Tshering Namgyal | Mongar

Almost 10 days after a roadblock occurred in Namling along the Mongar-Bumthang highway, the Department of Roads (DoR) expects to clear the roadblock later today.

DoR officials, however, said the progress will depend on weather conditions.

The DoR’s chief engineer in Lingmethang, Kinzang Dorji, said that they have completed clearing almost 280m of the 300m block stretch. “Only about 20m remain and we will clear it by evening today if the weather remains clear.”

He said of the continuous rain that active landslides and foggy weather have hampered the clearing work.

Kinzang Dorji said they are to make the road open to traffic at the earliest possible point.

Similarly, the roadblock at 33km from Gyalpoizhing towards Nganglam is also expected to be cleared and open to traffic towards evening today if the base width of the road does not slide down.

According to the chief engineer, while the clearing work is in progress, they suspect the road’s formation width has slid down.

He said continuous falling of boulders hampers the assessment of the formation width.