A long-standing drinking water shortage for the villagers of Samrang Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar has finally come to an end with the completion of a new water supply scheme recently. Before the facility was built, 64 households in the gewog faced drinking water shortage for almost a decade.
Fresh water is once again flowing in Chhatra Maya Rai’s old water tap in front of her house. She is happy to receive reliable and clean water after almost 10 years of waiting.
She says until now they have been depending on Botai stream which is small and dried up. The water supply from Botai stream was not enough for them.
But now with the completion of the water supply system from Yoega Brangsa Chhu, Chhatra Maya Rai and fellow villagers are expecting reliable water supply as the source is bigger and near a road.
“The main problem out here was the water problem. We had to stay without water sometimes. Now, with the new water supply, we are happy since it is reliable and clean,” said Chatra Maya Rai.
Likewise, Pirithiman Rai, said, “The water supply from the Botai stream was not enough for us. Most of the time water pipes used to get damaged by elephants, so the water was not sufficient. Now we are expecting reliable water from new source.”
“We had water shortage issues here. Now we hope that the new water supply will solve the water problem,” shared Ran Maya Rai.
Kishore Rai said that the pipeline from Botai stream used to get damaged by elephants but pipelines from the new source are along the SMCL road and they are covered. “So it will be difficult to damage them now. We expect continuous water supply.”
The new water supply scheme includes a water tank at the source, seven kilometers of water distribution network, and a water reservoir with a storage capacity of 49,000 litres.
The Samrang Gewog Administration spent about Nu 4.4 M for the project. The gewog has about 300 residents.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Kipchu
