Housing crunch in Pemagatshel

24 July 2009

A few years ago, when Mindu Wangdi came to join his service as the DYT Secretary in Pemagatshel, he managed to find a hut for accommodation. It took him several months to find a decent place to live in. A few months later, without any forewarning, his house owner served an ultimatum to vacate the place. He had no choice but to vacate the place.
He was aware of the Tenancy Act but, when it failed even in Thimphu, there was no way it could be invoked to protect his interest in a place like Pemagatshel.
Finding a decent accommodation in Pemagatshel has always been difficult for many years. While the number of civil and corporate employees increased, there was no corresponding housing development in the dzongkhag. In fact, there never were any investments in the housing sector since some structures were built in the early 1980s after Pemagatshel became a separate dzongkhag.
The bad news is that, the problem is going to persist until the new dzongkhag headquarters and the town are shifted to Denchi, about 15 from the present location. This is going to take some years.
Pemagatshel Dzongda Goling Tshering said, “Although accommodation shortage is a serious issue, there is nothing much that can be done immediately. We don’t have adequate space in the first place but, even if we have space, investing in the construction of residential quarters would only be a waste of resources given the imminent relocation of the dzong and the town.”
Some civil servants say the local people, who own land in the nearby areas, can benefit from constructing residential houses. The land owners are, however, wary of the future prospects and are reluctant to invest in housing. This has forced some lower level employees to construct their own huts on private plots of land. Some pay nominal monthly fees for the lease of land while some get the land for free.
Krishna, a dzongkhag staff, lives in his own hut and is grateful to the land owner, who charges nothing for the land. “Finding accommodation for a large family was difficult which compelled me to construct the hut. I am glad that, despite the constraints, it has given me many years of service without having to worry about rents being increased or living under the whims of the house owner.”
The Dzongkhag Environment Officer, Rinchen Penjor, lives in a small three-roomed house paying Nu 1600 a month. Recently, he received a notice from his house owner saying that the rent would be increased by Nu 500. He considers himself lucky to have found the accommodation, though.
“I would prefer to live in a decent house with running water and attached bathroom but given the prevailing situation, I consider myself lucky to be living in a three-roomed house,” he said.
Tashi Jamtsho, a BAFRA official, said that he knew of the situation so he entrusted his reliever to find an accommodation for him weeks in advance. “The place I live in was booked by another official but he never turned up,” he said.
He said the water supply was erratic and many people shared a common toilet. Most of the time, he wakes up before dawn to divert dribbling water from the tap stand into a collection tank. He pays Nu 1700 a month for three small rooms.
An engineer and his wife had to live in the basement of a shop without adequate ventilation for several months before finding a better place. A livestock official has made a bull pen his home while another official lives in a restaurant basement modified for a meat shop. “I am looking for a better place but could not find any. I am getting used to living here,” said Sha Thapa, a BAFRA official who lives in an apartment previously used as a salon.
Today, Mindu Wangdi, a peace-loving and religious man, lives with his wife in a rented house near the dzongkhag’s archery range. The disturbance from archery matches and movie shows in the nearby vegetable shed leaves him in no peace. He has no choice but to learn to live with the reality.

By Gyembo Namgyal

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