Sherab Lhamo and Sangay Lhamo
Starting this month, the residents in lower Taba have been facing an acute shortage of water.
Tshering Lhamo, the land owner’s niece who oversees the building said the tenants had been complaining about the shortage. She says that Thimphu Thromde’s water supply twice a day doesn’t even fill the tanks.
“Due to the acute water shortage, we had to call a water tanker to fill up the tanks which cost Nu 6,000 but were inadequate.”
Another resident said due to the acute water shortage, they have resorted to buying boxes of mineral water for their daily use.
Taba representative, Ugyen, said that the shortage was caused due to the ongoing city water line connections in upper Taba. “The supply has decreased compared with the previous years due to infrastructure development.”
Tamang, another resident in lower Taba, said the water shortage has persisted for three weeks, and it all started after the water supply pipe from Dodeyna was damaged. She said since the building she is living in is using city water, she had to resort to using water from her shop for daily use, which was connected to the community source.
Junior Engineer with Thimphu Thromde’s Water Section, Jiwan Sherpa said: “Since last year, the residents in upper Taba have been connected to the community source, but after we started supplying city water to upper Taba, problems started in lower Taba.
In the future, the thromde plans to merge the community to the city water line in the coming weeks. It is expected to reduce water shortage and remove all the private pipelines running along the drains and roadsides, which were leaking and damaging public property.
In the coming years, the residents in Taba can expect treated water supplied at home, as thromde is yet to complete the additional five minimal liquid discharge and water treatment plant in Taba.
From next month, the thromde will start maintenance of private inlets and tanks and cleaning the source.
