Relekpo village under Dechenling gewog, Pemagatshel now can access a nearby market. The people of the village will no longer need to walk 2-3 hours for visiting the market just to buy necessary household amenities or sell their farm products with more than 60 households in Rezimo chiwog set to benefit from the road connection between Ngorbali and Relekpo, which is under construction.
The construction of a 3.2-kilometer farm road from Ngorbali to Relekpo began on February 15. The farm road construction is being executed by Tak Seng Construction at a cost of Nu 2.724795 million (mn). The completion of this farm road will take five months.
The proprietor of Tak Seng Construction said that the work will be completed before the given duration. He expressed optimism that the road will be completed within the given duration as all the equipment and machinery are ready.
Orange is the one of the main sources of income for the people of the community of Relekpo. The absence of a road made people carry this cash crop, which was inconvenient and troublesome. Nganglam town is the nearest town to the village.
Meanwhile, the people of the village are happy and shared that they no longer have to suffer like the past. With access to a farm road, people are expecting to boost their economic prospects as they will have easier access to the market.
Relekpo Tshogpa Thungsi Norbu said that since most people in his village are farmers who depend on farming, the farm road will help them in different ways.
He also said that since roads are connected along the riverside, it will also become easier for the people of the village to easily collect sand, rocks, and other necessary items.
Further, he said that later there is a plan in the pipeline to connect the farm road to other chiwogs, like Yangma Lashing and Kerung. He expressed hope that they can also access Samdrup Jongkhar as the farm road can be connected to the highway leading to Samdrup Jongkhar.
He shared that because of the farm road, the benefits will be accrued not just by one chiwog.
He also underlined that most importantly, it will benefit the milk marketing group people. Currently this group of people walk 20-30 minutes, crossing the river 6-7 times, to reach their destination early in the morning.
A resident of Relekpo, Rinchen Norbu, said, “We had a hard time in the past as most of the vegetables that we grew were left unsold and we could not benefit in anyways. This will now change.”
Tshering Norbu also shared the same joy of having a farm road in his village. He ssaid that with the development they will no longer need to carry everything on their backs to the market in the nearby town.
“Things will change with the construction of the road as it will link to the neighboring markets. Local farmers can now take their agriculture products to market, which will make their work easier,” he said.
Nidup Lhamo from Thimphu
