The erratic water supply in Gyelpoizhing town of Monggar, especially during the monsoon, will soon be history. Works to construct two numbers of water reservoirs, which has a capacity to store over one million litres of water and also the construction of 11 kilometres of water pipeline started today. The groundbreaking ceremony for the De-suung National Service Water Project in the town was held yesterday. It is the second project being executed in Monggar dzongkhag. The first Water Project in the dzongkhag was already completed and handed over to the community of Kalapang last month.
The project worth more than Nu 37 M is expected to complete within seven months from today. 90 De-suups will be engaged in the project which will benefit close to 480 households.
“The water project is going to benefit almost 3,000 people including the public and business communities of Gyelpoizhing town, Kurichu Hydropower Plant, Bhutan Power Corporation, school and college, basic health unit, police and regional offices under Monggar Gewog,” said Ugyen Sonam, the Monggar Dzongda.
During monsoon, as the residents of Gyelpoizhing do not get clean drinking water, fetching water from a nearby town used to be their normal routines. However, the residents may not have to undergo the same trouble once the project is complete.
“In the earlier days, we used to face acute drinking water shortage. However these days we just face problem during the monsoon. And we don’t face much problem during clear weather. During summer, we get muddy water and that is also unreliable. As His Majesty The King has deployed De-suups for the project, we are so happy that we will soon get clean drinking water,” said Dorji Lhaden, a resident of Gyelpoizhing.
“Everybody knows that Gyelpoizhing used to face acute drinking water shortage but the situation improved from last year. When it rains we face more problem with unsafe drinking water. We are hopeful that the drinking water issue will be soon addressed with the completion of the water project,” added Samten Lhamo, also in Gyelpoizhing.
After completion, the project will be handed over to the Dzongkhag for ownership, operation and maintenance.
The water projects are part of the De-suung National Service to build water infrastructure across the country for the benefit of the people. De-suups work in partnership with the government and the Royal Bhutan Army in carrying out the projects.
Sonam Tshering, Monggar
