Over the years, Drangja Goenpa of Loong-nyi Gewog in Paro has seen several developmental activities. If there is one thing that hasn’t been able to keep up with the ever-developing community it is the farm road there. The three-kilometre long farm road was constructed over 15 years ago and is in dire need of maintenance today.
The farm road begins from Olathang towards Drangja Goenpa. It has developed several potholes.
With a primary school and a Tsheringmo lhakhang located within the community, the number of road users has increased by three folds over the years.
The residents say the poor road condition is damaging their vehicles.
“The road isn’t even convenient to walk on. And it is difficult to hire a taxi. They charge us exorbitant rates and sometimes refuse to drop us even when we pay them what they demand,” said Damchoe, a resident of Drangja Goenpa.
Some said blacktopping the road was included in the gewog’s development plan years ago but it never materialized.
“Our Gup and tshogpa and even the minister know about the situation. People living here carry out small maintenance on our own every year,” said Tshering Dorji, another resident.
In recent years, a lot of new houses were constructed to lease out for rent. But the landlords claim they are not able to fetch the desired rent due to the road’s poor condition. They say only blacktopping would address the issues.
“People vacate the house within a month. When we don’t have occupants it is difficult to repay the loan amount. We constructed the house taking loan. If the road is maintained properly we will have a lot of tenants as the house is located nearby the school and hotels,” said Tshering Yangzom, a landlord in Drangja Goenpa.
According to the gewog gup, it would require at least Nu 5 M to blacktop the road. The gewog administration has prepared a cost estimation and submitted it to the relevant offices.
“Due to limited budget with gewog, we submitted it to the dzongkhag and then submitted to finance ministry. Accordingly, we were supposed to get the budget last year. But it got prolonged because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are in touch with the finance minister and he assured us that blacktopping this road will be on the priority list. So we are hopeful,” said Loong-nyi Gup Jamthso.
Unless prioritizing the blacktopping is materialized, people here will have to bear the bumpy rides. The road benefits more than 30 households in the community.
Namgay Wangchuk, Paro
Edited by Phub Gyem
