The highway extending from Royal Thimphu College (RTC) junction till the Babesa roundabout in Thimphu has been sustaining crude potholes for some years now.
While Department of Roads and Thimphu Thromde put the responsibility on one another, the daily commuters are bearing the brunt of heavy jerking alongside unwanted damage to the vehicles. The stretch is dominated with deep potholes and according to nearby residents, it appeared due to leakage of water on the surface of the road.
An official from the Roads Department said, the bituminous surface treatment was done earlier but road’s condition remained same. Meanwhile, regular commuters are irked by the bad road. “The road was bad as today even in 2005. For small cars like mine, mobile chambers and springs are often damaged. If the government repairs the road, we would heavy a sigh of relief,” said one of the residents, Bal Badhur Subba.
Other than residents, tax drivers too complain of having to travel along the potholed route. “It has been a year since the route has been in this bad state. When I drop passengers, I face lot of problems plying along the road. I just wish government could repair the road at the soonest,” said a taxi driver, Hasta Badhur Rai.
Meanwhile, Department of Roads and Thimphu Thromde are dodging accountability and blaming each other. Thromde says, their responsibility is to take care of roads within the thromde area which extends from Dechenchholing in the north till Olarongchu in the south. And the road leading to RTC from Babesa roundabout is not under their control.
