Dophuchen Gewog continues to function from a ramshackle office that has fallen into a state of disrepair. The deadline, given by the Dzongkhag Disaster Team, to move out of the building two years back hasn’t been heeded to.
The gewog office, which was built in 2003, was damaged by the 2011 earthquake.
Dophuchen’s Gup, Chandra Prasad Phuyel, said as soon as the assessment of the damage was conducted, they were asked to move out.
“But moving gewog office is difficult. We thought if there isn’t another earthquake of the same magnitude, this structure would withstand another year or two. So we kept working from here and we still work from here.”
Even though the business goes on as usual, those who work in the office cannot help but fear that the structure might collapse one day, taking them down with it.
The gewog had put a proposal for the repair in 2013-2014 gewog budgets. However, the proposal did not go through due to budget constraint in the centre.
But the gup is hopeful.
“We know the government will give us the money considering the dire situation, we are in, at the moment.” He said they aren’t sure when the budget will come in but is hoping that it will be soon. “…Gewog offices are important since it benefits both the centre and people,” said Chandra Prasad Phuyel.
They have proposed about Nu.2 million for the reconstruction.
