To address recurrent road blocks at Reotala and box-cutting along Gelegphu-Zhemgang Highway, the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement (MoWHS) will undertake major mitigation works. Officials said re-alignment and tunneling of the highway is no longer possible.
The Works and Human Settlement Ministry will soon form a separate project committee for the mitigation works at the two sites. Budget will also be separately allocated.
“…The slides will continue to occur. We cannot stop because the whole hill is coming down,” the works and human settlement minister, Dorji Choden said. She said they want to come up with some strengthening measures, in addition to what has already been done.
Lyonpo said they want to protect the formation cutting of the road.
The Works and Human Settlement ministry plans to construct walls to prevent the erosion. However, water continues to seep in the area, posing a major challenge for mitigation works.
“So it is difficult for the workers and machinery to work. There have been cases of machinery being damaged by the slide,” said Department of Roads’ Engineer, Letho.
The geo-technical Engineer from the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement, Tempa Thinley said the two landslide prone areas fall under a geologically weak zone.
“In this area, the type of geology consists of phyllite and we can also see some bends of quartzite. The dominant is phyllite,” said Tempa Thinley.
He said such type of geology, during rainfall, is susceptible to erosion.
About 400 metres of road have been damaged by the Reotala landslide since 2008. Every year, the Department of Roads spends over Nu 6 M to keep the road open to traffic.
