Thimphu thromde division heads and tshogde theumis could work a little harder to achieve the thromde’s mandate, thrompon Kinlay Dorjee said.

He said the officers are not being responsible during the thromde’s seventh council meeting on May 12.

The thrompom said that with support from Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, there has been much development in the city in terms of water and sewer facilities, but the thromde officials are failing in their duties.

“We are still not able to connect all the households’ water and sewer pipelines to the water reservoir tank and sewer ducts in the city,” he said.

The thrompon said it has been more than two years since the water reservoir tanks of Olakha and Lungtenphu were completed, but most of the residents are yet to connect the private line to the municipal’s tank.

“Recently, some residents from Chang gewog came to me and said that they want to continue using the community water sources rather than the municipal’s.”

He said that it does not make sense saying that they do not want the water from the municipal’s reservoir tank after the government spent millions to bring the water at their doorstep.

The thromde was supposed to divert the community water sources in the area to the treatment plant from this month.

The thrompon said that thromde failed for not ensuring that all private lines are connected to the reservoir tank.

The households will be given some time to connect their private line to the reservoir tanks.

Many residents in Babesa, Simtokha, Langjophakha and Dechencholing are yet to connect their water and sewer lines to the reservoir tank and the sewer systems.

“The government is spending millions to provide these facilities to the people and if the thromde is not able to provide these services to them, then we are failing our part,” Kinlay Dorjee said.

He said that if they don’t do it now, it wont be easy later.

He also said there is a vast difference in doing the work now and doing it later. “If we take long, then most of the pipes will be blocked.”

The thrompon urged the officials concerned and the residents to have their private water and sewer pipes connected to the treatment plants and the sewer systems.

“Our engineers, management and tshogde thuemis are failing our duties,” the thrompon said.

Thrompon Kinlay Dorjee also said that the sewer pipes in Changangkha and Motithang areas had been laid but not a single resident is getting ready to connect their pipelines to the sewer system underneath the road.

“I have told the engineers to inform the residents to connect their pipes to the sewer lines. Otherwise, we will have to again dig the road after blacktopping it,” Kinlay Dorjee said. “I have been telling them time and again and stressing on resource optimisation but no one seems to be listening.”

Thrompon personally met with the house owners in Changangkha and Motithang, and urged them to connect their sewer pipes to the sewer duct.  “The house owners called me and said that they haven’t received a call from the engineer. For how long are we going to keep the road bumpy and cause inconvenience to the residents?”

He said that it is also important to inform the people that if their sewer lines are not connected to the duct before the thromde resurfaces the roads, the blacktopped road will have to be dug again, which is a waste of resources.

“Our engineers and site workers should push the contractors and focus on completing the work on time without compromising quality,” Kinlay Dorjee said. “The tshogde thuemis and community members should also support the work.”

Taba-Dechencholing thuemi, Ugyen, said that all private water lines are not connected to the reservoir tanks because of lack of budget.

Ugyen said that stopping the water supply from community water sources immediately would affect the residents.

He said that no matter how big the reservoir tanks are, there hardly is any water in the treatment plant. “It is important to investigate the leakages from the reservoir tanks and also why the water is not available at some connecting points even after the line is connected to the tank.”

Ugyen said that shifting the water pipe line from community sources to the thromde’s reservoir tanks is not a problem, so long as the thromde provides continuous water supply to the residents.

The thromopn said that it is the responsibility of the thromde officials and the thuemis to see which household’s water and sewer lines are not connected to the thromde’s tank and sewer system. “We have to see why we are failing and then try to correct it.”

He added that if all households are connected to the thromde’s reservoir tanks then, the personnel responsible to monitor the water supply to the households has to take the extra responsibility.

The thrompon said that if the treatment plant is empty most of the time, the residents should complain to the thromde’s official concerned until the tank is full. “The official will not have a choice than to look into the matter if he receives complains.”

“It is the responsibility of the thromde officials, the thromde thuemis and community members to educate residents on using the water from reservoir tanks,” the thrompon said. “If the thromde officials are failing in their duties, then we have to take action.”

Dechen Tshomo