Bhutan’s govt stops dredging and export of riverbed sand and stones from Toorsa river basin

THIMPHU, Nov 3, 2019, Kuensel. After much controversy surrounding dredging and export of boulders from Phuentsholing, the government has decided to stop dredging of boulders and riverbed materials from Toorsa river basin, Kuensel reported.

The agriculture minister on October 25, through a notification, stated that the decision was taken after reviewing the Phuentsholing Township Development Project (PTDP) and concerns expressed by the Construction Development Corporation Limited (CDCL).

“The government has decided to cease the export of surface collection and river bed dredging materials originating in and around Toorsa river basin,” the notification stated.

All the construction materials collected from Toorsa river basin will be reserved solely for domestic consumption.

PTDP will manage their construction material requirements following the existing rules of the country, the Forest and Nature Conservation Act (FNCA), 1995, Forest and Nature Conservation Rules and Regulations (FNCRR), 2017 and Environment Assessment (EA) Act, 2000 and its regulation.

The ban will be strictly monitored with the Department of Forest and Park Services (DoFPS) and National Environment Commission Secretariat (NECS) asked to carry out regular monitoring of the sites to ensure that there will be no surface collection and dredging activities, as well as exports from the area.

Those with dredging and export clearance and permit, both government as well as private, will have to stop their business upon expiry of the validity of the given export deadlines.

The notification had also provided deadline to clear stocks for those operators with stocks.

Kuenchap Export has been allowed to clear their balance stocks by December this year. SSD Ventures have time until December 26. Chukha Construction has time until December end.

Yangkhil Construction (sub-contract of Rigsar Construction) and Rigsar Construction has been stopped exporting from October 21. Export for Dekiling Stone Crushing Unit has also been stopped.

The government has also cleaned up the mess surrounding dredging and surface collection of riverbed materials.

Surface collection of sand and stones for both commercial and non-commercial purpose and exports is put under the control of the DoFPS, in accordance to the FNCRR, 2017.

The notification requested all other authorities to not issue permits, approvals, clearances for the surface collection and dredging of sand and boulders either from riverbeds or elsewhere without consultation with DoFPS.

The decision was taken to safeguard proper management of “scarce natural resources” and ensure proper monitoring of the activities.

“Multi-authority issuance of permits and approvals for such activities has created confusions and misunderstandings in managing surface collection and dredging activities,” stated the notification.

Dredging companies decides to appeal

Those in the dredging business have, meanwhile, decided to appeal to the agriculture minister, Yeshey Penjor.

One dredging company owner said the decision was not fair. He said that it was decided after the agriculture ministry was briefed by CDCL management.

“Now we would like MoAF to listen to our side of the story and then take the decision,” he said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed and waiting for an appointment with the agriculture minister so that we can place our grievances.”

Sources have confirmed that almost all the dredging companies are having stocks. Without the stocks being allowed to export, it would impact the economy, dredging owners said.

A month before the notification, in September, DoFPS announced three new dredging and surface collection sites at Toorsa. The allotment was floated on a first-come-first-serve bases, which was not received well by interested parties.

The first three contractors that would fulfill the obligatory documents and clearances were supposed to win the sites. More than 100 interested firms had taken administrative approvals from Phuentsholing Thromde. However, the allotment did not happen because clearance from CDCL was also required.

The three sites falls in Zone B of PTDP. As Zone B is located upstream of Zone A, the site that is currently being developed, CDCL objected to the decision to award the three new sites as it felt that dredging upstream of the PTDP project would pose risks on development sites downstream.

Tags: Bhutan