With the onset of the monsoon, the people of Sakteng Gewog are worried that the blacktopping works of the Gewog centre (GC) road might get delayed. The blacktopping of the 31-kilometre stretch started in May 2020. It was scheduled to complete by the end of next month.
About 60 per cent of the work has been completed so far. And people are concerned that the monsoon might hamper the work progress. The Nu 91 M worth GC road stretches from Dogorom to Sonachhu.
“It’s difficult when we need medical emergency services because of the road condition. It takes time to reach the hospital in Trashigang which is the only nearest hospital although we have a small BHU here. People have lost lives due to delays in the medical service because of the bad road condition,” said Nima Dorji, Borangmang-Borangtse Tshogpa.
“When it comes to the road condition, the road and the drainage systems are not good till Sonachhu. And with the onset of the monsoon, the heavy downpour will make it difficult for the vehicles to ply through,” said Rinchen Khando, Pusa-Tenmang Tshogpa.
The contractor said the work progress got delayed as they couldn’t get labour and some stretch of the road fell under a high-risk area amid the pandemic. However, the Dzongkhag administration has provided a time extension till the end of this year.
Following the completion of the ongoing blacktopping of Merak and Sakteng GC roads, all the 15 gewogs in Trashigang will have blacktopped GC roads.
Sonam Darjay, Trashigang
Edited by Sonam Pem
