Daga Gewog

Sunkosh Hydropower Project

The Sunkosh Hydropower Project is a proposed mega reservoir-based hydroelectric scheme on the Sunkosh River in Dagana District, Bhutan, with a projected capacity of 4,060 megawatts and an estimated cost of Nu 323 billion (USD 3.8 billion). First conceptualised in the 1990s and developed as an India-Bhutan bilateral project, it has undergone multiple revisions, a halt in 2022, and a revival with renewed feasibility assessments.

History of Hydropower Development in Bhutan

Hydropower is the backbone of Bhutan's modern economy and the defining feature of its relationship with India. From the 336 MW Chhukha project commissioned in 1986 to the full commissioning of Punatsangchhu-II in 2025, state-led run-of-river development has transformed state finances while concentrating external debt and export earnings in a single sector and a single buyer.

The 1990 Southern Bhutan Protests

In September and October 1990, tens of thousands of Lhotshampa in southern Bhutan took to the streets in mass demonstrations against the government's Bhutanization policies, including the enforcement of Driglam Namzha, the removal of Nepali from school curricula, and the denationalization campaign begun by the 1988 census. The government branded all participants as "anti-nationals" (ngolops), a designation that was used to justify mass arrests, torture, and the eventual forced expulsion of over 100,000 people.

Bhutanese Refugee Crisis Timeline

A detailed chronology of the Bhutanese refugee crisis from the initial Bhutanization policies of the 1980s through the mass expulsions of the early 1990s, the decades of camp life in Nepal, the third-country resettlement program beginning in 2007, and developments through 2025. The timeline documents how over 100,000 Lhotshampa were stripped of citizenship and driven from their homeland.

Apple and Orange Cultivation in Bhutan

Apple and orange cultivation are important components of Bhutan's agricultural economy, with apples grown primarily in the cool central highlands of Bumthang, Paro, and Thimphu, and oranges cultivated in the warm subtropical valleys of the southern and southeastern districts. Both fruits serve as significant cash crops for rural households and contribute to Bhutan's agricultural export earnings.

Chugo (Hard Cheese)

Chugo is a traditional Bhutanese hard cheese made from yak milk, smoke-dried over wood fires and strung on yak hair for storage and transport. Renowned as one of the hardest cheeses in the world, it is chewed slowly over thirty minutes or more like a natural gum, providing essential protein and calories to highland communities.

Genekha Gewog

Genekha Gewog is a rural block in Thimphu Dzongkhag, Bhutan, about an hour's drive south of the capital. Known for its production of prized matsutake and chanterelle mushrooms, it hosts the annual Genekha Matsutake Mushroom Festival and serves as the starting point for the Dagala Thousand Lakes Trek.

Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Project

The Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Project is a 600 MW run-of-river facility under development in Trashiyangtse District, eastern Bhutan. The first India-Bhutan hydropower project structured as a joint venture, it is being implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited (KHEL), a partnership between DGPC and SJVN Limited.

Bhutan–India Border Towns

The Bhutan–India border stretches 699 kilometres along the southern and southwestern edge of Bhutan, adjoining four Indian states. Several paired border towns serve as crossing points for trade, immigration, and daily commuter traffic, with Phuentsholing–Jaigaon handling the majority of bilateral commerce.

Damphu

Damphu (Dzongkha: དམ་ཕུག) is the capital town of Tsirang District in south-central Bhutan, situated at approximately 1,520 metres elevation on a ridge overlooking the Sunkosh River valley. A small but strategically located administrative centre, Damphu serves as the gateway between the highlands of central Bhutan and the subtropical lowlands of the south.

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong, formally Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong ("Palace of Great Bliss"), is the second oldest and second largest dzong in Bhutan. Built in 1637–38 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at the confluence of the Mo Chhu and Pho Chhu in the Punakha valley, it served as the seat of Bhutanese government until 1955 and remains the coronation site of every Druk Gyalpo.

History of Dagana Dzong

Dagana Dzong, formally known as Daga Trashiyangtse Dzong, is a frontier fortress in southern Bhutan built in 1651 on the orders of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. It has served as an administrative and monastic centre for the Dagana district for over three and a half centuries.

Bhutanese Refugee Crisis

The Bhutanese refugee crisis is the displacement of roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa from southern Bhutan in the early 1990s, their two-decade stay in seven UNHCR camps in eastern Nepal, and a third-country resettlement programme that moved more than 113,000 people to eight Western states between 2007 and 2016. Its contemporary tail is the 2025 deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement of resettled Lhotshampa to a Bhutan that refused to readmit them.

Thimphu District

Thimphu District (Dzongkha: ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག) is the most populous of Bhutan's twenty dzongkhags and contains the national capital, Thimphu. It serves as the political, economic, and administrative centre of the Kingdom of Bhutan, housing the seat of government, the royal palace, and the majority of the country's international organisations and diplomatic missions.

Dagana Dzong

Dagana Dzong (Dzongkha: དར་དཀར་ན་རྫོང) is a fortress-monastery in south-central Bhutan that serves as the administrative and monastic centre of Dagana District. Originally constructed in the 17th century, the dzong has been rebuilt and renovated multiple times and occupies a hilltop overlooking the subtropical Dagana valley, one of Bhutan's most culturally diverse regions.

Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project

The Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project is a planned 770 MW run-of-river hydropower scheme on the Chamkhar Chhu river in Zhemgang District, central Bhutan. One of the largest proposed hydropower projects in the country, it features a 108-metre concrete gravity dam and a 19.2-kilometre headrace tunnel. In 2024, Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) signed a strategic partnership with India's Reliance Power for the project's development.

River Systems of Bhutan

Bhutan's river systems rise from Himalayan glaciers and drain through steep forested gorges into the Brahmaputra plain, sustaining the kingdom's agriculture, generating its primary export commodity in hydroelectric power, and posing significant flood risks from glacial lake outbursts and monsoon flooding.

Dagana District

Dagana District (Dzongkha: དར་དཀར་ན་རྫོང་ཁག) is a district in south-central Bhutan known for its subtropical climate, citrus orchards, and the historic Dagana Dzong. Located between the highlands and the southern foothills, the district is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country.

List of Je Khenpos of Bhutan

A chronological list of the Je Khenpos, the Heads of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan, from Pekar Jungney (1651) to the seventieth incumbent, Trulku Jigme Choedra (1996–present). Records for many earlier holders are fragmentary; this article notes where dates and biographical detail are uncertain.

History of Trashigang Dzong

Trashigang Dzong, built in 1659 on a clifftop overlooking the Drangme Chhu and Gamri Chhu rivers, is the largest dzong in eastern Bhutan. Constructed on the orders of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal to consolidate Drukpa authority over the eastern regions, it has served continuously as a centre of administration and religious life for over 360 years.