The Gewog Centre (GC) roads in Tsirang are likely to further succumb to neglect and disrepair. The local leaders couldn’t mobilise funds to resurface the roads despite requesting the district administration as well as the central government. The issue was widely discussed during the recent Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
The Sergithang GC road and the Pungtenchhu GC road are the lifeline to residents of the two gewogs.
However, the road is barely pliable as it has been flooded due to the recent torrential rain in the district. This Sergithang GC road has also suffered deep potholes, making it a harrowing experience for travellers.
Four other GC roads of Barshong, Tsirang Toed, Dunglagang and Kilkhorthang are the most dilapidated roads among the 12 GC roads in Tsirang.
During the recently held DT meeting, LG members said the government rule of allocating the budget of Nu 30,000 per kilometre of road maintenance is not enough.
“Our gewog is ready to hand over the little budget that we have to the district administration. We would be grateful if the district administration could provide us with an additional budget to resurface the gewog centre road. It is in worst condition now,” pointed out Dunglagang Gup Kharka Bdr. Pradhan.
His opinions were echoed by other LG members in the house. “Tsirang Toed GC road was in very bad shape until a few months ago. We have filled up potholes with the little budget we had. But the monsoon rain has again deteriorated the road condition these days. The current budget of Nu 30,000 is very less to repair the GC road,” said the Tsirang Toed Gup, Nanda Lal Kharel.
Barshong Gup Santa Lal Powdel also expressed similar views.
“Our GC road is really in bad condition. The gewog has been spending about Nu 600,000 for road maintenance yearly. We recently completed the maintenance. But the incessant rain has again destroyed the road.”
The poor road conditions have left regular travellers fuming.
“Most GC roads in Tsirang are in bad shape. Small cars can hardly use the roads. Only four-wheeler vehicles can use the roads. One of my friends met with an accident around three months back due to the poor road condition,” said one of the motorists, Pratap Singh Rai,
But the district administration has no budget to resurface the GC roads this financial year. However, they agreed to allocate budgets for the same in the next Five-Year-Plan.
“The district administration has a current budget of only about Nu 30 M. But just to resurface a 10-kilometre road, we need about Nu 40-50 M. Therefore, let us all prioritise this in the 13th Five Year Plan, which is about to commence,” said the District Planning Officer, Karma Wangmo.
The officiating Tsirang Dzongda, Karma Dorji, also urged the gewogs not to overlook the issues related to the GC roads.
“The gewog administrations have been allocating budgets only for other developmental activities and GC roads are left out. From now on, if you feel GC roads are equally important and require maintenance, you must keep funds to maintain the GC roads.”
The worsening condition of GC roads was also raised during the Prime Minister’s visit to the district last month.
Tsirang has about 80 kilometres of GC roads covering the 12 gewogs. The cabinet decided to hand over the maintenance of all the 205 GC roads to the respective gewog administrations in 2019.
The works and human settlement ministry is mandated to look after the national highways only.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Pema Lhaden
