The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the National Land Commission Secretariat (NLCS) have asked Bumthang District Administration to immediately evict lessees in Chamkhar town who have violated the Land Act 2007. A series of inspections since 2017 have found out that over 66 per cent of the lessees have sub-leased their houses among which six individuals had also sold their houses. Bumthang District Administration recently conducted a meeting with the leaseholders to inform them about the latest developments.
There are 130 leaseholders in the town, of which 86 have sub-leased their houses, which is in violation of the lease agreement signed in 2013 and the Land Act.
Earlier this year, the Bumthang District Administration issued an 18-month notice to the leaseholders to make necessary arrangements to vacate the structures by September next year. However, a few complainants have reported to ACC a few months ago requesting an investigation. They claimed that some individuals were given three to four plots while others were given only one. They also reported on the sub-leasing practice that has been going on for a long time and also on some shopkeepers having got evicted from the temporary houses by leaseholders after the notification from the District Administration.
Bumthang’s Land Record Officer told at the meeting that allegations on the disparity of the number of plots awarded were found untrue. He said plots were registered in the names of different family members though some families owned more than one plot. Following the investigation, the ACC directed NLCS to take immediate action against the defaulters. Meanwhile, the current town area is identified for constructing a municipal office, a children’s park, and a police station among others at the Dzongkhag Tshogdu last year.
“Almost half of Chamkhar town falls under the flood hazard zone due to the Chamkhar river while another portion of it is nearby the Jakar stream where constructions shouldn’t be allowed as per regulations. So, a big chunk of the town’s area is unsuitable for settlement,” said Bumthang Dzongrab Tandin Dorji.
The District Administration once again asked the people to prepare to vacate the town with the lease term expiring in the next 11 months. However, about a hundred leaseholders wrote to the administration for a lease term extension in March.
“The non-renewal notice the District Administration issued is too late. We only get one and half years to build new houses and relocate our shops. Moreover, we also don’t know how ready the three Local Area Plans are,” said Pema Khandu, one of the lessees.
“I am really worried now as all of my savings have been spent on my children’s education. Moreover, I had to rebuild my house twice due to the fire incidents. The ones who were affected by the last fire in 2017 have not even recovered our construction expenses. We always hoped that we would get another term extension. By then, we would be also ready financially,” said Pema Yangzom, another lessee.
“We agree that it’s time that the three LAPs have to start taking shape now. However, with the new town spread across the valley, we worry that the relocated shopkeepers from Chamkhar won’t have enough customers after they become scattered over the three townships,” added another lessee Dendup Wangmo.
Sangay Tenzin, another lessee said that the land lease committee didn’t explain to them the provisions of the Land Act and the terms and conditions of the lease agreement. “They didn’t tell us about the restrictions on sub-leasing when the agreement was executed. Back then, most people had signed the agreement fearing they won’t be given plots if they didn’t do so.”
The District Land Record Officer said all the terms and conditions were laid out clearly in the agreement.
On the other hand, over 500 people owning private land in the three Local Area Plans (LAP) of Dekiling, Chamkhar and Jalikhar wrote to the administration on the need to firmly implement the non-renewal notice served earlier this year.
The District Administration has plans to lay base course in the Chamkhar LAP within this year, which will be followed by Jalikhar LAP, next year.
Almost all the structures in Chamkhar town are built on leased state land. Following several fire disasters in the town, the District Land Lease Committee leased out plots for 10 years to the town’s residents.
Kipchu, Bumthang