Tshering Namgyal | Mongar

When gewog officials of Mongar are busy with Covid-19 issue, a farmer from Sangsibi village in Chali gewog took a farm road dispute matter in his own hands and blocked the road.

The farmer blocked a kilometre of farm road recently, claiming it is encroaching into his land. He blocked it using sacks of concrete mixture at a point and turning it into small terraces at another point.

The 47-year-old farmer said he blocked the road since the only farmer who benefits from the farm road refused to allow farm road construction through her land.

He said the farm road construction, which would continue from the one running through his field, would benefit more than 28 households including him.

“But the owner of the only household that benefits from the existing farm road refused to allow construction through her land,” he said. “As much as her land is important to her, my land is important but I allowed the construction since farm road is an indispensable infrastructure.”

He said seven landowners were affected when the road was constructed. Though they didn’t sign any papers, they verbally agreed to allow the road construction, which would pass below the house of the woman in the 12th Plan.

“She is my first cousin and I never thought she would do that,” he said.

He said he informed the gewog administration before he blocked the road on March 14.

The woman, who did not allow the road construction, said she only had a small portion of arable land below her house and she could not allow the construction.

She said she allowed the road to be constructed above her house but two other landowners refused it.

Meanwhile, Chali gup Tashi Dhendup said he received the complaint verbally.

“The woman complained but I was engaged in Covid-19 awareness programmes these days,” he said.

According to the gup, a 4kms new farm road would be constructed in the 12th Plan from Shingkharshong on the Mongar-Lhuentse highway until Kharduma village in the first year and then only continue connecting remaining households in the second year.