The recently opened urban corridor road in Sarpang that connects Gelephu with the Gelephu-Sarpang highway is in need of blacktopping. The road was opened after the bypass at a nearby stream along the old highway was washed away last month. The stream is located about one and a half kilometres away from Gelephu.
The 2.5-kilometre Gelephu urban corridor road stretches from the BOD area in Gelephu town to the airport area, falling within the Thromde boundary. From there, it connects to the Gelephu-Sarpang highway.
Commuters say the road is riddled with potholes.
“In the absence of a blacktop, our vehicles require more maintenance. I think the road should be blacktopped at the earliest,” said Harka Badhur Ghalay, Commuter,
“The road becomes muddy during the rainy season and dusty during sunny days,” said Tashi Tamang, another commuter.
According to the Gelephu Thrompon, they could not initiate the blacktopping work due to budget constraints. The Thromde has proposed for Nu 30 M for the work to the Finance Ministry.
“If we are provided with funds, we can maintain the road. Otherwise, when the road is riddled with potholes, we have to spend a lot. That’s when we run out of budget as we spend a lot from the recurrent budget,” said Tshering Norbu, Gelephu Thrompon.
Only about 60 metres of the road which mostly includes a bridge was blacktopped. This was done because the blacktopping of the bridge was included in the bridge construction package.
The Gelephu Thromde started constructing the urban corridor road network project in 2020. Along with the construction of the road, the Thromde also constructed a bridge, a drainage system, boundary walls and culverts at a cost of Nu 300 M. Half of the amount was funded by the Government of India.
Karma Wangdi, Gelephu
Edited by Tshering Zam
