Modern Death of an Antique City

By Suman Subba and Dikshya Thakuri

The concept of developing Kathmandu into a modern urban city was first seriously considered during the Rana’s autocratic rule. Within the time frame of the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s, palatial buildings mimicking those in Europe e.g. Singha Durbar, Keshar Mahal, Sital Niwas were added to Kathmandu’s more indigenous architecture of temples and toles and narrow lanes dating back 500 years to the time of the Malla kings. They also planned large avenues connecting palace to palace e.g. from New Road to Keshar Mahal to Hotel Shanker to Sital Niwas.

The 1934 earthquake allowed them to expand their borrowed European style structures of form and alignment to create large avenues such as Juddha Sadak or modern day New Road.

And since their overthrow in 1951 Kathmandu has become more receptive to foreign influences. But at what cost?

GTZ, Urban Development Through Local Efforts (UDLE) a German project in Kathmandu focuses on the development of historical sites and areas that have poor infrastructure with local people participation. However, its involvement in Kathmandu is limited because the capital has a sufficient amount of donor agencies says Rajendra Pradhanang, Coordinator of Technical Follow-up at GTZ. The organisation limits itself to Bhaktapur, Thimi and, presently, Patan where, according to GTZ, the more unified community equals stronger participation which is more difficult to achieve in Kathmandu because it is home to people belonging to diverse cultures and ethnic groups.

The main aim of GTZ is to increase the potential of the various municipalities and help them deal efficiently with local problems. According to Pradhanang, the latest idea of constructing the greater Ringroad would definitely serve its purpose in controlling the traffic congestion in the valley.

But says Kai Weise, one of the founders of PAHAR, an organisation dealing with urban planning in hilly regions, "More than a concentration on the physical image of the city, one should work on the services and infrastructure. These things should be dealt with a proper plan in mind as there’s no use in having a superficial vision of what a city should be. Expansion should be based on the capacity, services and what the land offers as natural resources. The concept of ownership and the right to do anything has to change. Once we reach urbanisation, it influences the whole community or city. Greater the expansion, the more difficult it is to provide services".

As the urbanisation of the world stretches to even more alarming levels, developing nations still face the old problem of huge numbers of migrants coming into cities which are inadequately structured to cope with the heavy demand. The seams could crack at any moment. And Kathmandu, lying inside a limited area, will certainly face acute problems in the near future.

"Decentralisation in policy is needed and should not be confined to paper work. If facilities and services are equally distributed to other parts of the country, people will naturally stop migrating to the capital. After all who wants to stay in a polluted city?" added Pradhanang.

Kathmandu Metropolis Corporation (KMC) is supposed to look into the affairs of Kathmandu but the Mayor, Keshav Sthapit groans that the institutional power has not been given to the local body unlike many European countries. "Development in advanced nations has turned into a reality because of independence enjoyed by the local bodies. Another thing that has blocked the effective urban development in Nepal is the absence of good governance."

Despite frequent hurdles that are typical in politics, the mayor says he has a vision and a plan to change the facade of the city at the same time retaining culture by preserving the world heritage sites. The first thing the municipality intends to do is start a house numbering system which is going to be monitored by the Kathmandu Valley Mapping Programme (KVMP), responsible for the urban development of the city. The addresses will have house numbers and street names.

All the residents of the metropolis be they permanent or temporary will have to register thereby giving out all their factual datas. This, they say, is needed for the good of a scientific postal system as well as a systematised computation of all the residents.

Padma Sunder Joshi, the National Co-director at KVMP, says that the project officially kicked off six months ago but the actual work has not started. The main intention of this organisation is to concentrate on urban development through bottom-way approach by stressing on the involvement of local people from all levels of society — businessmen to local residents. The project received a loan for the first time by the Asian Development Bank, financial aid is being provided by UNDPand European Commission and UNICEF.

Urban Planning is neglected because the government is not willing to talk about urban development and therefore the city is degrading. Institutional problem is another hitch in the smooth functioning of the city. Many institutions are involved in one area and there is no coordination between them. For instance, the municipality looks into sewage problems but the Water Supply Corporation is in charge of it and also implements its projects without consulting the municipality, says Joshi.

He further adds that KMC is not involved with the Outer Ringroad plan as it lies outside Kathmandu, instead the Department of Roads is responsible for the project. JAICA, a Japanese organisation made a study and proposed a 4 lane road, 20 metres wide including the footpath from Ring road to Budhanilkantha but the government refused to take it up seriously.

The Inner Ringroad which would connect Bishnumati, Bagmati, Dhobikhola, Handigaon, Palace through north and south is on the agenda. This would reduce traffic congestion in the heart of the city, say experts.

The KMC Mayor, Keshav Sthapit is keen on dividing the city into various zones — Business, World Heritage, Industrial, Residential. One will not only see sky scrapers in movies and abroad but will actually get to live in the city surrounded by them. This he believes is central to his vision. Private sectors will be encouraged to construct huge apartment buildings and subsidies will be given on passing the blueprint for such structures. Sthapit is keen on building a 30 storeyed complex for business and recreational purposes near the old bus park but the proposal has yet to take shape into something more tangible than a fantastical dream.

Apart from huge structures, underground car parks and a shopping complex at the open theatre (Khulla Manch) have been proposed by the KMC. If there are car parks around the core areas like Ason, New Road, there will be no need to drive into these areas. Taking this into account, car parks next to The General Post Office and Rashtriya Nanch Ghar have been proposed.

Since most areas in the city are unorganised and haphazard, land use plan and land pooling schemes have also been suggested to the government, which means buying the land from the owners and returning it after systematically arranging it into a well organised area that has facilities and services such as roads, water, electricity.

At a time when population in the city is increasing at the rate of 2.5 percent because of centralisation and easy access to facilities, Kathmandu has reached a boiling point and the process of decentralisation has to be immediately started before the city explodes due to over-crowding. Resources in other areas have to be tapped.

"Another way of controlling the population inflow from other areas is to make the city expensive by increasing the electricity and water rate but providing subsidies to remote areas where people can not even meet the basic needs. But of course the poorer section of the city will also be taken into consideration," suggested the Mayor. "We can revive the city with the coordination of the government even if it takes 5 years".

Save the Virginity of Dolpo

By Angad Kumar Buda

Day long circumbulation of the sacred Shey mountain .

As I watched Caravan, I couldn't resist appreciating Mr. Eric's genuine expertise .With the unexpected boom of Caravan, the name Dolpo lingers on. Dolpo lacks behind as Caravan leads and enjoys its heyday. But now, the day has dawned and its high time Dolpo no longer lingered lethargically, but surged its way towards development.

With Caravan’s nomination in the Oscar, Dolpo has been affiliated to a broader world and has definitely drawn international attention. No doubt this is a matter of pride the people of Dolpo want to share with all the nation and beyond the whole of Asia. In fact, Caravan has assisted us to cross the river, leaving behind our own conscience in choosing the perfect path.

The spectacular panoramic vistas in Caravan has astonished everyone. The audiences are held spellbound, swayed, thrilled and moved deeply by the astounding plights of the caravans throughout the movie. The veracity of Caravan has prevailed from time immemorable and shall prevail for ages unpredictable if the government does not pay special heed to the fact and act pragmatically.

Despite Dolpo’s wide natural, cultural and geographical diversities, it remains one of the nation’s remotest districts. But with Caravan, the mist of negligence has been unveiled to the frest of the world, it emerges rejuvenated, with myriads of possibilities for development over which the government should carefully think. Besides the government, NGOs and INGOs have also felt the aspirations to assist Dolpo. The government should be extremely aware of profession merely aroused by political intentions. The government should have a clear and distinct vision for, I’ve heard and read articles claiming that road building is the ultimate development, insisting it as the only way out from its present bafflement. Leaders and peasants are all urging and recommending the same thing. Thus, indicating that such concepts must have sprung from somewhere deep from the conventional roots of their understandings of development. I must not hesitate to comment that they are totally ignorant of future consequences – disasters and destruction of the natural purity. Thus, I would prefer to stand alone in defense and strongly protest against building of roads that may not, but definitely does defile and pollute our environment. I must insist that environment is not as tough as we think it is but vice versa.

In reality, motor roads are not the ultimate achievement that lead towards prosperity but rather the cause for our own downfall. Bringing roads not only permeate pollution but, promote unexpected social corruption like unemployment, political instability, distrust and above all a serious threat of insecurity in the region as they would fail to meet with any of the expectations that they are dreaming of. This will ultimately lead Dolpo to becoming the destination of careless tourists affecting quality tourism by which we shall be demoting rather than promoting tourism. There will only be a handful of rich people to own vehicles whereas the poorer section will have nothing to gain. And the most vital fact is that there are only limited natural resources. So, it would be better to leave Dolpo intact and carry out plans of development that best suits its landscapes.

Dolpa women wear amber, turquoise, and coral beads and silver amulet boxes .

Since Dolpo is a land of rolling hills, horses, cattle and mules, safe and easy trails are the most important and inevitable development as one can witness in Caravan. Bridges should be built, not new airports, but the existing airport should be expanded and well maintained and flights well regulated. Wagons and gravel paths are preferred to motors and motor roads which will provide everybody an equal opportunity to earn their living by working. Race courses and ski resorts that attract tourists can be opened. They would love to travel by horse pulled wagons, that unknowingly connect them to nature, rather than mechanical transport system. Definitely, Dolpo would be enjoying the renaissance of its uniqueness with nature and animals once more as their intimate friends. But for all these facts to come true, education plays a vital role. With the lack of enlightened citizens, such an environment or society would almost be impossible to achieve. Thus, quality education must be made dispersible.

The government mast abide by such clear and distinct visions and implement its programmes of reforms through efficient policies, demoralizing corruption, I have no doubt that Dolpo will soon be recognized as a prosperous and an ideal district alluring the world to unravel its magical natural enigma. Dolpo would be an affluent and a sustainable society, an emblem of natural civilization, a true world of the Caravan!!

MAIN