The people of four chiwogs under Shompangkha Gewog in the Sarpang district have been using the rough road for more than 14 years. Although the gewog administration blacktopped only four kilometres of the total 17-kilometre farm road, people are delighted.
This 17-kilometre farm road starts from Dargyethang along the Gelephu-Sarpang highway and ends at Risumgang. After spending around Nu 24 M, the gewog administration recently blacktopped the road till Koenchholing and constructed a 10-kilometre long drain.
The residents say it has helped them market farm produce and areca nuts.
“It was difficult to commute along this farm road in the past. But now it’s comfortable whether you travel by car or walk along the road,” said Jitmaya rai, a resident of Shompangkha Gewog.
“The travel expense has come down. In the past, taxis used to charge us much higher because of the rough road. We could even market our produce. It has made our lives easy,” said Deo Kumar Rai.
However, some residents who refused to provide an interview on camera said the quality of the blacktopping works has been compromised.
“It was only last week the blacktopping was completed and we cannot say anything right now. It takes one to two weeks for the blacktop to set properly. Our gewog engineer and the contractor monitored the quality of blacktopping work,” said Ashman Rai.
The blacktopping works were carried out under the Small Development Projects funded by the Government of India. The gewog administration had proposed the budget to the government after the public requested a paved road.
Meanwhile, the gewog office plans to blacktop the remaining farm road as well.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
Edited by Sangay Chezom
