Chencho Dema

Wangdue – Much to the relief of those in the construction business,  the Natural Resources Development Corporation has announced the successful restart of sand delivery operations from Sha Region, Wangdue Phodrang on September 18.

In a letter issued on September 18, it stated that during the months of May to July, the encountered production haltsthat significantly reduced output, with some days registering as low as 2 percent productivity.

About 90 per cent of the pending orders have been fulfilled over the past month.

Over the last three months, the company encountered unforeseen challenges that temporarily disrupted sand supply leading to black market and increase in sand price.

Disruption in the sand supply has led to stealing of sand. About 22 truckers were fined Nu 50,000 this year as of mid-August for stealing sand and offloading sand to be sold later.

A truckload of sand from Wangdue is sold between Nu 28,000 and Nu 35,000 for 10m3 (cubic metre) in Thimphu. The market price is Nu 13,938.

The site has been flooded with trucks ever since the sand delivery was restored yesterday and most of the truckers said that they are happy to get the loads.

The Sha region supplies sand to Thimphu, Paro, Haa, Bumthang, Trongsa, Wangdue, and Punakha.

Lotay Tshering who has been supplying sand for the past two months said that sand is available and there is no delay in procuring.

According to officials from NRDCL, with seven sand dredging boats, one boat can dredge up to 20 truckloads of sand in a single day. In the recent past, only 30 to 40 truckloads of sand were delivered in a day, but now at least 100 truckloads are supplied in a day.

“There is a daily rush for sand, but unlike in the past, trucks do not need to wait weeks for their turn. We make every effort to satisfy customer requests,” the official added.

Sand dredging begins at 6:30 in the morning and ends at 7 pm.

The official added that the office will start stocking sand from along the banks of the Punatshangchhu from mid-November to the beginning of January.

Officials said that in the past few months, flooding of the Punatsangchu riverbed from monsoon rendered dredging activitiesimpractical, leading to the shortage of sand.

As the office transition into a new season, the company is also enhancing its production capacity to ensure unhindered supply. As the river volume recedes, we anticipate stock sand available in addition to dredged sand, further bolsteringout supply capabilities.

The office also requests all customers to exercise caution and responsibility while using the NRDCL App (MyResources) and ensure that the usage is not shared with unauthorized/unregistered users.

The App is exclusively for genuine self-consumption.