For more than a decade, more than 25 households of Gidawom under Maedwang Gewog in Thimphu have been breathing polluted air. They allege that the stretch of road used by the four mining companies in the area produces clouds of dust, which affect their crops, irrigation water, and hygiene. However, it won’t be long before they get rid of the problems.
Starting from Gida Bridge till Gida Kipshong, the five-kilometre road is a nightmare to the residents around. Every day, scores of trucks ferry raw materials and final products of the mining companies, leaving a trail of dust.
One of the residents, Dawa Lham, said dust get into their homes and spoil things. Similarly, when it rains, she said the road becomes muddy and risky. “It has been some three months since the blacktopping survey was completed, but nothing much has been done so far.”
Another resident, Karma Dorji, said it has been years since the mining companies agreed to blacktop the road but it is taking ages. “Villagers are suffering because of the dust.”
It’s not just dust that is affecting the community. The sand deposit in water from the mining site is another problem. Yuden, one of the affected households hasn’t cultivated paddy this year due to the contamination of her irrigation water. “The major share of water goes to the mining companies. The little I get comes with sand and it forms sediments in the paddy fields.” She added that due to the water shortage, her apple trees are also perishing by the day.
In May this year, the affected households and the mining companies came to an agreement that the road will be blacktopped soon Months have passed, but residents wait for the agreement to become a reality.
According to the Maedwang Mangmi, Rinzin, this problem has been ongoing for more than a decade. “In a court case between the mining companies and the residents, the court verdict also ordered the companies to build a water tank at the source and blacktop the road. The villagers and the mining companies also had a discussion over these issues and it was agreed that the road would be blacktopped soon.”
However, the blame seems to hit the villagers back.
According to the representative of the mining companies, the blacktopping works have been delayed due to a lack of cooperation from the people. One of the managing directors (MD), said people have been reluctant to provide them additional land which is required for realignment of the road to make the entire stretch eligible for blacktopping.
As per the Guidelines on Design, Construction and Maintenance of Road Infrastructure 2019, a farm road should be at least 3.1 metres to be eligible for blacktopping. With a proper drainage system, the basic requirement is 5.1 metres.
According to the MD, they have already completed the groundwork such as survey and budget allocation for the blacktopping works. But the works could not be executed due to a lack of green signal from the people. As per the companies’ estimation, the blacktopping work will cost them about Nu 26 M which they say has already been allocated.
Going by the recent development in the issue, it might not be too far before the road gets a blacktopping. BBS learnt that the villagers agreed to provide necessary support and cooperation to the companies in a meeting recently.
Once the blacktopping is complete, complaints of dust will become a past, for both the miners and villagers.
Intern Yeshey Dema
Edited by Chayku
