In Samdrup Jongkhar, the residents of Drupchhugang in Phuentshogthang Gewog are calling for maintenance on the farm road that connects their village to essential services and neighbouring villages. Currently, only four-wheel drive vehicles can navigate the road due to its potholes and uneven surfaces.
Villagers say the worsening condition of the road has made travelling difficult, particularly during the monsoons when the road becomes muddy and slippery.
The four-kilometre farm road was constructed in 2017.
Dhan Bahadur Subba, a villager of Phuentshogthang Gewog said, “The road is not good. The government has constructed the road but still it needs maintenance. I am old, I cannot walk and road is not good so I have to carry things, it is really difficult.”
Similarly, Bal Bahadur Limboo who is also a farmer in the gewog said, “It is really difficult, we have to carry patients on our back to the hospital. With bad road, we also carry rice and other necessary items on our back and walk.”
“In emergencies, like delivery cases, we have to carry patients on our backs to the hospital. Even the school is far,” said Dhan Dhoj Subba.
Mon Maya Limboo, said, “The government has provided us with a road but is not laid with a base course. It becomes slippery during the summer.
The Phuentshogthang Gewog Administration does not have immediate plans to lay a base course on the Drupchhugang village farm road.
However, the gup said that the gewog plans to lay base course on all farm roads in the gewog with proper drainage in the 13th Five-Year Plan.
The gup also added that the gewog is carrying out minor road maintenance works to keep the road usable.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Sherub Dorji
