The people of Dharchhargang chiwog at Rangthangling Gewog in Tsirang were all happy when the Tsirang District administration blacktopped a farm road in the chiwog in 2021. But their happiness was short-lived as the road suffered major damages today failing its purpose. The road beneficiaries are now seeking intervention from the relevant authorities to repair the road.
The blacktopping works for the one-kilometre farm road between Bhutan Power Corporation’s Substation and Rangthangling Primary School began towards the end of 2020 and were completed in May last year. The district administration spent over Nu 3 M.
Despite the traffic not being heavy along the stretch, the blacktopped road didn’t last long. The stretch has developed numerous potholes and cracks. The road benefits 45 households and the Rangthangling Primary School in the gewog.
“The poor road condition is troublesome for both vehicles and to the school-going children of Rangthangling Primary School. It is quite embarrassing to see a blacktopped road deteriorating within a year,” said Ram Bdr. Monger, a resident of Dharchhargang of Rangthangling Gewog.
“The road is uneven and the ride is very bumpy. We lose control at times when we try to escape potholes,” said Pema Wangchuk, another resident of the chiwog.
Residents who didn’t want to be named blamed the contractor for carrying out the blacktopping works during rainy days when the road was not properly set for blacktopping.
They also accused the district tender committee of failing to strictly monitor the works. This, they claim, happened despite the site engineer and inspection team alerting the committee with pictorial evidence of the contractor carrying out the blacktopping works with poor workmanship.
Rangthangling Gup said the Gewog administration could do little as the district administration financed the works.
The gewog administration, however, has informed both the district administration and the concerned contractor several times requesting interventions.
“A few months ago, the contractor bought some sacks of sand which were laid on the road but he didn’t do any work. The road is under the scrutiny of the Royal Audit Authority. After getting a report from the RAA, we will know whether the potholes should be covered by the gewog or by the district,” said Rangthangling Gup Leela Raj Sunwar.
BBS learnt that the site engineer who superannuated a few months ago couldn’t claim his retirement benefits after the Royal Audit Authority issued an audit memo for the poor-quality blacktopping.
Meanwhile, the Chief District Engineer said the concerned contractor will repair the road since the district administration alerted the contractor for necessary rectification works before the one-year contract liability period.
The district engineer, however, said the monsoon has delayed the repairing works.
The contractor said the company couldn’t execute repairing works so far due to the unavailability of bitumen. However, he added, the company has placed an order for bitumen from a bitumen plant at Sunkosh to carry out the repairing works in the coming weeks.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Phub Gyem
