Sustainable development for Nepal

Impressions out of a visit to Nepal from October 28 till November 11, 2014

by Jan R.F. van der Sluis

Visiting Nepal was an overwhelming and interesting experience. Nature and

religion were extraordinary beautiful as an extension to the main purpose of my

visit: meeting our son Geert who was three months in Nepal for an internship.

Inspired by his law study he worked for the Dalit Welfare Organisation (DWO),

a non-governmental organisation with projects all over Nepal.

An impression will be given of interesting and beautiful highlights I came

across, some major problems the country is dealing with and possible future

solutions.

The national flag on Kathmandu Durbar Square at October 30, 2014

View at the Himalaya near Dulikhel at November 8, 2014

After 10 days in Kathmandu Valley with nice but cloudy weather and day time

temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius we had the first view on the beauty of

the Himalaya.

In the old city of Bhaktapur there is only little space for pottery where just harvested

rice is dried in front of the houses on November 6, 2014.

In Kathmandu valley, Bhaktapur was besides Kathmandu one of the seven

former independent city states with their own king. Very near Bakthapur Durbar

Square the harvested rice is dried all around the houses and this activity replaces

for some time the main activity in the city: baking pottery.

In Kathmandu the eyes of Buddha at Boudanath are looking over a Tibetan monastery

at sunset on November 7, 2014

Hinduism and budism together take care of a peaceful religious climate.

Beautiful temples and many festivals show a rich and precious religious culture.

Boudanath in the northeast of Kathmandu is a religious centre with an almost

cosy connection to its direct environment of Tibetan monasteries and all kinds of

shops with original Nepalese products with low pricing for a European visitor.

On the edge of the Boudanath temple a monk is making music in the late afternoon of

November 7, 2014

Intense traffic on the stairs of the Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu

on October 29, 2014

At Swayambunath after visiting the office of the Dalit Welfare Organisation on

October 29, 2014 (Photo: Geert van der Sluis)

The Hindu God Vishnu was honoured in Kathmandu Valley during a yearly festival on

November 4, 2014

After the monsoon season there are many festivals in Nepal, a number of them

are taking a week or even more. These festivals like Dashain or Tihar are

national opportunities for family meetings and celebrations. For Nepalese people

it is very unusual to have holidays outside the country. The Shiva honourings

takes a week as well and we have seen celebrations all over Kathmandu valley.

On Kathmandu Durbar Square a view of the residence of the Kumari on October 30,

2014

Beautiful constructed Hindu temples with outstanding woodcarving are found in

and outside Kathmandu. On Kathmandu Durbar Square the temple can be found

where the Kumari lives, a young girl living there till she starts getting her

periods. Guides around the temple make it a big deal whether the Kumari will

show herself outside her residence.

Cremation at Pashupatinath on November 2, 2014.

Very impressive is the open air cremation along the Baghmati river in

Kathmandu. It’s a place of mourning and contemplation, also seen by the group

of macaque monkeys on the opposite side of the river. Pashupathinath is

considered as the most holy temple complex for the Hindu religion. A change of

tradition however is on its way. Plans are developed to build an electrical

crematorium with flue gas cleaning.

Street view in a street with no name and numbers in Kathmandu, Kalopul

neighbourhood on October 29, 2014

The poor side of Nepal can be seen in many streets in and outside of

Kathmandu.

Half of the roads have bad cover or 50% holes in it. Sidewalks for pedestrians

are hard to find. Besides some major lanes street names are lacking and in case

emergency services like ambulance and fire brigade are needed it may take a lot

extra to get them on the right spot.

Electrical power lines high in the streets are connecting the houses, offices and

shops and lead up to a spaghetti of lines in many cases. Despite the extensive

cabling above the streets the only streetlights at night are the headlights of the

cars passing.

Electrical power lines near houses in Kathmandu, Kalopul

The question rises with what kind of specialism the maintenance of this network

will be done. One answer to this was found during a taxi drive in Kathmandu

where the driver just missed the repairing team in the dense traffic.

In the middle of dense traffic a man holds a ladder against electrical power lines for his

colleague who is working at the lines in Kathmandu on November 4, 2014.

Facing the future

Nepal is quite dense populated with around 30 million inhabitants on a surface

of 150.000 square kilometers. In the capital Kathmandu are living about 3

million people, among them a lot of refugees from Tibet. In the east of the

country there are living 25.000 refugees from Bhutan.

After the civil war ended in 2006 Nepal is looking forward now and in the

position to build a sustainable society where human rights are respected.

Time to envisage the risks and chances to deal with them.

Earthquakes

Nepal is situated in a geological active area.

Earthquakes have taken place and are expected with a magnitude that might

have a disastrous effects on the cities in Nepal, especially Kathmandu.

Kathmandu has been hit by a major earthquake every 70 or 80 years. The last

with a 8 magnitude was in 1934.

The Nepal Society for Earthquake Technology estimates that 60 percent of the

buildings will be destroyed, 100.000 people will die and 200.000 people will be

wounded if an eight magnitude earthquake would occur now. Because of the

collapse of hospitals ,bridges and airports rescue and rehabilitation will be

extremely difficult.

A National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management has been rolled out since

2009 and with international partners the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium

concentrates on retrofitting schools and hospitals.

New houses and buildings should be earthquake proof and measures should be

taken to secure overhanging electrical power lines.

In December 2014 an earthquake has been reported in Banepa with a magnitude

of 5.0 and felt in Kathmandu in the neighbourhood Kalopul, where my son had

his sleeping place. He was lucky to leave Nepal one day before the quake.

In 2014 three earthquakes have taken place in Nepal, the heaviest one in

Kathmandu with a magnitude of 5.2.

Air pollution in Kathmandu

Kathmandu (Google earth, 2-11-2014)

Kathmandu is situated in a valley and suffers especially in winter time from

smog. The emissions from traffic, public waste burning and brick stone factories

are hardly dispersed by wind and make Kathmandu one of the most polluted

cities in the world. The visibility of the Himalaya in Kathmandu is not only

limited by clouds but also because of the smog.

View from Swayambhunath (29-10-2014)

On numerous roads and crossings half of the people are wearing a hardly

effective dust filter. Not only the finest soot particles are able to pass the filter

and may enter the lungs as can be noticed at the end of a day in the streets of

Kathmandu. The finest soot particles with the greatest impact on the health of

the city population will pass through the filter. A population survey can show

the extend of lung problems among the people of Kathmandu.

Dust filters are often used in Kathmandu, here in Kalanki on October 29, 2014

(Photo: Corien Glaudemans)

In Kathmandu textile shops a dust filter is usually available for 20 NPR

(Nepalese Rupees), policemen working as a traffic regulator usually wear them

as well.

Kathmandu city development

In the capital Kathmandu are now living about 3 million people, it can be

estimated that in 20 years from now the population of Kathmandu will be about

10 million people. Despite the actual pollution and earthquake risks in the city,

economic growth might occur and will attract newcomers. The traffic system in

the city will be asked to cope with the needs of many more people. To avoid a

daily traffic jam with more severe pollution effects than already exist city

transport has to be improved. All types of buses in Kathmandu are overcrowded,

they usually drive with open doors, sometimes the only way to leave the bus is

through the window. Besides that, animals are transported in buses as well.

In a recent visit to Kathmandu the mayor of a big city in Colombia gave a useful

picture of the improvement of the transport system in his city.

Priority in city transport should be given to a city bus system with good quality

city owned busses with the best fuel available. The city buses will ride on free

lanes with the necessary high frequencies. Cultural areas like the Durbar Squares

in the city should be closed for all motorised vehicles.

A crowded three wheel bus in Kathmandu on October 29, 2014

Waste treatment

Throughout Kathmandu valley smaller and larger waste dumps can be found at

the roadsides. In Kathmandu cows, dogs, goats and chicken can be found

gathering food from a garbage pile. Waste collection is hardly seen in the city. If

waste piles are becoming too big they are set on fire.

The mass of dumped waste is controlled by burning, here in the foreground just set on

fire at Kalopul, Kathmandu on October 29, 2014

On cold winter nights this might even be convenient because indoor heating

possibilities are hardly available in Kathmandu. To keep warm at night people

gather around waste burning fires.

Waste burning pit near a convent in a jungle area north of Kathmandu on November 4,

2014

In a study about ten years ago was concluded that about 30 percent of the

Kathmandu waste was not collected but dumped besides houses and roads.

There are still signs of waste collection but it is not clear if it keeps up with the

continuous growth of the city.

Plans for the building of a municipal waste combusting plant are mentioned in

the press and seem a necessary step in environmental improvement.

Water pollution

The river water in Kathmandu is too polluted to use as a source of drinking

water, although inhabitants might have get used to the consumption of it. Tap

water is polluted and may give serious health problems. For drinking water

mineral water is widely in use

Where groundwater is used the levels are lowering and the capacity diminishes.

The need for clean drinking water will be fulfilled if the 20 kilometre transport

pipe from the mountainous north of Kathmandu should be finished some years

from now.

Monkey drinks water out of a captured tourist mineral water bottle

The widely present macaque monkey population in Kathmandu seem also to

prefer mineral water or even water from a hotel swimming pool over the

consumption of river water.

Climate change risks

Especially outside Kathmandu Valley flooding and the possibility of

breakthrough of glacial lakes may cause disastrous situations for local

communities. An early warning system would create time for families to save

themselves, their livestock and their feedstock.

Opinion article about the strategy of handling disaster risks in the Himalayan Times of

November 11, 2014

Climate change is also one of the strategic priorities of the Dalit Welfare

Organisation. Especially Dalits are often living in regions vulnerable to the

effects of flooding. Climate change has an impact on the frequency and the scale

of flooding.

Use of renewable energy

Sources for renewable energy are widely available in Nepal. There is an

enormous potential of hydroelectricity and projects can further be developed

now without the setback of the civil war.

The supply of electric power is not enough for the demands. In winter electricity

is blacked out for most of the time. The available electricity is distributed

resulting in the use of a few hours electricity daily for most of the inhabitants

and shops. Installed is now about 680 MW hydroelectricity in Nepal, a recent

investment from India in a new power plant in Nepal will extend this to about

800 MW. Needed in winter is roughly 2500 MW, not counting the use of

electricity for heating purposes.

Besides hydroelectricity, solar power can be used for generating electricity and

heating purposes. Solar power is in the stadium of demonstration projects as was

clear at the latest SAARC conference in Kathmandu in November 2014, where

an entry road to the conference was extensively supplied of streetlights on solar

power.

Heating houses in winter time with solar power would avoid burning waste for

heating. The warmth of the sun can be accumulated with solar collectors, the

water can be circulated with electrical power from solar cells.

Solar cells near Bhaktapur Durbar Square on November 6, 2014

Spotlight on renewable energy in the Kathmandu post, November 2014

Human rights

Up till now the Caste system plays a major role in modern Nepalese society.

This system still has an almost binding influence on the life of a Nepalese

inhabitant and his or her future possibilities. For instance, people of a lower

Caste are not allowed to marry with someone from a higher Caste and influential

positions are given to people from higher Castes. (1).

President, director and cooperators of the Dalit Welfare Organisation at their office in

Kalanki, Kathmandu receiving my wife and me visiting our son on October 29, 2014

(Photos: Corien Glaudemans)

The Dalit Welfare Organisation has projects in more than half of the districts in

Nepal in education and human rights, also when rights of non Dalits are violated

by higher Castes.

Education

Education, especially the teaching of the English language is a main issue in

Nepal.

On a farm in the mountains east of Kathmandu Valley we were invited by the family of

our taxi driver where his very young cousin on the left spoke impressive good English

Students in school uniforms in Nepal, November 2014

References

1.

Geert J.C. van der Sluis, Discrimination of Dalits in Nepal, 2014.