People in Norgaygang Gewog in Samtse fear that their only place of worship is in danger of collapse in case of a disaster.
Villagers said the single-storey Lhakhang in their Gewog is in dire need of renovation. Built in 1980 by the government, as requested by local residents, the temple has not been renovated even once despite its weak structures. The 2011 earthquake further deteriorated its condition.
The Lhakhang, popularly known to the locals as Sherpa Lhakhang, caters to about 5,000 people in and around the locality.
Norgaygang Gup Rinchen said the Gewog has already informed the government about the issue several times, but they have yet to get a response.
“If the government cannot provide support soon, people will start neglecting the Lhakhang since they cannot carry out the renovation by themselves,” he said. “And it doesn’t look good when a gewog doesn’t have a Lhakhang in a religious country like Bhutan.”
This is not the only problem. The Lhakhang is also in need of a Lam to take care of the Lhakhang and perform rituals. For now, villagers are hiring priests from Darjeeling, which is about three hours’ walk from the Lhakhang across the Indian border.
Pema Chhogyal Sherpa, a farmer, volunteered to look after the Lhakhang. But given his other responsibilities, he said he cannot guard the Lhakhang all the time.
Meanwhile people in the Gewog are hoping the government will come to their rescue as soon as possible.
