Yangyel Lhaden
Residents of South Thimphu were elated upon hearing the news of water supply restoration after many days. However, their happiness was short-lived as the water pipe burst again within 24 hours when the thromde attempted to release water two days ago. This incident has prolonged the residents’ struggle with the ongoing water issue.
South Thimphu residents have been without water since last Friday. A landslide, triggered by incessant rain, washed away portions of two pipes that supply water from the Chamgang water source.
These pipes supply water to the Changbangdu, Lungtenphu, Olakha, Changzamtog, and Babesa areas.

Water pipe burst site
Day before yesterday, after fixing the broken pipes and constructing reinforced cement concrete (RCC) around the damaged pipe to protect it from the elements, the thromde office tried releasing water from the 350-millimetre (mm) water pipe. However, another crack occurred near the first damage site in the 350mm pipe yesterday. The thromde is now fixing the pipe again.
“We were able to supply water to some parts of Changzamtog, Olakha, Changjalu, and Lungtenphu through the 350 mm water pipe,” a thromde official said. “We did not release water from the 250 mm pipe because we feared that releasing water from both pipes together could break the newly formed RCC due to the enormous water pressure.”
However, the official, said that since the whole adjacent area was affected by the landslide, even while releasing water from 350mm pipe had caused further cracks. “We are working on to fixing this pipe which will take less than 24 hours and we plan to release water today.”
The 250mm pipe serves water to Changbangdu, Changzamtok, and some parts of Babesa. Babesa is also fed with Royal Thimphu College (RTC) water source which is why only some parts of Babesa, which is supplied water by 250mm pipe of Chamgang water source is affected.
The Thimphu thromde office notified the public yesterday through a public notification on their social media page, apologising to the public for the disheartening news that the 350 mm pipe had burst again. They assured the public that the pipe would be fixed within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, they are providing tanker services to all affected areas without a specific time limit.
“To ensure we provide less inconvenience to the public and enhance the water supply, we have hired water tanks from the Royal Bhutan Police and Royal Bhutan Army, bringing our total water tank fleet to five,” a Thimphu thromde official said.
The affected residents are advised to call tanker service at 17310510