Villagers of Uma Khatoed in Darkar Gewog in Wangdue Phodrang complain that blasting works at Punatshangchhu Hydropower Project-II site has an adverse impact on their homes and other structures. They say that most of their houses have suffered cracks. They are now seeking compensation.
The people of Uma Khatoed village claim that cracks started appearing on their homes after the blasting at the tunnel site began.
“I never saw a crack developed before. But after the project and blasting at the site my house started developing cracks,” said a resident of Uma Khatoed, Phub Jamtsho.
Another resident, Kuchu of Uma Khatoed said the wooden frames supporting the house have shifted too.
Officials from the Dzongkhag said that it is difficult to ascertain whether the damages were caused by the project activities. Officials said they had carried out an investigation following the complaint. The investigation found the blasting at the sites were within safe limit and did not have any damaging consequences on the structures, according to them.
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The Environment Officer of PHPA II, Sangay Dorji said they do not have proper standard to measure the vibration during the blasting. “We use Indian and the American standards. In that standard it gives us low reading, meaning that the blasting is not intensive.”
He said the Department of Geology and Mines in Thimphu also said the blasting is within the safe limits.
The environment officer said although it is difficult to ascertain whether the damages were caused due to blasting activities, the project is ready to compensate for the damages caused.
He said the project has allocated around Nu.10 MN for the compensation.
