People in Riserbu and Moshi villages of Trashigang residing near the highway have been feeling suffocated, literally. The stretch of road passing through the two villages is yet to be blacktopped and this has been causing a lot of dust pollution. People say they have been living in this situation for about two years now and are appealing to authorities to address it.
A house owner in Riserbu has covered the windows and doors with plastic sheets to keep out the dust although it is not fool-proof. It’s the same for most houses located near the highway. And with vehicles passing through the unpaved road every now and then, the place gets submerged in dust clouds frequently.
The situation is identical in Moshi. People are trying to adjust to life in dust but they say it is difficult. About 60 households in the two villages have been affected.
Some sprinkle water outside the houses every day to ease the problem.
“It is difficult to maintain cleanliness here, it also seems to be risky,” said Jigme Wangchuk who runs a restaurant in Moshi. “Recently my window glasses got shattered after getting hit by a stone. A vehicle passing by had hurled the stone in the air. We also have students who walk along this road.”
“It has become problematic for us. If we keep the windows and doors of our shops closed, then customers think the shops are closed and leave. And if we keep them open, all the dust gets inside. We have also started to get sick quite often,” said Kezang Choden, who resides in Riserbu.
The DANTAK office that looks after the road also sprinkles water using tanker trucks but people say it’s time the roads are blacktopped.
The road has been left in this bare state after widening works were started in 2019 on a 12-kilometre stretch which begins from Moshi to Wamrong.
According to the project contractor, after finishing blacktopping works on five kilometres, works had to be put on hold due to the covid outbreak which made procuring materials and foreign workers difficult. He said poor weather conditions also hampered their efforts.
But works are expected to resume this week and be completed by January of next year. The widening and blacktopping works are being carried out at a cost of Nu 130 M.
Sonam Darjay, Trashigang
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
