An everyday routine in Gomtu

During weekends washing and bathing is usually done by the riverside.

This is everyday life for residents of the industrial town of Gomtu in Samtse, which has been facing an acute water shortage for the past year.

Gomtu’s water supplier, Penden Cement Authority Limited (PCAL), started the rationing of water from 6 to 8 am and 5:30 to 7:30 pm last year when the town and the neighbouring villages suffered an acute shortage because of scanty rainfall.

However, residents said that they barely received an hour’s supply of water at both times. Some said that because of the low volume of water at the source, water from the tap could hardly make it to elevated water tanks.

The Gomtu Junior Higher Secondary School’s water tank has remained almost empty for the past one month, according to a teacher. The little that is collected when the water is supplied runs out long before lunch break and children come knocking on doors asking for water.

The last winter was a dry season and the last two months of spring has seen not many showers, a resident said.

Both industries as well as the people suffer from lack of water.

Some houses in villages in Gomtu have been cut off from direct water supply and have instead been provided with water taps at various points.

But most of these taps were usually dry.

The Pugli gup, Lok Mani Gurung, said the water problem became serious from last year and could be attributed to the increasing population and industries in Gomtu.

Gomtu currently has a population of about 5,000 people including about 600 day workers from across the Bhutan-India border.

According to the gup, Gomtu population started rising in the early 90s when other industries started coming in.

Although shortage had become more acute in recent years, the problem has existed for more than a decade, according to the gup, when the 1993 flood buried the water source and destroyed pipelines.

The source was dug up in 1999 and a big underground reservoir and smaller tanks were built. At present the reservoir and the tanks located at Sukti Khola, about three kilometers from Gomtu, had a capacity of about 3.3 million litres of water to cater to industries and its employees.

Penden Cement, the biggest factory in Gomtu, had an average requirement of 2 million litres a day but receives only 1.7 million a day.

Gomtu’s overall requirement was estimated at about 4 million litres of water a day. However the water in the reservoir dropped to about a million litres during winter.

The villages which do not receive water supply from the reservoir have identified a source, about three kilometers from Gomtu. “We are hoping that the water problem for the villages will be addressed by next month,” he said. “It would benefit about 68 households with a population of about 2,000 people.”

The PCAL has also identified a source about seven kilometers from Gomtu. According to civil engineer, H B Gurung, an inspection had been done by the works and human settlement ministry officials. “No final decision has been made regarding the source and mobilisation of fund,” he said.

If these new water sources materialise it could go a long way in solving Gomtu’s water crisis.