Residents of Chamkhar town are not happy with the dysfunctional streetlights and bad road condition in the core town area. People are particularly upset with the monthly fee the municipality charges them while several street lamps are not working. People also complain about the pothole-ridden roads in town, which have now become a recurring issue over the years.
If not for some car headlights and a few light bulbs in front of the shops, the upper part of town would otherwise be pitch dark as soon as dusk settles in. People are not happy with the situation. They say this has been going on for more than 2 to 3 months now.
“As there are several local festivals in Bumthang, a lot of people, both tourists and people from other parts of Bhutan gather here very often. So, without the streetlights, there are safety concerns and chances of theft cases arising in the town. We have been paying the street light charges every month and we have no idea what caused the street light outage,” said Sonam Dhendup, a shopkeeper at Chamkhar in Bumthang.
“The situation in the town has been like this for quite some time now. It is inconvenient for the passengers as well as taxi drivers when the taxi parking is not lit with light. We have been paying the fees to the municipality even when the lights are not working. Without the streetlights, when brawls break out amongst partygoers, it adds to the problem,” added Sangay Dorji, a resident of Chamkhar town.
However, Bumthang Dzongkhag Administration is looking at restoring the streetlight facility in the town soon.
“We are aware of the situation in the town and we are in the process of purchasing new lamps from elsewhere as they are not available in Bumthang. As Bumthang is a cold place, the lamps get damaged often due to the cold. We are trying our best to fix them whenever the lamps get damaged,” said Pasang Dorji, the Bumthang Dzongda.
Residents also complain about the bad road condition in the town area. The road between the vegetable market and the bus terminal has been filled with potholes for quite some time now. Even after maintenance works were carried out, the blacktop didn’t last much. Some people are therefore questioning the quality of blacktopping works. However, the Dzongkhag Administration claims that heavy vehicles using the same road are causing a lot of damage to the road. Moreover, the Administration says marshy surface around the town area is also affecting the condition of the road.
“Last year we restored a short stretch of road with concrete on a trial basis to study the feasibility of replacing blacktop with the concrete road. So we are going to leave the stretch like that until the end of this winter. But when we do the next maintenance, we want to make sure that the blacktop lasts for a longer duration by properly studying all the factors leading to the bad condition of the road. The Dzongkhag Administration is equally aware of the condition of the road and we already have plans to restore it,” the Dzongda added.
Until the streetlights are fixed and the roads maintained, people in Chamkhar town will, however, have to make do with the situation.
Kipchu
