June 18: The Monsoon has arrived and the residents of Gelephu are rejoicing. For them, the Monsoon rains are nothing short of a blessing. As the rains arrived, the temperatures cooled down giving the residents a much awaited respite from the sweltering heat. But as our Gelephu correspondent Sonam Rinchen reports the rains brought with them their own share of problems.

The torrential rain has washed away the temporary bridge across the Mao River leaving the people in Chuzergang, Umling, Tarathang and parts of Shershong at the mercy of the raging river which can only be crossed with a ferry operated by a group of Indians from the neighboring state of Assam.

Every winter the people from these gewogs construct a temporary bridge over the river. Each household contributes a person. The men help by collecting logs and women gather stones. It takes about three to four days to construct one bridge. They have to construct four to five bridges since the river has many tributaries. But every summer with the onset of the Monsoon, the bridges they have laboriously constructed washed away by the river.

Residents said the only solution is to construct a permanent bridge over the river Mao.

The Chuzergang Gups clerk said the Mao River is seriously hampering business both in terms of export and import of goods from the geogs. He said every winter when the paddy harvesting season starts, a busy time for the residents, each household has to contribute labor to construct the bride.

Now, with the onset of monsoon, people board a rickety boat to cross the river paying Nu. 10 Ngultrums every time they visit the market.

Some of the people said while they are thankful to the ferrymen without whom they would be stranded in their villages for months, it is risky to cross the river by ferry. The chance of the boat toppling while the ferry men negotiate the raging river is imminent. The ferry has a capacity of 15 people. However, some times people rush in and the ferry has to carry beyond its capacity increasing the risk.

Fortunately there has been no untoward accident. The residents said they are hopeful that they will soon get a permanent bridge over the river. Their hope they said it is with the new government.