From encouraging people to grow their food to substituting foreign workers in the construction sector and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people’s lives in several good ways despite all the inconveniences. In Pema Gatshel, the residents of Arden chiwog have stopped taking the illegal route to the bordering town of Shobhankata.
The pandemic has encouraged the people in Arden to do business within the district by making use of the farm road that connects the chiwog to the Nganglam town. Arden is a remote chiwog in Chhokhorling Gewog of Pema Gatshel.
In the absence of a proper road network, the chiwog’s residents normally take an illegal route towards Shobhankata in India to trade their farm produce and import household goods. It takes them almost four hours to reach the bordering town.
But they stopped travelling to the Indian town after the closure of the borders due to the pandemic.
Moreover, with the 10-kilometre farm road from Gewog centre to the chiwog laid with the base course since last year, life has become easier for them.
“Now I don’t travel to the bordering town. It is always better to travel towards Nganglam as we have road connectivity,” said Dechen, a resident of Khalatsho in Chhokhorling Gewog.
“In the past, we were compelled to travel towards the border as we didn’t have proper road connectivity to Nganglam. Now, we can get all we need from here and road connectivity has made everything a lot easier,” said Pema Tshomo, another resident of Khalatsho.
Currently, there are 10 households in Arden village. They started selling fruits and other cash crops in Nganglam town at the start of the pandemic.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Phub Gyem
