Studies have shown that an average person needs three litres of water for drinking purposes and up to 400 litres of water to run a household in a day. But this is a far-fetched dream for some residents of Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde. The town’s residents have been grappling with water shortage since 2011. The residents claim that nothing has improved in the last decade.
It is an everyday task for Leki Seldon, a resident of Samdrup Jongkhar Toed, to collect drinking water from a stream near her house. It is about five minutes from her house.
“I settled here two years ago and never received water. I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and spend an hour fetching water from the stream. It is difficult with children. Thromde says pipelines in my building are old and need replacement,” said Leki.
Similar is the story in Samdrup Jongkhar Maed. Sonam who runs a hotel says with the current water supply, it takes up to 30 minutes to fill a 15-litre bucket.
“The water shortage is a serious issue here. We have been facing the problem for a very long time now. The thromde releases water three times a day but that is not enough to fill up the empty tanks which makes it difficult to manage the hotel rooms. Thromde provides water tankers but that can last only two days.”
The Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde supplies water to Samdrup Jongkhar Maed from a bore well. And for Samdrup Jongkhar Toed and Bar, the water is supplied from a water treatment plant located three kilometres from the town.
In an attempt to address the issue on their own, some residents of Samdrup Jongkhar Toed have installed a water pump at the nearby stream spending about Nu 7,000.
According to Thromde Administration, they supply about 400 tanks of water in a day. Each tank has a capacity of 5,000 litres.
Thromde Administration says some residents don’t receive enough water as respective buildings do not have a proper water storage tank.
“We had formed a committee and now, for a week, we will visit every building to look into the issue and see what support thromde can provide. After inspecting all the houses, then only we will be able to know the real problem and can provide the necessary support. One of the main problems is that many buildings do not have reservoirs and depend on direct water supply,” said Samdrup Jongkhar Thrompon Thinley Namgay.
Thromde administration also says distribution pipelines are old because of which water is lost due to pipe leakages.
Thromde officials say they are unable to identify most of the leakages adding some which are beyond repair.
The Thromde Administration is also exploring the Martang River as an alternative water source to address the issue.
“We are identifying a new water source with support from Jigme Namgyal Engineering College and currently doing a feasibility study on it,” added the Thrompon.
Meanwhile, construction of a new water distribution channel is underway which will replace all the old water pipes. The works are expected to be completed by the end of next year. Thrompon says about 70 per cent of the works have been completed so far.
Besides, thromde is urging residents to construct water storage tanks and replace the old pipes once the construction of the water distribution channel completes.
Kinley Wangchuk, SamdrupJongkhar
Edited by Phub Gyem
