The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Thimphu Thrompon Kinlay Dorjee said that one of the main reasons why there is overflowing of drains is because of the waste being dumped in the drains.
“People without even getting permission or asking anyone fit their pipe along the drain and the waste gets stuck around the pipe and the drain gets blocked and water comes up as a result in one area,” the Thrompon said.
He said, “We have people working and they clear all this block the next day once there is flooding. There is a shortage of workers and we want to recruit but no one is coming forward. People get discouraged to work with less salary and they do not prefer to work in such an area. We cannot increase the salary as we have to abide by the rule, so it is hard to get workers.”
He said that Thromde is creating dropping bin centers in different parts of the city where it will be convenient for the people to dump their waste.
“Wastes are not meant to be dumped in the drains. People just drop their waste here and there and then Thromde has to collect all the waste. We have around 100 workers and Thimphu has 120,000 population so, these 100 people cannot collect all the waste. So individuals have to take care of their waste. Dump in the garbage truck and if not go to the dropping bin centers and drop your waste,” he said, adding that Thromde already has a dropping bin center near Kelki School and now Thromde is making dropping centers in Babese, Changzamtog, Olakha and other parts of the city.
He added, “Segregate your waste and dump the wet and dry waste separately, so that the things which can be reused can be recycled.”
He said that thromde is encouraging people to adopt the method of creating organic manure from kitchen waste.
“We are buying organic manure at Nu 50 for per kilogram. We are giving this incentive so that people will get encouraged and come forward. We are using this manure in the gardens and plantation and even if we don’t use we can always donate it to the schools and to the farmers in the villages. We don’t mind paying 50 per kilo if anyone creates organic manure,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Thrompon said that Thromde is planning to upgrade the system by installing new water distribution network in the core area of Thimphu.
“The distribution network in the core area has become old. It was installed in 1980’s and 90’s. And during that year there were very few houses around the area and the pipes installed were small. There is too much leakage of water in the core area because of the pipes being small and rusted. There is plenty of water in the source but somehow the water loss happens on the way,” the Thrompon said, adding that the pipes are underground and it is hard for thromde to trace where the water is being lost.
He said that incase water leakage persists in the middle of the road the pipelines break and open up and then the thromde fixes the water line.
He said that the budget for this project has been proposed to the government and it is being aligned under the water flagship program.
“We have this project under water flagship program with the government. We have already installed new distribution network in Taba and Simtokha, so we don’t have to worry about the leakage in those area. If the budget gets approved by next financial year we are planning to start the project,” he said.
