Traffic congestion and road conditions in Amochhu, Phuentshogling, are expected to improve soon. Currently, heavy-duty trucks line up along the road near the fuel depot, causing traffic jams and further damaging the road. To address this issue, a permanent parking facility for trucks transporting boulders is being established, along with a dedicated fuel depot.
About eight acres of land near the Regional Office of Industry, Commerce and Employment in Amochhu is being developed into a dedicated parking and refuelling area for heavy-duty trucks. A small ceremony was recently held to mark the commencement of the project.
While the parking area has been identified and is already open for use, work is underway to begin construction of the fuel station.
In the absence of a proper parking space and a separate fuel depot, trucks currently line up along the roadside to refuel or wait for the border gate to open.
“Just now, what you see is that there are lots of big trucks with loaded mineral products bound for India and Bangladesh that are lined up on the national highway. This creates many obstacles or daily travellers. The most important thing is we have to have a fuel depot here because if we don’t have a depot here, there is no purpose of having a truck parking here. The whole idea and the purpose is to decongest,” said Karma Gyeltshen, Vice President, Phuentshogling Regional Chapter, Bhutan Export Association.
“Firstly, we often get in trouble with the police because we are not allowed to park our trucks and we keep our trucks along the road. Secondly, without a proper parking, we have also been having issues with the Thromde. Thirdly, there are issues at the fuel depot. The highway is also damaged. Moreover, there are safety risks as drivers often jump out of the parked vehicles randomly,” said Tshewang Rinzin, Exporter, New Export, Phuentshogling.
Currently, several stretches of road from Phuentshogling towards Samtse, particularly in the Amochhu area, have deteriorated severely. Maintaining the road has become increasingly difficult as hundreds of heavy vehicles use the route every day. Last summer, the road near the STCBL fuel depot became impassable and officials had to divert smaller cars.