This Report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources (2021-22) deals with the action taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in their Twelfth Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on ‘Flood Management in the Country including International Water Treaties in the field of Water Resource Management with particular Reference to …
The foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a recurring menace for the people of Chhukha dzongkhag (district) in Bhutan. Fed up with the frequent outbreaks, Chhukha has embarked upon a mass immunisation programme that would shield its entire livestock. The district has a livestock population of 1,53,348, and has encountered …
In an attempt to bridge the digital divide, Bhutan's planning commission secretariat is establishing an information network in all its 20 administrative districts (dzongkhags). The project
Solar power is getting a major boost in Bhutan. More schools, health units and monasteries in remote areas will get solar energy now. The officials of the department of power in Bhutan have distributed 50 solar panels and trained 60 technicians in solar power usage. These technicians were given tips …
Most protected areas in Bhutan are threatened. A major risk is being posed by poaching and fire. The poachers mainly prey on musk deer, blood pheasant and black bear. Musk pod, musk skin, bear bile, rhino horn and snow leopard skin have huge markets in Nepal and India, states a …
In an effort to check the growing incidence of forest fires, foresters in Trashigang in Bhutan are involving farmers of the area to combat the havoc. About 190 villagers in Samkhar and 135 in Kanglung have been imparted training in this connection. According to the forest range officer, Dorji Dukpa, …
No breakthrough has been made in the dialogue between Bhutan's ministry of agriculture and the Indian authorities regarding the safe disposal of about 33 metric tonnes of hazardous chemical waste stored in a makeshift shed at Paro in Bhutan. India's neighbour wants it to incinerate the chemicals in Mumbai. But …
Rare plants and herbs of the Lingshi dungkhag region of Bhutan are indiscriminately being used for preparing traditional medicines by the Thimphu-based Institute of Traditional Medicines Service (ITMS). The rugged alpine terrain of Lingshi dungkhag is blessed with more than 100 different species of rare medicinal plants and herbs. But …
To encourage the sustainable use of natural resources, the Bhutanese government is planning to launch a wildlife conservation programme that includes the setting up of a zoological park. The park would house a number of endangered herbivorous animal species. Besides the park, the programme also includes agro-biodiversity conservation projects for …
More than 20 wild mushroom species of the Thimphu valley of Bhutan have now disappeared because of overexploitation. Experts at the Semtokha-based National Mushroom Centre said that the decline is a result of ecological imbalance caused by the people. "The symbiotic relation between the host trees like pine and the …
In the last seven years, the number of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases in Bhutan has increased to fifteen. For a small country like Bhutan the number is considered to be a cause of grave concern. "Bhutan is fortunate that a national AIDS strategy was introduced even before the …
A forest fire destroyed 121 hectares of pine forest in Bhutan's Thimphu district. Forest officials say that the fire started in an apple orchard where a 17-year-old schoolboy was burning papers. Due to strong winds, the fire caught on to the dry bushes and spread into the forest. The fire …
Bhutan is now realising the implications of imported crop diseases. "Importing a plant without proper quarantine can lead to the spread of a new plant disease damaging a lot of our crops,' said N K Pradhan of the Plant Protection Centre. Many in the country are unaware about Bhutan's Quarantine …
The Asian Development Bank has approved two soft term loans amounting to US $19.6 million to Bhutan. The first loan of US $10 million will be used as the government's contribution to the Bhutan Heath Trust Fund, which aims to improve health care systems across the country. The second loan …
The United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) will finance a biomass fuel efficiency project in Bhutan. The project is aimed to solve the environmental and health problems faced by the people of Tsirangdzongkhag. Bhutan will be given US $29,400 by the UNDP . The project will tackle problems such …
Rural-urban migration, deforestation, land degradation, water and air pollution and solid waste management have been identified as emerging environmental problems of Bhutan, according to a draft report titled "State of Environment'. The environmental report is being prepared under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Bhutan opened its doors to tourists in 1974. But the protective Bhutanese psyche kept the kingdom jealously guarded and this is visible in the controlled tourism policy. To avoid unwanted side effects the government has adopted a policy of "high value low volume' tourism, restricting the number of tourists by …
In 1990, senior government officials gathered at Paro to draft broad parameters for the country’s development agenda. The conclusion was the “Paro Resolution on Environment and Sustainable Development”, a statement that redefined sustainability in the Bhutanese context. It read as, “The capacity and the political will to effectively address today’s …
