In areas prone to frequent landslides, the use of landslide susceptibility maps can greatly aid in the decision-making process of the socio-economic development plans of the area. Landslide susceptibility maps are generally developed using statistical methods and geographic information systems. In the present study, landslide susceptibility along road corridors was considered, since the anthropogenic impacts along a road in a mountainous country remain uniform and are mainly due to road construction. Therefore, we generated landslide susceptibility maps along 80.9 km of the Asian Highway (AH48) in Bhutan using the information value, weight of evidence, and logistic regression methods. These methods have been used independently by some researchers to produce landslide susceptibility maps, but no comparative analysis of these methods with a focus on road corridors is available. The factors contributing to landslides considered in the study are land cover, lithology, elevation, proximity to roads, drainage, and fault lines, aspect, and slope angle. The validation of the method performance was carried out by using the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic on training and control samples. The area under the curve values of the control samples were 0.883, 0.882, and 0.88 for the information value, weight of evidence, and logistic regression models, respectively, which indicates that all models were capable of producing reliable landslide susceptibility maps. In addition, when overlaid on the generated landslide susceptibility maps, 89.3%, 85.6%, and 72.2% of the control landslide samples were found to be in higher-susceptibility areas for the information value, weight of evidence, and logistic regression methods, respectively. From these findings, we conclude that the information value method has a better predictive performance than the other methods used in the present study. The landslide susceptibility maps produced in the study could be useful to road engineers in planning landslide prevention and mitigation works along the highway.

University students need to find a balance between their physical, mental, social, and emotional state to do well in their academics. Student’s well-being should be one of the top priorities for any academic institute. The present study employed a sequential mixed methods approach to provide insights into students’ perceptions of well-being and academic workload. An online survey (n = 385) was conducted in the first phase, followed by collection of qualitative data through course assignments (n = 119) in the second phase for in-depth information. The findings showed that the students are not satisfied with college life, particularly in terms of academic workload as well as basic facilities and services. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that students have issue coping with negative emotions, which is likely to impact their overall well-being and health. Therefore, it is crucial that the college implement strategic interventions to address these issues. Keywords: College student, well-being, academic workload, social life, basic services, personality. University students need to find a balance between their physical, mental, social, and emotional state to do well in their academics. Student’s well-being should be one of the top priorities for any academic institute. The present study employed a sequential mixed methods approach to provide insights into students’ perceptions of well-being and academic workload. An online survey (n = 385) was conducted in the first phase, followed by collection of qualitative data through course assignments (n = 119) in the second phase for in-depth information. The findings showed that the students are not satisfied with college life, particularly in terms of academic workload as well as basic facilities and services. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that students have issue coping with negative emotions, which is likely to impact their overall well-being and health. Therefore, it is crucial that the college implement strategic interventions to address these issues. Keywords: College student, well-being, academic workload, social life, basic services, personality.

Studies and research on the arena of prefabrication have prodigiously reported faster project delivery, improved quality and safer working conditions. More prominently, reduction in waste materials at project sites without any implications to environmental aspects has been a major breakthrough. Prefabricated building structures have been progressively recognized as a substitute to the conventional methods of construction at a rapid rate, however, there is a knowledge vacuum and inadequate data on the adoption of prefabrication in Bhutan. Hence, in the current study, the feasibility of Prefabricated Buildings in Bhutan with a case study was carried out. The study focused on the benefits, constraints and way forward of prefabrication works in Bhutan through field survey and questionnaire survey. In addition, economic, environmental assessments and insulation performance were carried on a Pre-Engineered building with prefabricated materials and subsequently compared to a conventional building. From the study, the major benefit found to be ease of construction whereas the constraints pertaining to the design and planning phase of the project were deemed to be the major constraint. In particular for prefabricated construction, the cost was found to be 24.18% higher but the duration of the project can be reduced by 25-31% and the environmental impact was found to be 20.81% less than for the conventional building. Therefore, adopting prefabricated construction will depend on the requirements of a particular project, the availability of funds and environmental standards to be followed. However, the use and acceptance of prefabrication in the construction industry can be improved by better advocacy and public awareness.

Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) are urbanized areas that experience significantly higher temperatures than their surroundings, contributing to thermal discomfort, increased air pollution, heightened public health risks, and greater energy demand. In Bhutan, where urban expansion is concentrated within narrow valley systems, the formation and intensification of UHIs present emerging challenges for climate-resilient urban development. Thimphu, in particular, is experiencing rapid urban growth and densification, making it highly susceptible to UHI effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate and simulate UHI conditions for Thimphu Thromde. We carried out the simulation using a GIS, multi-temporal Landsat imagery, and an Artificial Neural Network model. Land use and land cover classes were mapped through supervised classification in the GIS, and surface temperatures associated with each class were derived from thermal bands of Landsat data. These temperature values were normalized to identify existing UHI patterns. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was then applied to simulate future UHI distribution under expected land use change scenarios. The results indicate that, by 2031, built-up areas in Thimphu Thromde are expected to increase to 72.82%, while vegetation cover is projected to decline to 23.52%. Correspondingly, both UHI and extreme UHI zones are projected to expand, accounting for approximately 14.26% and 6.08% of the total area, respectively. Existing hotspots, particularly dense residential areas, commercial centers, and major institutional or public spaces, are expected to intensify. In addition, new UHI zones are likely to develop along the urban fringe, where expansion is occurring around the current hotspots. These study findings will be useful for Thimphu Thromde authorities in deciding the mitigation measures and pre-emptive strategies required to reduce UHI effects.