The residents of Trashigang town are grappling with water shortage following the flash flood, which struck the town on July 22.
The flood has completely washed away water pipelines connected with the two water sources at Rangshikhar and Mithidrang.
“Without water, it is very difficult to maintain hygiene and the hoteliers are the worst hit,” Thinley Namgay, the Thromde Thuemi, said.
Although the water source at Phobla was not affected by the flood, it is not sufficient for the residents in and around the town.
At present, a private construction company is supplying water to the residents from their tanker. The residents also fetch water from nearby streams.
The water shortage has affected the dzongkhag hospital as well.
The health officials said they are carrying out all necessary clinical works with water fetched from elsewhere. If the shortage continues, the hospital is worried it might have to attend to emergency cases only.
“We are afraid the water shortage would aggravate patients’ condition and also affect the health of the attendants. For drinking purpose, we fetch water in pet bottles from a nearby stream,”Tashi Wangdi, a patient attendant, said.
Efforts to restore water supply began a day after the flood struck.
“More than a hundred people, including civil servants, went to the water source with new pipes. We made an attempt to restore the water supply but ran out of pipes,” Wangchuk Dorji, the Trashigang Dzongrab, said.
“The water pipes are not available in the town. We had to place an order from Phuentshogling and Samdrup Jongkhar, which took time.”
The dzongkhag says the water pipes have arrived and they are now working to restore the supply from the source at Rangshikar.
