In Trashi Yangtse, there is a corner of Yallang Gewog where the road simply stops, hours before home. For the people of three chiwogs there, everything still moves on horses or someone’s back. Now, the villagers say they have found a way and are hoping it will be heeded to.
The road ends at Prangpo Nyesa. Beyond this point, everything moves the old way. The people of Dukti-Gashing, Chema-Melongkhar, and Namthi-Yerphel chiwogs carry goods on their backs or load them onto horses. Dukti, the farthest settlement from the gewog centre, takes up to five hours on foot.
The cost of that distance is now visible in the villages. Residents say the lack of road connectivity has pushed some families to leave altogether. As BBS reported earlier, Dukti, which borders Tawang in India, is down to around 14 households from about 35 a decade ago.
Now, the villagers have settled for an answer – a ropeway.
“If there is a motorable road, sick patients can be taken to the hospital quickly. However, because there’s no road, we have to carry patients on our backs and bring them to the road point. There is always a risk that they could die on the way. So, most of us are hoping for a ropeway as an alternative transport system,” said Karma Tenzin, Dukti Tshogpa, Yallang Gewog, Trashi Yangtse.
For a community on the border, even expectations are measured. That is why the ropeway idea has taken hold.
“As our village is located along the border area, we do not expect to have a motorable road. We hesitate to even ask for it. However, some suggested a ropeway instead. It will help us in transporting sick patients during emergencies and in taking our surplus agricultural produce to the market. The facility would uplift our livelihoods,” said Cheten, Chema_Melongkhar Tshogpa, Yallang, Trashi Yangtse.
The gewog administration has not been idle. With support from the Economic Stimulus Programme, it has developed eco-trails covering the three chiwogs. Officials say the improved routes will make travel safer and more convenient for both people and animals.
“Regarding the need for a ropeway, none of the chiwog tshogpas have approached us or submitted an agenda so far. Our priority is to propose a farm road. If the farm road is not approved, then we can explore alternative options. I think it is still too early to discuss a ropeway,” said Sonam, Yallang Gup, Tashi Yangtse.
For now, the choice before the local government is a sequenced one. For the more than 100 households, the choice is simpler: that the idea moves from a footpath conversation to a formal agenda. Until it does, life here will keep moving the old way, on backs and horses.
Sonam Darjay, Tashi Yangtse
Edited by Sonam Wangdi
