The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Centenary Farmer‘s Market (CFM) in the lower market (popularly known as saabji bazaar) area in Thimphu is one of the most busy and crowded area in the capital city.
It’s a commercial hub where buyers, sellers, and suppliers meet every day of the week except on Tuesdays, and as much as the benefits pile from such a hub, there is also the piling of garbage and waste being produced and dumped in the drains and road sides.
Although the CFM is housed in a market building that is relatively clean, but much leaves to be desired in the surrounding areas which is dirty and unhygienic due to the unchecked and the improper garbage disposal. The back corners of the buildings in the area are littered with non-biodegradable and biodegradable wastes that have been disposed off despite the municipality providing every building with a waste bin.
Such poor civic sense and care makes the town look filthy and it also stinks up the place making it unpleasant for the people.
Despite being a trade and shopping hub, the area has become home for the stray dogs making it look like an unsafe dog colony.
Shopkeepers who keep their goods outside their shops near the footpaths also create problems for people. It is inconvenient to wade through the footpath space already conjusted with carton boxes stacked at odd corners. And maneuvering through the sea of merchandise along their paths is a regular problem.
Besides the whole setting spoils the aesthetic view of the place giving it a crowded and messy look.
Adding to the already unpleasant image of the place are the construction and renovation works in progress in the same vicinity. The building materials are stored alongside parking lots creating a muddy and uncomfortable path for pedestrians while vehicles make it worse by not stopping to let people cross the roads.
Residents of the area said the renovation of the buildings near their apartment has created tremendous noise pollution. They say their babies cannot fall asleep because of the loud noise from machines.
Tshomo is one such housewife living in the area for about three years now.
“The crowd is not a problem as they leave the place when they finish their shopping, but the noise seems to be around the clock,” she said.
Talking of civic sense, people in the area and the occasional visitors seem to have a total disregard for separate bins provided by the city officials in order to segregate waste.
According to the rules of the city, the biodegradable wastes should be disposed off in a green bin and the non-biodegradable in the grey colored bin.
Whatever the rules are, people are dumping their garbage where ever they please.
“I have seen people dumping their wastes in places where they should not be dumping. At the end of the day both bins are overflowing and the dogs drag them around the place,” said Tsheten, a resident in the locality.
When we talked to some people staying in CFM area about the increasing population of the stay dogs in their area, they said that this is mainly due to the disposal of garbage in improper places and also due to more meat stalls being set up in the area.
