Local leaders in Tsirang say transforming dry land into residential land is a time-consuming and unnecessary burden for rural residents. They also argue that building houses on privately owned dry land should not be a significant concern. This matter was discussed at the recent Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
Discussing the issue in the Dzongkhag Tshogdu, the Kilkhorthang Gewog Mangmi said that converting dry land into residential land takes a long time.
The Mangmi also added that building houses was quicker and easier in the past when people had the freedom to construct houses on private dry land without the need for land conversion.
“This is a significant issue, especially for families who need to build homes right away. Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if the relevant authorities could permit people to construct houses on dry land without requiring land conversion as it was done in the past,” said Sonam Lhamo, the Kilkhorthang Mangmi.
“Sometimes, due to family disputes or conflicts, certain family members need to move out and build new houses urgently. However, they are unable to construct these houses because they have to convert their dry land to residential land first,” said Beda Moni Chamlagai, Chairperson of Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
Other members of the House also shared similar views.
They say getting land surveyors from the district administration takes longer and hiring private surveyors is costly.
“The current system is quite inconvenient for rural residents. We are not clear on why there is a requirement to convert dry land into residential land. We do not see any problems with building houses on our own dry land,” said Tshering, Mendrelgang Mangmi.
“We are unsure why there were issues with constructing houses on dry land. The authorities should have consulted with the public before making such a change. If there were any problems, we would have discussed them with the relevant authorities and sought necessary adjustments,” said Top Nath Acharya, Semjong Gup.
“As per the coordination meeting with the district administration, gewog administrations can submit documents for converting dry land into residential land to the district’s land section only after the 15th of each month. However, this creates an issue because some landowners submit their applications at the start of the month, and we can only send the documents to the district administration after a two-week wait,” said Leela Raj Sunwar, Rangthangling Gup.
District officials informed the House that this requirement is in accordance with the Land Act of Bhutan 2007.
They added that dry landowners are allowed to cultivate crops on their dry land but not to construct houses.
According to an official from the National Land Commission Secretariat, the strict enforcement of converting dry land to residential land began last year due to a growing number of individuals building houses on dry land.
The officiating land record officer informed the house that the primary purpose of dry land is not for house construction.
He also added that the district land record section has not caused any delays in land conversion processes to date and that services were completed within one to two weeks.
Pema Tshewang, Tsirang
Edited by Sherub Dorji
