Road improvement works for the 34-kilometre Nanong_Tshatshi farm road under Nanong Gewog in Pema Gatshel is underway. And this is a dream come true for some 100 households of Tshatshi_Gashikhar chiwog. However, some 10 households of Moona village are unhappy. About a half kilometre road to their village has been left out.
The Granular Sub-base course of the road ends about a half kilometre before it reaches the road end in Moona village. This means, people of Moona will still have to take the trouble, using the road, which becomes slippery during rainy days. They also allege that large drains have been dug which could store water, giving way to their fields and homes.
According to a resident, Ugyen Tenzin, they are unhappy that the short stretch of the road has been left out.
“We don’t know what the exact problem is, but they say it’s due to budget constraint. Our vehicles can’t pass through the road during rainy days. We would be grateful if they execute it immediately,” he said.
Because the drain has been dug already without the base course works happening, Gashingkhar_Tshatshi Tshogpa Gaydhen, said the road has become narrow. According to him, this will give problems, especially when vehicles give way.
“Moreover, with drain like this, water might get clogged and will cause soil erosion and landslide. This could even damage the part of the road that’s improved,” he said.
The gewog administration is aware of the problem. According to Nanong Gup Sonam Jamtsho, they plan to carry out the road improvement works at the earliest.
“We plan to improve the remaining stretch of the road immediately if there is surplus budget at the end of the current work. If there is no surplus budget, we will allocate a separate budget within this financial year to solve the problem at the earliest,” he said.
The road improvement work for the longest farm road in the gewog began early this year with about Nu 56 M. The work is expected to complete at the end of this year. Once complete, it is expected to reduce the travel time from the gewog centre to Tshatshi_Gashikhar chiwog by an hour. Today, it takes about two hours to reach the chiwog.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Chayku
