A causeway bridge came as a respite for the residents of four villages in Maenchhulam chiwog of Gakiling Gewog in Sarpang last year. However, the heavy downpour this monsoon damaged the foundation wall of both sides of the bridge making it risky for travellers. A causeway bridge is a raised path or road across a low ground, wetland or water made of sand and rocks.
People claimed that the bridge was damaged by the poor-quality construction materials used for foundation work. The heavy rain this year swelled the Deo stream damaging the foundation walls.
“We could make use of this bridge only for about five months after its construction. We have to travel through the bypass road with much difficulty,” said Raj Kamar, a resident.
“Vehicles could ply on this bridge for around four months until the monsoon. It hasn’t even been a year since its construction and the rain damaged the bridge. Similarly, many poor-quality works such as this are ongoing. The government has invested a huge amount for the well-being of the public but mistakes such as this are a huge problem for us,” said Tarabir Tiwari, another resident.
Meanwhile, the gewog administration has constructed a bypass for the people. Gakiling Gup said that they have already submitted disaster reports to the district administration for funds to restore the bridge.
“This year, heavy rain during monsoon severely damaged some parts of our development works. Even then, we decided to continue our work, visited every part of the damaged sites, surveyed and took out the cost estimate of repairing work and submitted it to the district administration. If we have funds left from our gewog fund from this financial year, we will carry out the restoration work of the entire damaged sites. We will discuss this in the next Gewog Tshogdu for endorsement,” said Gakiling Gup, Nim Dorji Sherpa.
The causeway bridge over the Deo stream was constructed at a cost of close to Nu 144,000 under the Small Development Fund. It benefits about 80 households in four villages.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
Edited by Sonam Pem
