The days of riding the narrow, dusty and pothole-filled road have finally come to end for the motorists using the Bajo-Khuru highway. The widening works along the nine-kilometre stretch of the road connecting Wangdue Phodrang to Punakha were completed a few months ago. And the road is already seeing an increasing number of vehicles. The government spent Nu 130 M to improve the road.
The Bajo-Khuru road was narrow and filled with potholes before it was widened. Moreover, the road would be dusty in winter and muddy in summer.
But the road now has a proper drainage system and side railings after the completion of the widening works. The widening works that began in April 2020 were completed in November last year. The completion of work was prolonged by around four months due to the pandemic.
“The condition of this road was very bad, especially during the summer. However, the road condition has improved drastically, benefiting all of us now,” said Chhimi, a driver.
“It’s quite comfortable to drive along this road now. So, we would like to thank the government for helping the public. Earlier, we used to take around twenty minutes to cover this stretch, but now we take only around ten minutes,” said Pasang Dorji, another driver.
However, a stretch of around one kilometre in the Thangoo area is left without widening. This is because the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Punastangchhu Hydropower Project I.
According to the memorandum, the project was supposed to take care of the stretch as the rising water level of the project’s dam posed a risk of damaging the road.
However, the project didn’t widen the road as the plan of dam construction was cancelled. Today, the stretch is left with only some layers of blacktop.
The Bajo-Khuru highway is expected to reduce the traffic towards the Wangdue Phodrang bridge.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
