The National Assembly has asked the government to arrange funds for the construction of a two-kilometer long riverbank protection to safeguard the Punakha dzong.

The house also asked the cabinet ministers to look into the possibility of starting the construction of the embankment as soon as the 10th five-year plan begins.
This was decided after the people of Punakha submitted that to protect the Punakha dzong from glacial lake outburst flood, like that of 1994, they would have to build a protection wall. It was proposed that the fund be raised from the sand and stone collected from along the Punatshangchu.

The Punakha chimi submitted that they would levy Nu.500 for a truckload of sand or stone lifted from the Punatshangchu and use the fund to build the embankment. “Since there is no separate provision of fund for the embankment along the river, we could raise fund by levying monetary contribution from the contractors,� said the Punakha chimi.

Chimis supported the submission and said that Punakha dzong was the home for sacred relics and should be protected.

The dzongchung, where the Machey of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal was preserved, was partially destroyed in 1994 when one of the glacial lakes in Lunana burst causing flashfloods.

Responding to the submission, Prime Minister, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said that such practices of raising funds would encourage similar practices in other dzongkhags. The Trashigang Dzongda, Minjur Dorji also voiced his concern and said that in the long run it would affect the poor people.

The minister for works and human settlement, Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji informed the Assembly that they have investigated the issue and realised the significance to build an embankment.

He said that, the protection has to be built on four sides, the right side of Phochhu, the left side of Mochhu, the confluence of Phochhu and Mochhu and one at Khuruthang town. Source: Kuenselonline