The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Swift progress in the black topping of the Bartsham road has brought immense joy to many people of Bartsham in Trashigang, one of the more prosperous and business oriented gewogs of the eastern district.
“We always used to worry whether buses would operate here because of the bad condition of road,”said Choney, a resident of Bartsham. “Now with the completion of black topping in two months we are assured that vehicle would operate and reach the destination on time.”
Tenzin Dorji who works in Thimphu said, “From Naktshang,a small town in Bartsham, it takes around half an hour to reach Bartsham but with the completion of black topping, it wouldn’t even take twenty minutes”.
According to project engineer Sonam Phuntsho of JM Builders Private Limited, which is doing the work, the second phase of black topping project started 3 weeks ago and the total budget for the road project is over Nu 47 million. “Upon completion, the 24 kilometers road will connect Bartsham, Ramjar and Bidung gewogs,” Sonam Phuntsho said. “It will also connect Trashigang and Trashiyangtse dzongkhags since Ramjar is in Trashiyangtse.”
Sonam Phuntsho said the lack of labor and willingness from villagers to cooperate with them were the major hurdles the project faced.
“The 24 kilometers Bartsham road was the first one to be black topped in the country but the black topping could not be completed due to slack progress”, said Jambay Wangchuk from the Department of road, Trashigang.
Bartsham Gup Kezang Dawa said the contractor and engineers are working hard and this time no compromises will be made with the quality of work. “This time they started the black topping from Chador Lhakhang and it has reached till Naktshang town,” he said.
