Most of the districts in the country have been facing challenges with water sources drying up. In Chhukha, of the 470 water sources, 11 have dried up and 89 are drying. According to the Tarayana Foundation, Phuentshogling is one of the places where the water sources are drying up due to natural disasters and severe water contamination. Tarayana is intervening to restore water sources with spring shed management interventions.
Observing World Water Week, the Tarayana Foundation met with the relevant stakeholders in Phuentshogling discussing the issues and way forward to protect and revive spring waters.
They will be surveying the areas in need of spring shed intervention and implement them accordingly.
According to the officials, the impact of climate change, coupled with developmental activities and environmental degradation has led to significant drying up of spring water.
Tashi Tshering Doya, field officer of Tarayana Foundation said “we went to villages to survey and see the water sources. We found out that the water sources are getting damaged due to natural disasters such as landslides. Also, people nowadays use chemicals to clear bushes. We are particularly focusing on Phuentshogling because there is a risk of losing the water sources here.”
Tarayana is also in the process of initiating Payment of Environmental Services, a mechanism to incentivize the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources by providing financial rewards to those who engage in practices that benefit the environment.
According to Tarayana, their efforts align with the spirit of World Water Week, ‘Bridging Borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future’, highlighting the need for collective action and cross border collaboration to protect and manage water.
It has been over two years since Tarayana initiated such projects to revive water sources.
They carried out the spring shed management in several districts.
Kinley Dem, Chhukha
Edited by Tshering Zam
