More than a week after a flash flood hit Dechencholing in Thimphu, volunteers from various communities are rallying together to support the affected families. The flood impacted around 90 students, disrupting their daily lives and studies. However, the volunteers have stepped up by donating essential items to help these students get back to their classes.
Geeta Acharya, a student of Mothithang Higher Secondary School, was one of the people who took charge of a donation drive for essential items, promoting the cause on social media to gather support.
Similarly, members of the Youth Volunteers in Action at Druk High School contributed by donating clothes, footwear, utensils, and bedding to help the affected families.
“Since most of the donors are local shopkeepers, the items donated are primarily essential ones. Therefore, I identified the age groups to ensure that the clothes provided were suitable for each age group,” said Geeta Acharya, a student.
The Druk Himalayan Riders Motorcycle Club also stepped in to provide clean drinking water for Sherab Gatshel Primary School and Dechencholing Higher Secondary School and committed to refilling the jars until clean drinking water is restored from the original sources.
“Druk Himalayan Riders donated 120 jars, each holding 20 litres of water to us and promised to continue helping until the water shortages are resolved. However, maintaining this supply would be too expensive in the long term, so the Thromde will soon provide us with water filters,” said Pema Dorji, principal at Sherab Gatshel Primary School.
Meanwhile, according to the Home Ministry’s report, 49 households have been severely impacted. The flood damaged 10 buildings including four under construction, affected 14 huts in the satellite town and displaced 84 households in the RBG campus.
Dechen Choden
Edited by Sonam Pem
