GTZ Project Document No. 51 Report on Nahi Baseline Survey

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Nahi Baseline Survey April- May 2001While some expressed that more destruction to forest will take place due to the openingof the access road, since more outsiders are expected to come and extract the forestresources especially the timber. Most views and assumptions related to the road and itsimpact and maintenance as expressed by the different respondents during the survey are(Table 3.1) are simple and self-explanatory.Table 3.1 Different views as expressed by the respondentsViews UNT LNT Total<strong>No</strong> benefits 1 4 5Frequent visit of the forester 3 2 5High fares during transportation 2 2 4Destruction to land & forest 4 1 5Road maintenanceCommunity will maintain 24 5 29People will maintain if govt. provides fund 2 1 3Road need to come to their village 6 0 6Road passed through his field 0 2 2Provide labour force 9 19 28Improve road by constructing stone walls and drains 4 9 13If govt order them then we will do 0 5 5Govt. will take care 2 1 3Enlarge the turnings 0 1 1Source: RRA Survey May 20013.3.1 Road maintenanceIn general, any rural access road like Nahi’s access road represents an importantinfrastructure (facility) for any place and as such, its maintenance becomes a critical issuefor its effective use in the long run. The community participation for maintenance is notan alternative but its seen as a necessity for long term benefits and use for such ruralaccess roads. Therefore, an attempt to find out farmers’ interests and views regarding theapproach road maintenance has resulted into different views and opinions (Table 3.1).It is interesting to note that despite the absence of road in the upper valley a significantnumber of respondents (24) from the upper valley have expressed that the road will bemaintained by the community compared to only 5 from the lower valley. However, withregard to the supply of labour force for road maintenance a good number of respondents(19) from the lower valley have expressed their interest to provide labour force ascompared to only 9 from the upper valley.3.3.2 Alignment of the roadMost farmers are happy to have the road in their valley but not satisfied with the presentalignment of the road. Many respondents mentioned that their initial expectation of theroad to pass through their villages or atleast close by have been miss-fulfilled by the33
Nahi Baseline Survey April- May 2001present road alignment. Therefore, some farmers are skeptical about the usefulness of theroad to them due to the mismatch between the alignment of road and the location ofvillages.Some farmers in the lower valley especially from Tshokothang village, mentioned of notusing the road since their village is located away from the road. A few farmers evenstated the road as insignificant for them since they still use the existing old route that ismuch shorter and faster for them.3.3.3 BenefitsThere are many direct as well indirect benefits to the farmers from the road. One directbenefit according to most of the respondents is the transportation of goods in and out ismade relatively much easier and faster compared to the past where everything has to betransported by horse or labour.Access to hospitals and other facilities have been made much easier and faster. Accordingto one respondent from the lower valley, … “the road has gone at the base of our village,but still it is a blessing for us to have the road from every respect, especially when wehave to go to hospitals with sick family members the road has made life much easy wheresick person can be easily reached to the hospital with less hassle unlike in the past wherethe situation becomes too complicated and difficult both for the sick and those personstrying to carry the sick person to the hospital…. ”Some farmers who own power tiller are already able to make use of them for transportinggoods and people in and out of the valley.The access road also have relieved the farmers from contributing labour for carrying thestationeries and other items for the primary school from Wangdue which they have to dooccasionally prior to the construction of the road.3.4 Changes in farmers’ activitiesAbout 72% of the total respondents from the upper and lower valley have expressed theirinterest to go for some changes in their farming and other activities. More number offarmers (41%) from the lower valley is interested to go for changes as compared to thefarmers (32%) from the upper valley.The road may be an important infrastructure change in the valley, but not many farmersare in a position to share what exactly they plan for a change in their cropping activities,livestock compositions, and other areas. In other words many farmers are unable to shareany information or express their visions and expectations they have as a result of themotorable road facility. Many respondents remained silent while some simply said “noidea”.On the other hand there are also some farmers with clear visions as what they are goingto take up or initiate in future. The views (Table 3.2) expressed by some of therespondents are; increase the production of vegetables and fruits, purchase farm34
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GTZ Project Document No. 51 Report on Nahi Baseline Survey

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