Managing sawdust, the powdery participles of wood produced by sawing is emerging to be an issue in Haa.
Although saw millers give sawdust to farmers for use in poultry and agricultural farms, huge chunk of it are stacked elsewhere in open spaces. Some are even dumped into rivers and streams.
The Haa Dzongkhag Administration said they are making sure saw millers are adhering to all the rules and regulations.
“We make site visits and even penalise them. Add to this, we make ensure that they restore places which were damaged by sawdust, said the Haa Dzongdag, Kinzang Dorji.
However, to put an end to the problem, the dzongkhag environment officials are looking for separate dump sites for sawdust.
Realising that the wood dust would become a cause of concern in the dzongkhag, local authorities stopped approving licenses for sawmills, few years ago.
Today, there are 19 sawmill houses in Haa and on an average, each produces 30 to 35 kilograms of sawdust, daily.
