In answer to the Maenbi-Tsaenkhar Member of Parliament, Choki Gyeltshen’s question on the status of Shingkhar-Gorgan highway during the question hour session of the National Assembly today the government informed the house that the possibility is getting thinner by the day.
The plan to construct the Shingkhar-Gorgan highway was there since the tenure of the first government. The government has also pledged to construct the highway but is now struggling to put the pieces together.
“Shingkhar-Gorgan highway topic has been discussed many times in the past and I feel that it has only been a topic of discussion so far. When we study the feasibility of constructing the highway, the risks involved in it are increasing every step we take. It has also delayed the northern east-west highway construction from Ura to Lingmithang. It has also delayed the maintenance of road from Gangola to Lhuentse. We wish to construct the Shingkhar-Gorgan highway as much as everyone but the risks and problems involved in it is huge. The altitude of the region is very high. The region is higher than Thrumshingla by altitude. Experts have told us that lots of complications are there. If we widen the road from Gangola to Lhuentse, It will benefit the people of Lhuentse. If we construct a bridge at Rothpazhong, It will also benefit the people. We should not divert our minds entirely to the construction of Shingkhar-Gorgan highway. We are also making other plans that will benefit the people of Lhuentse,” said Dorji Tshering, the Minister for Works and Human Settlement.
He also added that the plans to construct the road will still stay and that the government is looking at the feasibility of the construction. If there is a possibility of the highway, It will reduce the travel distance between the two Dzongkhags, Bumthang and Lhuentse by over 100 kilometres. The current distance between Lhuentse to Ura in Bumthang is about 207 kilometres.
Tshering Dendup
