Public works

March 15, 2012Posted inPeople, Towns11 Comments
Thimphu's main roads are fairly good. They are not necessarily beautiful, but, in spite of limited resources, they are, by and large, smooth, wide and well-managed. The smaller roads, however, tell a different story. Many of them are narrow, riddled with pot holes, and have not seen any form of maintenance for years. Naturally, many local residents are frustrated. One such resident is Aum Thinley Lham. She lives in Taba and, for the longest time, has complained bitterly about the state of her road. But instead of continuing to grumble, she has decided to take matters into her own…

An eyesore

August 11, 2011Posted inTowns23 Comments
I'm in Trongsa. Will visit the Dzong, and meet with sector heads and members of the new local government, before heading to Bumthang. As we approached Wangdiphograng yesterday, I could see the new Bajo town on the other side of the Punatshangchhu. And for the hundredth time, I looked across the river and muttered: UGLY. Neighboring Punakha's town in Khuruthang is widely regarded as a mistake - an ungainly concrete jungle devoid of any Bhutanese charm or character. But the town, which was built more than a decade ago, gave us one very important lesson: how not to build…

Great expectations

January 20, 2011Posted inTowns
Tomorrow, registered voters in Thimphu, Gelephu, Samdrupjongkhar and Phuentsholing will elect their respective thromde tshogdes or city councils. As we discussed in my last post, the Thimphu city council – the new mayor in particular – will have to sort out the capital city’s water problems. But the mayor and his council will also have to attend to many other competing priorities. Sewerage, solid waste, public transport, roads, traffic, housing, schools, fire, parks and income generation are some of the issues that should demand the city council’s immediate attention. The thrompons of Gelephu, Samdrupjongkhar and Phuentsholing will find that…

Water pipes

January 20, 2011Posted inTowns1 Comment
Thank you for taking part in “Big picture – 10”. Your responses were varied, and many of them were deliberately funny. Answers ranged from electrical, telephone and TV cables; to branches, roots and stems; to serpents, TMT bars and organizational charts! But most of you knew the answer – yes, the picture showed water pipes, and yes such pipes, carrying water to individual houses, can be seen all over Thimphu. “namgay”, “Tshewang” and “dodo” guessed that the picture of the water pipes was taken in Hejo, Langjuphakha and Taba respectively. The picture was actually taken above the “RICB Colony”.…

Our garbage

March 13, 2010Posted inTowns

Residents in the capital will have welcomed the government’s announcement that “A massive clean-up campaign of the town and the river bank will begin shortly involving Thimphu’s residents” in preparation for the SAARC summit next month.
Thimphu will look presentable by this time next month. And our visitors will be duly impressed. But we, residents, must ask ourselves if our city really is as clean as it might look. And, if not, what we, residents, should do about it.
I took the following pictures a few days ago while walking to town from Taba.

Taba Rongchu

Demand for equity

December 20, 2009Posted inGovernment, Towns, Villages
Consider this: in rural Bhutan, our people are undernourished, stunting and wasting. Now consider this: in urban Bhutan, our people are overweight and obese. Time to get serious about the equity in the DPT’s Equity and Justice.

Talk about towns

November 25, 2009Posted inLegislature, Local Government, Towns
Yesterday, the government proposed a motion in the National Assembly to endorse a list of thromdes (urban settlements). Thromdes, along with gewogs and dzongkhags, form our local governments. But the Local Government Bill, which describes different types of thromdes, has not yet fully completed its passage in Parliament as required by Article 13 of the constitution. The bill was endorsed during a special joint sitting of the Parliament two months ago, and was submitted to His Majesty the King for His Assent. Till Royal Assent is granted, the LG Bill will remain just that – a bill. And that…

Haa fire

November 18, 2009Posted inTowns
Another disaster has struck, this time in Haa. Earlier today, a fire raged through the upper market in Haa. Four houses were totally destroyed before the fire was bought under control. Residents suspect that the fire was caused by electrical problems. By mid-afternoon, His Majesty the King was already in Haa. Photo credit: BBS

Taxing cars

September 18, 2009Posted inGovernment, Towns29 Comments
So our government is thinking about increasing the taxes, duties and other fees levied on vehicles. I suppose that that, in some ways, is inevitable. The number of vehicles plying on our city roads has increased drastically. And it’s already difficult to find proper parking spaces. So, unless something serious is done about it, we would have to deal with many traffic problems, including regular traffic jams. But I wonder if our government has thought about the most obvious way to control traffic congestion: scrap the import quota system. Import quotas, which are given only to public servants, are…

Lost and (not) found

September 16, 2009Posted inTowns, Villages
“Whoa…sho, sho, sho… Jamu-ya, sho, sho, sho! Whoa…sho, sho, sho…Tsheri-ya, sho, sho, sho,” Tshitem Dorji calls out shaking a feedbag of maize kernels. Jamu, an obedient mare, and Tsheri, a black mule, quickly respond to my cousin’s gentle entreaties. They emerge from the thick rhododendron forests to enjoy their morning meal before being saddled for the day. It’s a clear, crisp spring morning in the mountains. And Tshochuyala, where we have camped, is beautiful. The rhododendron – several varieties of them – are in full bloom. And much of the meadows are literally carpeted with purple primulas. Giant magnolias…

Blooming nuisance

June 12, 2009Posted inTowns
In my last entry, Blooming dogwood, Romeo, a regular commentator, pointed out an "...uncovered drain right next to the lower police gate that is very risky for pedestrians and vehicle drivers during the day as well as night." Romeo is right. The open drain is dangerous. I don't know how long the drain has been left like that, but I first spotted it about ten days ago. The City Corporation is obviously repairing something inside the drain. But they should either secure the area properly, or cover the drain when no one is working on it. Since they haven't,…

Risky business

April 22, 2009Posted inTowns
I was horrified to learn that an oil tanker burst into flames in the BOD’s petrol pump in Samdrup Jongkhar. (Read Bhutan Observer article) The fire was quickly contained, but only after two men had been seriously injured. We’re lucky that the fire didn’t spread to and cause unimaginable damage to the residents of Samdrup Jongkhar. The BOD station in Thimphu is a disaster waiting to happen any day. The street literally runs through the middle of the petrol pump. So traffic is heavy. But not just to fuel-up. Every driver uses the BOD station as a thoroughfare. The…

Addressing addresses

February 16, 2009Posted inTowns
I’m going to the wedding too, remarked my friend, can you tell me where it is?I told him that the happy event was taking place opposite the RSPN’s old office, below the new Norling building in lower Changangkha. My friend’s blank look promoted me to continue: at the Chubachu roundabout take the road to Motithang; drive by the DHL office towards the RICB colony, but don’t go all the way to the colony; take the road that goes to the new road leading to the YDF complex; before you reach the new road, you’ll see a lot of vehicles;…

Road to nowhere

February 15, 2009Posted inTowns
The double-lane road below Norzin Lam has recently attracted a lot of attention. Dorji Wangchuk, in his blog, complained that he was clueless about the purpose of the “middle road”. And Kuensel questioned government officials why the road was built in the first place.The double-lane road was built to take away Norzin Lam’s vehicular traffic, so that it could be converted to a completely pedestrian path. That, according to the Thimphu Structural Plan developed by Professor Christopher Beninger, was the idea. But that is not happening.Norzin Lam continues to be used by vehicles traveling towards Chubachu. Vehicles returning from…