Residents of two chiwogs under Karna Gewog in Dagana will have sufficient drinking water within the next three months. The Desuung National Service launched the seventh pilot project on addressing water shortage issues in the gewog yesterday. It is expected to address the issue of inadequate drinking water supply for over 150 households of Poongzhi and Dalithang-Gangyab-Khagochen chiwogs of Karna Gewog.
The office of the De-suung launched the first De-suung National Service Water Pilot Project in Guma Gewog under Punakha in November last year.
The project will draw water supply from Lunachhu, which is around 11 kilometres from the nearest village. Under the project, two intake well and three water reservoirs will be constructed at the water source.
83 De-suups with support from engineers and experts from the Works and Human Settlement ministry and personnel from the Armed Forces will carry out the project worth around Nu 6 M.
The three chiwogs in Karna Gewog are connected with a safe drinking water supply for around two decades. But drying up of water sources and increasing settlements over the years caused drinking water shortage in the chiwogs.
“People start new settlements after they get inheritances from their parents. And as settlements keep on increasing over the years, the existing drinking water supply is inadequate for us. We are grateful to His Majesty The King for starting a drinking water supply project for us,” said Krishna Bdr. Subba, Poongzhi Chiwog’s Tshogpa.
“Since my house is located in the lower area, I don’t get enough water at the moment. Water shortage is a serious problem here. The upcoming water supply project would benefit us immensely,” added Purna Bdr. Mishra, Dalithang-Gangyab-Khagochen Chiwog Tshogpa.
As per the Karna Gewog officials, besides providing sufficient water supply for the residents of the two chiwogs the project will also ensure enough water supply in the school and Basic Health Unit.
“We have more households in the two chiwogs but the previous water sources started drying up. The gewog administration had to settle several disputes among people caused by the drinking water shortage. We visited their house and asked them to maintain water taps properly to avoid leakages and asked them to share water equally among every resident,” added Lhawang Dorji, the Karna Gup.
“The gewog has allocated maintenance budgets yearly and carried out renovation works but still water supply was insufficient for the two chiwogs. Moreover, we have school and Basic Health Unit which again require a continuous water supply,” added Sangay, the Karna Gewog’s Mangmi.
During the launch of the project, the Dagana District Administration assured support for the smooth completion of the project. Dagana Dzongda Duba said, the district would plan to deploy local De-suups during weekends to complete the project on time.
“The advantage of having De-suung National Service is that the works will be completed faster since our engineers will be always at the site. For instance, if we tender out this Nu 5 M worth of works to a contractor, it will take a minimum of nine to one year to complete the work. But the current project executed by the De-suung National Service is expected to be complete within the next three months.”
According to the De-suung office, three more such projects will be launched in Dechhenling in Pema Gatshel, Tareythang in Sarpang and Samtengang Central School in Wangdue Phodrang within this month.
Pema Tshewang, Dagana
