The tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan has become a model for the world in transitioning from monarchy to parliamentary democracy, and many observers say its approach is a model others can follow. Its unique policy of basing development on the metric of Gross National Happiness has led to decreasing poverty levels and improving gender equity. Still, the country also faces significant challenges in rural-urban connectivity, water stress, and climatic change.
Its people work in rugged, steep terrain and need more services. Most live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming. It has a low GDP per capita and heavily depends on India for food and other commodities.
But its rich biodiversity and pristine environment are its most significant selling point, fueling the fast-growing ecotourism industry. The sector is hugely important, but it comes with problems: landslides and flash floods are common, and some rivers are polluted by sewage and agricultural waste.
Many of the country’s water resources depend on glacier loss, and climate change will worsen the situation. Fast-flowing river waters carry more sediment downstream, clogging dam turbines and threatening power production. Sediment also increases the risk of flooding and mudslides, significant risks in Bhutan’s steep terrain.
The country has a few small hydropower projects, but it hopes to build more dams to power its industrialization drive and spur economic growth. A new national water plan released last month lays out the risks.
But it glosses over environmental issues — the effects of hydropower projects on surrounding land and the water ecosystem — which are increasingly crucial for the mountainous country. The plans also call for constructing more reservoir dams, which could reduce the available area for cultivation and hinder Bhutan’s goal of food self-sufficiency.
A recent online petition asking to keep one of the country’s rivers free-flowing sparked public debate. But Bhutan’s king has defended the projects, saying they benefit the nation economically.
To ease some of these concerns, the government has set up a task force, and a forestry department official told the Kuensel Daily. Officials are also trying to boost agricultural productivity by building better roads and providing more fertilizer. But local farmers need more convincing. “More than 50 percent of the villagers in Chukha, where two hydropower plants are located, are living in abject poverty,” said Yeshy Dorji, a photographer and environmentalist who drew up the petition.
The country is also working to address a growing brain drain, with some of its brightest young people leaving for greener pastures in neighboring India and China. Its leaders must find a way to balance the demands of the economy, the environment, and its relations with its two mighty neighbors, which have prickly bilateral ties.
