Kelzang Wangchuk | Jomotshangkha

The 1.6 kilometres Langchenphu gewog connectivity (GC) road in Jomotshangkha, Samdrupjongkhar, is in bad condition and needs maintenance.

It is the shortest GC road in the drungkhag.

A villager from Langchenphu said the GC road is very important for villagers because they travel and transport agricultural products and commodities through the road. “Transportation charges increase when the condition of the road is bad.”

A driver, Pema, said the potholes in every few metres of the stretch are making it difficult for small vehicles to ply through the road.

“Who is going to repair the road? The gewog, drungkhag or the dzongkhag?” he asked.

Residents said the road, which was blacktopped a few years ago, is now in a pathetic condition.

“It is difficult for students as the road gets filled with water when it rains,” a resident, Wangmo, said.

Villagers claimed that since the distance of the road is short and would not require much budget, it would help them if authorities could maintain and blacktop the road. “But a proper system should be put in place for continuous maintenance.”

Langchenphu gewog gup, Guman Singh Gaylal, agreed the GC road needs maintenance and said the gewog administration carried out the minor repairing works such as filling up the potholes.

He said the gewog would soon carry out the resurfacing work because about Nu 2.4 million had been approved in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

The resurfacing work includes blacktopping and widening of some stretches.

The gup said that since they have other developmental activities to be executed in the gewog, they cannot focus on the road and they also do not have experts in the road. “We also do not have a separate budget for the road.”

He said it would have been better if the roads were kept under the Department of Road (DoR) as they have road experts. “We feel that we are playing with the policies sometimes.”

Gup Guman Singh Gaylal said allotting more budget on the road affects other essential development activities in the gewog. “The roads should have been handed over with the budgets and technical experts.”