Nim Dorji | Trongsa

Almost 11 years after the construction of 19.5kms Korphu gewog centre road in Trongsa, the road was finally blacktopped.

The dzongkhag constructed the road as a farm road in 2011 and the Department of Roads (DoR) took it over in 2015 when gewog centre roads were being blacktopped.

The blacktopping of the road, which starts from Wangdigang of Gelephu-Trongsa highway, was first awarded to a contractor of Druk Lhayul Construction with a budget of Nu 69.369 million (M).

The work started on January 4, 2016, and was supposed to complete on July 13, 2018.



However, as the contractor failed to complete the work on time, the work was terminated in March 2019.

The remaining work was retendered and was awarded to a new contract at the cost of Nu 35.808M in 2020, but the contractor completed it during the liquidity damage period.

DoR’s chief engineer in Trongsa, Ugyen Dorji, said the blacktopping works completed after the contract period ended.

However, villagers are happy the road is finally blacktopped. A resident of Korphu, Pema Gyeltshen, said although the blacktopping was behind schedule, they now enjoy travelling on the blacktopped road.



He said villagers faced difficulty getting vehicle and vehicle owners had to repair their vehicle time and again before.  Thinley Dorji from Nabi said that with the blacktopping, it now takes only 30 minutes to reach to the highway.  “It will also help us sell cardamom, our only cash crop.”

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