A sewage leakage along the road that runs in front of the Office of Attorney General in lower Motithang, Thimphu has spilled over the road-affecting residents and homes all the way to Thori lam.

One of the residents said the sewage is not only affecting the roads but their homes as well. They said the sewage sometimes flows into the premises of their buildings, which is unhealthy especially with children around.

Residents said the area has experienced similar leakages since the new sewerage was installed last month.

A resident, Kencho Tshering said, he noticed the recent leakage around 10:30am on June 18 while he was returning from a shop.

One of the engineers at the sewage section with the Thimphu thromde, Samten Lhendup said that although most of the sewage pipes are laid, it is yet to open the household sewage’s connection to the main network. “The outlet to the new treatment plant behind Road Safety and Transport Authority is blocked as the treatment plant is not yet complete,” he said.

He added that this was one of the reasons for leakage from manholes during rainy days. Another reason he cited was that after the installation of the sewerage, a certain period of time is maintained before the road is paved. Leakage also occurs because of the shift in manhole due to heavy traffic. “The shift in the manhole causes rain and drain water to seep into the sewerage,” he said.

Samten Lhendup also said that because Motithang did not have a proper sewerage, the outlets are mostly into drains.

However, thromde officials did not provide an immediate solution to address the problem. They said temporarily, they could divert the leakage to the drains or to open up the outlets to the unfinished treatment plant.

Samten Lhendup said, it has been more than three months since work started on laying the sewerage connection in Motithang. “We sent notice for the installation to each resident on March 22 this year.”

Motithang area consists of 940 buildings.

Karma Cheki

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