MELAMCHI: Police have arrested five persons staging a protest against the Melamchi Drinking Water Project.

The Project’s workers and local sub-contractors had shown demonstration against the Project stating their payment was long overdue.

The protesters said that the Italian contractor of the project, CMC, did not pay their promised salary and fled mid-way of the project in 2019 and thus the protesters argue that the Project should pay them instead.

The workers, local vendors and sub-contractors have been waging protests on and off for a long time demanding their due payment leading to a scuffle between them and the police.

Police today held five protesters for forming a group consisting of more than 25 persons in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The arrested were Uttam Kumar Shrestha, Purusottam Shrestha, Buddi Krishna Lamichhane and Rajan Lal Shrestha. Three of them are suppliers while two are laborers, police said.

The disgruntled workers, suppliers and sub-contractors have waged a fresh protest, putting forth a single demand that their dues be cleared.

They claim that CMC owes more than Rs 1.67 billion to 1,000 laborers and dozens of suppliers. RSS