tunnel to Sundarijal Water Processing Centre, with a flow of 260 liters per second.

RSS reports that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, on March 6, inaugurated the water diversion into the Sundarijal water processing plant.Stakeholders cleaned the river, on the bank of which Pashupatinath Temple is seated, and used the water to wash away sludge and other wastes, ahead of Mahashivaratri, which falls on March 11 this year.

PM Oli recently had announced the plans to clean the river by letting in water from the project. Furthermore, increasing the water level in the river by constructing a dam at Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is yet to be materialised.