Waste management has become a bone of contention between municipal authorities and the shopkeepers in Doksum town under Tashiyangtse. They are blaming each other for failing to manage the town’s waste. Every nook and corner of the town is covered with waste. The wastes collected are dumped in Kholongchhu River that flows near the town.
Shopkeepers are blaming the municipal office for failing to collect waste. The problem started about two years ago, after a tractor, which collects the town’s waste, broke down.
“People started dumping the waste in the river,” said one of the shopkeepers, Norgay. Thromdey Thuemi, Ugyen Dorji, said the municipal did not collect waste even once from January this year. He said the municipal collects Nu.10 from the shopkeepers as waste collection fees. “But they do not send the tractor saying it is not working.”
According to the Officiating Municipal Engineer, Dechen Dorji, they could not repair the tractor immediately given the lack of spare parts. However, he said, they do send another tractor to Doksum town to collect wastes once a week. He also said they have a waste disposal site in Khitshang. “The shopkeepers instead of taking initiative to dispose it properly in the identified site have dumped the wastes everywhere.”
The waste disposal site located less than a kilometer away from the town is covered with bushes.
The municipal office says they will initiate waste collection once the town is relocated.
