The 65-kilometre Monggar-Lhuentse Secondary National Highway needs maintenance and widening. The road is filled with potholes and has poor drainage. Residents of Lhuentse and some gewogs of Monggar use the road frequently.
The Monggar-Lhuentse Secondary National Highway starts from Gangola in Monggar and ends at the Lhuentse Dzong.
The road leading to the Lhuentse Dzong is paved across a cliff along some stretch and is narrow.
Some stretch of road was resurfaced a few years ago. But it is now damaged and needs maintenance. Most of the damages were caused due to poor drainage along the road.
With road users increasing over the years, commuters are worried about their safety while traveling along the road.
Tshering Dorji, a commuter said “When two heavy vehicles meet, it is very difficult to give way. If we reverse, the vehicle might hit the rock. And we cannot move close to the lower edge as the vehicle might topple. Although the road’s blacktop is fine, it gives us trouble because of the size. With the Dorjiloong project ongoing the problem will only aggravate when more heavy vehicles start using this road.”
Tenzin Wangdi, another commuter said “During emergency situations such as carrying patients to the hospital, we have to drive in a hurry and we cannot see vehicles coming from the other side. Because of the narrow road, there is a high risk of accident. It has been a year since I started working here and I heard about 10 to 11 accident cases where two happened right in front of me. I saw a jumbo vehicle topple below the road near the Autsho Town.”
The chief engineer of the Department of Surface Transport’s regional office in Lingmithang said that four kilometres of the road is taken care of by the Lhuentse Municipal and 10 kilometres by the Dorjiloong project.
The department plans to widen the remaining 51-kilometre of the road from November.
The department targets to complete the widening of 15 kilometres of the road within this financial year for which the government has provided Nu 50 M.
The department plans to complete widening and blacktopping of the entire stretch of the road within three years. It will cost around Nu 1.5bn.
Sonam Darjay in Lhuentse
Edited by Phub Gyem
