Neten Dorji | Trashiyangtse

The news of imminent launch of bridge over Nagpola river in Bumdeling is being received well by the people of Tarphel and Ngalimang in Trashi Yangtse.

Unreliable bridge over the river, particularly during monsoon, fills the people with dread.

Residents have been using a temporary wooden bridge which the gewog administration constructed after the river washed away the concrete bridge two years ago.

“Access to the market and transporting construction materials is also a big challenge,” said a villager, Shacha Dorji.

The bridge connects the two chiwogs with the rest of the gewog.

Despite being connected with the farm road, Sonam Tshomo, a villager, said they still have to carry things to the other side of the stream. “Having the road doesn’t serve its purpose without a bridge. We are in need of a bridge.”

About 80 households in Tarphel and 29 in Ngalimang will benefit by the new bridge.

Another villager, Phuntsho, said that without a proper bridge, the village remains cut off from other villages, especially during summer. “It has been more than one year since the completion of abutments and wing walls. But we do not know what has happened in the middle.”

An official from dzongkhag said that the bridge could be launched soon after the materials arrive.

“We are going to use parts of the old Doksum bailey bridge. We are looking at completing the construction by December this year,” said a dzongkhag official.