It’s the orange season in the country, a time for orange growers to get rewarded for their hard work. But for some, it is also a stressful time. In Samdrup Jongkhar, some farmers of Galingkhar and Wangphu villages in Martshala Gewog are getting ready to transport their orange harvest to the market. But to do so, they first need to carry their harvest from the orchard to the nearest road which is about an hour’s walk.
54-year-old Nagay Dorji is planning to take his orange to the town depot within a week or two. He has more than a thousand orange trees and the yield this season has been good. But he is worried because it is difficult to get workers to carry the fruits from the orchard to the nearest road.
“Without a road, it is very difficult. People have to carry the oranges on their backs from here to the nearest road. We need a road,” said Nagay.
Including Nagay, there are ten households from Galingkhar and Wangphu villages who own more than 4,000 orange trees on about eight acres at Dengshing Woong.
Apart from oranges, the farmers also grow paddy on about 20 acres of land.
“It is very difficult without a road. We have to hire workers to carry the orange, so we don’t earn much. It will be helpful if a road is cleared. We thought of growing vegetables but without a road, I think it will be difficult,” said Sangay Lhamo.
“We depend on oranges and paddy, but without a road, it is very challenging,” said Tshegay.
“Without a road, we have to carry everything on our back. We have been requesting a road for a long time but nothing has been done yet,” said Tashi Phuntsho.
According to the Martshala Gup, the Gewog office has been unable to construct a road for the villagers due to budget constraints.
“The gewog administration had to carry out maintenance works on the irrigation channels there. Due to limited budget, we were not able to clear a road,” said Martshala Gup Yenten Dorji.
But he added that the office is aware of the problems faced by the people and is planning to include it in the next year’s plans.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
