The Bhutanese Leading the way.
An eight year old student of Jigme Losel Primary School was washed away while he was crossing a wooden bridge on a swollen stream.
The boy while going back home from school had taken a short cut to his home but when he crossed the temporary wooden bridge near the Royal Academy of Performing Arts(RAPA),Thimphu he fell into the stream.
The incident was first reported to the Department of Disaster Management at around 4 pm by a staff of the Department.
“The incident was reported very late,” said the Director General of the Department of Disaster Management Namgay Wangchuk.
The Royal Bhutan Police, Dessups and the National Rescue Team immediately went to the site for search and rescue but could not locate the boy.
“We searched for the body in and around the stream but could not find him,” the Director General said. He said the boy must have been washed down the Wangchu River since the stream which flows through the RAPA colony is connected with the Wangchu.
The police and the rescue team looked for the body in Wangchu River till the light permitted but they could not locate the body and so they will continue looking for the body today.
In another incidenct a child was saved by a rescue team in Langjophaka near the crematorium ground.
The child was swimming in the island opposite the crematorium ground but due to non-stop rainfall the stream which he had to cross while going back to his home was swollen. As a result he was trapped between the island and the stream.
The incident was immediately reported to the Disaster Management and the police and he was saved.
The intense rainfall across the country caused road blocks in numerous areas and a massive road block in Shar Ngawang in Wangdue which stranded vehicles plying between Wangdue and Trongsa for about a few hours yesterday. However towards the evening the vehicles were allowed to ply.
The vehicles plying in Zhemgang- Trongsa highway were frequently stranded and a massive block in Reau Tala and Khartegang that occurred in the last few days has caused inconvenience to commuters.
The Supervisor at the site said that there are frequent blocks in these places since the road widening and cutting is taking place.
He said they have an excavator kept in these areas but it was difficult to clear the block as it is massive and the heavy rainfall had made the soil and boulders fall down on the road the moment they clear it.
“Following the continuous landslide caused by heavy rainfall, it was not possible for even the excavator to work.” GREF laborers had to wait for the rain to subside to begin the clearing works.
Meanwhile in Thimphu most residents got up to drink and wash in muddy tap water as the municipal source was flooded with slush water. The city roads were also heavily flooded with many complaining that drains had not been cleared in time by the municipality.
