Road: Blacktopping works for Tang feeder road, the only gewog center road without blacktop in Bumthang has begun with 13 of the total 17 kilometers scheduled to be blacktopped by September next year.

The 26-kilometre long road was constructed about 36 years ago for yak and sheep breeding centers in Wobthang and Tang respectively. Department of roads (DoR) took over the road in late 1980s.

A budget of Nu 41.48 million (M) has been allocated for works to cover roadside drainage, base-course rectification and blacktopping.

Bumthang sub-division executive engineer, Sangay Dorji said roadside drainage works for 10 kilometers of the total 13 kilometers contracted has already been completed. Currently, works worth Nu 31m for roadside drainage, base-course rectification and blacktopping are underway.

Sangay Dorji said blacktopping would be done only to the geowg centre covering just 17 of the total 26 kilometers. “This was the directive from the works and human settlement ministry,” he said. The road ends at Tazambi, nine kilometres further from the gewog centre.

While the communities in Tang are ecstatic with the news, the news that the blacktopping will be done only up to the gewog center disappointed some chiwogs. Recently, the villagers requested Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay who visited Tang during the mid-term review to consider the blacktop till Khangrub primary school (KPS) or Kakaling.

Gyedrung Ugyen Lhendup said people were requesting the blacktop till Kakaling, which is 1.8 kilometers further up from the gewog center.

“They were requesting till Kakaling for the convenience of people attending funerals at the crematorium where bodies from across the country are brought for cremation,” Ugyen Lhendup said.

Khangrub tshogpa, Tshering Dorji said the other request was to blacktop the road till KPS since most of the gewog’s people lived in chiwogs beyond the gewog centre. Khangrub is 5.5 kilometers further away from the gewog office.

“Only Bebzur and Dazur chiwogs are located near or before the gewog office while the bigger chiwogs like Tandigang, Khangrub and Kizom are located further up from the gewog,” Tshering Dorji said, adding Tandigang, Khangrub and Kizom are home to over 160 of the total 275 households.

The Prime Minister however turned down the request reasoning that the government couldn’t entertain such requests when some gewogs aren’t even connected by road yet. Moreover, considering requests for Tang, the Lyonchoen feared would only create room for others in 205 gewogs to make similar requests, Tshering Dorji said.

Tempa Wangdi, Bumthang