Road traffic congestion is one of the chronic issues facing the residents of Thimphu. And today with the road along Zilukha-Hejo closed for commuters due to the ongoing widening works, the issue has only worsened.
When Thimphu Thromde issued the notification announcing the road’s closure on May 10, no one expected the issue of traffic congestion would escalate to the current situation. Now it takes almost an hour to reach the town from Taba which normally is around five to ten minutes drive. “The traffic congestion is getting worse in Thimphu. People cannot get to places on time,” said Kuenzang Wangdi, a resident of Thimphu.
“It is taking hours to reach the destination. I think it might be because of the road closure in Zulikha and also because the roads are narrow. This is an issue especially for the office goers as they are not able to reach their office on time,” added Dorji Gyeltshen.
The road widening work along the Zilukha-Hejo is one of the projects the Thimphu Thromde started to build 4-lane roads within the city to keep up with the increasing number of vehicles.
“People are facing problem because of this work. We started this project in May last year. We were supposed to finish the work within a year. But because of the pandemic and lockdowns, we couldn’t work according to our plans. One of the main work is to build the wall and we have completed almost 95 per cent now. And we plan to finish the remaining works on the wall within two weeks,” said Ngawang Tashi, an engineer with the Thimphu Thromde.
As per the records with the Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA), currently, there are more than 60,000 vehicles in Thimphu. The capital city registers around 10 cars daily on average. The Bhutan Trade Statistics 2020 also shows that the import of vehicles is rising every year. More than 10,000 vehicles were imported in the past two years adding to the growing traffic congestion.
The relevant agencies are trying different means to address the issue. Thimphu Thromde along with the RSTA and traffic police also set up three additional city bus stops in Thimphu for the time being- one each in Taba, Pamtsho and Hejo to facilitate and encourage people to use the public transportation services.
The Chief Regional Transport Officer, Prem P. Adhikari, said people should practice carpooling and make use of the public service transports. “We have noticed many people travelling alone in their cars. This adds to the problem. We are hoping import of vehicles will reduce when the public transport system improves in the future.”
“We already have the policy to prioritise public buses. We are mandated to let the buses go first when there is a traffic jam. But that is not feasible in practice with the current infrastructure as the roads are narrow,” added Namgay, Thimphu Traffic Police Division’s Superintendent of Police.
The relevant agencies are coming up with various measures to address the traffic congestion. But it remains to see if these measures are able to tackle the challenge that the commuters are facing every day.
Yeshi Dorji
