<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe115c9c7e80680e0da4d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768"/><figcaption>Rescue personnel in front of a building destroyed by the 7.8M earthquake in Turkey on 6 February. Photo: TURKISH MINISTRY OF INTERIOR/TWITTER</figcaption></figure>The deadly <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jllz/executive">7.8M earthquake</a> in Türkiye and Syria on 6 February occurred on the East Anatolia fault that had not suffered a major earthquake since 1138. There is a similar <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state/">seismic gap</a> in western Nepal where there has not been a mega quake since 1505.The area around Aleppo in northern Syria and southern Türkiye has also seen smaller earthquakes, including a 7.0M disaster in 1822. So far, an estimated 25,000 people have been killed with survivors camped out in the open in blizzard conditions.At 7.8M, the Türkiye-Syria earthquake was about the same magnitude as one that hit Nepal in 2015, but it lasted two minutes — more than double the duration of the Nepal quake.Preliminary reports suggest a surface displacement of 3m, whereas in Central Nepal seven years ago it was about 1.2m. The devastation in southern Türkiye and Syria is therefore much worse, with many concrete high-rise apartment blocks coming down at 4:15am when families were still sleeping, leading to a great loss of life.Even though the 2015 earthquake in Central Nepal was not a mega earthquake, it still killed 8,857 people and made millions homeless. Most of the buildings that collapsed in Kathmandu were brick mortar structures, while some multi-storey concrete buildings also came down in areas like Gonga Bu.The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/preparing-for-the-next-big-earthquake-in-nepal">1934 earthquake</a> was 8.0M epicentred in eastern Nepal, and killed at least 16,000 people in Nepal and India. Historical records show that such mega quakes hit Nepal once every 100 years, while smaller ones like the 2015 quake are more frequent.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/mind-the-gap/">large seismic gap in western Nepal</a> between Pokhara and Dadeldhura means so much stress has built up there because of the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates that an earthquake of more than 8 magnitude could happen any day.A mega quake in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/">western Nepal</a> will impact the whole country, including northern India. This is a level of disaster the whole country needs to be prepared for, not just western Nepal. And to prepare for what we know is coming, we must waste no time in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/concrete-lessons-of-2015/">reinforcing infrastructure</a>, since two-thirds of the all buildings in Nepal are not seismic resistant.After 2015, there is a general <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/false-sense-of-security-about-strength-of-reinforced-concrete-structures,2240">misconception that concrete buildings are safer</a> because many of them survived the quake. But most reinforced concrete structures in Kathmandu would not have survived if the intensity then was slightly higher and the shaking had lasted as long as this week’s earthquake in Türkiye-Syria.Given how disaster-prone we know Nepal is, we must seriously put our efforts and money into reducing the risks. This means design earthquake resistant structures, and monitor building compliance.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe115f9c7e80680e0da4d8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Awareness alone does not save lives, people need to change their attitude and practice. Many of us have already forgotten the destruction of the 2015 earthquake, and people have gone back to building unsafe houses as they used to.Individuals must invest a bit more to ensure that their buildings are safe, while the government can provide technical expertise. This means retrofitting especially public buildings like schools and hospitals, but this should not cost more than one-third of what a new building would.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/not-out-of-danger-the-big-one">Retrofitting can be a lifesaver</a>. None of the schools in Central Nepal retrofitted by our organisation NSET suffered damage in 2015, and many served as shelters for the general public for months during the aftershocks.Nepal received immediate help from the international community in search and rescue (SAR) operations in 2015. There were 141 teams from 34 countries with 4,521 personnel that could fly in because Kathmandu airport was not damaged.A search and rescue team from Türkiye was one of the first to arrive on 26 April 2015 with 82 rescue members, 2 canines and stayed for two weeks. Türkiye's search-and-rescue response in Nepal under the its Prime Minister’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, known as AFAD. It also sent 16 tons of supplies including tents, food, water and supplies for children.Several other Turkish agencies including the Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Turkish Red Crescent, Search and Rescue Foundation and Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions had sent <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/life/more-than-7-000-dead-in-nepal-quake/52510">emergency and medical supplies</a>, doctors and search and rescue experts.Nepal needs to reciprocate Türkiye’s generous and prompt assistance seven years ago, and show solidarity during this tragedy. Nepal has also been able to build back better within 5-6 years and can share some of its experience.By the time Nepal’s teams are mobilised in a few days, search and rescue operation may be already of less relevance. However, medical teams with expertise in orthopaedics, trauma care and essential medical supplies will be useful since responders have themselves been caught up in the disaster.Nepal Red Cross has a strong system and experience in local response and volunteer mobilisation, and can go with essential humanitarian supplies like shelter and non-food items.In the medium term, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/project/UNFOLDING-FOREIGN-AID-AND-ITS-CONTRIBUTION-TO-DISASTER-RESILIENCE-A-CASE-OF-EARTHQUAKE-2015-IN-NEPAL">Nepal’s experience</a> in rural housing reconstruction can help during the recovery and reconstruction. Organisations like NSET and others have amassed experience in helping recovery, reconstruction in other earthquakes in Gujarat, Bam, Banda Aceh, Kashmir and Nepal itself.We can offer human resource support in dealing with the planning and implementation of housing reconstruction. Technical assistance to transfer Nepal’s experiences, lessons and good practices for both urban and rural reconstruction will be of much help. Additionally, Nepal can pledge support for recovery and reconstruction.Surya Narayan Shrestha is the Executive Director of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET).

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Turkey and Nepal face similar seismic risks

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a03c9c7e80680e0d7029jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption></figure>As Nepal prepared to mark National Earthquake Safety Day on 16 January to commemorate the 8.3 magnitude disaster that hit Kathmandu in 1934, the country went into mourning for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-bound-flight-crashes-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the air crash in Pokhara</a>.There were 72 people on board and there are likely no survivors. This was the worst disaster in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s domestic aviation</a>, and the highest number of casualties after two crashes of international flights one-after-another in Kathmandu in 1992.The message from these tragedies is that Nepal is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">disaster-prone country</a> — either human induced or natural. But even though earthquakes, landslides or floods may be ‘natural phenomena’ the disasters are more destructive because of manmade causes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0409c7e80680e0d702apng.png" alt="" width="640" height="592">Social media posts have condemned the coalition government’s decision to mark the crash with a day off. Most said it should have been taken as a day of reckoning about preventing and being prepared for all kinds of disasters.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0449c7e80680e0d702bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/preparing-for-the-next-big-earthquake-in-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1934 earthquake</a> was epicentre in eastern Nepal, and killed at least 16,000 people in Nepal and India. Historical records show that a temblor of that magnitude hits Nepal at least once every 100 years, while smaller quakes are more frequent.“2015 was not a mega earthquake, it is still due,” warns Surya Narayan Shrestha, Executive Director of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET).He adds that there is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/mind-the-gap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large seismic gap in western Nepal</a> where there has not been a big earthquake since 1505, meaning that so much tectonic energy has accumulated that the region is overdue for a disaster of more than 8 magnitude.The Indian Plate is converging towards the Eurasian Plate at an average rate of 25mm a year, which is what makes Nepal and the region an active seismic zone.“We have been lucky that we haven’t had a mega-quake yet in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the seismic gap</a> between Pokhara all the way to Dadeldhura but this also means we could witness the biggest one yet given the stress accumulated,” says Anil Pokhrel, Chief Executive of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).“In fact, it will be catastrophic,” Pokhrel earns. “The 1505 earthquake killed one-third of Nepal’s population even back then.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0479c7e80680e0d702cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="516"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>An 8M+ earthquake in faraway <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">western Nepal</a> will not spare Kathmandu either, and half of Nepal’s population will be directly affected. Experts estimate that there will be more than 100,000 casualties and over 1.5 million buildings will collapse across the country. Large parts of northern India will also be hit“This is the level of disaster the whole country needs to be prepared for, not just western Nepal,” warns NSET’s Shrestha.There is therefore no time to waste <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/concrete-lessons-of-2015/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reinforcing infrastructure</a>, but that is a tall order since a survey showed that two-thirds of all the buildings in Nepal will collapse in a major earthquake.The 7.8M quake in 2015 was a warning, and it has had some effect in increasing preparedness. In fact, Nepal’s record of reconstruction is noted as a success given the scale of destruction in the aftermath. But similar levels of preparedness is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/guest-editorial-better-late-than-never,891" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">needed now for the Next Big One</a>.There is also a general <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/false-sense-of-security-about-strength-of-reinforced-concrete-structures,2240" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">misconception that concrete buildings are safer</a> because they survived the 2015 earthquake. But experts say if the shaking had lasted just a few seconds longer and if the intensity of the tremor was a bit higher, most reinforced concrete buildings in Kathmandu would have also collapsed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a04a9c7e80680e0d702djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="750"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a04d9c7e80680e0d702ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0509c7e80680e0d702fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="750">Cement buildings are safer only when they do not flout building standards. Otherwise they are death traps because Nepal just does not have enough rescue equipment and skills required for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Search-locate-%20rescue-in-collapsed-concrete-houses,3676" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">search and rescue from concrete structures</a>.“Concrete is among the most complex of construction materials and requires stringent quality control,” says Anil Pokhrel. “The quality of some of these do not meet quality standards.”Substandard cement means weak concrete, not just in urban centres but across Nepal as cement construction spreads to even remote parts of the country due to road expansion.Most recently, the 8 November 2022 6.6M <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/earthquake-vacates-villages-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">earthquake in Doti</a> killed 6 people while nearly 15,000 houses and 215 public buildings were damaged in four districts in the far west. A post-mortem of the disaster found that not even 5% of buildings in the affected areas followed even the most basic building codes.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0539c7e80680e0d7030jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This means very low awareness among the public as well as municipal authorities about <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/headline/Ruined-future,3471" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enforcing building codes</a>. This points to an urgent need to capacitate engineers to design earthquake resistant structures, and masons who can build them accordingly. But most important is monitoring building compliance.“Knowledge alone is not enough to save lives, we need people to change their attitude and practice,” says Shrestha. “As it is, we have already forgotten the destruction post-2015 earthquake and people are now building back the way they used to. People must invest a bit more to ensure that their buildings are safe while the government can provide technical expertise.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0579c7e80680e0d7031jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a05a9c7e80680e0d7032jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Engineers say it costs only 10% more to make a traditional building earthquake resistant. This means the building will not suffer major damage in moderate tremors, and even if it collapses with bigger shaking it gives people time to escape. Even if 100% earthquake proof buildings were possible to make, they would be too expensive.For existing buildings, however, there is an option of retrofitting them, but should not cost more than one-third of what a new building does.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/not-out-of-danger-the-big-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Retrofitting can be a lifesaver</a>. In the 2015 earthquakes, none of the school buildings in and around Kathmandu Valley retrofitted by the NSET suffered any damage, and in fact served as shelters in the aftermath.As it is, green and open spaces which acted as shelters from earthquakes in the past are being traded for residential and commercial buildings across cities. But NSET with support of various municipalities and Kathmandu Valley Development Authority has recently mapped 1,000 open spaces, most of them in Kathmandu Valley which can be viewed at <a href="http://bipadportal.gov.np" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bipadportal.gov.np</a>.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a05c9c7e80680e0d7033jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="345"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Close to 8,000 schools and 30,000 classrooms were damaged or destroyed in 2015. The fact that it struck on a Saturday saved the lives of thousands of students which should be taken as a sign to reinforce school buildings all over Nepal with topmost priority.“If the 2015 earthquake had happened on any other day than Saturday, we estimate that at least 30,000 students could have been killed,” says Shrestha.NSET has managed to retrofit 2,000 schools across Nepal in a joint collaboration with the government, but there are 32,000 government schools in Nepal with 80,000 school buildings between them. More than half of them are vulnerable to future quakes.It is not only the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lessons-not-learned-from-2015/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">school infrastructure</a> that needs to be reinforced, but their curriculum has to be designed in such a way that students and teachers alike know the dangers and how to protect themselves. The schools need to be prepared at all times with frequent emergency drills and training about earthquake safety.While <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lessons-still-not-learnt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">preparedness is the key</a> to reducing the damage, efficient response in the aftermath can save the most lives in the ‘golden hour’. With the spread of concrete buildings, Nepal needs to immediately invest in equipment for collapsed structure search and rescue like snake-eye and robo-worm cameras, acoustic, thermal and motion sensors to detect human life under the rubble.Another urgent measure is to plan stockpiling of immediate digging and relief material for which the government is building provincial as well as district warehouses, many of which are under construction.A recent study undertaken by NDRRMA titled ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response Assessment 2022-2030’ found that Nepal needs nearly $200 million in the next seven years to prepare for future disasters like the one projected for western Nepal.“Given the sheer scale of the overdue earthquake in the west, we need to invest a lot more in disaster preparedness, from constructing stronger structures and retrofitting our homes, schools and hospitals to developing a better response mechanism,” says Anil Pokhrel.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0609c7e80680e0d7034jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="829">With the understanding that financing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disastrous-management-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">disaster risk reduction</a> is more effective and economical than a post-disaster response like search, rescue, relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery, the government has developed the Nepal Disaster Risk Financing Strategy so the state plans to provide insurance for all the public and private buildings in an event of a major earthquake.NSET’s Surya Narayan Shrestha agrees: “Given how disaster-prone we know Nepal is, we must seriously put our efforts and money into reducing the risks.”

Sonia Awale

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In a disastrous state

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3da9c7e80680e0d3079jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="853"/><figcaption>All Photos: DHANBAHADUR THAPA</figcaption></figure>Almost every household in western Nepal has a family member working in India, and the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the region last month has added to the exodus.Six people were killed, and there was widespread destruction. In Achham's Sanfebagar 90% of homes were damaged. But even a month later, there has been no detailed assessment of the damage, and even more villagers have been forced to migrate to India to earn money for repairs.Like many in this arid region, Dal Bahadur Bhool is a subsistence farmer. His house was destroyed, and he has no money for repairs and no option but to follow thousands of others from far-western Nepal to earn some money in India.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/">Epicentre of two disasters in West Nepal</a>, Sonia Awale“His family has been under the tent for almost a month, his children are also sick with cold,” says Gom Rawal, a neighbour. “There is no other income for the family or help, so he is going to India in a few days to try to make a living.”Five other families from the nearby Khaptad Valayanta and Putru villages in Achham are also preparing to migrate to the Tarai, where a few families have some land, or to India. “The number of people looking to leave is high among the families whose homes have been damaged,” adds Rawal, who is also the member of the Achham District Committee of the CPN-Socialist Party.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3dd9c7e80680e0d307ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1034" height="590"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3e09c7e80680e0d307bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3e59c7e80680e0d307cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600">Pooja Kadayat of Sanfebagar-7 has already moved to Bangalore where her husband is employed after their home collapsed. Her uncle Dharma Kadayat says: “Many of us continue to live under tents in bad conditions, while some have gone south, there has been no proper survey of the exact numbers of how many have left.”The earthquake epicentre was at Khaptad National Park in Doti, and struck at 2:12AM local time, with over 300 aftershocks over the following days. Achham and Doti district suffered the worst damage. Six have died and 10 were injured in Purbichoki where 11,000 houses sustained cracks and 120 were levelled. Many families are now either living under tents or have migrated elsewhere."We had a sudden rush of trauma patients from Doti and Achham who needed surgery, and we referred some of the more serious cases to Dhangadi," says Mandeep Pathak, an orthopaedic surgeon at Bayalpata Hospital, where the non-profit Nyaya Health Nepal provides free medical care to the people of surrounding districts. Many staff homes were damaged, although the hospital itself with its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/foundations-for-sustainable-buildings-in-nepal/">seismic resistant rammed earth architecture</a> was unscathed.Western Nepal has not seen a meda-quake for 500 years, and continues to be at risk of a disaster of 8M or higher. Central Nepal also saw an uptick in out-migration of people in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake that was 7.8 on the Richter scale.In Sanfebagar, 6,000 houses have sustained cracks with a few completely destroyed. “Nonetheless, there is considerable risk to live in the buildings that didn’t come down,” says deputy municipality chair Shiv Bahadur Kunwar.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) provides compensation only after the full assessment, which is still pending. The local government has therefore stepped in, collecting funds from its budget and community organisations. “But one tent and a couple days’ worth of food is not enough,” says Kunwar. As winter sets in, more people under the tents are getting sick and one three-month-old girl has died of exposure.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3e89c7e80680e0d307djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="870" height="560"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Dijan Bhattarai of the NDRMMA in Kathmandu blames the 20 November general elections for the delayed response, but adds that reconstruction work will be done by July 2023. “But we are conducting a preliminary survey. Reconstruction will take place after we prepare the damage report to find long-term solutions,” he says.The Authority has been providing Rs500,000 for houses destroyed due to heavy rains, Rs400,000 in the hills, and Rs300,000 in Tarai. But there are no such provisions yet for earthquakes. Delays, poor management and lack of relief will only exacerbate the problem.“With migration comes the problem of social dislocation, low production, increase in criminal activities, competition for opportunities, unbalanced population,” says sociologist Ram Gurung. “Even if reconstruction or other jobs cannot be created quickly, it is necessary to properly counsel people affected.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/better-forecasting-reduces-flood-impact-in-nepal/">Better forecasting reduces flood impact in Nepal</a>Out-migration in Doti predates the latest earthquake. Sanju Thapa, ward chair of Patalkot in Sanfebagar, says many families have been concerned about increasing risk of landslides and other disasters. Over hundred of the 566 families in Patalkot have relocated in the last few years, and 90 more are planning to leave following the quake.A landslide in 2010 killed 10 people of the same family in Patalkot. Some hundred houses were at risk, but nothing was done in lack of proper research and evaluation, adds Thapa.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3eb9c7e80680e0d307ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="597"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd3ef9c7e80680e0d307fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="597">“Before, only men would go to India for work, leaving behind the women and the children,” adds Min Bahadur Kunwar of Sanfebagar. “Now, whole families are leaving."Most have moved to Kailali, Kanchanpur or Banke in the plains of Nepal, others have gone to Mumbai and other cities in India. Eight schools have shut down in Sanfebagar in recent years because there are no children left. In Bhagwati Basic School, where Kunwar is a teacher, the number of students dropped from 330 to 200 in just the past year, and he expects this to drop further.Says Sanju Thapa: “This time, the earthquake has caused even more visible and invisible damage. People think the whole region is unsafe and are moving out, leaving behind the elderly, empty houses and barren slopes.”Read more:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rebuilding-five-years-after-2015-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rebuilding five years after 2015 quake</a>, Alisha Sijapati<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/concrete-lessons-of-2015/">Concrete lessons of 2015</a>, Sonia Awale

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Earthquake vacates villages in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372210a9c7e80680e0c0298jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Gabions constructed by local lodge owners near Chukhung village in 2016, following an englacial flood from the Lhotse glacier in 2015. The embankment protected the village during a second flood in 2016. Photo: ALTON C BYERS</figcaption></figure>The development of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tracing-past-glacial-floods-in-kangchenjunga/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glacial lakes from receding glaciers</a>, contained by either terminal moraines or bedrock, is commonly linked with global warming since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA), and are thought to be increasing in number and size.Such lakes are prone to sudden and catastrophic drainage of their water which is known as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glacial lake outburst floods</a> (GLOFs). Dam breakage can result from rapid lake area expansion rates, dead-ice melting in moraines, destabilising seepage processes, sudden lake water level change, and surge waves created by rockfall or ice calving.The stored lake water that is released has caused <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enormous death and devastation downstream</a>. However, there are a range of other cryospheric processes and hazards that are only beginning to receive attention. They, too, can result in landslides, debris flows, and/or other major glacier-related flood events.We focus on three of these lesser-known and poorly documented phenomena — englacial conduit floods, permafrost-linked rockfall, and debris flows. All three took place in the Nepal Himalaya during the past decade.Englacial Conduit Floods<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/6372210e9c7e80680e0c0299jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1421" height="900"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Debris-covered glaciers with gradients steeper than 2° are prone to meltwater drainage as opposed to the pooling and development of large glacial lakes. Consequently, they often develop a network of englacial conduits, or cave-like features, within the glacier itself.The conduits may be interconnected and linked to surficial meltwater ponds characteristic of stagnating and ablating debris-covered glaciers. These conduits are usually water filled during the summer months, contained within the glacier by an ice lens or dam located below the exterior debris cover. They are water free during the winter months.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/it-is-getting-hotter-on-the-roof-of-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">It is getting hotter on the roof of the world</a>, Kunda DixitFlood triggers can include the rapid drainage of a surficial meltwater pond directly into water-filled conduits, overland floods from high precipitation events, where floodwaters enter sinkholes that connect directly to the conduits, or the sudden discharge of water from one internal conduit to another.Retaining ice lenses can then fracture from the increased hydrostatic pressure, with flood waters emerging directly out of the glacier itself.The discharged water from multiple conduit outlets can then merge to create <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/more-himalayan-tsunamis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">significant downstream flood activity</a>, with peak discharges in the range of several hundred cubic meters per second.These floods, while considerably smaller than most known and recorded GLOFs, can nevertheless result in damage downstream.Permafrost-linked, Rockfall-induced GLOFs and Debris Flows<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221119c7e80680e0c029ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="732"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The impacts of global warming trends can be particularly conspicuous in glaciated landscapes, notably in the form of rapidly receding glaciers and the formation of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-below-nepals-melting-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glacial lakes</a>.Growing evidence suggests that similar changes are also occurring at above 6,000m elevations with the thawing permafrost that can impact the mechanical strength and hydraulic permeability of high elevation rock faces.Rockfalls previously constrained by year-round frozen temperatures can set in motion a cascade of catastrophic processes below, including more rockfalls, debris flows, explosive impact with glaciers below in addition to triggering glacier-related floods downstream.On 20 April 2017, a flood on the Barun Valley in the Makalu-Barun National Park in eastern Nepal blocked the confluence of the Barun with the Arun River, resulting in a potentially dangerous 200m long lake.Our follow-up study during May-June 2017 revealed that the source of the flood was the &lt;0.1 km2 Langmale Glacial Lake. In spite of its small size, the estimated 1.3 × 106m3volume flood caused extensive downstream damage to forests, pastureland, and some infrastructure down to the flood’s attenuation point in Yangle Kharka.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-heating-melts-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forests replace glaciers in the Himalaya</a>, Tufan NeupaneHowever, instead of the flood trigger being a snow or ice avalanche into the lake, the cause turned out to be a massive, high altitude breakage of solid rock from the east face of Saldim Peak (6,388 m). The debris landslide plummeted 1,200m down to the Langmale Glacier, creating a massive explosion upon impact characterised by a dust cloud and hurricane-force winds.A 1.1 million m3 debris flow of ice, debris, and sediment then cascaded directly into the Saldim Glacial Lake below, triggering a hyper-concentrated slurry outburst flood that grew progressively larger and more destructive as it continued down valley.Similar processes are thought to have triggered <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Anatom-of-a-Himalayan-tsunami,1330" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the 2012 Seti flood near Pokhara</a> that killed 70 people, and 2021 Chamoli flood in Uttarakhand that left 300 dead and destroyed several under construction hydropower projects.Swiss permafrost specialist Wilfried Haeberli, using recent examples from the Swiss Alps, Cordillera Blanca in Peru, and Mt Everest region of Nepal, believes that the probability of similar flood events will continue to increase with the continued formation of new glacial lakes below high mountains.Earthquake-induced GLOFs<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221149c7e80680e0c029bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1340" height="1026"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Seismic activity is a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/melting-mountains-shake,3073" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">potential trigger of GLOFs</a>. The fragile and unconsolidated nature of most terminal moraines means they can be easily damaged during earthquakes, releasing water downstream.Following the 25 April 2015 earthquake, a team of international remote sensing specialists from the University of Arizona mapped 4,312 landslides to identify potential hazards. They surveyed 491 glacier lakes for earthquake damage, finding nine landslide-impacted lakes but no visible satellite evidence of GLOFs. The lack of GLOFs was attributed to the impacted region’s extreme topography, which may have played a role in buffering the potentially destructive impact of the shock waves.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/langtang-copes-with-quake-and-covid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An earthquake-triggered avalanche</a> of ice and rock was dislodged from the Langmoche Glacier above Dig Tso glacial lake in 2015 in the Khumbu. The avalanche created a 4.2–8.2m seiche wave and small outburst flood within the Bhote Kosi downstream. Although the flood was largely contained within the river channel, several bridges were destroyed.Dig Tso first experienced major GLOF activity on 4 August 1985, as a result of a similar ice avalanche from the Langmoche Glacier. A resulting avalanche created a surge wave that breached the terminal moraine, unleashing an estimated 5 million m3 of water that killed five people and  caused extensive damage downstream.The 2015 repeat event is important because it demonstrates that even though a glacial lake has already experienced an outburst flood, it can still be dangerous, subject to additional flooding activity in the future, and in need of regular monitoring.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412114/637221179c7e80680e0c029cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Each of these phenomena need more detailed study to develop the most effective prevention, mitigation, and adaptation approaches possible. Such studies will most likely be strengthened if they include a on-site or remote sensing reconnaissance of the event as soon after its occurrence as possible, along with the participation, insights, and experience of local people.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-risk-to-hydropower-investment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Large hydropower projects are particularly vulnerable</a> to the impacts of glacier floods, as has happened  repeatedly in recent years. Such projects need to plan for such catastrophic events, which have thus far been largely ignored within the pre-construction feasibility and environmental impact study process.Transboundary research and cooperation will also be essential to minimising the impacts of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-heating-melts-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">future GLOFs</a>, particularly along the Nepal-China border.If scientists can share the results of their research with decision-makers, more timely mitigation programs will be possible.Alton C Byers, PhD is a Senior Research Associate and Faculty at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado at Boulder. A scientific version of this article, recently published in Mountain Research and Development, can be downloaded for free<a href="https://bioone.org/journals/mountain-research-and-development/volume-42/issue-2/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00045.1/Three-Recent-and-Lesser-Known-Glacier-Related-Flood-Mechanisms-in/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00045.1.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> here</a>. Byers is currently researching alpine ecosystems in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.

Nepal’s mountains are melting

<figure><img width="3000" height="1998" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721da99c7e80680e0bd4fejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The Taleju Temple of Patan with the Mulchok courtyard in 2019. Photo: NHDP.</figcaption></figure>Seven years ago, on a particularly gloomy Saturday, the ground groaned as an earthquake shook Central Nepal, flattening villages and killing thousands.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Monumental-loss,2215">Many historical monuments</a> of Kathmandu Valley were reduced to rubble in just 50 seconds. Photos of the ruins crossed the world: a broken Dharara, toppled houses leaning on each other over darkened streets, piles of bricks and timber covered in yellow dust. Seven years later, monuments are coming out of their scaffolds, while others still have cracks that run the length of their walls.Kathmandu <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/">has rebuilt itself</a> every century after a major earthquake. The decision on how to rebuild is determined by the resources and sensibilites of the ruler at the time. What constitutes '<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18013#.YmN0LtNBxH0">heritage</a>' also changes with time. <img width="412" height="198" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dac9c7e80680e0bd4ffjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="2080" height="2080" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dad9c7e80680e0bd500jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><figcaption>The temple after the 2015 earthquake which toppled the cupola representing Krishna Mandir. Photo: KVPT.</figcaption></figure><figure><img width="3000" height="2002" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721db39c7e80680e0bd502jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“A family tree and heritage are almost synonymous,” says conservationist Alok Siddhi Tuladhar. “Because what we get from our ancestors is our heritage.” Our parents and grandparents pass on heirlooms to us, Tuladhar explains, and this gives ‘heritage’ an immediate tangible tone, evidenced by the temples, monuments,<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/saving-nepals-hiti-heritage/"> hiti spouts</a> that form the cultural legacy of Nepal spanning centuries of artistic and socio-political expression.  “Heritage also goes beyond just the physical monuments,” he adds. “The concept of heritage beyond just an object or artefact is especially true in the case of Nepal, where <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303">traditional and Indigenous practices are still living</a> and breathing.” This is different than, for example, the Colosseum in Rome which has archaeological significance, but in the absence of gladiators, that is now recontextualised. “But here in Kasthamandap, it is a vastly different feeling to interact with Ganesh and Gorakhnath, who are still worshipped,” Tuladhar says. "The very manner of interaction is also part of Nepal’s unique heritage." <figure><img width="2592" height="1924" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721db69c7e80680e0bd503jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="3000" height="2167" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dba9c7e80680e0bd504jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2589" height="2056" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dbd9c7e80680e0bd505jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="6720" height="4480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dc19c7e80680e0bd506jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bharat Maharjan of Nepal Heritage Documentation Project agrees: “All human acts, including fashion, cuisine, agriculture and architecture, are heritage, evidence for which can be found in everything around us.”For instance toponyms give us a glimpse into the age-old practices of a certain place and community.“In Kirtipur, there is a place called कांफ्वंद्वं which is now part of the university,” he says, “there used to be a funeral mound and people would go during the time of pandemic to pacify the spirits with wind instruments. Now the practice is obsolete, but the name of the place helps us trace that part of our history and culture.” The Kathmandu Valley is remarkable because this ethnically and religiously diverse bowl-shaped valley of only 665 sq km has at least 130 important monuments, and lies at the crossroads of ancient civilisations of the subcontinent.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303">Preserving the intangible</a>, Chandani KC“Another uniqueness of the Valley is that human civilisation has flourished here continuously since ancient times without interruption, as can be found in the inscriptions, monuments and historical records,” adds Maharjan. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-tug-of-tradition/">Continuity is integral to heritage</a>, as without it there is no sense of inheritance. In fact, the word ‘heritage’ is related to Latin heres, meaning ‘heir’, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-tug-of-tradition/">relies on practices and monuments being kept alive through people</a>.This is closely related to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/culture-revolution/">Guthi in Newa communities</a>, the membership to which is also almost always hereditary.Tuladhar explains that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/bhaktapur-shows-the-way-by-rebuilding-itself/">core value of building a monument revolves around the Guthi</a>, a unique aspect of the Nepal Mandala’s culture, which oversees the upkeep, jatra, puja associated with the monument through community participation and income from the land allocated to it. “This is an important part of our heritage, because the practice brings together people to form the rich socio-cultural fabric of our society,” Tuladhar adds. “All of which, while intangible practices, help conserve the physical monuments. This way, both tangible and intangible heritage can be kept alive.” <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dc69c7e80680e0bd507jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2106" height="1404" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dc99c7e80680e0bd508jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>SHAKING THINGS UPWhen the 2015 Gorkha earthquake struck, the Valley had not experienced a natural disaster of such magnitude for 81 years. Many monuments that came down had also been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/">destroyed in the 1934</a> earthquake, and had been hastily rebuilt. While some temples and palace complexes were restored to their original Newa style of architecture, others were rebuilt in the Rana-era Mughal flourish. Bharat Maharjan thinks this was because of the strict restrictions on importing wood during the Rana-era. “When Jang Bahadur built the Kalmochan Temple with the Mughul-style dome, it quickly became a popular style,” he adds, “The use of brick and stucco plaster was much cheaper and less time-consuming than that of wood, which also included carving.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs/">Nepal’s traditional seismic resistant designs</a>, Sheilin TeoThe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/restoring-a-piece-of-nepals-history/">Bhaidega Temple in Patan</a> used to be an impressive three-tiered structure built in 1678 by Bharo Bhagirath Bhaiya before it collapsed in 1934. It was then quickly rebuilt in the Mughal stucco dome style, which itself collapsed in 2015. It is now being restored to its pre-1934 design.   The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/bhaktapur-shows-the-way-by-rebuilding-itself/">conservation response of communities and activist groups</a> after the 2015 earthquake was in many ways similar to the age-old traditions of the Valley, just like how their ancestors did after every previous disaster.“Our ancestors were building these monuments knowing there would be earthquakes,” says Tuladhar, “Plans were in place to repair, restore and conserve the structure from time to time.”Such outlook <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs/">appears to have been affected by building materials</a> as well, such as the use of stone in the Lichhavi era versus bricks and wood in the Malla era.  <figure><img width="1500" height="1132" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dcc9c7e80680e0bd509jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Conservation architect Sudarshan Raj Tiwari suggests in his 2009 paper <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305876762_Material_Authenticity_and_Conservation_Traditions_in_Nepal">Material Authenticity in Tradition of Conservation of Nepal</a> that the difference in the terms used – pratisamskar (‘near to handed down from respected tradition’) in the Lichhavi inscriptions and jirnoddhar (‘renovation’) or navakam vara (‘new cover’) in the Malla period – may be because ‘the later conservation involved less of repair and reconsecration of images and more of restoration, repair and reconstruction of buildings and building parts.’He goes on to write: ‘This also substantiates that the material nature of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs/">ensemble of architecture had changed</a> with development of comparatively tall temples in brick and wood and construction and reconstruction methods informed with a greater empirical understanding of the action of deteriorating agents of climate, earthquake and fire.’Countries and communities have different understanding of heritage and its conservation. “The dictionary definition and umbrella practices may not relate to each and every place,” explains Tuladhar. “Nepal has its own rituals, practices, materials and climate, which affects how heritage can be protected and restored.” <figure><img width="900" height="600" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111148/63721dcf9c7e80680e0bd50ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111152/63721dd29c7e80680e0bd50bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>At the same time, restoring these cultural sites go beyond replacing the broken pieces. Heritage is intrinsic to the polis, history and cultural activity.Tiwari suggests that is what King Anshuvarma must have been thinking 1,500 years ago when he inscribed after the restoration of the wood and brick Devkula Temple in Kathmandu,“having repaired carefully so as to keep it in good condition for longer into future”.Heritage, says Bharat Maharjan, incorporates the different aspects of society – political, economic and cultural – into one common identity. And every age has its own identity. Palaces and monuments that once looked out of place in Kathmandu have now become a part of Nepal's heritage.Ram Bahadur Kunwar of the Department of Archaeology says: “Each building style and cultural practice mirrors a particular time and society.”  <img width="1500" height="1023" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111152/63721dd49c7e80680e0bd50cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="1500" height="976" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111152/63721dd79c7e80680e0bd50djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The stark contrast between the Malla-era buildings and the European neo-classical <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inside-story-of-nepals-rana-dynasty/">Rana</a> architecture that favoured wide walls and tall windows with Greco-Roman columns tells us that different historical periods developed their own distinct heritage in Kathmandu Valley, often determined by the availability of both materials and craftspeople, and influenced by exchanges with other regions.For example, UNESCO regards the architecture of the Valley as having developed with particular attention to traditional values, cultures and norms to create a harmonious urban landscape through the prohibition of  infrastructure taller than temples in an area. At present, the scenario is quite different. ‘City by-laws have often <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lessons-unlearnt/">neglected height restrictions</a> and related measures to protect the immediate surroundings of palace squares and other important sites, which can impact the quality and integrity of the sites,’ UNESCO Nepal wrote in a response to a Nepali Times query.‘Conservation processes need to be informed by traditional practices, skills and knowledge, for without safeguarding the living heritage and the link to the community, it is difficult for the conservation of such monuments and sites to be meaningful.’ <figure><img width="4208" height="2368" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111152/63721ddb9c7e80680e0bd50ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Alok Siddhi Tuladhar sees that in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs/">tiered-roof temples and shikhara-style shrines</a> complementing each other in the Valley.“Imagine, in the past, the temple roofs with the mountains behind them, against the blue sky, like twins, side-by-side. It is the urban landscape taken together in harmony with nature.”In contrast to this image are the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/tall-order/">highrise steel structures</a> towering over the ancient towns. The skywalk in-progress in Kamaladi, for example, if seen at the right angle, breaks out behind the Ghanta Ghar like a glitzy attraction in a travelling fair.But then that is probably how residents of Kathmandu regarded the alien design and dimension of the Ghanta Ghar when it was built. Will the Kamaladi stucture and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-shortsighted-view-tower-craze/">many view-towers across the country</a> also one day become a part of our heritage? Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lessons-still-not-learnt/">Lessons still not learnt</a>, Editorial

Ashish Dhakal

The history of heritage

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204489c7e80680e0b2853jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMSI</figcaption></figure>In late December 2021, social and mainstream media in Nepal was abuzz with news of the discovery of a stone slab in Patan Darbar Square area that contained ancient inscriptions.Labourers working on the sewage system in front of the Bhimsen Temple came across the 1.5m high shilalekh in a layer of clay below cement pipes.At the top of the inscription were two deer facing a Dharma Chakra, indicating it to be a Buddhist engraving. A team led by epigraphists Shyam Sundar Rajbanshi and archeologist Prakash Darnal studied the inscription and the area, and have determined it to be around 1,400 years old. Rajbanshi says, the inscription mentions the date Licchavi Sambat 536, which corresponds to 613 CE.“It talks about a bihar built by Brish Dev and renovated by Amshuvarma,” explains Rajbanshi, taking the names of the Lichhavi-era kings. “Normally, inscriptions are kept in the periphery of the monuments, so it is probable that the structure was in that area.”When the inscription was unearthed, the glaze over it was gone and parts of the inscriptions were damaged by mud and cement, rendering it difficult to read. What is surprising is that it was installed using cement, meaning that there must have been an intervention in recent years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372044c9c7e80680e0b2854jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Whoever did it must have known about its existence and yet chose to bury it under the ground. This is also an important part of our history, and it was buried for so long because of past carelessness,” says Rajbanshi.While studying the area, Darnal also found a wall that may be of archeological interest just 1.4m below the recently dug site. “Whether it is of the bihar or not is difficult to say without proper study but we have noted that it is of interest,” he says.Over the centuries, successive dynasties that ruled Kathmandu Valley left behind a legacy of palace complexes and temples, of which many from the Malla era are still standing. But very little is known about the earlier phases of Kathmandu’s history, especially subsurface archeological heritage.Recent <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhas-birthday-in-his-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">excavations in Lumbini</a> have uncovered pre-brick structures below standing remains, which suggest that before the development of non-durable buildings there were already structures with non-fired bricks present.Experts say that is also likely in Kathmandu Valley with its historical settlements and the presence of inscriptions dating back to the 4th century CE. Historical chronicles also state that sites like Pashupati were built as far back as the 3rd century, suggesting that there may be more to uncover below these ancient sites. But unplanned and haphazard urbanisation in Kathmandu, and the lack of political and community will are destroying our past.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/buddhas-birthday-in-his-birthplace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buddha's birthday in his birthplace</a>, Nepali TimesIn his travelogue,<a href="https://books.google.fr/books?id=EzIDSAdG-wgC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;hl=fr&amp;source=gbs_ge_summary_r&amp;cad=0#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> An Account of Tibet The Travels of Ippolito Desideri of Pistoia, S.J. 1712- 1727</a>, Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri who visited Kathmandu in 1721, mentions a plain stretching two miles (believed to be Tundikhel) near a pond. He writes, ‘There are many pyramids, or towers … dedicated to their Gods.’If it is indeed Tundikhel that Desideri describes, there are only two of the ‘many’ temples remaining in the vicinity, the Bhadrakali temple in the eastern side and the Mahankal temple on the western edge. Others may have been destroyed or buried over the years,  the remains of which may still be around.“Ground levels in cities rise overtime as new structures are built over the rubble of older ones that have collapsed or been abandoned  due to various reasons like fire or in case of Kathmandu Valley, earthquakes,” explains Rohit Ranjitkar of the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT), who did his PhD in heritage restoration.The Pantheon in Rome was built on the site of another structure built around 27 BCE, but was destroyed in a fire. It was restored around 80 CE, but was again burnt to the ground after being struck by lightning 30 years later. It was later restored in 128 CE. Much of this information is found through painstaking archaeological work and historical records.The centres of other European cities like Athens and Pompeii also have carefully preserved sites for archaeological digs.In Kathmandu, the dabali across the Nautale Darbar, Basantapur has two chaitya more than 1m below current ground level. In front of the Kumari Ghar in Kathmandu Darbar Square, workers came across the finial of a <a href="https://youtu.be/w6oor-FChfs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chiba</a> while building a road 15 years ago. This finial is still visible and the area has been encased in metal bars. These sites have also shown how the ground level has risen in Kathmandu over the centuries after being built over.Ranjitkar says the dabali was actually a part of the palace before the 1934 earthquake. The houses there were damaged, but instead of repairing them, the palace complex was restructured, leaving the area open to make it easier for Prime Minister Judda Shamsher to manoeuvre his car. There were other <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the Darbar Squares</a> after the 1934 earthquake.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandus-temple-restoration-after-1934-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu's temple restoration after 1934 quake</a>, Sahina ShresthaKathmandu Valley has a history of earthquakes every 60-70 years. Early history of the Valley has been known from textual sources like inscriptions from 4th century CE onwards, manuscript colophons after 8th century CE, and archives like the <a href="https://archive.org/details/GopalarajaVamsavaliDhanavajraVajracaryaAndKamalP..Malla/page/n7/mode/2up">Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī</a>.  These chronicles provide a regular recording of earthquakes including those in 1224, 1255, 1260, 1344, 1408, 1618, 1767, 1823, 1833, 1834, 1869, 1916 and 1934 – and prove the contention of seismologists about the Himalayan tectonics. While the accounts of earlier earthquakes are generalised, there are more details available for the earthquakes of 1833 and 1934.After the 1934 earthquake, the Bhandarkhal garden in the backyard of Patan Darbar was used to deposit debris from the palace complex and nearby areas. For years, no one cared to clean up the rubble and the garden lay dilapidated as the palace itself was used for government offices.When <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2011/04/05/797/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KVPT was working to restore the Bhandarkhal pond</a> in Patan Darbar Square in 2009, it discovered that the ground level of the area before the 1934 earthquake was much lower. The pond was in a dilapidated condition. There was a brick wall on the upper level that was built after the 1934 earthquake to contain the debris deposited in the garden. While working on the pond the team discovered the original base of the outer wall of the pond.“This gave us an idea of the historic pre-1934 ground level, so we cleared up the entire garden to preserve that,” says Ranjitkar. One can see how high the ground was after the 1934 earthquake by looking at the trees. The team built a substructure to support and preserve the trees that had grown over the raised area. While clearing up the debris, they also discovered ancient stone artefacts currently kept in the Patan Museum garden.Even after the restoration of pre-1934 level, one can see more layers underneath which could contain relics of debris from previous earthquakes. Says Ranjitkar: “When we excavated in Bhandarkhal garden, we found pockets of structure made of stone that were bigger than the ones that were in use at the time. This shows that there is a lot to learn about Kathmandu’s subsurface heritage.”After the 2015 earthquake, a team from Durham University in coordination with UNESCO and the Nepal government, conducted Ground Penetrating Radar Survey and geo-archaeological analysis of the three Darbar Square areas of Kathmandu Valley. It was determined that Kasthamandap which was thought to be a 12th century structure was actually built in the 7th century. The team also found that in all three palaces the subsurface level had been intruded by modern utilities like water, sewage and electric cables.The team has produced a provisional risk map of all three palace complexes highlighting possible archeological sites. The report has highlighted some areas in red as High Risk where there should be no intrusive development whatsoever.  Yellow areas are Moderate Risk where construction  should be avoided if possible, and Low Risk where development can take place but should be as non-intrusive as possible and fully reversible (see box).After the 2015 earthquake, UNESCO and the Department of Archaeology (DoA) also made an <a href="https://youtu.be/PstfEuTJmUA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">emergency intervention at the Tashi Gomang Stupa (Mangal Bahudwar Chaitya) in Swayambhu</a>, where they found that inside the stucco stupa was another stupa with sculptures and terracotta closely resembling those found at Mahabouddha in Patan. This could indicate that the inner stupa could be from a similar timeframe.The discovery of the hidden chaitya could also prove that the practice of adding layers, creating a multi-shell structure – something characteristic of the larger mahachaitya – also occurred in smaller stupas.Kathmandu’s Handigaon is perhaps the best known site related to the Lichhavi era, and is considered to be the capital of the dynasty. The area has been studied a few times since the 1960s and many 1,300 year old terracotta figures and pottery have been found here, including an inscription dating back to King Amshuvarma.In 1989, an Italian team from ISMEO conducted an excavation at Satya Narayan temple in Handigaun which indicated that the earliest habitation activity in Kathmandu was in the 1st century BCE. Along with other archeological artefacts, a stone conduit dating back to 726 CE in the time of King Priya Varman was also discovered. A life-size stone statue of Jaya Varma was also discovered with an inscription dating back to the 2nd century CE from nearby Maligaun.Many scholars including conservation architect Sudarshan Raj Tiwari believe that the fabled Kailashkut Bhawan was in this area. This was Lichhavi King Amshuverma’s palace built in 598 CE, and so big that Chinese monk Xuanzang who visited Kathmandu at the time chronicled that its upper chamber could hold 1,000 people.“When we were looking for Kailashkut Bhawan, we found traces of archeological deposits inside the Balmandir complex. We are not sure if it is indeed the historical structure, but we also do not know if it is not,” says Tiwari. "Archeologists think that small traces aren't enough proof of anything, they need an entire wall to say that a building was there. But that is not the case because a lot of these places have been disturbed."However, Handigaun is being rapidly built up with residential houses and office blocks. The DoA has said there are traces of the ancient palace in Handigaun but has not moved to protect the site.Adds Tiwari: “The first thing that needs to be done is building restrictions in archaeological sites. We have been telling the government to control construction in Handigaun for years but nothing has happened. When we did the ground radar survey recently, we had to do it on the road.”Even there, the team discovered that the areas under the ground had been disturbed with water pipes and other cable conduits.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372044e9c7e80680e0b2855jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="574"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Handigaun is not an isolated case. In 1984, while constructing the subway at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/water-of-the-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhotahiti</a>, an ancient system with four water conduits was discovered. One of the conduits which was facing east had an inscription dating back to 596 CE saying it was constructed by Bibhu Varman during the rule of King Amshuvarma. The other three facing west and north were from the Malla era. Water was still flowing from the spouts when they were unearthed.But instead of preserving them, the municipality extracted the stone water spouts and stored them in the National Museum in Chhauni. The area was build over with an underpass that no one uses, but water is still seeping out through the concrete from this ancient system.Bhotahiti was among the seven water spouts in the area, and locals say it was first buried during the expansion of Tundikhel by the Ranas in the 1880s.Some 80m north from Bhotahiti towards Jamal is another sunken water spout called Jhanga Hiti which was covered over in 1981 after a local football team got permission to build its clubhouse over the historic site. The lower levels of the building now have shops while the football club has offices and meeting halls on the upper floors.Locals also say that another sunken water spout lies buried under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) building east of Ratna Park.“History is layered, both metaphorically and literally,” says heritage documentarian and activist Alok Siddhi Tuladhar. “While it is understandable that things were destroyed during the Rana regime, it is sad that the same happened and continues to happen when we have people’s representatives running the government.”Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/water-of-the-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Water of the ages</a>, Alok Siddhi TuladharWhen it comes to conservation of these sites, ownership also plays an important role. Ancient pottery and terracotta have been found when digging foundations of buildings in Handigaun. Tiwari says that because people do not want to be bothered with delays in construction, they never report the finds.In 1989, an inscription dating 536 of the Licchavi era was discovered in Baluwagaun near Gokarna which mentioned the presence of a Rajbihar as well as a village, making the area of archeological significance.Archaeologist Prakash Darnal remembers that a house was being built over the find, and when the Village Development Committee was asked to stop construction, officials said nothing could be done because it was private property. A stone water conduit was found while digging the foundation of a private house in Hattisar, and that construction also could not be stopped.Heritage experts say public awareness as well as political will is necessary to save Kathmandu’s historical sites both beneath the ground as much as above the ground.“We explore and excavate to see if there is anything in the subsurface. But once it is done, it doesn’t mean the job is finished,” says Sudarshan Tiwari. “The reports have to be accessible, and in a language that is understandable by general public. This way people will become more aware about the value of protection.“The government then has to implement the recommendations and specify the limitations. Everyone needs to take the conservation of these sites seriously,” he adds.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-siddhartha-gautam-walked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Where Siddhartha Gautam walked</a>, Robin Coningham<h2>What is beneath Kathmandu's Darbar Squares?</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204519c7e80680e0b2856jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="458"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204549c7e80680e0b2857jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="476">Provisional risk map for Kathmandu Darbar Square (left) and Bhaktapur Darbar Square (right). Source: POST-DISASTER URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION, EVALUATION AND INTERPRETATION IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTYArchaeological investigation of the Kathmandu Darbar Square area by UNESCO, Durham University and the Nepal government after the 2015 earthquake classified the World Heritage Site into three zones for protection of subsurface relics of archaeological significance. It recommended:Red ‘High Risk’ areas contain the most important archaeological remains at the site and are of significance not only to understand the development of a specific Darbar Square, but also the wider Kathmandu Valley and beyond. There should be no further development in these areas, and any existing modern structures should wherever possible be removed.Yellow ‘Moderate Risk’ areas contain (or may contain) archaeological remains that can inform us about the development of a specific Darbar Square. Development in these areas should be kept to a minimum, in accordance with an Archaeological Watching Brief.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637204569c7e80680e0b2858jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="609" height="860"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Green ‘Low Risk’ areas contain minor or no archaeological remains, which may be able to inform us about the development of a specific Darbar Square. Development in these areas is possible, but should be undertaken in accordance with an Archaeological Watching Brief.

Sahina Shrestha

The historic Kathmandu beneath our feet

<img width="500" height="750" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372043d9c7e80680e0b284fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><img width="1000" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372043f9c7e80680e0b2850jpeg.jpg" alt="">Photos: BIKRAM RAI/NEPALI TIMESEarthquakes are inevitable in Nepal. It is not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. And ‘when’ was 2:28PM on 15 January 1934. It was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">11:56AM on 25 April, 2015</a>. Another memorable and tragic date in future is certain.But Nepalis have short memories. As long as aftershocks shook us, we were reminded about the horrors. But seven years after 2015, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/tall-order/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the fear has evaporated</a>.This is not panic-mongering, or crying wolf. It is reality: every part of the central Himalaya is hit by a megaquake above 8 magnitude every 500 years or so, and a moderate intensity quake every 100 years.The 2015 disaster was not a Big One, 1934 was. Nonetheless, both released some of the built-up tectonic tension underneath us. What worries Himalayan seismologists is that there has been no <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major earthquake in western Nepal</a> in the last 500 years. The rock strata beneath are stretched to breaking point.Experts tell us that if an 8M earthquake strikes in this seismic gap between Pokhara and Dadeldhura, it will also rock Kathmandu and be even more damaging than 2015.That <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rebuilding-five-years-after-2015-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">7.8M earthquake seven years ago</a> was comparable to the 7.7M quake in Gujarat in 2001, and the 7.6M temblor in 2005 in Kashmir. In 2015, Nepal saw greater physical damage, but India and Pakistan had much higher casualties. One reason was that we were lucky 25 April 2015 was a Saturday, and students were not in classrooms.To mark National Earthquake Safety Day on 15 January, we recap the past seven years. There is some good news: over 80% of reconstruction is complete. Nepal’s recovery has been smoother than other developing countries hit by mega disasters.  Despite initial delays due to political muddles and the Blockade, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lessons-not-learned-from-2015/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reconstruction in most sectors</a> picked up in 2016. Today, only health facilities and heritage sites are lagging at about 65% completion. Most rebuilt homes follow national seismic resistance guidelines because masons were trained, and there was monitoring before grants were released in installments.However, reconstruction in Kathmandu and other towns have not even passed the 60% mark, and could take another five years. The Rs300,000 reconstruction grant was just not enough for families to rebuild urban homes. More worrisome is that whatever has been rebuilt in Kathmandu Valley mostly flout building codes and permits.The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/building-back-unsafe,3674" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gongabu neighbourhood saw 160 deaths</a> in 2015, most of them were crushed under illegally built concrete structures. Most of those high rises have been rebuilt using the same faulty techniques.Except in Gongabu, most concrete structures survived the 2015 quake in Kathmandu. This has <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/false-sense-of-security-about-strength-of-reinforced-concrete-structures,2240" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reinforced public misconception</a> that cement houses, regardless of how they are built, are stronger than brick and mortar ones.However, seismologists say that if the tremors in 2015 were only a few seconds longer and the magnitude slightly higher, many of Kathmandu’s concrete buildings would have also collapsed. They are unlikely to be spared in the next big one.Seven years after the earthquake, it is back to business as usual. In fact, Kathmandu is now more dangerous because it is even more densely packed, and there are more multi-storey blocks. Clearly, awareness about earthquakes has not translated into safer construction — we have forgotten that earthquakes do not kill people, poorly built structures do.Surya Narayan Shrestha at the National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal (NSET) tells us that building codes need to be strictly enforced with stringent monitoring mechanisms. Municipalities must be stricter with building permits.Next, masons and concrete moulding workers need skills upgrading in earthquake resistant building technology. Security personnel now need <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Search-locate-%20rescue-in-collapsed-concrete-houses,3676" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">training in search and rescue</a> under collapsed concrete structures.Shrestha says schools, hospitals and public buildings need to be retrofitted urgently. Many schools NSET had <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/preparedness-saves-lives,2264" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">helped retrofit</a> withstood the 2015 earthquake, and this model needs to be replicated across western Nepal.Nepal’s towns are losing open spaces, which are vital as shelters in the aftermath of future earthquakes. Kathmandu must <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-artists-butterfly-effect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protect remaining open spaces</a>, and these efforts need to be scaled up not just for earthquake safety but also to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mini-forests-to-make-kathmandu-more-liveable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">restore the city’s lungs</a>.   Preparedness will mean life or death for all Nepalis, not just for those in the seismic gap in the western part of the country. This should be the main message on the National Earthquake Safety Day. Earthquakes are beyond our control, but we can <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">make ourselves safer</a> when they happen.Sonia Awale

Lessons still not learnt

The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ancient-panautis-french-connection/">ancient town of Panauti</a> is preparing for its once-in-12-years Makar Mela this month, a festival that dates back 1,000 years. Despite the Omicron scare, the town 40km east of Kathmandu expects 6 million pilgrims from Nepal and India during the month of Magh.  Although it is among the better preserved historic <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/khokana-and-bungamati-strive-to-save-heritage/">Newa towns</a>, even here the sloping tile roofline is being replaced by flat-top concrete blocks that dwarf the temples and shrines. But the town is preserving its past, not just by restoring its monuments but also reviving its many festivals like the Makar Mela. The recent release of the bilingual book Panauti: Passé– Présent Panauti Past- Present (1976-2020) is perfectly timed not just for the 12-year festival which starts on 15 January, but also to draw attention to the town’s many other festivals.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84494" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203819c7e80680e0b2812jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048"/><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84495" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203859c7e80680e0b2813jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">Indreswor Mahadev Temple. Photos: Gerard Toffin, 1976 (left) and Prasant Shrestha, 2020 (right)With French and English text by Gérard Toffin of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and illustrated with before and after photographs by Toffin, the ethnologist Corneille Jest and Panauti-based photographer Prasant Shrestha, the book is a must-have guide to anyone interested in exploring the history of this unique town.Toffin and Shrestha met in 2010 during the last Makar Mela and were both struck by the changes that Panauti was undergoing, mostly for the worse, and decided to make a photographic documentation before it was too late.‘This book is a testimony to the mutations in Panauti,’ writes Toffin in the Introduction. ‘It gives a real importance to photography, aims at highlighting the local cultural heritage and how the current uncontrolled urbanisation threatens it.’ <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84489" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203889c7e80680e0b2814jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1528" height="1036"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84490" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/6372038c9c7e80680e0b2815jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">Panauti. While the town's roofline has changed, the surrounding hills have more forest. Photos by Gerard Toffin, 1976 (left) and Prasant Shrestha, 2011 (right). For Shrestha, it was a matter of using his profession to further the cause of the preservation of the heritage of his beloved hometown, and this passion shows in the meticulous care he has taken in repeat photography of shrines and landscapes. Just as the German government undertook to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kathmandus-past-for-the-future/">restore Bhaktapur</a> as a coronation gift to King Birendra, the French chose the out-of-the-way town of Panauti. Legend has it, Panauti was given by the king of Bhaktapur as dowry to his newly-married sister.  Panauti is located in the sacred tri-junction of the Punyamati, Lilawati (Rosi Khola) and the mythical underground river, Rudrawati – a miniature replica of the holy confluence of the Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati at Prayag in India. Which is why the Makar Mela is also called Nepal's own Kumbha Mela.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84488" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203909c7e80680e0b2816jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3077" height="2048"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84493" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203959c7e80680e0b2817jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">Tribeni Ghat as photographed by Gerard Toffin, 1976 (left) and Prasant Shrestha, 2020 (right)Panauti’s Tribeni was so revered that it was among the sources from which holy water was poured into the Rani Pokhari by Pratap Malla when he consecrated the royal pond in Kathmandu in 1669.Archaeological evidence points to Panauti having been settled from the early Kirat period 1,500 years ago. It escaped being conquered by Prithvi Narayan Shah, and was annexed when <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15468">Bhaktapur</a> fell in 1769.  The town was on a ancient trade route to the Tarai, and with its Indreswar Mahadev, Bhadrakali and Unmatta Bhairav shrines it is <a>predominantly Hindu</a>. However, there are Buddhist influences.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84502" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203999c7e80680e0b2818jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2777"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84559" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/6372039d9c7e80680e0b2819jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3252" height="2068">Panauti Layaku Area. While the traditional houses have been replaced with concrete blocks, the temple appear to be in a better state.   Photos by: Gerard Toffin, 1976 (left) and Prasant Shrestha, 2020 (right). Panauti was the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10973#.YdPsrMlBypo">scene of a battle</a> during the insurgency in 2006, and suffered damage in the 2015 earthquake. But now, its glorious past is threatened by modernisation, which is why this book by Toffin and Shrestha is so important. It does not just show us the changes in the past 40 years, but also encouraging signs of how its monuments and festivals are being restored.The Makar Mela itself is a celebration of Panauti’s proud heritage during which there is a vigil for the king of the serpents, Vasuki Nag. (This is the reason the Shah kings never attended the Mela because they would have to compete with another ‘king’.)Other examples of revival are the Devi Pyakhan masked dance which used to be performed in the past to ward off cholera, and the Jya Punhi full moon festival which is only celebrated here. And in 2015, Panauti also reinstated its own <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-goddess-among-people/">Kumari Living Goddess</a> tradition.The book reprints a scroll dating back to 1635 that depicts the sacred Tribeni confluence which we learn is now in the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in the United States. To draw attention to the stolen holy objects from Nepal, Bhaktapur-based architect Rabindra Puri has set up the Museum of Stolen Arts in Panauti with replicas of the statuary from this town, and other parts of the Valley.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84505" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203a09c7e80680e0b281ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2797"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84506" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203a49c7e80680e0b281bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3072" height="2048">Panauti with Gorakhnath Hill in the backdrop. Photos: Gerard Toffin, 1976 (left) and Prasant Shrestha, 2020 (right)Under federalism, Panauti became a municipality that includes some of the surrounding villages. Mayor Bhim Neupane was elected in 2017, and says preparations are complete to manage the influx of pilgrims from 15 January – 12 February.“Despite the pandemic, we are expecting about 200,000 people a day,” says Neupane. “We are directing everyone to take health precautions seriously, and have cleared the Tribeni area to make space. There is a bypass road and extra bus parks.” Panauti: Passé– Présent Panauti Past- Present (1976-2020) is a book that proves to other towns in Nepal that it is indeed possible to save what is left of the country’s unique cultural heritage and diversity.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-84532" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410110/637203a89c7e80680e0b281cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1550" height="594">Panauti: Passé– Présent Panauti Past- Present (1976-2020)Text:Gérard Toffin Photos: Prasant ShresthaAmbassade de France Népal and Alliance Française,2021ISBN 978-9937-0-8212-9114 pages

Kunda Dixit

Creation to destruction, then revival

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc2c9c7e80680e0a0b73jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure><ul><li>Two years ago after going through a bad relationship, a 36-year-old Kathmandu-based doctor started getting suicidal thoughts. During the long months of lockdown, he would be on the rooftop and imagine jumping off to end it all. But before long he realised that he was causing self-harm, and sought help. He was diagnosed with depression, eight months into treatment he is rid of suicidal thoughts and is back to his outgoing ways.</li> <li>The bubbly young woman used to be the life of every party, but few of her friends and relatives realised what was going on inside her mind. As the pandemic hit, she started having violent thoughts about harming others and herself. The 22-year-old tried to deal with it herself, but two months ago she sought help from a mental health doctor. She was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and started treatment. Looking back, she advises others to also seek professional help in time.</li> <li>The young woman felt worthless, lacked confidence, avoided crowds and had self-inflicted cuts on her arm. Her inability to come in terms with her sexuality aggravated her sense of insecurity. When the pandemic foiled her plans, she blamed everything on herself, she felt irritated and uncertain, stopped attending virtual classes and her eating habits changed. She finally sought help for her depression and she is now under regular psychiatric counselling and medications. Grounding exercises in particular have helped her overcome self-harm and feelings of inadequacy. “I am okay now,” she says.</li></ul>As the pandemic turns lives upside down, there has also been a global <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/post-pandemic-mental-health-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">outbreak of mental health disorders</a>, and Nepal has reported a rise in suicides. However, as these cases show, professional counselling and medication can save lives.Recoveries rarely make news, only suicides do.“Most of my patients who attempted suicide have gone on to lead normal lives after they get treatment, and oftentimes they look back to their mental health crisis as nothing more than a lapse of judgment,” says psychiatrist and researcher Rishav Koirala.There has been a sharp rise in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/have-suicides-increased-during-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suicides in Nepal</a> since the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and subsequent lockdowns. Nepal Police data shows that in the last 12 months, there have been 7,141 reported deaths due to suicides nationwide, up from 6,252 the year before.Do not shy away from seeking help. If you, or anyone you know, would like to speak to a trained mental health professional, please contact:TUTH Suicide Hotline: 9840021600Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation-Nepal Crisis Hotline: 1660 0102005Mental Health Helpline Nepal: 1660 0133666Centre for Mental Health and Counselling Nepal Toll-free: 16600185080, Hotline: 1145Koshish Toll-free helpline: 166001-22322 (Bagmati Province)Patan Hospital Helpline: 9813476123National Suicide Prevention helpline operated by Mental Hospital Lagankhel and TPO: 1166<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc2e9c7e80680e0a0b74jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="475"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In a survey last year, <a href="http://www.tponepal.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) Nepal</a> which works with mental health compared five years of suicide data for March-July to see if there was any change during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.The results are revealing: suicides have been increasing steadily at an average rate of 8.5% every year, but it spurted to 19.4% in the first four months of the lockdown. Researchers also conducted key informant interviews across Nepal, who reported witnessing an increase in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/suicide-watch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suicidal behaviours</a> in the community as well as health facilities.“We now have both quantitative and qualitative evidence that mental health problems have increased following the pandemic,” says TPO Nepal’s executive director Kamal Gautam. “And given that the majority of suicides are caused by psychological problems, we can say that Covid-19 has significantly contributed to its increase.”Mental health professionals have long been warning of an epidemic of psychological disorders following the Covid-19 crisis. They have reported an increase in anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hypochondria, obsessive disorders and psychotic symptoms among the general population in the last two years.Economic collapse, job loss and slashed income due to the pandemic as well as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/in-nepal-lockdown-a-domestic-violence-spike/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased domestic and sexual violence</a> and added workload during the lockdowns have all acted as contributing factors. In addition, those afflicted do not have normal social interactions that used to be a safety valve during more normal times.Moreover, many patients on treatment and medication have relapsed due to the limited access to health services, counselling and psychotropic drugs during the pandemic, and in many cases because of Covid phobia.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc319c7e80680e0a0b75jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1052" height="690"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Up to 80% of suicides have mental health disorders as an underlying cause. A significant portion of cases are also a result of impulsive behaviour.Experts agree that the official <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-suicide-rate-vastly-underestimated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">numbers on suicides are vastly underestimated</a> due to a lack of suicide registry. Official figures are based solely on police data and post-mortems, and because of stigma associated with mental health, many families also often refrain from revealing the actual cause of death.Official records also do not take into account <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-the-minds-of-nepals-migrant-workers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suicides of Nepali migrant workers overseas</a>, mainly Malaysia and South Korea. Similarly, suicides among those in the LGBTIQ community who have lost their limited sources of livelihood during the pandemic have been largely neglected.“Reported cases alone are not conclusive, but given that we now have a year and a half long trend and data, we have seen a significant increase in mental health disorders, and can assume that pandemic has played a crucial part in the rise in the number of suicides,” adds Rishav Koirala.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">More than 700,000 people die by suicide</a> every year around the world, that is one in every 100 deaths -- more than HIV, malaria, breast cancer, or war and homicide. And for every suicide, there are many more who make attempts to end their lives.Nepal is among the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world and consistently ranks within the WHO’s top 10 list. The Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC)’s <a href="http://nhrc.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Factsheet-Adults-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Mental Health Survey</a> published earlier this year found the prevalence of suicidality (current suicidal thoughts, lifetime suicidal attempt and future likelihood of suicidal thoughts) to be high at 7.2% among Nepalis.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc339c7e80680e0a0b76jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1464" height="752"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The first of its kind survey in Nepal interviewed 15,088 participants and was carried out before <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/coping-with-anxiety-in-new-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the pandemic</a> from January 2019 to January 2020. The study revealed that 10% of Nepal’s adult population had mental health problems in their lifetime with 4.3% experiencing some disorders at present.Mood disorders and neurotic and stress-related disorders were among the most common <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/tackling-nepals-mental-health-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">psychological problems among Nepalis</a>. The prevalence of lifetime disorders was found the highest in Province 1 (13.9%), in the age group 40-49 years (13.3%) and among males (12.4%). As for current disorders, Bagmati scored the highest (5.9%) as well as those in the age group 40-49 years (6.3%) and females (5.1%).These figures correlate with Nepal’s suicide data of the past five years. Despite fewer attempts, men accounted for 57% of total suicides, against 43% of women. Among minors, however, more girls died by suicide, which experts ascribe to possible victimisation and a higher prevalence of borderline personality disorder among younger females.Suicide deaths are also disproportionately distributed across Nepal with Province 1 recording 65 deaths per 100,000 populations. Lumbini and Gandaki follow closely with 58 and 52 per 100,000 respectively. Traditionally neglected by the state and economically disadvantaged Karnali, Far West and Province 2 regions have lower suicide rates.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc369c7e80680e0a0b77jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2287" height="1816"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>More people are dying of suicides in urban centres such as Kathmandu Valley and Ilam district, which reported 32 and 38 suicide deaths respectively per 100,000 populations last year against Rautahat’s 18 and Humla’s 6.This is in direct contrast with the global trends where 77% of suicides occur in low and middle-income countries. Unemployment and poor economic condition have long been associated with a high risk of suicides, but only up to a certain point, as proven by recent data. Japan, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dead-end-of-the-korean-dream/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South Korea</a> and Hungary with their higher per capita GDPs have some of the highest suicide rates in the world.“Poorer nations have weaker education and health systems, which translates into delayed or even lack of diagnosis but poverty is not a sole factor for suicides,” says Kamal Gautam. “Suicide is complex and there are multiple factors at play which means a linear approach to prevention would be incomplete, it needs an integrated approach.”Addressing underlying mental health disorders is the most effective way to prevent suicides. This means increased awareness and education about psychological disorders, which in turn can help <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-in-the-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce societal stigma</a>. An introduction to and discussion on mental health in the school curriculum can further sensitise the public.In addition to medication and counselling, societal structure and family dynamics is an important support system for individuals suffering from psychosis, trauma and depression. Telemedicine in particular has been essential in preventing self-harm during the pandemic-induced restrictions but mental health services need to be scaled up across the country.On the other hand, a strict regulation must be implemented on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/suicide-by-pesticide-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">availability of pesticides</a>, an easy means of suicide for many. Access to alcoholic products must also be supervised with Nepalis known to self-medicate to cope with stress and trauma, in turn increasing the risk of self-harm and suicide.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc399c7e80680e0a0b78jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="853"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But most of all, analysing suicide attempts can be a powerful tool for prevention. On average, there are six attempts behind every suicide. Up to 80% of people with suicidal ideation reveal their intention to either a family member, friends or their doctors within a month before their attempt.“We forget that even before the pandemic suicide rates were very high in Nepal and while the pandemic might have added to the problem, the figures alone don’t mean anything if we fail to also study suicide attempts to find a stronger link between the prevalence and the contributing factors,” says Rabi Shakya, psychiatrist and director of Patan Academy of Health Sciences.He adds: “Historically, there have been more suicides after than during the crisis due to the long-term socioeconomic impacts. So we must start preparing for the pandemic of mental health problems including suicides post-Covid. Our health care workers must be trained and fanned out across the country.”Nepalis are not new to mental health problems induced by a crisis. The 10-year-long Maoist insurgency killed 17,000 people but many more continue to suffer from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-mental-scars-of-violence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PTSD, depression, anxiety and distress</a>. A 2017 report published in the journal Lancet found as high as <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/stigma-and-silence-mental-health-nepal,3486" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">37.5% of the general public</a> had some form of psychological disorder.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-all-in-the-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2015 earthquake</a> further added to Nepal’s epidemic of mental disorders. Survivors who had narrow escapes or lost family members reported increased panic attacks, anxiety and trauma.But <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/the-republic-of-insomnia,3311" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conflicts, disasters</a> and pandemics have shined a light on mental health with an increased national and foreign investment in prevention and management. With larger chunks of the population impacted, there is now more acceptance and the field is starting to get the priority it warrants.Says Rishav Koirala, WHO focal person for mental health post-2015 earthquake: “The best way to prevent suicides is to address underlying psychological disorders and crises, despite adding to the burden has helped normalise them because many more people can now relate and understand that they are treatable.”

Nepal sees spike in suicides during pandemic

<figure><img width="1780" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111136/636b83769c7e80680e067738jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Tundikhel in 1921. Photo: Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya archive.</figcaption></figure>The tragic death tolls from two recent earthquakes in the Greater Himalaya should give Kathmandu residents pause. Kashmir, 2005: more than 73,000. Sichuan, 2008: over 88,000.In urban earthquake emergencies, few things are more critical than open space, but Kathmandu Valley has more people and less usable open space than ever before.A 2020 International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report warns that many of Kathmandu's crucial disaster evacuation spaces have been ‘reduced, encroached, transformed into non-usable areas or heavily built up’, and says the Valley will suffer ‘extreme difficulties’ in the next big earthquake.‘Open spaces have not been recognised as vital city infrastructures that can be of great significance during a disaster," the IOM report says. History has actually shown the importance of Kathmandu's open space time and again. <figure><img width="1800" height="1500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111136/636b83799c7e80680e067739jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>1934In the afternoon of 15 January 1934, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/01/12/katmandu-was-a-ruin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a 8.1 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal and north India</a>. The British surgeon Lt-Col C H Smith described that day's devastation:‘The city itself was a dreadful sight. At least one house in five had completely collapsed and very few seemed to have escaped uninjured...every hundred yards or so the narrow streets were blocked with piles of debris twenty feet high over which we had to climb.’ Residents, he noted, fled to Kathmandu's open spaces:‘The inhabitants were behaving splendidly; there seemed to be no panic. The people were all hurrying out of the narrow streets towards the various open squares with what goods and cattles they had been able to save, and were settling down in family groups in these open spaces preparing to pass the night as best they could.’The next day Smith found people ‘all collected in the various squares and open spaces. They were quiet and orderly, sitting in family groups cooking what food they had. They had no shelter, and must have spent a very unpleasant night, as there was a heavy ground frost.’Kathmandu was lucky in one respect, Smith said. Had the earthquake hit at night or early morning, when people are generally indoors, collapsing building would have taken many more lives.  <figure><img width="351" height="234" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111136/636b837c9c7e80680e06773ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="779" height="655" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111136/636b837d9c7e80680e06773bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Traditionally, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake/">Kathmandu residents use many types of open spaces</a>: streets, courtyards (bahal/ bahil), neighborhood squares (nani/chuka), palace squares, and open space at town periphery (khyo, buffer zone).These communal open spaces were used as living rooms and work spaces (not for motorcycle parking). The people dried grain, washed clothes, and looked after children at play. But during disasters, they turned to these spaces for safety and shelter. Open space created resilience.At the time, Kathmandu Valley had a tenth of today’s population. People had no problem finding open places to run to.The city's massive growth was decades in the future. Rani Pokhari, British journalist Perceval Landon noted in the 1920s, stood outside the city. The Ashoka Stupa loomed ‘a mile outside the city of Patan in the country’. Boudha sat ‘among the maize fields’. Budhanilkantha was a ‘long journey out’. Times have changed.In 1930, approximately 250,000 people lived in Kathmandu Valley. Today there are nearly 4,000,000 people. After almost a century of hurried, haphazard, rule-flaunting development, life-saving open spaces have been ignored and are now much harder to find.The IOM report reminds us: ‘Open spaces are taken for granted until the need arrives.’2015During the April 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, Valley residents once again turned to the city's open spaces. Thousands of families moved into large open spaces such as the Tundikhel. The parade ground also served as a debris management site. <figure><img width="457" height="270" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83809c7e80680e06773cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Similarly, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/parks-not-parking-lots/">Narayan Chaur</a> became a temporary home for 7,000 people. Five days after the first big quake, 33 open spaces provided refuge to almost 31,000 residents of Kathmandu from 5,500 households.City planners and local activists deserve applause for Narayan Chaur. One of the 83 emergency evacuation sites identified in 2013, it was developed to be multipurpose: as a green public park, a playground for children, and as an emergency shelter in disasters. It pioneered the use of Community Level Search and Rescue (CLSAR) Boxes, containing hammers, rope, saw and many more rescue materials.Open spaces like Tundikhel and Narayan Chaur brought neighbouring families together, saving lives and reviving community bonds. Kathmandu residents also relied upon open spaces as small as highway medians. After an earthquake, all open space counts. <figure><img width="780" height="266" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83829c7e80680e06773djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="430" height="305" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83849c7e80680e06773ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2013, government planners identified 83 open spaces for evacuation and refuge during disasters. According to the 2020 IOM report, only about half of these sites are actually usable in an emergency. New small buildings, storage areas, and infrastructure expansion have eaten into important space. Ten sites have been dropped from the list as they now serve other purposes. The report highlights other problems: an almost total lack of on-site water and sanitation facilities, unsuitable terrain, scarce local participation, especially of marginalised groups; low public awareness; and insufficient routine emergency drills. Some local governments did not even realise that spaces under their jurisdiction are designated earthquake evacuation sites.  We also need to plan for multiple hazards: earthquake and floods at the same time, or even simultaneous earthquake, flood, and pandemic. Nepal ranks eleventh and thirtieth worldwide in earthquake and flood vulnerability. This multiple hazard preparedness scenario is not impossible. After the 2015 earthquake, people in Bhaktapur's shelter camps had to flee the gushing Hanumante River. We often call earthquakes ‘natural’ disasters. Doing so allows governments and others to avoid blame. But the real cause of many disasters is not nature, it is poor human planning. Kathmandu Valley residents would do well to remember how they have relied up open space in the past and will need it again in the future. The World Health Organisation recommends 9 sq m of open space per person. Kathmandu has about 0.25 sq m per person. Lalitpur has only 0.06 sq m per person, with poorer people’s access even less. So, neighbourhoods with the least open spaces have to be prioritised. Regular drills are needed everywhere so people know where to go and what to do in a crisis. Says Anil Pokhrel of the National Risk Reduction and Management Authority, “Nepal is one of the fastest urbanising countries in the world, and 2015 was an eye opener. Government had done some work, but it really showed us the meaning of open space.” He stresses the importance of gardens and parking areas, not just the 83 designated open spaces in the Valley. “We need spaces closer to home,” he adds. “We have serious threats to urban space, such as construction and encroachments, but we also have communities like Thimi that are protecting and restoring ponds and cultural heritage as open spaces for emergencies.” Pokhrel says the aftermath of the earthquake six years ago showed how crucial water and toilets are for families. He adds, "Our message to every local government is this: work disaster planning into everything you do." <figure><img width="400" height="270" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83869c7e80680e06773fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="402" height="307" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83879c7e80680e067740jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nilima Thapa Shrestha is an architect and urban planner focused on urban ecological planning and DRR.Tom Robertson, PhD, is an environmental historian who writes about Kathmandu and Nepali history.

earthquake