: Photos: In rapidly urbanising Bhutan, abandoned houses haunt villages #IndiaNEWS A few kilometres from Dagapela, a town in the district of Dagana in south-west Bhutan, stand two attractive traditional

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Photos: In rapidly urbanising Bhutan, abandoned houses haunt villages #IndiaNEWS
A few kilometres from Dagapela, a town in the district of Dagana in south-west Bhutan, stand two attractive traditional houses. The houses, which face each other, are in good condition and are big enough to comfortably accommodate a family of seven to 10.But their windows are covered in thick dust: neither have been lived in for years. In Bhutan, empty houses are called gungtong. Most people fear that gungtongs are guarded by giant snakes or that ghosts live inside, said Sonam Jamtsho, media spokesperson and planning officer for Dagana. Because of this, the remaining villagers avoid the abandoned dwellings. Tawla, a local leader in Dagana, said that no one knows when and why the houses near Dagapela were abandoned as the owners did not inform anyone. “In most cases, local government staff find out when visiting the particular houses for some official work or when they call local meetings,??? he said.Tawla’s community is Tshangkha gewog (a group of villages). With 64 houses empty out of 489, the gewog has one of the highest numbers of gungtongs in the district.Gungtongs in Bhutan’s remote rural villages are the physical manifestation of rapid urbanisation. Since the 1960s, according to the 2017 census, 21.7% of the rural population has moved to urban areas....Read more

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