One in three Bhutanese overweight, finds study
The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on health facilities demands greater multi-sectoral actions for the implementation of NCD prevention activities. NCDs are a major public
Kuensel (Bhutan)
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Electricity penetrates into rural Bhutan
With funs secured for electrifying 12,000households through loans and grants recently, the Bhutan Power Corporation is optimistic that its social mandate of electrifying 15,000by the end of the
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Basochhu phase I increases generation in 2004
Prompt restoration of grid failures, reduction in
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Central Bhutan to be on central grid by July
Power shortage in the central dzongkhags of Trongsa and Bumthang should become a thing of the past once Bhutan power corporation limited (BPCL) links Kurichu power, via Tingtibi in Zhemgang, by July this year. "The erection of electric poles from Tingtibi to Yurmung and Yurmung to Trongsa and stringing works are also being carried out simultaneously,' said BPCL's executive director (development and construction division), Gem Tshering. "The supply from Tingtibi will be extended to Trongsa by the first or second week of June.'
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Power-profit home advantage
Contrary to existing notions, a new study says it is economically more beneficial for Bhutan to supply power to its industries than export it to India.
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Prohibitively expensive, cheaper alternatives sought
The two micro-hydel plants planned for Soe and Lingshi in north Thimphu could be scrapped because lighting up one household there is working out to a million ngultrums, 10 times the usual cost. A 50 KW plant for Soe and a 100 KW plant for Lingshi have been included in the 10th plan based on the repeated requests of the people of Lingshi, who have been using solar power for many years now.
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Lifestyle diseases in ascendancy
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) or lifestyle diseases may not have appeared among the top ten diseases in the country, but they were increasing at an alarming rate and were an unwelcome addition to infectious diseases, which were still of grave concern to the health of the Bhutanese, say health officials. Figures in the health ministry's 2007 bulletin, which features a selected number of lifestyle diseases by their hierarchy of prevalence among Bhutanese, indicate that all are on the rise. Musculoskeletal disorder, caused by a job or activity, requiring a fixed position over a long period of time and associated with poor workplace design, topped the list with about 71,849 patients being referred to various hospitals around the country in 2006, an increase by more than 11,000 from the previous year. Hypertension, most commonly referred to as "high blood pressure', which develops in people, who have a fairly high intake of salt, followed with 20,501 patients being diagnosed with the disease, a steep climb compared with 16,570 patients in 2006 and 14,195 in 2004. About 1,531 patients visiting hospitals across the country in 2006 were for alcohol liver diseases, which involves an acute or chronic inflammation of the liver, induced by alcohol abuse. That was an increase from 1,217 in 2005. Diabetes, which has a higher prevalence among people in their old age and is caused by high sugar levels, accounted for 1,470 patients in 2006, an increase by more than 500 from the previous year. Although the trend may not be the same in the case of cancer, it is also on the rise from 555 patients diagnosed with the disease in 2005 to 587 in 2006. At present, there exists no system of reporting cancers by type in the country. The figures of all these diseases could be significantly higher had the cases with the out-patient department (OPD) from the national referral hospital in Thimphu been included. The annual bulletin states that the urban population in the country had shot up from 16 percent in 2000 to 31 percent in 2005, and that TVs have entered into rural settings. Thus a large section of the Bhutanese population, it said, was exposed to many of the unhealthy lifestyles and behaviours of the developed world, propagated mainly through this medium. Such behavioural changes would only result in the emergence of non-communicable diseases, in addition to the already flourishing communicable diseases, some of which the country is still grappling with today, states the report. By Samten Wangchuk samme@kuensel.com.bt
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Top priority to roads, transport, power
Of the seven broad development themes in the draft 10th plan document, which will be discussed and approved by the new parliament, the highest budget allocation, Nu 20.465 billion, is for building and maintenance of national highways, roads to hydropower projects, new power transmission lines and development of air and surface transport.
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The power-tiller: An agent of change in agriculture
Spring is not far away and the villagers of Gatana, Paro know it well. But the farmers are not in a hurry - they know they will finish their work well in time. With the sound of few power-tillers echoing from the hills, that enclose the village located below Dzongdaka monastery, Gatana farmers say that what they did in a week's time in the past can now be done in a day. Behind all their confidence is the power-tiller, what many farmers call the farmer's norbu (precious jewel). What was once considered a status symbol has become a practical necessity to farmers all over the country. It is, in the words of one of the first power-tiller owners in Paro, Tshering Pem, an "agent of change' in Bhutanese farming. Tshering Pem, 68, recalls the first day when her late husband, a former gup brought home a power-tiller in 1981. "All my neighbours came with tea and khadar to celebrate the occasion. I didn't know why then,' she said with a contented smile. "I do now. It became so significant in my life,' added the successful farmer. A multipurpose machine - from fetching water to ploughing fields to ferrying people About a kilometre below Tshering Pem's house, the Agriculture Machinery Centre is hosting another significant function. The Japanese government is handing over 179 power-tillers to the centre under the KRII grant, which will travel to various dzongkhags to make a difference in the lives of farmers. "Nothing can beat the power-tiller,' says farmer Lhamu in Lobesa. "From fetching water to ploughing fields to ferrying people, it can do it all,' says Lhamu. "Without it, farming would be difficult or, at least, different.' Many farmers like Lhamu feel that farming would indeed be difficult without power tillers. One of the immediate benefits, according to farmer Thanka, was that it solved the problem of labour shortage. "With every parent knowing the value of education, there were no hands left to help on the farm,' said the former gup. "Power-tillers came as a blessing. It can do both men's and women's work. Moreover, it can do 20 men's work in a day.' Aum Tshering Pem recalls how her neighbors relied on her power-tiller to help them. "It was like magic as it tilled terrace after terrace within minutes,' she says. "Many people stopped their work and watched it for hours.' A prosperous farmer, Aum Tshering Pem says the power-tiller is more valuable than her Toyota land cruiser. Farmers run short of adjectives when asked how power-tillers changed their lives. According to one of the early owners in Paro, Gup Dep Dorji in Shari, for many farmers, they are valued more than their parents. "There are no words to describe how it helped Bhutanese farmers,' he says. Dorji bought his tiller in 1987 and boasts that it still works fine. "The greatest thing the tiller brought to farmers was that it relieved both men and women of their drudgery,' he says. "It's a multipurpose machine. I'd prefer it to a truck.' Dorji has a long list of what the tiller can do, and says that it enhanced farmer's income from cash and food crops and made many self sufficient. "From the same area of land, yields are almost doubled when a tiller is used,' he says. AMC officials say that a power-tiller can till 1 to 1.5 acres of land in a day. "That would be the work of four pairs of bulls,' said the official. A power tiller can plough, transplant rice, thresh paddy, and pump water, besides doing many other domestic work. Aum Tshering Pem's village, with about 30 households, has now about 15 power-tillers. AMC's administrative officer, Wangchuk, who served with the centre since its inception in 1984, says that he has witnessed a sea-change since the machine's intervention in Bhutanese farming. "It has helped farmers improve yield, save cost, and lessened drudgery,' he says. "Today, it has become indispensable in farming.' The tillers from the KRII grant are sold at a subsidized rate to farmers. However, the cost of one has gone up from Nu 19,500 in 1983 to about Nu 112,000 now. Wangchuk said that the centre tied up with Bhutan Development Finance Corporation to lend farmers money to purchase the machines. "Today, farmers buy, even paying cash down,' he says. According to the centre's engineer, Kinga Norbu, because of the demand, distribution is done to ensure that every dzongkhag gets the machine. He said that Paro, Punakha, Wangduephodrang have the highest demand, but preference is given to farmers' groups. The demand for power-tillers is so high that a few private firms have started importing them from China and India. Paro has the highest number of power tillers at 458, followed by Punakha with 241, and Wangdue with 221. Remote dzongkhags like Zhemgang have 40 and Gasa 34. Yesterday, at the handing-over ceremony, the programme director of the centre, Chetem Wangchen, said that the popularity of the tiller has become evident with a huge surge in demand. More than 800 farmers have already applied for tillers since last year. From 30 sold in the first lot in 1983, AMC has distributed 2,180 to date. Meanwhile, the list of the KRII grant, the 20th instalment, was handed over to the agriculture secretary, Sherub Gyeltshen, by Mr Keizo Takewaka, minister, Japanese Embassy in New Delhi, India. At the ceremony, the minister commended the agriculture ministry for their policy in mechanizing agriculture and said that the Japanese government was happy to see their assistance put to best use in Bhutan. "We're happy to see that our assistance is helping the development of agriculture and rural farmers,' said Mr Keizo Takewaka. The agriculture secretary, Sherub Gyeltshen said that the KRII grant is an unprecedented and unique grant from the Japanese government in achieving Bhutan's food self sufficiency policy and developing agriculture. "The grant has benefitted Bhutanese farmers, especially when most are dependent on agriculture, farmlands are located in difficult terrain and when there is an acute shortage of farm labour,' he said. Back in Gatana, two men are taking their power-tiller home after a day's work. "I've made Nu 3,000 from hiring out my tiller today,' says the proud owner of the tiller. "It will be enough for my daughter's shopping when she goes back to school.' By Ugyen Penjore ugyenpen@kuensel.com.bt
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A bridge too far gone ...
At this time of year, Jasabi village in Lhuentse is calm and quiet. There is not much activity as farmers serenely prepare for the spring season which heralds yet another busy farming cycle. But the farmers from about 15 households in this village dread summer. They fear summer not because of the drudgery of farm life, but for a common problem they share every summer - the Jasabi bridge. The suspension bridge over the Kurichhu river in Kurtoe gewog, which is a lifeline for the village, is about 23 years old and about to fall apart, according to farmers. Over the years, the river has eaten into the foundation of the bridge, which was built in 1985. "I think the bridge will not survive the swelling river, forget a flood,' said a worried farmer. There is enough reason for concerns. Jasabi is a two- to three-hour walk from the nearest farm road in Dungkhar. It is the only bridge that connects the village to the dzongkhag headquarters, the hospital, and the gup's office. "Even to sell a few village products, we have to cross that bridge,' said another farmer. "If the bridge breaks down, our children will miss one academic session because the school is on the other side of the river.' "We'll be isolated,' said the village tshogpa, Pema Wangchuk. According to him, there is no other means to get to Lhuentse if the bridge is washed away. "During winter, we can wade through but, with the Kurichhu swelling in summer, there's no other way to get across.' However, Dzongkhag officials are aware of the concerns of the Jasabi farmers. According to the dzongkhag engineer, Tshering Chophel, the bridge would be renovated in the first year of the 10th Plan. "The bridge is risky and we've already made plans to renovate it,' said the engineer. "We'll provide protection to the foundation of the bridge, so there's no need for a new bridge,' he said. "The wooden deck will also be repaired.' The Kurtoe gup added that the importance of the bridge was long realized and included in the Plan. Contributed by Tashi Yetsho
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Bankers face off in water politics
They both have the same names, worked as bankers, were in the same college, worked in the same city of Phuentsholing for some time and are also good friends.