The road condition has not changed much

But this is nothing new to the Dagaps (the people of Dagana), it is usual ride to Daga Dzong from Sunkosh.

The lifeline of the Dagaps, the 87-kilometre long lateral Sunkosh-Dagana road has not changed ever since it was completed in 1983, according to Dagaps.

Except for a few kilometers of blacktopping at odd intervals, the road is more of poorly maintained dirt track.

“Everybody knows the road is bad, but nothing much has been done,” says one of the earliest settlers in Dagana town where the road ends. “The road was to be blacktopped in the Eighth Plan,” former Royal Advisory Councillor, Dasho Sonam Dorji said. “The Ninth Plan is nearing end and we are still driving on the same old road.”

Places like Khagochen (above) are
prone to landslides The first thing that comes to mind when you hear about Dagana is the road, says a civil servant who was posted to Dagana in 1998.

During the monsoon the road remains closed most of the time.

“We often had to walk in the rain carrying our luggage,” recalls Dasho Karma Sherpa, a High Court judge who was the Dzongda when the road reached Daga dzong. “It is sad to see the sorry state of the road after decades of rapid economic development,” he said after a recent tour to the Dzongkhag.

As one climbs the meandering curves towards Drugeygang after a comfortable drive from Wangduephodrang to Sunkosh, the ordeal starts after about seven kilometers of blacktopped road.

According to the Kana Gup, Lhawang Dorji, the Sunkosh-Dagana road has hampered almost everything in the dzongkhag. “Dagana has cash crops like Mandarin and Cardamom, but the road has hampered commercial production,” he said.

“Vehicle owners are reluctant to ply to Dagana, they charge about Nu.16,000 for a trip from Phuntsholing,” a shop keeper said. “They say that if their vehicles travel the road twice, they will have to take them to workshops for repair at least once.”

Truckloads of mandarin have gone bad with delays caused by lack of transport while goods in Dagana are over-priced because of the high cost of transportation. “A dozen of eggs cost Nu.100 when roads get blocked,” said a dzongkhag official, Sherub.

There have also been instances when Dagana was cut off from the rest of the country.

“In 1998 students had to survive on porridge, limited food supply had to be rationed to the dzongkhag staff, and dzongkhag staff had to transport food on foot from all the way from Sunkosh,” said another civil servant.

As ironical as it is, Dagana is not the remotest dzongkhag in the country. Centrally located, it is bordered by the capital, Chukha, Tsirang, and Wangduephodrang dzongkhag.

“But we feel neglected,” Lhawang Dorji told Kuensel.

Frustrated at the pace of development, another Gup said that some dzongkhags which got roads after Dagana were now better off.

“When the Ninth Plan started we were told that sufficient budget had been allocated but today with about a year for the current plan to end not much work has been done,” the Dagana DYT chairman, Chimi Dorji told Kuensel.

In the current plan about 15 kilometres of road was to be black topped every year so that the work would be completed by the end of the plan period. “Only about 25 percent of the planned works has been done so far,” said the chimi. “Now there is only about one year left and to complete the 75 percent work does not seem possible.”

While the Sunkosh-Dagana road is not a highway, both dzongkhag officials and public themselves attribute the security problem in the early 1990s to the bad road condition.

However, road officials said that the difficult terrain and loose soil prone to sliding along the stretch of the road had been challenge in improving the road.

Places like Khagochen, Chengala (nine kilometers from Sunkosh) and Dagachhu areas are sinking every year, according to an official from the departments of roads. “At many places the road foundation is not stable,” department of road's executive engineer in Sarpang, Dorhi Wangdi said.

“During monsoon, today's work is washed away the next day at many places.”

In the Eighth Plan, the department of roads earmarked Nu.29.84 million for blacktopping including laying the base course. Today about 40 kilometres of the 87 Kilometer is blacktopped.

Dorji Wangchuk said that maintenance work on the district road always surpassed budget since several places needed complete base course works.

It will long before the Dapas can enjoy a smooth ride to the cloistered dzongkhag. The concern was voiced in the National Assembly last November when people pressured the GYT and DYT meetings.

Although the government has recognised the problem road engineers said that the blacktopping would not be possible in the Ninth Plan. “The blacktopping would not last long without completing the base course road which will need time and money,” Dorji Wangdi told Kuensel. “We have about Nu. 30 million, but this is not enough to complete the road,” he said.