The country’s northernmost dzongkhag will remain cut off from the rest of the nation for about a week, following a major roadblock in Sisigang, where about 100 m of road formation have been washed away.

Hopes to clear the block earlier are being inhibited by the massive hillock in the area sliding down.

There are also several roadblocks on the 15 km Damji-Zamizam stretch of the Tashithang-Gasa road.

“After every kilometer, there are about three to four minor blocks,” a civil servant in Gasa said.

This, Gasa residents said, spelled trouble for the dzongkhag.

“Forget vehicles, even people can’t walk the road, now that the road formation has disappeared,” a corporate employee said. “Falling boulders make it all the more risky for people to travel in or out of Gasa.”

“All stock in our shops is finishing and we can’t bring new ones from Geza,” a shopkeeper in Gasa, Gaki, said.

The 41-year-old woman said her stocks were piled in Geza, about three hours walk from the dzongkhag; and both her perishable and non-perishable goods were at risk of damage.

Former Gasa gup Dorji said the heavy rain on June 26 and 27 damaged the road.

“It not only affects transportation of commodities to Gasa, but will hamper the developmental activities in the dzongkhag,” he said.

A contractor, who is involved in the water supply project in Gasa, rued he left all his construction materials piled up at Geza.

“I doubt contractors will be able to complete their work on time, if the road is not repaired soon,” the contractor said.

Such roadblocks, health officials said, caused major problems while referring patients to Punakha hospital.

“We had to refer a child suffering from pneumonia to Punakha hospital,” a health official said. “We had to return with the patient, because we couldn’t possibly pass through the roadblock.”

Gasa dzongda Sonam Jigme explained that, although machinery was deployed on sites where the slides occurred, efforts to clear them were futile, because the roadblock was huge, exacerbated by the incessant rain that brought down more slides.

“The whole hill area is coming down and it’ll take time to clear the area,” the dzongda said.

Sonam Jigme said he had asked the roads department officials to maintain the old mule track, so that people could bypass the major roadblock.

“I asked them to study the feasibility and I hope they’ll do it,” he said, adding the mule track was necessary for people to transship the goods, without which the dzongkhag could run out of stock.

He also said the power lines to Gasa might be disrupted since the poles carrying electricity lines to Gasa from Lobesa pass through the hill that is sliding in chunks.

“I’ve even requested the energy department and Bhutan Power corporation to provide tower lines so the transmission lines won’t be disrupted by falling trees,” the dzongda said.

But going by what the road department’s executive engineer in Lobesa, Yeshi Nidup said, it is not likely that Gasa will be connected soon.

“It’ll take another month to open the road to traffic,” he said, adding the constant rainfall made restoration work difficult.

“I don’t think we can clear or maintain a mule track bypassing the roadblock, since it isn’t our mandate,” Yeshi Nidup said.

He explained the road between Gasa and Geza was still not opened to traffic, as they had just finished the first formation cutting of the stretch. Source: Kuenselonline