Transport in Bhutan - History

History

Until 1961, because of the lack of paved roads, travel in Bhutan was by foot or on muleback or horseback. The 205-kilometre (127 mi) trek from the Indian border to Thimphu took six days. Modern road construction began in earnest during the First Development Plan (1961–66). The first 175-kilometre-long (109 mi) paved road was completed in 1962 (a branch road later linked Paro with the Phuntsholing–Thimphu road). Described as a jeep track, it linked Thimphu and Phuntsholing with Jaigaon, West Bengal. The travel time by motor vehicle from the border to Thimphu had shrunk to six hours. Some 30,000 Indian and Nepalese labourers were imported to build the road with Indian aid at a time when India was bolstering its strategic defence against a possible Chinese invasion. Bhutan also provided labour for the construction work. Another road was also built to connect Tashigang with Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.

By the mid 1970s, about 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) of roads had been built, largely by manual labor. There was a linked network of 2,280 kilometres (1,420 mi) of roads in 1989; at least 1,761 kilometres (1,094 mi) of these were paved with asphalt, and 1,393 kilometres (866 mi) were classified as national highways. Despite the construction of surfaced roads linking the principal towns in the south, the mountainous terrain elsewhere makes travel even from one valley to the next quite difficult. Most roads run in river valleys. As part of the Sixth Development Plan, the Department of Public Works, in cooperation with the Indian Border Roads Organization, made plans to construct and upgrade 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of roads and to extend the road network through the five major river valleys by 1992. Motorable roads were not the only important development. It was estimated as part of the Fifth Development Plan that Bhutan also needed some 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) of mule tracks to connect the nation's 4,500 settlements.