COUNTRY BACKGROUND - Gross National Happiness Commission

Human Settlements
only a fraction - perhaps only about 3% - of the housing stock may be rebuilt every year. Secondly, within that small
percentage of construction out of total housing stock, only those people who are near the motor road would show
interest in the prototype specifications.
Urban Development Planning
14.34 Urban development planning and a construction control system were introduced between 1983 and 1987.
Rules for the control of urban development throughout the Kingdom include "Bhutan Building Rules" and
complementary "Guidance Notes" and "Codes of Practice". Urban plans were prepared for Thimphu, Phuntsholing,
Geylegphug, Samdrup Jongkhar, Deothang, Pema Gatshel, Kanglung, Mongar, Lhuntsi, Jakar, Punakha, Damphu,
Dagana, Ha and Gedu. Most of these urban plans have not been implemented due to delays in approval, and are
serving only as building control guidelines.
14.35 Arrangements for refuse collection, transport and disposal are inadequate. The rapid expansion of population
in all urban centres is placing increasing pressure on storm water channels, culverts and drains. Other major problems
include disposal of sullage, vegetable waste and garbage in the drains which then empty into rivers. All of the above
cause serious public health problems. However, compared to other developing countries, the general quality of
housing and support services in the urban centres of Thimphu and Phuntsholing can be considered to be high. In the
other municipalities, living conditions are considerably poorer.
14.36 Urban development planning in Bhutan has to take the fragile environment into account. As there is limited
flat agricultural land available, the Royal Government has enacted stringent rules against residential development on
farm and forest lands. The surrounding watersheds, geological stability, drainage and irrigation patterns also need to
be considered in urban planning.
Survey of Bhutan
14.37. The objectives for the Department for the 6FYP were to improve the efficiency of the Department through
increasing the number of skilled personnel, training of existing manpower and introducing new technologies. This
was required to enable the Department to fulfil its functions of surveying (cadastral and topographic), updating of
existing maps, introducing geodetic control for the whole country and to provide services to other user Ministries and
agencies in Bhutan. In the 6FYP the Department was able to complete cadastral field surveys in 7 out of the 8
Dzongkhags planned for the period; to demarcate the boundary with India,using GPS technology, and to introduce
the necessary new technology for photogrammetry and cartography. These activities will facilitate the work
programmes of other Ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Dzongkhag Administration,etc. The Department
also produced various maps, including a topographic map of Bhutan, an administrative map and more specific maps
for Departments showing health and education facilities, for example. The Department began to commercialise their
activities in the 6FYP, with user agencies having to pay for the department's services. A prefeasibility study of
computerisation of land records was undertaken and its recommendations will be implemented in the 7FYP.
V. Objectives and Strategy for the 7FYP
A. Objectives for the 7FYP
14.38 The objectives in the 7FYP are to:
· increase the use of improved water supplies from 40% to 57% of the population.
· improve the water quality from existing supply schemes so that by 1997 45% of the population have
access to safe water from improved schemes.
· universalize the use of household latrines and also assist 11,000 households (15% of the rural
population) to build hygienic latrines.
· increase the use of smokeless stoves from 8% to 15% of the population by assisting 6000 households to
have smokeless stoves.
· enable 90% of the rural primary schools, community schools and monastic schools and health units as
well as the main monasteries to use and maintain safe water and hygienic conditions.
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· achieve a balanced development of all urban centres and create a functional, healthy and aesthetically
pleasing physical environment for urban living. This objective would include the provision of basic