COVER STORY (Spotlight Weekly)

Will It Work?

At a time when urban development in Kathmandu has turned into a mess, its Mayor has floated the concept of collaborating five municipalities of Kathmandu valley with three more municipalities outside the valley. Is the proposal a panacea to the haphazard growth of the capital city or merely a political slogan remains to be assessed

By BHAGIRATH YOGI

Kathmandu valley : Unmanageable

"In the wake of `modernization,' Kathmandu Valley has been convulsed by a veritable orgy of concrete. New settlements, modern hotels and buildings without architectural merit stand out like sores in an urban milieu, which was intact in its medieval character just 20 years ago. Old tree-lined avenues were ruthlessly destroyed to make room for a modern stadium. 'Bread and the games of the circus,' that is to say, above all games, are today obviously more important than preserving the Nepali cultural heritage.' Toni Hagen, in his book "Nepal: The Kingdom in the Himalaya"

When geologist Toni Hagen, a Swiss national and a celebrated friend of Nepal, set his foot in 1950 during the last days of the Rana regime, Kathmandu had neither road communications nor air links with the outside world. Except New Road (that was built after the 1934 earthquake), it had completely retained its medieval character. Tony in his initial visit stayed in Nepal for ten years. He left Nepal in 1962. When he flew back to Kathmandu after an interval of seven years in late 1968, he was not amazed to see that extensive areas in the Kathmandu valley still covered with green fields.

In the sixties, Kathmandu was a mystic place for 'hippies' seeking 'nirvana' in the lap of Himalayas. Singer Cat Stevens composed a song, "Kathmandu! I Will be seeing you" after visiting this beautiful town. Though many of the foreigners still find Nepal as fascinating as ever, Kathmandu has lost its charm and beauty to a great extent

Haphazard urbanization, unplanned settlements, traffic congestion and ever-increasing influx of people, into the capital has turned it into an unmanaged concrete jungle. Growing air and water pollution, perennial problem of solid waste management, dirty rivers and suffocating environment have stolen away the charm of ever-smiling people who reside in this ancient town. Misdirected development plans in the past, government's apathy and greed of the people in power is mainly responsible for the mess in which Kathmandu is destined to live today.

"Look at its topography, natural drainage and riverine system. Kathmandu could have been one of the best capitals in the world had we managed it properly," says Bharat Sharma, an urban environmentalist and deputy director general at the Department of Physical Planning and Building Construction. "Unfortunately, the whole thing went chaotic due to unclear policies and very weak implementation."

The efforts to develop Kathmandu in a planned way had started as early as 1962 with the help of the United Nations. It took seven years to bring out a comprehensive document entitled 'The Physical Development Plan for Kathmandu Valley' which said that any development of the town within Kathmandu must be considered within the context of the valley as a whole. Unfortunately, the plan document was never endorsed by the government, let alone its implementation. The Kathmandu Valley Development Plan (1976) is the statutory plan for Greater Kathmandu. The plan covers the areas lying within the Ring Road and has made provision for the areas beyond the Ring Road. The UNESCO prepared 'The Master Plan for Conservation of Cultural Properties in Nepal' (1978) is yet to be implemented by the government.

Millions of dollars have been spent so far in planning ways and means to develop Kathmandu in a sustainable way. Even now, a couple of plans and strategies are being formulated with the assistance of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for this very purpose. "Everybody is interested in planning as it creates opportunities for the people involved," said Dr. Shree Govinda Shah, a policy analyst who led the IUCN-funded study, "Regulating Growth: Kathmandu Valley." "But when it comes time for implementation, the people involved simply back out as they lack dedication and commitment."

The study, too, submitted to the government in 1995, never got endorsed or implemented by the government. The study, carried out by all Nepali experts, identifies haphazard and increasing industrialization and commercialization over the years as the main root of problem in the capital valley. The rapid unplanned growth of Kathmandu started since the seventies. The urban area of Kathmandu has expanded from 24 percent of the total area in 1971 to 67 percent in 1991.

The population of Kathmandu municipality was recorded at more than 421,000 during the 1991 census registering a growth rate of 6 percent between 1981-91. The population is expected to reach about 730,000 in 2001 and more than one million in 2011. The total population of the five municipalities, which constituted about 61 percent of the total valley population in 1991, is expected to reach about 71 percent in 2011. If the present trends of population growth and urbanization are allowed to continue unchecked, almost 60 percent of the valley would be urbanized by 2020, say studies.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) currently has no legal mandate to control developments beyond its borders or restrict developments in the flood plains and rich agriculture lands.

Sprawled over an area of 5076.6 hectares, KMC is the largest urban center in Nepal comprising 20 percent of the country's urban population.

There has been a phenomenal rate of growth in the Kathmandu valley's population with in-migration playing a significant role. Besides an estimated floating population of more than 50,000, Kathmandu used to employ up to 300,000 people in carpet and garment factories till a few years back. Similarly, more than 95 percent of the tourists visiting Nepal by air enter via Kathmandu as it has the only international airport in the country.

Slogans have been raised by local and national leaders, time and again, about making Kathmandu a healthy city. "The government will displace carpet and garment factories outside Kathmandu in order to protect its environment," said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala sometime back. Though he chairs a high-profile Kathmandu Valley Development Council, nothing concrete has been done so far.

KMC and the government continue to lock horns over finding a 'dumping site' to dispose of the garbage generated in the city. All the major rivers, including holy river of Bagmati, have turned into open sewer. A leading industrialist, Binod Chaudhary, has even proposed to clean Bagmati at Arya Ghat. But his real intentions have not been tested.

Managing Kathmandu becomes messier as there is no clear-cut job description among dozens of institutions supposed to be managing the capital city. Currently, there are about 10 ministries and 15 associated departments and agencies involved in planning, governing and providing services in Kathmandu Valley. But as a matter of fact due to differing priorities as well as conflict of jurisdiction and authority, the agencies do not plan and coordinate their actions. Although the Local Self Governance Act 1999 has made it mandatory for KMC to prepare, implement and monitor its own plans, except for the issuance of building permits, it has been unable to take on these responsibilities mainly because of the lack of trained staff and resources.

With 12 departments, 33 sections and nearly 2500 staff, the main functions of KMC include finance, physical planning and development, environment and sanitation, education and sports, works and transport, health, social welfare, industry and tourism and others. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are directly elected by the people living in 35 wards.

There are many cases of conflicts between the government and KMC in coordinating roads and transportation, refuse collection, street cleaning and in other operational matters. As a local government, the KMC is a municipal service provider and is engaged in public welfare, service and infrastructure development activities. For the running and maintaining of these services, municipal governments are assigned a number of taxes and other sources of revenues, such as property tax, business tax, advertisement tax, vehicle tax, rent tax etc.

The KMC's total estimated expenditures this year stand at around Rs 845 million whereas total revenue is estimated at nearly 585 million. This means that there will be a resource gap of nearly Rs 260 million. Lack of comprehensive revenue collection system, poor human resources management, leakages and uncontrolled advances, among others, pose as major challenges in developing a sustainable base of finances for the municipality.

Greater Kathmandu : As if to address all these problems at one go, Mayor of Kathmandu metropolis Keshav Sthapit proposed in July this year that a 'Greater Kathmandu' be identified comprising five municipalities in the valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Madhyapur Thimi and Kirtipur) and three municipalities, Banepa, Dhulikhel and Panauti, as KV-plus-Three. "This will help manage natural resources, plan in a long-term and sustainable way and share problems among them," said Sthapit.

Surya Man Shakya, a former advisor at the National Planning Commission and team leader of the City Development Strategy currently being formulated by the KMC, says that such a plan would complement and supplement the needs and potentials of different municipalities in and around Kathmandu valley. "For example, Banepa has excess land while Kathmandu has not. So, they can plan and execute different projects together."

Though mayors of the municipalities have yet to comment upon the proposal publicly, some of them look positive toward the idea. "Besides managing natural resources for common use, such an approach would help in conserving our rich cultural heritage," said Saptakaji Buddhacharya, Mayor of Panauti municipality. "Of course, we would like to participate in any such arrangement with keeping our identity intact."

Those who know the functioning of the municipalities say that local leaders would with the cooperate the idea only in a broader sense. As mayors, they have a distinct identity and easy access to almost all of the government and donor agencies. The Local Self Governance Act, too, has given them authority to plan and execute development projects locally. None of them would like to compromise their authority with a big municipality like kathmandu only to fall under shadow.

Moreover, institutional aspects of the proposed body are yet to be made clear. "As a concept, it's a good idea. But when looked at from institutional points of view, questions can be raised about its workability," said Bharat Sharma.

The Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee (KVTDC), chaired by the Minister for Physical Planning and Works, is currently preparing a 20-year-long development plan of the valley. In its preliminary draft, the Committee has proposed two-pronged strategies. First, to de-concentrate the over concentration of capital investment and economic opportunities of the Valley to other growth regions of the country. Second, to provide a development framework, as to where and how much the future growth of the Valley should be channeled, so that various growth externalities are reduced.

The draft plan seeks the regional planning agency like the KVTDC primarily in the role of advisor and regulator, while the local governments and sectoral agencies are envisaged as implementers. It has proposed to set up an autonomous, government body, known as "Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Council." "For this, we have already drafted a bill and are planning to introduce it in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament after consulting with all the stakeholders," said Surya Bhakta Sangachhe, member secretary of the KVTDC.

While the fate of such a plan remains uncertain, Kathmandu continues to draw bad image within and abroad. A recent issue of ASIAWEEK magazine has enlisted Kathmandu at 35th position out of 40 cities evaluated in 1999 on the basis of their livability. Kathmandu has slipped to this position from 28th position only a year ago. While Fukuoka, a Japanese city, stands at the top, South Asian cities including Bangalore, Islamabad and New Delhi remain ahead of Kathmandu. Only Vientiane, Chittagong, Dhaka, Karachi, and Bombay have fallen behind Kathmandu in the row.

So, is it impossible to manage a city like Kathmandu with only 650,000 population? No, it should not be only if there was a strong political will. The Indian city of Surat, infamous for the outbreak of plague epidemic in 1994, is now known as one of the cleanest cities in the country.

In order to re-build Kathmandu and regain its past glory, one will have to identify its problems and then start addressing them head-on. Unfortunately, the list of problems of the capital city seems to be endless.

With narrow streets and ever-growing number of vehicles, Kathmandu may soon invite comparison with Bangkok as the number of vehicles here is growing at 7 percent per annum. If this trend continues, by 2020 the total fleet is estimated to reach 66,000 (excluding motorbikes), say studies. Considering the growth in population, emergence of various industries and diversified commercial activities, facilities and services provided by present infrastructure are too inadequate.

By 2001, Kathmandu will need more than 100,000 housing units registering a deficit of nearly 33,000 units. This shows a serious issue of housing deficit in the capital city. The private sector has not been fully utilized for housing sector due to lack of clear policies. Squatter housing is also one of the implications of inadequate planning guidelines. There are more than 2000 households with nearly 12,000 population living in squatter settlements in public lands, majority of them along river sides.

Shortage of water supply is becoming more acute in Kathmandu every passing year. As the ambitious Melamchi Water Supply Project is yet to take off, people in Kathmandu get less than half of their daily requirement of 110 million liters of water even during the monsoon season. Rapid growth of population coupled with lack of proper sanitation facilities has resulted into shortages and serious contamination of drinking water. Ineffective and up to a century old drainage system needs complete over-hauling. Open spaces and parks are fast disappearing. Occupying public space like Tundikhel for business and religious purposes are becoming a rule.

With seven monuments in the valley recognized as World Heritage Sites, conserving its rich heritage warrants urgent attention. "The very word Kathmandu denotes a city full of monuments with rich cultural, religious and archaeological importance," says Dr. Govinda Tandon, a scholar on Nepali culture. "So, the foremost need today is to conserve our cultural heritage and identify and protect our river civilization. At the same time, we should start greenery campaign at the river sides and build 'dharmashalas' to invite more pilgrims."

From the point of view of disaster preparedness, Kathmandu's situation is horrible. Lying in a seismically active zone, a big earthquake like that of 1934 magnitude could damage more than 50 percent of life-line services like electricity, telephone and drinking water supply, killing up to 50,000 people and seriously injuring up to 150,000 people. "The situation of Kathmandu is dangerous and appalling," says Amod Mani Dixit, an earthquake expert. "Most of the houses in Kathmandu are like death traps. The local people are not prepared and we don't have an emergency response plan."

So, could there be any way out of this horrible situation? Good urban governance, perhaps.

"Urbanization is an inevitable and irreversible process in South Asia," said the Kathmandu Declaration, adopted by the UNDP-assisted South Asian Conference on Urbanization and Good Urban Governance in Kathmandu, in July this year. "Achievement of national economic growth in our countries is to a large extent contingent upon the national and local government capacity to govern the urban centers well. Technical capability and political will are the basic foundation on which to build this capacity for carrying and caring."

In order to foster good urban governance, municipal governments must create institutional mechanisms and space to encourage and facilitate effective civic engagement, private-public partnerships and civil society networks and their coordination at city and higher levels to complement and strengthen municipal policy-making and program management, said the Declaration.

To make all this happen, there should be a vision of a future Kathmandu. Kathmandu Valley should be developed as a cultural, touristic capital region, supported by Banepa, Dhulikhel, Panauti and Pokhara as tourism and institutional zones, and Butwal-Bhairahawa, Chitwan and Hetauda-Birgunj as industrial and commercial zones, says the study "Regulating Growth: Kathmandu Valley. For this, "Mayor Sthapit should first concentrate within the metropolis and the valley before looking beyond," advises Dr. Shree Govinda Shah.

It is too early to say whether Greater Kathmandu will ever become a reality or end up as one more political slogan. But seeing at the rapid decline at the urban environment, what can be concluded is that

Singer Cat Stevens would not like to repeat his song, "Kathmandu, I will come to see you." And, Toni Hagen will no more find his Kathmandu of yesteryears.

`What We Need Is Trnasform the Woes into Opprtunities'

- KESHAV STHAPIT

A dynamic young local leader belonging to the Marxist-Leninist party, KESHAV STHAPIT is known for his hard working style and easy access to the local people. Supported by a group of experts committed for the development of the city, he is said to be clever enough to promote his political constituency. He spoke to BHAGIRATH YOGI about his new proposition. Excepts:

What led you to float the idea of Greater Kathmandu

The five municipalities within the Kathmandu valley and Banepa, Dhulikhel and Panauti are closely linked with each other. Whether it is the issue of watershed management, constructing Melamchi Water Supply Project or raising revenues in an integrated way, we can benefit by working together. For this, we have held a couple of meetings to discuss the issue. I think we also need to incorporate District Development Committees within the valley to materialize this concept.

How do you visualize its structure

We can set up a body like Kathmandu Valley Authority to deal with all these issues. The government has forwarded the concept of Kathmandu Valley Development Council to be led by an administrator or a minister. Such a proposition goes against the spirit of Local Self Governance Act. So, we won't accept any bureaucratic leadership.

Then who will lead the Authority as proposed by you?

We are popularly elected people's representatives. When we sit together on the basis of good will and mutual benefit, it will itself create a leadership. We can develop bureaucracy itself, set up a planning unit and share our best practices. For example, by developing Outer Ring Road and developing greenery alongside of the pipes bringing water from Kathmandu, we can make this area a model city around the world.

How would you justify the need of Greater Kathmandu?

This concept is in the form of a seed right now. But it will grow as soon as we realize its need. For example, once the Sindhuli-Banepa highway is completed we will need an eastern bus park. Where should it be constructed How should the bus park linked to the main city Such issues can be decided by the municipalities together. This will not only save us from bureaucratic hassles, it will also pave way for inviting private investment or donor assistance. This will lessen our problem. At the same time, it will result into infrastructure development for the municipality concerned. Similarly, to develop recreational facilities, to take the tourists around, we must go out of Kathmandu. What we need is sharing our woes and transform them into opportunities.

Critics say you are trying to divert people's attention from the present mismanagement by floating this new idea

The present mismanagement is a result of too many power centers. Whether it is air pollution, health or any other issue, the government should treat us as a local government. Then we won't need grants. We can mobilize our own resources and create an infrastrucutre for development.

There will be local elections within a year. Are you hopeful that this proposition will get continuity?

I translated the vision of P. L. Singh (former Kathmandu Nayor) into programs. Whether it is building overhead bridges or gardens at traffic islands, it has a become a matter of pride for all the citizens of Kathmandu. I have found a popular opinion in favor of continuity.