By March next year, all structures constructed on the state land in Changchey in Gosarling Gewog in Tsirang will have to be demolished. There were 14 houses. Twelve houses were demolished so far.
Recently, the dzongkhag administration demolished a house after the owner failed to dismantle it despite repeated notifications. The government leased the land to a private individual. But officials say it was left empty violating the agreement.
According to Tsirang’s Deputy Land Record Officer, Ugyenla, the house owner has died but they notified his children to demolish the house. However, after nobody heeded their notices, he said that was their last resort.
“It is unfair on our part if we don’t demolish the house because 11 of them had already dismantled theirs a few months back,” he added.
With this, only two houses remain. Because they have been following the lease agreement, the dzongkhag has given them six months’ extension.
The residents in the area constructed the structures some five decades ago but during the first National Cadastral Resurvey Programme in 2003 and 2004, it was found that the land used by 14 households to build their homes was state land.
In 2013, with the National Land Commission Secretariat’s approval, the dzongkhag administration leased the land to all the owners for five years. However, it was found that they had failed to comply with the land lease agreements.
The deputy land record officer said that of 14 owners, only two were following the land lease agreement. The rest have either kept their houses vacant or rented out.
“Following this, in 2018, the national land commission secretariat ordered the district land record section to cancel their land lease agreements after which we notified the owners to demolish their houses,” added Ugyenla.
Today, there are only two structures whose agreement expires this month but they will have to demolish within the next six months.
Changchey once a commercial hub in the 1980s is slowly but surely giving way to a new town.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Chayku
