SARBHANG

30 March, 2009 - Bishnu Maya Subba considered herself lucky when she sold 50 decimals of land for Nu 35000 in 1992. 

Today, the 56-year-old mother of five in Tsirang is full of regrets as her neighbours are selling land at double the price. Land prices skyrocketed right under her nose. The same plot of land in Kilkhorthang, located about 500 metres away from Tsirang town towards Thimphu, could have fetched her about Nu 1.7 million this year.

Tsirang town, which is considered remote and disturbed until recently, is experiencing a land selling and buying frenzy.

According to a businesswoman in Tsirang, more land was sold and bought in the last few years than ever before. “Civil servants and businessmen, as far as from Thimphu and Paro, come here to invest in land,” she said. “Locals, who owned about six acres of land a decade ago, now have only about an acre today.”

Tsirang is noted for its gentle slopes and favourable climate, which encouraged more people to buy land. Speculation on the upcoming Gelephu airport also attributed to the real estate boom.

The high demand for land resulted in an instant rise in price of land. “A decimal of land, which cost Nu 10000 in 2004, costs Nu 35000 today,” said Bishnu Maya. A retired civil servant in Tsirang, Sangay Phuntsho, 60, told Kuensel that the news of an upcoming airport in Gelephu, about 50 km away from Tsirang, also escalated land prices, as most people felt that owning land in Tsirang would be a valuable asset.

Sangay Phuntsho reasoned that many felt business would boom in Tsirang since Gelephu is hot, and most people would prefer to stay in pleasanter climes. “As news of the Gelephu airport spread, Tsirang land price shot up from Nu 10,000 to Nu 25,000 a decimal,” he said, adding that when the government reconsidered the decision, it came down to Nu 18000.

Though downgraded to a domestic terminal by the cabinet, the upcoming Gelephu airport seemed to affect the price of land again as more people have joined the land-buying spree.

The distance from Tsirang proper determines the trend in the land price. A decimal of land in the 1.5 sq km municipal area costs about Nu 35,000 to Nu 40,000, whereas land outside the municipal area would cost Nu 25,000 to Nu 30,000. About six kilometres away, in Dajay, towards Gelephu and Gosaling, en route to Thimphu, a decimal of land costs between Nu 10000 and Nu 15000.

In Tshokana, the furthest settlement to the south, land is cheaper with a decimal costing between Nu 3000 and Nu 5000. According to a farmer in Majawa, 10 km away from town, many people are interested in buying land in his village too.

While landowners said that they sold land to repay loans and finance their children’s education, there are others like Uttam Basnet, 38, who took advantage of the pressure on housing in town. Uttam Basnet sold about two acres and constructed a three-storied building to rent out.

The main customers are either businessmen looking for future commercial prospects or a growing group of middle-income level civil servants. “Land is a fixed asset and its price rises every year,” said a civil servant planning to sell his car and invest in land.

By Tashi Dema

t_dyel@kuensel.com.bt