The road widening works at Samdrup Jongkhar-Trashigang highway has left Narphoong chiwog in Gomdar gewog without drinking water supply.
The road widening works along the stretch has not only affected the commuters but it has also damaged the water sources causing water shortage in the gewog.
Villagers say road widening work has damaged water pipes along the cliffs and caused shortage of drinking water in their village. They have been facing shortage of drinking water for about two years now.
According to DANTAK, they haven’t repaired the water pipes immediately since the road widening work is still going on.
DANTAK officials say they supply water to the village through water tanker trucks.
An officer from DANTAK said that the project will repair the water pipes once the widening work is complete.
However, the water supplied through tanker trucks is not sufficient for all the households of Narphoong village.
Sonam Dorji, a farmer from Narphoong said that DANTAK has been providing water to them but the amount of water they supply is not enough.
He said that it is not sufficient for half the number of households.
Further, without sufficient water, villagers depend on rainwater during the rainy season while some others fetch water from the nearby pond, which is about a kilometer away from the village.
“Without water we are facing many problems. The road widening damaged our entire water source and pipes,” said Chador from Narphoong.
She said that she fetches water from the pond every day and sometimes depends on rainwater.
Additionally, she said that it has been more than two years since the residents of Narphoong village have been struggling with acute shortage of drinking water. “Without water at home, it is impossible to carry out daily chores and maintain cleanliness,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Gomdar gup, Sonam Tshering said, “Despite repeated requests to repair water pipes and tank, DANTAK has turned a deaf ear to our pleas.”
However, the gewog administration has kept a budget to repair water tanks and pipes.
The Gup said that the gewog plans to repair the water sources by next year.
Jigme Wangchen from Narphoong, S/jongkhar
