Waste: Damphu town in Tsirang may have fallen on the blind spot of the Clean Bhutan movement if its state today is anything to go by.

The bus and taxi parking, along with other parts of the town, are strewn with colourful wrappers of candies, chips, noodles and bottles.  Residents have called on the dzongkhag administration to tackle the town’s growing issue of garbage disposal.

A corporate employee said that, instead of letting the place be littered, the authority concerned should do something to manage proper disposal.

“I even came across an instance, where hospital waste was thrown near my house,” he said.

 

The town’s executive engineer, Tshewang Tenzin, said the residents could be disposing garbage irresponsibly, because the garbage collection truck was under maintenance and couldn’t go to collect waste every day.

“We hired a private tractor to collect waste in the town area thrice a week,” he said. “But, the truck is fixed and we’re hopeful that such problems won’t arise hereafter.”

The town is also coming up with five iron mesh garbage bins soon, Tshewang Tenzin said.  The bins will be placed at the bus parking, near the bank, near the taxi parking, and one below the town, where residents today are dumping garbage.

Most shopkeepers said that the mandatory black bin they have for waste is not enough. “It’s important for the town to send the truck everyday as our bins gets filled every day,” one of the shopkeepers said.

The town’s waste inspector, Chador, said she didn’t find anyone dumping garbage during the day. “If people are found throwing waste in public areas, they’ll be fined,” she said.

All waste collected from Damphu town is dumped at the Bulke dumping yard, about eight kilometres away from town.

By Yeshey Dema, Tsirang

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