Vendors of Thridangbi in Saling Gewog of Monggar will no longer have to stay in the heat and rain along the Monggar-Bumthang highway to sell their farm produce. They have now started operating from temporary sheds after the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement came up with a new road guideline that allows vendors to construct temporary sheds within nine feet of the highway.
Five vendors have already completed the construction of temporary sheds and began selling their produce along the highway. And a few are yet to begin construction.
Farmers of Thridangbi make a living out of selling farm produce including flattened maize, banana chips and fruits along the highway. The vendors would earn about Nu 100,000 annually.
However, the past year had been challenging as they had to demolish the old sheds as per the Road Act. The Act required a distance of at least 50 feet between the highway and construction works.
“Without a proper shed, we used to lose our produce to dogs and crows. Although we were asked to make small sheds using banana leaves as roofing, we were asked to demolish that too as they told us that it doesn’t look good along the highway. We even appealed to the Department of Roads’ office several times but to no avail. We are now glad that they allowed us to open a market shed this year,” said Pema Tshomo, a roadside vendor in Thridangbi.
“For the last two years, we faced a lot of difficulties in selling the farm produce without proper mark sheds and also due to the lockdowns. We are so happy that the Department of Roads allowed us to construct temporary sheds and sell the products along the highway. Though we hardly find many buyers, getting a few hundred in a day is also helpful for us,” said Tshering Yangden, another vendor.
The Chief Engineer with the Department of Roads office in Lingmethang in Monggar said that the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement came up with the new road guideline following a meeting with the relevant stakeholders this year for the public interest.
Sonam Tshering, Monggar
Edited by Phub Gyem
