With hundreds of people dumping their wastes without segregating at the waste drop-off centre located below Kelki School in Thimphu, the site has become a hornet’s nest for a family who depends on the waste.
According to the family of six, despite their repeated pleas, people still continue to dump their wastes without segregating.
Thimphu Thromde has been looking after the drop-off centre for over a year now. There are labelled bins for people to dump their segregated wastes.
Dorji Khandu, a driver with the Thromde takes care of the site. He and his family live there and make some cash by selling recyclable waste. But they have been grappling with the problem of people dumping their unsegregated waste.
” They dump their wastes wherever they please. They drop kitchen wastes in the dry bins and dry waste in Kitchen bins. We have labelled all the bins with bold white letters so that they segregate their waste and dump it. When people like us can clearly see the labelling all over, I don’t understand why most educated people in Thimphu don’t. It makes our work harder,” he said.
Dorji Khandu also added the work has become unsafe. “People dump sanitary pads and broken glasses in books and paper bins that injure us sometimes. If people could dump their wastes in designated bins, It would be very convenient for them as well as for us”.
To ease his daily chores, his family also helps him with segregation, cleaning, loading and packing of recyclable scraps. They collect about three truckloads of scraps every month and sell it in Phuentshogling.
Tshering Dendup
