In Monggar, residents of Shajula village at Kengkhar Gewog are disappointed with the slow progress of construction of a seven-stage water pump from Sungkari to the village. The eight-month project was initially supposed to be completed in June last year. However, due to cement factories shutting down amid COVID-19 lockdowns the contract duration was extended till January this year. The project worth a little more than Nu 28.7 M began in October 2021.
The works include the construction of a reservoir, seven pump houses, and the installation of the water pump, water distribution pipeline, and electrical works.
The reservoir is located at more than 200 meters above Shajula village. About 85 per cent of the work is complete excluding electrical and roofing works. Once complete, it has a capacity to store 75,000 litres of water.
Similarly, around 80 per cent of the work to construct seven pump houses is also complete. Works remain to construct drains, roofing and water distribution pipelines in some of the pump houses. The installation of the water pumps and electrical works have yet to start.
One of the pump houses can store up to 50,000 litres of water while the rest have a capacity to store 23,000 litres of water each.
The project will benefit the residents of Shajula, Tongla Goenpa, Pogola, Amdaybu, and Kyidpari villages. They say that it is disheartening to see the project taking too long to complete.
“We hope to benefit from the flagship programme but work didn’t go well. We are frustrated with the work progress as we have to continue to fetch water from other places instead of doing other works. Let alone maintain cleanliness, we don’t have enough water for consumption,” said Chimi Rinzin, a resident.
“The government provided us with pipes. And the works that the residents are required to carry out including installation of pipes and distribution of pipelines have all been completed. But contractors couldn’t complete their works,” said Dorji, Tongla_Zi-Tsibi Tshogpa.
“It is running more than a year since the works began. If the works are completed as per the plan we would have received water by now without having to buy. Now, we are worried if we will ever get water,” said Jampel Dorji, a resident.
Meanwhile, the project engineer clarified that they will make sure to complete the works and resolve the water scarcity issue in the village. He added that a lack of skilled labourers and remote location of the construction site have hindered the work progress.
“If they are unable to complete their works by 20th January, we will impose penalty as per the contract agreement. We will make it mandatory for him to complete the work and hope to provide water to the people,” said Lobzang Tshering, Project Engineer.
Similarly, the private construction company’s site engineer shared the same. He added that all the major works have been completed and they are left with the installation of diesel generator and power transformer. The contractor plans to complete the works in March.
“We are facing difficulty in completing the work on time as the site is located far from the road point. Thus, people have to carry the construction raw materials from road point till the site. Moreover, foundation works are also carried out by the people which took more time. However, we have almost completed the work except for electrical works,” said Sangay Thinley, site engineer of Peljor Lhuendrup Construction.
The gewog officials are also visiting the site to monitor the work progress.
“The district is also monitoring the work progress and quality. Similarly, from the gewog’s side we are monitoring as well,” said Pema Chodup, Kengkhar Gup.
Despite assurance from the contractor, people say it is unlikely for the water pump to be ready by March this year.
Once complete, the water pump project will benefit about 70 households in Tongla_Zi-Tsibi and Kyidpari_Yuldari chiwog of Kengkhar Gewog. It has a total capacity to cater water to more than 120 households.
Karma Wangdi, Monggar
Edited by Phub Gyem
