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Dreaming of pipes: Kathmandu’s long-delayed Melamchi Water Supply Project

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  • Matthäus Rest

Abstract

For a generation, people in Kathmandu have been waiting for a large drinking water diversion project to relieve them of a severe water shortage. Recounting the history of the Melamchi Water Supply Project through interviews, project documentation, and media reports, this article argues that an analysis of unfinished infrastructure has to take into account the recalcitrance of more-than-human forms, in particular matter like water and rock, as well as institutions like government ministries and international donor agencies. In the case of Melamchi, the lack of control over both matter and such institutional actors delayed the completion of the project – as is the case with a number of large-scale hydropower projects in the country. Despite this obvious inability to complete infrastructures, elites have built the promise of a prosperous future for Nepal on its water resources and the export of electricity. By conceptualizing Melamchi as an infrastructural meshwork in Ingold’s understanding and Nepal as an unfinished hydraulic state, I aim to contribute to the growing literature complicating Wittfogel’s idea of the hydrosocial.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthäus Rest, 2019. "Dreaming of pipes: Kathmandu’s long-delayed Melamchi Water Supply Project," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(7), pages 1198-1216, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:37:y:2019:i:7:p:1198-1216
    DOI: 10.1177/2399654418794015
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    1. Austin Lord, 2016. "Citizens of a hydropower nation: Territory and agency at the frontiers of hydropower development in Nepal," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 145-160, January.
    2. Gillespie, Nicole & Dietz, Graham & Lockey, Steve, 2014. "Organizational Reintegration and Trust Repair after an Integrity Violation: A Case Study," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 371-410, July.
    3. Dale Whittington & Donald T. Lauria & Vimalanand Prabhu & Joe Cook, 2004. "An economic reappraisal of the Melamchi water supply project - Kathmandu, Nepal," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 3(2), pages 157-178, September.
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