Transport: People of the five gewogs of Tashicholing (Sipsu) gewog in Samtse will no more need to travel all the way to Samtse town to fuel their vehicles and avail liquid petroleum Gas (LPG).

A new fuel station was installed and inaugurated at Gola bazaar in Tashicholing town on November 14.

Earlier, residents of Tashicholing used to travel 54 kilometers to Samtse. In desperate times, people refueled their vehicles from illegal outlets located by the roadsides. Bara, Tendu, Namgaycholing, Biru, and Tashicholing are the five gewogs the new outlet station will benefit.

The Druk Petroleum Corporation Limited (DPCL) outlet is constructed in association with the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) at a cost of Nu 5 million. With a population of more than 15,000, residents of these five gewogs have for long faced problems in availing fuel and LPG from Samtse.

The station was installed following a request from the people of Tashicholing. The same request was made again during the economic affairs minister’s recent visit in September.

Meanwhile, the station has been engineered with three underground tanks with a capacity of 20,000 litres each. A tank each will be used for petrol, diesel, and kerosene.

The officiating director with trade department, Dophu Tshering said the set up would ensure regular supply of fuel products for vehicles plying through Samtse national highway.

“About 100 kilometers have been shortened for Tashicholing people from travelling to and from Samtse,” the director said. “Having an outlet also means increase  in economic activities in Tashicholing.”

Dophu Tshering also stressed that it took only 42 days to complete the retail outlet. Initially, private people of Tashicholing also had proposed to set up the outlet. However, they were denied.

Dophu Tshering said building such retail outlet needs huge investment and technical expertise.

With the new outlet, there are now 47 outlets across the country with Bhutan Oil Distributor, Damchen, and DPCL.

The information and communications minister DN Dhungyel attended the inauguration along with two members of parliament, IOCL and trade officials.

Rajesh Rai, Phuentsholing

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