Connectivity: Travellers are irked that the road in Sherchu, Mongar, is closed to traffic for half a day for widening works even on Sundays.

Travellers, who had to wait on October 9 from 8am till 10am, said the road should not be blocked on Sundays as it is a holiday. “We could have gone early in the morning if we knew the closure schedule is applied even on Sundays,” a traveller said.

Another traveller, who wished not to be named, was supposed to reach Thimphu yesterday. However, he said he didn’t want to travel on Saturday knowing there is a roadblock. “I assumed the road would be open on Sunday for the entire day.”

Travellers also said that the two hour closure is too long and that it should be reduced to an hour.

A truck driver headed towards Gyalpoizhing said he is required to return to Trashigang the same day but will not be able to because of the closure. “I usually travel this road and there were no road closures on Sundays before,” he said.

Another traveller said there were no announcements made about the Sunday closure.

Workers at the site said they have been closing the road on Sundays for the past few weeks. They work for half a day on Sunday after which the road is left open.

Travellers pointed out that other contractors working on the East-West highway are also rushing to complete the work on time but they still keep the roads open on Sundays.

Singye Construction’s project manager at Sherichu, Kinzang Dorji, said they had been previously working on alternative Sundays for half a day but decided recently to work on every Sunday instead.

“We have to complete the work on time and people should bear with us and with the inconvenience,” he said. However, he pointed out that if anyone is in an emergency, they are allowed through.

Nima Wangdi | Sherchu