Residents of Silambi Gewog in Monggar are requesting motorable bridges over the Romodrang and Chulidrang streams between Weringla Dungkhag and Silambi Gewog. The residents say without a motorable bridge, they are unable to make use of the road, especially during summer. When the river swells, the area remains cut off for months.
This is Romodrang stream in Silambi Gewog where a portion of the road gets blocked mostly during summer due to landslides.
Commuters say due to frequent roadblocks and swelling of the stream they have to spend a night in between Silambi and Weringla.
The situation of the road is no different near the Chulidrang stream. The stream, located between Silambi and Gongdue gewogs, swells during the rainy season posing inconvenience to commuters.
“The road gets blocked at Romodrang and Chulidrang areas. It becomes difficult to clear even if excavators are deployed at the site. The drivers commuting between Monggar and Nganglam get stuck in the roadblock without food,” said Pema Wangdi, a commuter from Nagor.
“We urgently need motorable bridges at Romodrang and Chulidrang streams. I am also a driver and we suffer a lot because of the rain and landslides in the area during summer. We get stuck in the block and have to hold a night on the way,” said Kelzang Jampel, another commuter from Nagor.
“The condition of the road is too bad that light vehicles cannot ply on it. It is difficult even for heavy vehicles during summer. Without a bridge, vehicles remain stuck here for even a month,” said Pema Tshewang, also a commuter from Nagor.
According to the Silambi Gewog Office, a survey was conducted to construct a road below Romodrang to avoid the landslide. However, due to a lack of budget, the construction of the roads and bridges could not materialise.
“The gewog has coordinated to construct a road about 600 meters below Romodrang so that the road does not get eroded with the approval from the district. We received forest clearance today. However, due to a lack of budget, we are unable to start the work,” said Dorji Wangchuk, Silambi Gup.
According to residents and commuters, people and business entities of the eastern districts also use the road to travel to Nganglam in the absence of the Kuri-Gongri bridge.
As a result, about 30 kilometres of the road between Silambi and Gongdu Gewogs needs maintenance and blacktopping.
Today, the road does not even have a granular sub-base or GSB posing difficulty for light vehicles. The road also lacks a proper drainage system.
“The road condition is not good because of which drivers like us are facing problems while travelling. It has led to increased vehicle maintenance costs compared to the past,” said Nidup Gyaltshen, a resident of Dagsa.
“We did not receive a base course between Dungkhag and the gewog office. The road always gets blocked due to landslides. The road not only benefits the two gewogs but all commuters of the eastern districts. People travel from here as there is no bridge at Kuri-Gongri. The gewog does not get a separate budget to carry out the maintenance work,” said Dorji Wangchuk, Silambi Gup.
The Silambi Gewog Administration remains hopeful of getting the bridges constructed and the road blacktopped after the gewog office hands over the road to the Department of Surface Transport.
The gewog plans to hand over the road to the department in July this year.
Karma Wangdi, Monggar
Edited by Phub Gyem
