Incessant rainfall in the past few days has led to water levels along the Punatsangchhu basin rising to dangerous levels. In Wangdue Phodrang’s Thangu Chiwog, the Punatsangchhu flooded about five houses early this morning. According to Thangu residents, almost all of the residential area is submerged in water. However, despite minor damages to properties, no casualties have been reported so far.
Water started flooding the ground floor of a few houses in the early hours today. However, by late morning, the water level had subsided in the area.
Gyeltshen, who had his house flooded by the Punatsangchhu said that rice grains stored on the ground floor have been damaged by water.
“We cannot be certain about what happened to my house since water has entered the ground floor of my house for the first time today. The base of my house is all made up of mud and stones. Therefore, we cannot exactly say what kind of damage might have been caused to my house,” said Gyeltshen, a resident.
“Water has entered about five acres of paddy field. We cannot exactly say right now if this will be a problem for our paddy. If the fields remain waterlogged longer, it will affect the yield. Likewise, water has entered the houses of four to five people and damaged their belongings,” said Chhimi Rinzin, Thangu Chiwog Tshogpa.
Thangu residents say such incidents could have been avoided if their decade-long requests to construct river protection wall were not ignored.
“We have requested the district administration to construct river protection wall since 2008. Then, they told us that the wall would be constructed by the Punatsangchhu Hydroelectric Project Authority. It is now 2023 and nobody is constructing the river protection walls,” said Chhimi Rinzin, Thangu Chiwog Tshogpa.
“We had the same problem sometime in 2009. However, we were helped by the government with paddy and other compensation for the damages. So, we are expecting the same from the government this time as we do not have any other places to request our problem,” said Gyeltshen.
“The public has proposed river protection walls along the Punatsangchhu in Thangu Chiwog. Whenever they proposed, the Gewog administration raised the issue in Dzongkhag Tshogdu, and we have been discussing about it in the DT since 2011. But every time, we are told that the wall will be constructed as per the requirement of the Punatsangchhu-I dam. Nothing happened after waiting for years and people are facing the same issue,” said Chado, Thedtsho Gup.
The Gewog office says it is not in their capacity to construct the wall and is requesting the concerned authorities to expedite the construction of river protection wall at Thangu.
Similarly, the swollen Punatsangchhu has submerged one brick factory and its staff quarters below the Rinchengang village today.
The owner of the brick factory has yet to verify the condition of the machines in the factory.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in a telephone interview said the wall construction plan has nothing to do with Punatsangchhu Hydroelectric Projects.
The minister said that due to some technical issues in the area, the river protection wall might take about three years to start.
The government estimates some Nu 500 M for the project, which the minister said is a huge expenditure.
There are 25 households with around three 300 people living in Thangu Chiwog.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Sherub Dorji
