… six families made homeless

Nim Dorji | Trongsa

The Mangdechhu Hydro Power remains shut down since October 1 midnight for safety after the Chamdey Gangchhu stream flooded creating an artificial dam above Bjeezam in Trongsa.

MHPA officials said that the plant has been shut and the flood gates of the dam opened to let floodwater out.

Officials said that everything was going well and that they preparing to resume generation.

The debris from the flood formed an artificial dam at the confluence of the stream and Mangdechhu river, which still poses risk to the plant.It is not revealed when the plant’s operation would resume.

The flood also swept away belongings of six families near Bjeezam leaving them homeless. A shop, two huts and the bridge to Nubi gewog centre were washed away.

The backflow of water from the artificial lake has submerged the manual gauge and monitoring station of the early flood warning system.

One of the tenants and a construction worker, Ram Badhur lost everything.

“Luckily it happened before dusk, if not we might have lost our lives too,” he said.

“Even my mobile phone was washed away with my certificates.”

Had it not been for the tenants and neighbours,  Matia Rai would have been washed away along with her shop. They literally dragged her out from her shop as the water subsided. She was found half-submerged in the water. “I couldn’t do anything. I kept praying,” she said.

With the water level subsidised the tenants and other friends helped her get out. “I am left with nothing,” she said. She was wearing borrowed clothes yesterday.

Suk Bahadur Rai said that it would be difficult for them to live there as it is all covered with debris.

“We would be grateful if we are given a substitute land to settle,” he said.

A local resident, Sonam said that artificial dam bursts it could affect the nearby settlements.

The stream flooded two times this year, but the earlier one was a minor flood.

The dzongkhag kidu office disbursed His Majesty’s Royal Semso and other essentials to the victims. Disaster management committee handed over the emergency disaster kit.