The so called Mao Khola may not be the culprit alone. She does flow down the bridge at Chisopani peacefully. Monsoon makes her come roaring down.
That’s natural. All the catchment areas along the valleys pour into her and as she pours out into the flat lands that is when the destruction starts. But Mao is not alone in this.
There are numerous other rivers and streams that swell the Maokhola. These streams rush down the mountains: it is not easy to ford, even if the waters are just knee-high. That is the way it is for people in summer. Of course in winter, we can just drive across the dry river bed.
We have tried various methods to overcome this situation. The people from Pema Yuling Tashiphu and Sershong could use the bridge at Chisopani (Sershong). But then they also have to ford the fast-running Theor khola. It is equally as dangerous as making an attempt to cross Mao.
There have been many questions about the bridge over Mao. But where do we place it? On one side is Taklai and on the other Pema Yuling and Tashiphu. They all need a bridge to cross over to Gelephu. People in these areas would spend nothing less than half a day to go to Gelephu through the national highway, whereas it would only be a matter of one hour.
Member of Parliament, Prem Kumar Gurung promised a bridge, which might turn out to be his nemesis. It is practically impossible to build a bridge across that vast stretch where water runs wild during summer. The boat service seems to be the wiser alternative.
The people from across the border who seems to know how to handle the boat service are in one way a welcome thing and makes life easy for our people. CDG fund allocated to MP Prem Gurung is paying for the ferry right now, despite the fact that the boatmen would have preferred to charge Nu. 5 a person as in the past. That the MP has agreed to finance the boat service from the CDG fund is a good thing.
But how long will it last? The present MP at least agreed to spend his CDG fund for the boat service. But there might be other areas where the fund would be required. Providing a free service is a good thing for one time, but it should be more of an exception than a practice.
For too long, we have accepted that everything will be done for us. It is time that we should do something for ourselves.
One thing that comes in mind is why should we depend on Indian boatmen? Nu. 5 to cross the river seems to be a reasonable amount for everyone. Why can’t some of our own Bhutanese persons run the service, perhaps with motorised boats. That would be faster and safer. Of course, that depends on the efficiency of the operators.
However, the moot issue is that the CDG is meant for developmental activities in the constituency. There are other issues and areas of development. These cannot be ignored for too long, though there is no gainsaying that crossing the river is really important. But that cannot be the bell and end all of CDG activities.
