Published on: 27/04/2011
An interim water supply project will hopefully provide relief to residents in south and north Thimphu city who have been going without water for almost four days a week. Authorities are blaming an unprecedented construction boom and the increasing population for the capital city’s persistent water shortage problem, despite an ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) water supply project [1].
Indra, a Jungshina resident said, for the last three days, they had been waiting for water to fill up their tanks, in absence of which residents normally fetched the precious resource from far away sources.
“Even when we have water flowing down our taps, they’re usually timed and rationed,” he said. An Olakha resident Nima Gyem said it was a growing inconvenience to have to store water in empty buckets and pots in preparation for days without water.
“To fetch water from a far away place travelling by taxi is both expensive and difficult, especially when you have school going children,” she said.
The Thimphu City corporation (TCC) interim water supply project, worth 8 million ngultram (US$ 180,000), plans to rehabilitate and restore existing water channels from Ngabironchu, and supply water to some 200 households in the north, and another 200 households in the city’s south, which are not covered by teh ADB project. The community will be asked to contribute labour, while the city corporation will contribute 20 per cent of the labour charge. The TCC expecst that the project will be completed by September 2011.
[1] ADB - Urban Infrastructure Development : Bhutan
Source: South Asian Media Net, 12 Apr 2011
