Improved accessibility to towns and government institutions leads to the expansion of settlements in an area, offering residents better business prospects and access to modern amenities. One such settlement has developed in Gosarling Gewog’s Dzamlingzor Chiwog in Tsirang. However, the current mini-town faces challenges such as a lack of proper roads and reliable drinking water supply.
The settlement, which initially had just one building, now has eleven buildings with more under construction.
House owners say that tenants prefer their houses because they are near Damphu Middle Secondary School and Damphu Central School and the rents are affordable.
However, the bumpy and narrow road leading to the settlement is a concern for both house owners and tenants. The building owners themselves constructed the concrete road connecting the area to the highway some 15 years ago.
Since then, no major maintenance has been done. With the increasing number of households and population in the area, the building owners, who wish to remain anonymous are calling for immediate road maintenance.
“The road at the moment is very narrow and it requires immediate widening. Vehicles face difficulty passing the road due to its bad shape. Moreover, both the Damphu Central School and Middle Secondary School students are using the road. So, there are risks of meeting with accidents,” said a building owner.
“At the moment, we are experiencing issues with the road because small vehicles can’t access this area,” said another.
“Tenants after staying a few months look for other apartments due to the poor road condition. This affects our us since rental income is the only source of income for our livelihoods.”
Adding to the problem, getting reliable drinking in the area is another challenge. While some building owners can access drinking water from Damphu town’s supply, others have to rely on private pipelines.
“On top of the poor road condition, we have been grappling with drinking water scarcity during the dry season like these days. We have to maintain a drinking water supply every day. The water source has been drying up over the years.”
Meanwhile, Dzamlingzor Tshogpa over a phone interview said that he has not received any formal complaints from the building owners yet.
However, he added that only one building owner has verbally informed about the poor road condition. The Tshogpa further added that he will address the issue with the Gosarling gewog administration once the residents submit formal complaints.
Regarding the drinking water shortage, the Tshogpa said that the gewog administration couldn’t do much as there are no reliable water sources apart from the existing ones.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Sonam Pem
