Thimphu dzongkhag administration yesterday handed over the Genekha forest to the community to manage the Sangay shamu (Matsutake) rich forest.

Bhutan celebrated World Environment Day on June 5. As usual, the day was marked by lofty official speeches. This year, however, a highlight of the celebration was the launch of an electric car in Thimphu by the department of energy.

Determined to offer a

In an renewed battle to tackle the mounting garbage problem, the Thimphu city corporation (TCC) will empty all recycle bins in the city tomorrow and urge the public to use them correctly by segregating waste. This step is an immediate action the city corporation is once more taking, after concerned agencies discussed solid waste management in a three-day conference from August 18.

The Thimphu national referral hospital has diagnosed several people, from outside Thimphu, with the dengue infection this month.

"Two are above 50 years and four are under 10,' said officials from the public health laboratory (PHL). The dengue infection was confirmed from blood samples.
Records from the in-patient department (IPD), however, indicate only five dengue positive cases this month. "Some patients directly go to the out-patient department (OPD) and some just give their blood and don't come back,' said the record section in-charge.

Villagers of Bjemina, approximately 25 km from Thimphu, are hoping their health and harvest will improve with the dzongkhag yargay tshogdu (DYT) having discussed the issue of air pollution and crop damage caused by the dust from stone crushing machines in the area.

Bhutan, in compliance with the Vienna convention for protection of ozone layer and the Montreal protocol, will have to cut chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) to zero percent by 2010. According to the national ozone officer of the national environment commission (NEC) secretariat, Peldon Tshering, Bhutan had already phased out 85 percent CFC of the baseline.

The management and maintenance of Bhutan's pristine forest and mountain ecology could reach a new level with the establishment of a SAARC forestry centre in Thimphu on June 11. The centre will conduct research into mountain ecology, explore new ways of managing forest resources and other related fields, and gather research data from member states to serve as a nodal point of information on forest and related topics, besides providing policy inputs to member states.

Smoke billowing from the roofs of industries in Pasakha have caught the attention of commuters along the Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway, which is now routed through the Pasakha-Manitar road.