The people of Sangsiri under Phangkhar Gewog in Zhemgang heaved a sigh of relief when the Ministry of Agriculture and Forest accepted their appeal of converting the wetlands into dry lands in 2020. With the approval, people were issued with the new Lag Thram in the same year. And today, people in Sangsiri are realising their dreams to construct concrete houses.
Close to 60 households of the Sangsiri settlement lived in constant fear for about a decade of having to demolish their houses built on wetlands. Locals began settling on wetlands by establishing semi-permanent structures in 2010 when the construction of the Gongphu-Panbang highway started.
The Dzongkhag upon finding that the settlements were on wetlands, had asked the people to demolish their houses within six months in 2016. And since then, the people have been living in constant fear.
As per the Land Act 2007, it is illegal to build houses on wetlands.
But with the issuance of new Lag Thrams, the settlement is seeing an increasing number of concrete houses.
“We did not have our peace of mind because of the issue. We could not even construct a proper house for ourselves because the authorities would frequently tell us to demolish the houses. We have lived without a power supply quite often because of the land issue. Now, we are very extremely happy and thankful to His Majesty the King for the Kidu and the government for finally granting our request,” said Pema Wangchuk, a resident of Sangsiri.
“Everyone here is now planning to build concrete houses as our land issue has been solved. For this, we remain grateful to the government,” said Nim Dem, another resident.
“After hearing the good news of land conversion, many people who left this place many years back are now planning to come back and settle here. We thank His Majesty and the government for considering and solving the issue promptly. We will forever remain grateful,” said Pema Wangchuk, a resident.
The people moved to Sangsiri from Panabi, Kulamti and Zangbi villages in hope of better life. This is because Sangsiri is located near the Gewog office with all basic amenities such as BHU, school and road easily accessible.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
Edited by Sonam Pem
