The clogged up drains with overflowing water is still a serious issue in the Centenary Farmers Market (CFM) parking today leaving many people concerned.
Come monsoon and the slightest downpour is enough to expose the ineffective drainage system. Overflowing drain water, blocked drains and leaked sewage system on the roads are a common sight in the summer.
“This problem has been here for almost five to six years now. The parking gets filled with water from the clogged drain. Vehicles and pedestrians are facing a hard time passing by because of the overflown water and the smell. Though Thromde officials come for cleaning the area, I have never seen them clearing the drains. Often we have to come and clean with sticks,” said Phub Dem, a Shopkeeper in the vegetable market.
“The drainage here gets contaminated with mud, pet bottles, baby diapers and plastics and we have to clean it ourselves. We once approached Thromde, but they said that the area belongs to CFM and when approached CFM, they responded saying it is out of their area and Thromde have to look after it,” added Nobin Rai, a Meat Shop owner.
According to the Thrompon, the overflowing of drains are mainly caused by the uneven cloudburst in the city this year, dumping of the leftover sand and pebbles carelessly at the construction sites and tunneling of water pipes through drains.
“It is important to build enough drains in the city and we need to have a huge budget for that. We have developed a master plan to solve the drainage problems and we are planning to construct new drains where there is a need and widen the old ones which need to be fixed according to the master plan,” said Kinlay Dorjee, the Thimphu Thrompon.
Though the Thromde said that they are working according to the master plan developed to solve drainage problems in Thimphu, people are yet to see actions taken to solve the problem.
