Bhutan ropes in CEPT to redesign Thimpu

Bhutan may soon come to be known as an illustration of Indian planning and architecture.

The government of Bhutan has plans to implement atleast two proposals on planning and infrastructure designed by students of Centre For Environment Planning and Technology (CEPT).

The students of CEPT had presented four proposals to the director of the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement along with two officials from the Town Planning Department of Bhutan, who had come to Ahmedabad to discuss the blueprints.

The proposals on public transport system, solid waste management, water supply and multi-level parking were designed by the students when they got a scholarship to study Bhutan as part of their practical exposure to south-east Asian countries", said Saswat Bandyopadhyay, a professor at CEPT.

The planning ministry of Bhutan is also in talks with CEPT to acquire consultation services for their future planning and development projects, he said.

The proposal on Public Transport System, the first to get underway shortly, is estimated to require an initial investment of 30.25 crore by the government of Bhutan.

This includes a capital cost of Rs 29.6 crore and an O&M cost of Rs 5.6 crore.

The design, which is expected to take 18 months to build includes manufacturing of eco-friendly buses that can be manouvered on narrow roads and construction of a ropeway system.

According to Bandyopadhyay, "More than 30 per cent of Bhutan is covered in hilly terrain and the proposal to create a ropeway system has received positive response from the government of Bhutan".

The construction of ropeway is estimated to cost around Rs five to seven crore per km and is expected to be constructed in four geographical phases of 9.84 km, 7.84 km, 6.95 km and 8.28 km.

The cost recovery is expected to come through the government equity, grants and donation, registration fee, cess on fuel and other charges.

Next in line to be implemented would be the Solid Waste Management project which has come at a time when Bhutan is facing a crisis of waste disposal and do not want to toxicate their productive land.

"The people of Bhutan consider their environment and surroundings to be a part of their cultural heritage and the proposals had to be designed in such a way that the new infrastructure did not affect the ecological balance," Saswat told Business Standard.