People of Borangchilo and Maan villages under Shumar Gewog in Pema Gatshel are asking for a bridge over the Cherung stream. Without a bridge, the farm road that was completed in 2019 has not been serving its purpose.
This seven-kilometre farm road connects the two villages with Denchi town in Pema Gatshel. It shortens the distance by more than 10 kilometres. But without a bridge, crossing the stream that connects the farm road to Denchi town is difficult during summer.
“The people use the road frequently to refuel the vehicles or visit the district court which has been moved to Denchi. So, in the absence of a bridge, it’s very inconvenient for the people to use the farm road,” said Choni Rabten, Nangkor Tshogpa.
“In the absence of a bridge, we have to take the longer route which is inconvenient. And with the fuel price hike, it is expensive,” said Tingta Wangdi, a resident.
“People of Shali, Shumar, Gamung and Gonpung have to travel via this road to reach the other side. Although we have a road, without a bridge, it’s difficult,” said Cheki Dorji, another resident.
Meanwhile, according to the gewog administration, there isn’t enough budget for bridge construction.
“The budget is not at all sufficient to construct this bridge from the gewog’s allocated budget because we have a limited budget. To construct a bridge, we have to spend a lot of money. If we have to construct the bridge, we cannot take up other developmental activities. We submitted the proposal to the Dzongkhag but we couldn’t get any response so far,” said Sonam Darjay, Shumar Mangmi.
However, after years of waiting, people are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The Labour Minister, during his recent visit to the gewog, assured that the issue will be discussed with the Works and Human Settlement Minister at the earliest.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Sonam Pem
