Some ten households of Pelrithang Khamaed residing near Pelrithang Middle Secondary School in Gelephu are troubled by the bad road condition in their area. The road condition started deteriorating after a community contractor started clearing an old irrigation channel along the road last year.
The farm road along with irrigation channel stretches from Chhoekhorling village of Samtenling Gewog till Pelrithang Khatoed of Gelephu Gewog.
The road was laid with a base course and didn’t pose any trouble to the residents until last winter. But it became an issue after the irrigation channel clearing works in October last year.
The mud and debris from the old irrigation channel were dumped on the road. The road became dusty during winter. And now, with continuous rainfall, it has become too muddy to walk or drive on.
“In winter, we had to keep our windows and door closed due to dust. The whole family fell sick with a cough and was bedridden. Now, vehicles cannot ply the road. They get stuck in the mud. I even asked the contractor not to dump soil on the road. The contractor said he will dump in other areas but he dumped it all on the road,” said Buko, a resident of Pelrithang Khamaed in Gelephu Gewog.
“The road was dusty during the dry season. And now during the rainy season, it has become muddy making it very difficult for vehicles to ply. It is also troubling the students and people in the community,” added Pavitra Nepal, another resident.
To address the issue, the Gelephu Gewog Administration has informed the community contractor to fill the road with sand gravel. The gup said it would be done by this week only. But according to the residents, the works have not started yet.
“Yesterday we went to site visit and informed the contractor to fill the road with sand gravel to make it easy for vehicles to drive on,” said Gelephu Gup Prem Prasad Katel.
Gelephu Gewog awarded the contract to clear the old irrigation channel to a community contractor to channel the rainwater through it during monsoon to prevent flooding in the community.
The clearing of the irrigation channel along with the construction of the drainage system was carried out at a cost of More than Nu 1 M funded by the government.
Karma Wangdi, Gelephu
Edited by Phub Gyem
