Monthly Archives: December, 0

A community Lhakhang plays a crucial role in the lives of devotees who follow Buddhism. It offers a place to worship and conduct rituals and religious activities. Residents of Doonglagang Gewog in Tsirang have been waiting for the reconstruction of the gewog Lhakhang for years. And their wait is finally over with the reconstruction of a single-storey Lhakhang expected to be complete toward the end of this year.

Records with the Bhutan Chess Federation show more youth taking interest in chess, however, an inter school chess competition in Thimphu saw minimal participation from the schools recently. Of about 30 schools in Thimphu, only six schools took part in the two-day inter-school invitational team chess championship.

The much-awaited bridge over the Kurichhu at Dorjilung along the Monggar-Lhuentse highway is expected to be constructed by end of this year. The residents of Tsamang Gewog in Monggar have been waiting for the bridge for more than a year. Construction of the bridge is one of the pledges of the Monggar constituency’s Member of Parliament Karma Lhamo during the bye-election last year.

The reconstruction of the iconic Wangdue Phodrang Dzong is close to completion. Built in the 17th century by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, the historic fortress withstood a couple of natural disaster before it was completely destroyed by a major fire accident in June 2012. Since then offices and events of the dzong were relocated to other places. One such event is the annual Tshechu. However, with the dzong slowly rising to its former glory, this will be the last Tshechu away from the dzong.   

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the National Land Commission Secretariat (NLCS) have asked Bumthang District Administration to immediately evict lessees in Chamkhar town who have violated the Land Act 2007. A series of inspections since 2017 have found out that over 66 percent of the lessees have sub-leased their structures among which 6 individuals had also sold their structures. Bumthang District administration recently conducted a meeting with the leaseholders to inform about the latest developments.

For some students of Dekiling Middle Secondary school in Gelephu, getting a formal education meant walking miles along the Gelephu – Sarpang highway in the sun or rain. But not anymore. Their journey to school was made a lot easier and more comfortable with the introduction of a bus service.

Like any other town in the country, waste is a familiar issue in Gelephu Thromde as well. So, to sensitise that waste management is important, thromde officials and DeSuups have carried out a cleaning campaign in the town recently.

The present town of Gasa is just in name. With a handful of temporary houses constructed on state land, the town is a far cry from what a town is. In order to have a proper town, the district started the developmental work in 2020 as approved by the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement. However, extreme climatic conditions and manpower shortages delayed the work progress by several months. As it is, the district expects to get the groundwork complete only by the end of this year.   

Residents of Bajo town and those residing in the town’s periphery in Wangdue Phodrang will have to wait for another two years to access safe drinking water. This is because the district officials didn’t submit the project’s proposal to the government on time. Moreover, the government and the erstwhile Gross National Happiness Commission recommended the district carry out the project in the next Five-Year Plan.

Not everyone is rejoicing at the news of border reopening. In Samdrup Jongkhar, in just over a week since borders reopened, the automobile workshops have lost most of their customers to workshop owners across the border. This has become a cause of concern, especially for workshop employees who fear that they might lose their jobs.