Residents of Pel-Ling village under Tseza Gewog in Dagana might return home after almost half of them abandoned their village over the years. This is because the recently opened Dagana-Wangdue Phodrang bypass runs right through their village. This is expected to bring better economic opportunities. The road was opened to traffic last week.
From about 30 families some three decades, today the village has only four permanent houses. Many have abandoned the village and settled in places with better public amenities and services. But the situation may change since some landholders have already decided to return to the village.
71-year-old Gyeltshen left the village and settled in Daga town when he was 36. Since then, he barely returned home. But he is now planning to return to the village in hope of better opportunities, unlike in the past.
“Once we have access to road, half of our problems are solved. The place is very nice and all the cereals grow well here. So, I am planning to return to my village to cultivate my fields and repair my ancestral home,” he said.
Similarly, his fellow villager, Sheko says many residents who once abandoned the village are now planning to return to the village. “Besides the native residents, some six individuals from Thimphu have bought lands ranging from one to two acres in the village after the road was constructed. Some more visited the village looking for land recently.”
Phurba, the Tshogpa of Pel-Ling chiwog says the residents would be grateful if the road is laid with base course or is blacktopped. “If people are given lands to resettle and if around 20 families turn up, this would help bring back enough inhabitants in the chiwog”
Meanwhile, the Infrastructure and Transport minister during the road inaugural informed the public that the ministry and relevant stakeholders will work closely to blacktop the road in the coming years. Today, only four-wheel drives can pass trough some stretches of the road.
“We are hopeful of blacktopping the road at the earliest. My team and I walked on foot while surveying the road and today I am taking the dusty road in a vehicle. But let us all pray to travel on a blacktopped road for the next journey,” the minister said.
The 69-kilometre road, which connects Dagana to Kamichhu in Wangdue Phodrang has reduced the travel time between the two districts by almost two hours.
Pema Tshewang, Dagana
Edited by Kipchu
