A Gewog Centre road connecting three gewogs in upper Kheng of Zhemgang is in dire need of maintenance. The roads need immediate resurfacing. However, the local leaders said that the respective gewog administrations do not have enough budget to execute resurfacing works. They are waiting to hand over the roads to the Department of Surface Transport.
The Dakpel-Buli GC road in Nangkor Gewog is one of the roads that needs urgent attention.
The road surface has worn out. It is rough and bumpy, riddled with potholes making driving along the stretch very exhausting.
Blacktop along some portions of the road are washed away due to poor drainage system.
“The road is not useable. Because of the bad road condition, it takes two hours to reach places that used to take only an hour when the road was good,” said Rinchen Tshering, a commuter of Shingkhar Gewog.
“If the road maintenance work is initiated at the earliest it will benefit us. Now, small vehicles can hardly ply along some stretch as the road condition is bad,” said Tendrel Zangmo, a resident of Nangkor Gewog.
“It has been about seven years since the road was blacktopped. Now, most portions of the road are filled with potholes,” said Sangay, another resident.
The road connects three Gewogs of Nangkor, Bardo, and Shingkhar from Dakpel tri-junction. It was blacktopped in 2019 connecting upper and lower Zhemgang.
Residents blame the overloaded trucks continuously ferrying materials for the Burganchu Mini Hydro Power Project for the damages to the road that spans around 55 kilometres from Dakpel to Buli.
“This road is being damaged mainly by the heavy trucks carrying overloaded materials day and night,” said Sangay, a resident.
“Tipper trucks carrying heavy loads keep plying along this road for the project. That has damaged our road,” said Tendrel Zangmo, another resident.
Commuters along the road said the gewog administrations failed to take care of the road. The drains along the road are covered in overgrown bushes and debris from last monsoon.
However, officials from the Department of Surface Transport have yet to take over the GC roads. They are awaiting the government’s directive.
The GC roads in Zhemgang were handed over to respective gewogs in 2018 by the Department of Surface Transport.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
Edited by Phub Gyem
