The residents of Drujeygang town in Dagana are urging relevant authorities to ensure a reliable drinking water supply in the 13th Five-Year Plan. The town has been grappling with a severe drinking water shortage for years, if not decades, impacting the local business community and the residents’ daily hygiene.
Drujeygang’s mini town currently has two drinking water supplies but neither meets the residents’ needs.
One supply is completely ineffective while the other provides a minimal amount of water which is insufficient for over 200 residents.
This shortage has affected both residents, business owners, including restaurant operators and house owners. Despite storing water in barrels, residents still find it inadequate.
“The town has been without reliable drinking water for almost decades. The government officials say that town areas should be kept clean to set an example for rural residents. But without a reliable drinking water supply, we can’t maintain cleanliness. We have to use water sparingly and cannot even allow outsiders to use our toilets due to inadequate water supply,” said Tshering Dorji, a resident of Drujeygang town.
“Restaurateurs in the town are having a difficult time adjusting with the present water supply. The drinking water supply is not adequate for us. We have been waiting to raise the issue because we are losing our tenants due to the drinking water scarcity in the town,” said Phub Dorji, another resident.
A few residents BBS talked to said that a budget was allocated in the 12th Five-Year Plan to connect a reliable drinking water supply to the town.
However, the funds were later redirected to Drujeygang Lhakhang. As a temporary solution, residents have written to the Drujeygang Gewog administration requesting to share water from the Lhakhang’s supply.
“Nu 3 M was allocated to start a drinking water project from Tiskari. But due to budget constraints, the new water supply was drawn from Zhekhochhu. Later the water supply was supplied only towards Drujeygang Lhakhang. If the water supply was shared to the town by constructing a reservoir tank, the problem could have been resolved to a certain extent,” said Sherub Dorji, a resident.
“The new drinking water supply was supplied to Drujeygang Lhakhang, gewog office and a few nearby residents. We have approached the gewog administration expressing the urgent need for drinking water in the town. The gewog administration agreed to look into the matter but failed to share the water,” said Tshering Dorji, a resident.
Residents are now requesting the relevant authorities to initiate a new drinking water supply project for the town in the 13th Five-Year Plan.
“We have informed the gewog administration regarding the issue in written a few months ago. We requested the gewog administration to priortise a drinking water project for the town in the first year of the 13th Five-Year Plan,” said Sherub Dorji, a resident.
Meanwhile, Drujeygang Gewog administration has identified a new drinking water source for the town.
The gup informed BBS over the telephone that they have submitted a drinking water project proposal to the Small Development Project.
According to the gup, if approved, the project will benefit all five chiwogs in the gewog, including the Pangna-Patala chiwog where the town is located.
Pema Tshewang, Dagana
Edited by Sonam Pem
