Thromde: Following issues over land acquisition, the structural plan to construct a bypass from Samdrupjongkhar town until the check post would be revised, according to the thromde officials.

A revision was called for after the Royal Bhutan Army refused to give land for the by-pass to pass through.

Almost 63 decimals of land would be required for the road construction and thromde officials said that the army refused to give the land stating the land size was too large to be given away.

Officials said all stakeholders were involved including the ministers, secretaries and army officials in approving the structural plan yet the land acquisition issue arose when the plan was being implemented.

The plan was to have an approach road through the army land where an army guesthouse is located near the bus terminal, pass via Samdrupjongkhar Middle Secondary School and connect with two bridges over Dungsam river until the check post at Charkilo.

The structural plan would now be submitted to the works and human settlement ministry for revision and review.

However, the officiating executive secretary Yeshi Dorji said that once the structural plan has been prepared, it would be reviewed only after five years as per policy. This means, the thromde cannot submit it for revision as and when it’s required, he said.

“The plan is not possible this financial year,” he said. “Instead we will start with some work and complete in two phases.”

Yeshi Dorji said that outside the affected area, work would continue to construct the two RCC bridges worth Nu 96 million and a new alignment road.

If the issue doesn’t get resolved, he said, the thromde office should come up with an option to build an approach road from the town to the by-pass road.

Thrompon Karma Sherab Tobgyal said the by-pass is important because it would shorten the route especially for trucks and divert heavy vehicles from entering the town.

By Yangchen C Rinzin,  Samdrupjongkhar