The number of residents in Monggar is increasing, and so is the amount of waste produced. Waste management is becoming a challenge. The district’s landfill site at Koenbar village in Monggar Gewog lacks proper monitoring and has now become a scavenging place for cattle and dogs. This has caused concerns for people living in the nearby villages.
This lorry collects waste from Monggar town, Lingmithang, the Monggar Regional Referral hospital, schools, and nearby areas for five days a week.
Some 700 households produce around 21 metric tons of waste a month.
The waste is then taken to a landfill in Koenbar village in Monggar Gewog, which is around nine kilometres from Monggar town.
However, the dump yard is overflowing with plastics, metal and all types of garbage. Residents say that the landfill is left unmonitored and unmanaged, which has led cattle and dogs from nearby villages to feed on.
“Before the construction of the landfill, people wrote to the district but they didn’t listen. The land belongs to the government. Now, we are facing problems. Our cattle and dogs go there to feed. A few of neighbour’s cattle died and they found plastic in their stomach,” said Nima Zangmo, a resident.
“They dump all waste, even the leftover food from hotels. It smells and our cattle go there to feed. They eat whatever they get. We found that the plastic had become like a ball in their stomach. I lost four cattle so far,” said Dechen Norbu, another resident.
“We face a problem with the landfill. It falls under my chiwog’s jurisdiction. The landfill is not managed properly, and we have been raising concerns to the gewog and other offices. The landfill does not look nice near Monggar town,” said Sonam Dorji, Koenbar- Tagchhu Tshogpa.
The district municipal engineer said the office plans to extend the landfill in the 13th Five-Year Plan. They also have plans to segregate and manage the waste properly under the same plan.
The landfill has an entrance gate which the office says is often damaged by the public. Now, they plan to install cattle grids.
The landfill was constructed in the 2017-2018 financial year with the amount of Nu 14.5 M.
Sonam Darjay, Monggar
Edited by Sangay Chezom
