Tshering Namgyal | Lhuentse

After waiting for years for the Shingkhar-Gorgan bypass, residents of Gorgan in Lhuentse will finally have a blacktopped gewog centre road.

The Department of Roads (DoR) awarded the work to blacktop the 8.2km Maetsho gewog centre (GC) road to a local contractor, who started the work from Gorgan.

The gewog has already blacktopped the GC road from Silibi junction to the gewog centre a few years ago, but did not blacktop from Gorgan to Silibi because of the plan to construct a bypass road between Shingkhar in Bumthang and Gorgan.

DOR’s site engineer in Autsho, Geyley, said the contractor finished laying granular sub-base (GSP) and wet mix macadam (WMM) and constructing drains in six kilometres of the stretch.

He said that although works were supposed to complete by October this year, it was extended until November to compensate for the month-long lockdown.

The blacktopping work cost is Nu 47.77 million.

DoR’s regional office in Lingmethang is also resurfacing the Gangola-Lhuentse highway since last year. In the 2020-21 financial year, 12km of road was resurfaced while another 12km would be blacktopped this financial year.

According to Geyley, the resurfacing works include 3km stretch between Gangola and Chali, 4km from Palangphu and Rodpashong, and 5km between Phawan and Gorgan.

Meanwhile, the recent Lhuentse dzongkhag tshogdu deliberated on the need to widen the highway that falls under secondary national highway category and resolved to forward the resolution to the works and human settlement ministry.

Edited by Tashi Dema