August 18: Kangpara geog in Trashigang is one of the remotest geogs in the Dzongkhag. It may not remain so for long. A road is now being constructed from Kharungla to Kangpara.


A six hour walk from the nearest road head at Phegpari in Thrimshing will take you to Kangpara geog in Trashigang.

Getting there is not easy. You have to trudge along a steep trail. At some places, the trail is a thin line cut along a rock face. Needless to say it is risky. One slip and you can plunge headlong into the ravine below.

Kangpara geog lies secluded, surrounded by high mountains and thick virgin forests. The land is fertile and farmers can grow almost anything here. The most commonly grown crops are chili, maize and paddy. The farmers sell the chilies to make some cash income and keep the maize and paddy for self consumption.

Although the geog is blessed with a fertile land, it is one of the least accessible. Even today, farmers transport their farm produce on horseback to the market. Horses are indispensable. Most of the villagers in the geog own a horse.

Owing to the long distance, farmers say their farm produce gets spoiled when they reach the market.

The Kangpara Gup says the construction of a mule track earlier this year has solved the transportation problem to some extent. The mule track was constructed by the villagers. It connects Phegpari in Thrimshing to Paedung of Kangpara geog. The construction of the mule track started in 2002 but had to be suspended shortly afterwards after two villagers were killed while working on the mule track.

Construction resumed in 2007. The mule track was completed in March this year benefiting more than 100 households in the six villages under Kangpara geog.

The geog administration said the absence of a road is not only hampering the transportation of farm produce but also the transportation of construction materials for development activities.

The construction of the road from Kharungla to Kangpara is expected to change the lives of the farmers of Kangpara geog.

But the Kangpara Gup Chempa Dorji says the present alignment would benefit only a few households. He says if the road is aligned from Kharungla to Thrimshing then to Tsangpo to Thomchila and to Paedung and then to Kangpara, it will benefit more than 400 households.

Kangpara geog has 16 villages with close to 450 households. It is one of the remotest geog in Trashigang Dzongkhag.