Paro Throm is touted to be among some of the rapidly developing towns in the country. But the town’s basic amenities do not seem to endorse this claim. Road and drains in the town need maintenance. Moreover, the town lacks recreational facilities including parks, jogging and cycling trails.
Situated at the base of the Paro Dzong and the National Museum, Taa Dzong, with most of its rich traditional architecture intact, Paro town has an aesthetically pleasing aspect to it. But there is more to it than what meets the eyes.
The clogged drains and potholes on some stretches of the road within the town have become an eyesore for the residents.
The only recreational park the town has today is the Children’s Park and an open gym. But both places are not spacious enough, especially during the pandemic where people are required to maintain physical distance.
The residents said it is high time that the authorities establish recreational facilities in the town.
“If we have parks and trails for jogging, biking and other facilities people will be able to stay physically fit while youth like us can improve our biking and skateboarding skills,” said Kalden Chencho Ngidup, a resident of Paro.
“So far, we do not have a proper place for leisure time. Rests of the people see Paro as one of the bigger towns in the country. But from what we see, the smaller towns seem to have all these basic amenities in place which we don’t have. So, if we have such facilities in the town, it will benefit everyone,” said Lhab Tshering, another resident.
“As we do not have parks, most of the youth roam around in the town. We would be able to cycle and walk around if there is a park in the town,” said Kencho Wangdi Tamang, a student.
Things are likely to improve. The Thromde Thuemi plans to identify new locations to set up recreational facilities.
“There is a lease agreement between the Bhutan Oil Distributers and the dzongkhag and that expires next year. Through the dzongkhag, we wrote to them to relocate when the agreement expires. Similarly, works for relocating the workshop is in the pipeline and we are optimistic. We are planning to relocate all the workshops in one cluster somewhere far from the town,” said Deki Lhamo, Thromde Thuemi.
She added there are plans to develop flower gardens and turn Paro Throm into a green and clean town with all the basic amenities in place as soon as possible.
“We make around Nu 500,000 every month by collecting parking fees in the town. To use this amount to invest in the town’s developmental activities, we have proposed to have the money transferred in a separate account for Thromde,” added the Thromde Thuemi.
Plans are drawn already and the Thromde Thuemi is optimistic to bring about new developments. What remains to see now are the outcomes these plans will bring about in the next five years.
Namgay Wangchuk, Paro
