Having to travel along the Dechen Pelri road in Sarpang almost every day, commuters complain of the worsening condition. Although the farm road was constructed in 2016, it has not been blacktopped once. Some hundreds of vehicle travel on this road every day and the commuters said the road needs to be blacktopped.
Sustasing Rai, a taxi driver said the road would have been much better if it was blacktopped two years ago. “The road condition would’ve been better. Most rural communities reside in this area and more vehicle ply on this road.”
“Initially, it was planned to maintain Zhomlingthang road but could not carry out maintenance due to COVID-19. Road maintenance has become very crucial for us. The condition of the road will worsen once the monsoon starts,” said Krishna Tamang, a commuter.
The Dechhen Pelri road falls under Gelegphu and Samtenling Gewog. The local leaders of Gelegphu and Samtenling Gewog in Sarpang proposed for additional budget to carry out maintenance and blacktopping during the recent Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
Gelegphu Gup Ugyen Wangchuk said the gewog budget will be utilised in other developmental activities but the spillover will be used for road maintenance. “The remaining amount from both Samteling and Gelegphu Gewogs would carry out the blacktopping works. So, we would like to seek support from the Dzongkhag.”
“In future, I think it will cost a huge amount. So, it is better to spend around 15 to 20% on maintenance and blacktop” added Kumar Gurung, the Samtenling Gup.
However, the Dzongkhag Planning Officer said that there is no possibility for an additional fund from the Dzongkhag. He said the Gewog should manage fund from the Gewog farm road maintenance fund. “It would be better if the two Gewogs could manage the fund from their farm road maintenance fund for this work,” said Tshering Dendup, the planning officer in Sarpang.
The 5.8-km farm road benefits around 180 households. With the chances of getting their road blacktopped looking slim, residents can only hope that the monsoon season doesn’t deteriorate the condition even further.
Karma Wangdi, Gelegphu
