SARBHANG

On the 19th and 20th of March 2009, the Agriculture Sector Support Project (ASSP) management and the working group committee on the Rice Commercialisation Programme convened a two days field visit with meetings as part of the preparations and planning for the coming rice season.

Thursday, the 19th of March saw the team in Chuzagang with field visits to the rice mill site, irrigation channel, the road access points and the targeted rice fields. They also held discussions with the beneficiaries. The following day the team went to RC Sub Station at Bhur where they held a meeting with the main stakeholders of the Chuzagang Rice Commercialisation Programme to take stock of the current progress and to lay out the future course of action.

16 March, 2009 - A Bhutanese car driven by Ugyen Dorji, a Gelephu health assistant, was yesterday night fired upon by suspected militants from Jhapa in Nepal at an area 1.8 km away from Jigmilling, the police-training centre in Gelephu. The health assistant survived the attack.

Police say Ugyen Dorji was traveling with two other persons on March 15 night when their car was attacked from both sides of the road by automatic guns.

Although no one was seriously hurt, a passenger at the back of the car suffered minor injuries from the shattered glass pieces. The impact from the bullets had destroyed the car’s rear windshield and back door.

The police found 26 numbers of AK-47 empty cartridges from the firing spots.

(Source: Kuensel)

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu    

Mar 23, 2009; With the rise in militant activities recently, the lives and properties of people of Sarpang are increasingly at stake even as the villagers have been patrolling their villages for about a decade.

The attack on the car on 15 March in Dekiling was the latest incident. Two incidents of militant attacks claimed five lives, in the four major attacks in Sarpang in the last three months.

An Indian national was shot dead at Leopani on 2 February. Four armed men threatened to kill a family at Dulunggang village on 31 December. The inhuman killing of the three foresters and RBA personnel in Singye gewog was the incident that rocked the country on 30 December 2008.

Police suspect that the attacks were carried by the militants from across the camps in eastern district of Jhapa in Nepal. 

Concerns were expressed over the security of villagers and the fear that the village voluntary village patrol team might be targeted by the militants.

“Armed militants might shoot us, even kidnap us in groups as we do not carry any weapon. And when we are away from our house, militants might attack our family,” said a resident of Dekiling.

However, a household with only one man is exempted from the patrolling duty according to the Dekiling gup, Gomchen.  The patrolling team goes around the village from 6 to 11pm, according to Gomchen. 

Sarpang dzongkhag has a strong military base with three wings of Royal Bhutan Army. One can see heavy presence of armed forces patrolling Gelephu town. “But what about the security of the villages where the militants have been active?” residents are asking.

“Its time that government mobilize security personnel for village patrol,” the gup said. “Our voluntary patrol teams just carry a stick each, so what can they do if they encounter armed militants?” he asked. 

The volunteers are empowered to inform the nearest police station or apprehend and hand over the suspect to them. But no genuine suspect has been captured by the villagers till now. Many a times, incidents have been reported where a resident of one village was being held by a village patrolling team of another because of mistaken identity. 

Written by Kinley Namgay    

Mar 23, 2009: The world meteorological day is celebrated each year to commemorate the coming into force, on 23 March 1950, of the World Meteorological organization (WMO) convention establishing the world meteorological day. Each year the day is celebrated around a chosen theme. For this year the theme is “weather, climate, and the air we breathe”, by highlighting the impact that weather, climate and the air have on every aspect on our lives.

Bhutan, like many other countries is facing the effect of climate change. Recently there are reports of low production of crops, winds getting stronger every year, shortage of drinking water and rising temperature.

Lately, world health organization and the international panel on climate change data identified risks to human health as a serious signal of the consequences of climate disruption of this planet’s natural processes.

Though Bhutan has no record of death from climate change, around 150,000 deaths now occur in low-income countries each year due to 

climate change from four climate-sensitive health outcomes – crop failure and malnutrition, diarrheal disease, malaria and flooding.

“We have an erratic climate pattern, windstorms, heavy showers or no rains or snow, which greatly affects crop production. With the change in climate, we also have to deal with new kinds of crop pest and diseases,” said agriculture minister Pema Gyamtsho.

The prolonged dry spell in the past six months is affecting the crop production in the southern foothills of the country. Maize is sown at the beginning of spring, but it has been reported that in Tsirang and Sarpang no one has started sowing the seeds for lack of rain. The scorching heat and lack of rain has made the fields dry and difficult for cultivation. Many farmers fear that they might be the victims of serious drought in the region.

With change in temperature there is increasing number of new environmental threats in the country. Glacial lake outburst flood is posing more danger than ever before to the nation.  At present Lake Thorthormi, thrice the size of Lake Lugge that burst in 1994, is the largest and is on the brink of breaching its walls. According to reports the massive ice surrounding Lake Thorthormi is melting at the rate 30-35 meters a year.

As per the community study carried out in Pochu Basin under Punakha district, the Samdingkha town under Toewang geog would be the most affected if the lake burst out.

It is widely believed that pollution may be warming the world up. Certain gases trap the sun’s heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Rising level of the “greenhouse gases”, such as carbon dioxide, which come from burning oil or forest land, may trap so much heat that the earth could warm up by 4 degree Celsius over the next 50 years.

According to the past temperature statistics from the meteorology section under the department of energy, Bhutan is experiencing radical change in the climate in the past few years. The report shows a steady rise in the temperature over the years.

In 2006, the temperature in some places in Bhutan rose as high as 33.5 degree Celsius. The average maximum temperature was recorded at 21.6 degree Celsius.

To tackle rising global climate issues, the international organization has come out with numerous methods to cut down the harmful emissions 

of gases. One such means is the clean development mechanism. As of 21 July 2008, 1128 projects have been registered by the CDM Executive Board as CDM projects.

Climate change and its impacts are seen to be of great concern to humanity and is regarded as one of the most serious problems facing sustainable development worldwide.

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu    

Mar 22, 2009: The prolonged dry spell in the past six months is likely to affect crop production in the southern foothills of the country.  Farmers are desperately praying to the rain deities.

It is obvious that the farmers may not be able to harvest maize this year. Maize is sown at the beginning of spring in the southern foothills. March is the month when farmers start weeding the maize crops. But in Tsirang and Sarpang no one has started sowing the seeds for lack of rain.

Those who had sown maize early are complaining that the maize crops have started drying under the scorching heat and lack of moisture.  “My maize crop has started dying in the field,” said Khandu, a farmer from Bhur, Sarpang.

“This time I could not sow the maize seed because the soil is dry and it has hardened under the sun making the fields difficult for preparation,”  said Birkhay Rai of Lodrai, pointing at his barren land. Farmers sow maize and buck wheat in January and February in the southern belt which contributes substantially to the country’s food production.

It is uncertain how much loss  will be caused by the drought-like situation as yet but  agriculture officials said  that if the weather continues to remain  the same the loss could be substantial. 

If maize and other food grain production is drastically reduced, the water crisis could affect farmers’ kitchens. If it continues and the food grain production is affected, then the country would have to resort to import of food grains.

Farmers fear that they might have to import food grains from outside this year as production of maize, second major crop of the country, has been delayed due to lack of rainfall. But purchasing power of the farmers depend on the production of other cash crops which too is severely affected by the lack of rainfall.

Observers say that farmers are facing the affect of climate change due to global warming which they are not even 

aware.

It is the poor and agricultural countries which are most hit by the effect of climate change but they contribute least to global warming according to researchers.

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu    

Mar 05, 2009: Gelephu’s second computer institute, Himalayan institute of information and technology(HIIT), which was opened a few months ago, has been providing an alternative to the Gelephu youth. 

Kuenzang institute of information and technology was only the sole player in Gelephu before.

HIIT, recognized by the department of information and technology (DIT), has about 45 students with two instructors at present. Proprietor 

Bhakti Ram Acharya expects to increase the services and the number of instructors in future.

“Though we wanted to enroll more students and in-service learners even at the initial stage, we have not been able to attract enough due to inadequate advertising,” he said. 

Talking about the vision of the institute, the proprietor said: “Here we serve people with an idea of making the society computer literate.”  He said the objectives of the 

institute is to support,  innovate ICT workforce development opportunities for students and adults and increasing ICT knowledge for in-service people.

The institute offers courses ranging from two-week crash courses to 18 month-diploma courses in various disciplines like diploma in information technology. 

The proprietor who is also one of the faculty members of the institute has invested around Nu 300,000. 

Though he said the feedback from the learners was encouraging, some of the residents are unaware about the existence of the institute.

The location of the institute at Norkhil Lam, which is at the end of the main town, may be bit of a disadvantage. It is picking up slowly as 

the number of learners is increasing.

The institute is cashing on the fact that the employers always seek recruits having computer knowledge. “Employers want computer knowledge before employing us,” said a learner.

Source: Bhutan Today

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu    

Mar 06, 2009: Should the confirmation on the establishment of an airport in Gelephu made by the minister of information and communications, Lyonpo Nandalal Rai, materializes, land acquisition at the Gelephu airport site is likely to begin soon. However, the acquisition may suffer hitches with most of the landowners demanding land compensation at the current market price.

The minister earlier had said that the project would begin in a few months.  Most of the landowners whose land will be acquired by the project told BHUTAN TODAY that they prefer compensation in cash at the current market price. A farmer, Karma Thinley, said that the government compensation was not attractive as the value of land in Gelephu has escalated. 

Resettlement is another option. However, landowners say that the plots elsewhere would not be as worthy compared to their land in the vicinity of the project. “If we are given a plot else where, it won’t be worth my land here,” said Karna, a landowner who owns three acres of land in Ghuprey. 

However, for some farmers whose land fall in the proposed airport site, compensation in cash is not the solution. “We want arable land when we move from here,” said a farmer of Ghuprey. 

The market rate of land at the airport site has shot up in the recent times. It has reached more than Nu 25,000 a decimal. 

A civil servant who purchased land at Jomlingthang five years ago at Nu 8000 for a decimal is happy with the increase in the price, but is uncertain about the government’s compensation scheme.

“I am fine if the government compensates me at the current market price but I will not be satisfied if I am given alternative land outside Gelephu,” he said. 

According to the ministry, compensating the landowners at the market price will cause a huge dent to the government exchequer. The minister earlier said that people have two choices: either to accept cash or be resettled as compensation. 

Sarpang dzongda suggested that Mao Goan and Tarithang are possible areas for resettling the project-affected families. 

Source: Bhutan Today