People of Gelegphu Gewog in Sarpang were promised continuous drinking water supply with the start of Balukhola mega drinking water project in 2016. The work completed in May last year but local residents are still waiting for drinking water from the new project.
“We were told that we would receive sufficient drinking water from Balukhola water source but till date, we depend on an old water source. We have no idea when the water from Balukhola source will reach here,” Norbu, a resident, said.
“We did not receive water from Balukhola. Sometimes there is no water for five days. We are not able to grow any vegetables,” Dhan Maya, another resident, said.
Local officials led by the Gup walked for three hours from the nearest road point to the Balukhola drinking water source, recently.
“Since there were no perennial water sources in our Gewog, we had to look for a water source in Samtenling Gewog,” the Gelegphu Gup Ugyen Wangchuk said.
But now, the gup added it would be difficult to visit the water source in summer for maintenance because of the long distance. Also, due to the increasing water level of Balukhola, the water source would remain inaccessible.
“We could have access to this drinking water supply only in winter months,” Gup said.
The mega drinking water project was constructed at a cost of Nu 37 M.
