Choki Wangmo | Tsirang
Of the 12 gewogs in Tsirang, the condition of five gewog centre (GC) roads has worsened in recent years.
Light vehicles can barely make through Barshong, Tsirangtoed, Sergithang, Kilkhorthang, and Dunglagang GC roads.
For instance, the 12km Tsirangtoed GC road that starts from tri-junction point at Semjong is used by the commuters of Phuentenchhu and Sergithang gewogs.
Sergithang gewog is the highest producer of winter vegetables in the district. More than 300 households in the gewog use the road.
These GC roads have a steep gradient, poor alignment, lack of drainage system, and lack of budget for maintenance, among others.
The situation is dire during monsoon and emergencies.
Residents said that transporting farm produce to market is a nightmare on these roads, especially during monsoon.
The Sergithang Gewog Administration recently hired three roadside workers to maintain the GC road.
In successive dzongkhag tshogdus (DTs), the local government (LG) leaders in the district raised that Nu 30,000 allocated per km was not enough for major road maintenance works.
Barshong Gewog Administration spends a huge amount of budget on the maintenance of 9.8km GC road every year. According to the gup, Santalal Powdel, the gewog administration spends Nu 600,000. “In a few months, the road is washed away,” he said at the DT last month.
Tsirangtoed Gup Nanda Lal Kharel said that the gewog administration filled the potholes with the help of small budget allocated. “But the monsoon has damaged it again. We don’t have funds to repair the road.”
The dzongkhags administration has no budget to resurface the GC roads in this financial year, said the dzongkhag planning officer, Karma Wangmo. “The current budget is Nu 30M. To resurface a 10km road, we need at least Nu 50M,” she said in the DT.
Tsirang has about 80km of GC roads; only seven gewogs in the district have GC roads.
