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Of the 1,028 water projects identified, 856 have been completed and 71 are ongoing.
Yangel Bin Laden
Under the guidance of the 12th Five-Year Water Conservancy Flagship Plan, Bhutan has made significant progress in improving water supply and irrigation conditions across the country.
According to the latest information, out of the 1,028 water project activities identified, 856 have been completed and 71 are under construction.
The project aims to improve access to safe drinking water and reliable irrigation services and has completed 34 Urban Water Supply Projects (UWSS), benefiting more than 18,000 households. In rural areas, 361 water supply projects have been completed, serving more than 15,000 households.
In addition, 395 independent water supply projects and 62 irrigation projects were successfully implemented.There are also four comprehensive water conservancy projects.
Despite the overall success, challenges remain. For UWSS, 62 projects have been identified, of which 12 are still under construction, with a completion rate of 74.19%.
The Rural Water Supply Scheme (RWSS) has identified 410 projects, of which 17 are ongoing, with a completion rate of 92.2%.
The success rate of implementation of the stand-alone drinking water schemes was 89.83 per cent, with 29 projects still ongoing out of 472 identified.
The irrigation scheme has been almost fully implemented, with 75 projects identified and only 12 still under construction, representing a success rate of 98.67%.
The comprehensive program had a success rate of 56%, with one of the nine projects still ongoing.
The flagship project, managed by the Project Management Unit (PMU) under the Water and Sanitation Department of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MoIT), faces multiple challenges, including limited human resources, technical capacity constraints and high staff turnover.
The project also faced coordination difficulties among its many stakeholders and was delayed by social issues and the COVID-19 pandemic. Outdated data on water infrastructure also delayed the pre-feasibility study.
Despite an initial budget of N3 billion, the PMU required additional funding from external agencies, which led to further delays in the project as time was needed to develop a comprehensive project proposal. The complex terrain also made surveys and feasibility assessments more time-consuming.
All UWSS and major schemes (RWSS and irrigation) are implemented through contracts. Some projects are carried out through government-Desuung partnerships to promote youth skills and capacity development.
The rest of the RWSS programs are implemented by the Dzongkhag or Gewog subdivisions, with the government providing materials and skilled labor, and the community providing unskilled labor.
Ministry of Industry and Trade officials said the flagship water project was a success despite the challenges of implementing large-scale national projects. “The flagship project activities completed to date have not only ensured a reliable water supply to our communities through infrastructure development, but also focused on maintaining the system.”
The flagship project covers all 20 Dzongkhags, 205 Gewogs and 4 Thromdes.
As of June 30, 2024, N3.23 billion has been spent on the flagship programme. To date, additional funds of N1.14815 billion have been mobilized through GCF-UNDP, particularly for irrigation programmes.
Ministry of Industry and Trade officials explained that some of the proposed activities could not be implemented due to a number of factors, including insufficient funds, inability to obtain necessary social and environmental permits, and technical challenges that made some projects unfeasible.
“Also, the larger scale projects which required huge amount of funds were financed later through various foreign financing agencies and are currently either under construction or in the design stage,” the official added.
To address these challenges, the official stressed the importance of securing funding before launching large projects such as the Water Flagship Programme, as securing funding after the project has been launched could lead to delays.
“Given the complexity of the projects, improving the technical capacity of engineers and technicians is critical,” he said. “It is also important to prioritize the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure, including ensuring adequate funding, improving the skills of operators and caretakers, and establishing water user associations for long-term sustainability.”
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