Trashigang Dzongkhag Tshogdu (DT) chairperson decided that the Merag Gewog Centre (GC) road will be blacktopped from Chaling village in Shongphu Gewog after members failed to come to a consensus.
“Three roads from Phongmey, Radhi and Shongphu connect Merag Gewog centre road. And everybody wants blacktopped roads to go through their gewogs. But the farm roads that pass through Chaling benefit more people and it is shorter,” the DT Chairperson Kinzang Dorji said.
During the recent DT meeting, the Mangmi of Shongphu Gewog said if blacktopped from Chaling, it will benefit more than 225 households of Shongphu and Chaling and even Tongling Chiwog of Radhi Gewog.
“At our Gewog Tshogdey, people suggested that if Merag Gewog centre road to be blacktopped from Chaling for the benefit of the majority of households,” Shongphu Mangmi Dendup Dema said.
But local leaders of Merag say it would incur extra cost to blacktop the 17-kilometre Chaling farm road.
“In this financial year 2019-2020, we have Nu 23 M for blacktopping. We might need a huge amount for the blacktopping works. I think eventually we might not have enough budget to blacktop the road,” Merag Mangmi Phurpa, said.
The Merag GC road, which is about 35-kilometre, was constructed more than eight years ago.
