<figure><img width="800" height="470" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5909c7e80680e096717jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Before 1934, the old quarter of Kathmandu was compact and densely populated. All photos: IMAGES OF THE CENTURY</figcaption></figure>The way Nepal’s Rana rulers went about rebuilding Kathmandu after <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Book-Review/thomas-bell-kathmandu-book-review,1645" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the mega-earthquake on 15 January 1934</a> has important lessons for urban planning after 2015 as well.Every disaster offers the opportunity to start from scratch, or to build back better. Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Rana used the 8.3 magnitude earthquake that devastated Kathmandu to build the first planned streets in Nepal—Juddha Sadak, Sukra Path, Dharma Path and Putali Sadak.  Known till today as ‘New Road’, the intersection of these streets became the capital’s business centre. By the 1970s, newly black-topped wide streets with footpaths, shops, banks, school, newspaper offices and a fire brigade was Kathmandu’s nerve centre. <figure><img width="605" height="388" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5929c7e80680e096718jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The epicenter of the 1934 earthquake was in Okhaldhunga, 120km to the east of Kathmandu, and it killed<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5065#.YHgySNJR3IU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5065%23.YHgySNJR3IU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618824648012000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFg97gfLi2H5oXqla_P8SIBQy86_A"> nearly 17,000</a> people. Because Nepal was closed off at the time when the British were in India, the disaster is still erroneously known as the Bihar Earthquake.  The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rana regime</a> was autocratic, but it soon went about systematically planning, acquiring land, redistributing houses and transferring land titles, compensating and relocating original owners.The Bhukampa Pidit Udarak Adda (Office of Earthquake Relief)’ was set up at Mahankal temple premises to draw up plans, collect funds, and to distribute loans for reconstruction.Before 1934, the old quarter of Kathmandu was compact and densely populated, with ownership pattern much like most other parts of inner city <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/good-as-old-after-two-earthquakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan</a> or Bhaktapur today. The narrow streets were lined with traditional brick-paved courtyards.  Houses were two-storey, built with brick and clay mortar, and had sloping tiled roof, with large courtyards like Te Bahal and Mahankal at the edge of Tudikhel. Besides Asan, the main markets were in Makha Tole and Maru Tole.Immediately after <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5065#.YHwH8S2B0b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the disaster</a>, Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher announced relief measures, including helping families in reconstruction, repair and maintenance. The relief office was responsible for drawing up an estimate of the building materials required for reconstruction. Architects and planners soon went to work making detailed measurements and drawings. <figure><img width="1599" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5949c7e80680e096719jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The office also kept records of the dead and injured, livestock lost, and started a donation campaign starting with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inside-story-of-nepals-rana-dynasty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rana families</a> and prominent citizens. The government also wrote to the international community, requesting relief. Donations were received from Britain, India and Japan.  The resources were ploughed into building a straight street from what is now New Road Gate to Gaddhi Baithak. Damaged houses that stood along the way were demolished, and a wide street replaced the winding alleys of the old town. Drinking water pipelines were installed underground, and stones used for pavement were brought from Halchok to Lainchaur using a temporary ropeway.  The façade design of each building was planned, and the new buildings laid out in such a way that they either faced an existing road, courtyard or a backyard. Whatever the size of the plot, they all had to have the same façade, whereas the internal space could be designed according to the plot owner’s will. In Sukra Path, new buildings could not be higher than 9.2m.  The windows on the first floor were stipulated to be bigger in size compared to second floor, with about 1m in width and 1.7m in height. The windows on the second floor were 0.85m in width and 1.3m in height, much bigger than in traditional Newa homes.The houses could be only three stories, the ground floors had wooden door panels for shops, and they all had 0.7m thick cornices and 1m high parapet walls. <figure><img width="800" height="532" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5979c7e80680e09671ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There was no restriction on the design of the façade facing the inner courtyard. Individual houses were allowed to have different floor heights, and they maintained these guidelines by adjusting the sill height. Along Dharma Path, the houses could be as high as four stories, again maintaining the same details as on the adjacent street.  Of the 18 households relocated from Indrachok and Khichapokhari area after the earthquake, 17 were Newa families and one was Marwari. The plots were redistributed to the local Newa and Marwaris and some to civil servants and generals.The Marwari traders, who came to Nepal during the reign of Chandra Shumshere, had 32 shops in Indrachok and Makhan Tole. Seventeen of the Marwari families continue to live along Sukra Path to this day, carrying on their traditional clothing business.To give himself credit, Juddha Shumshere also had a statue of himself erected at the intersection of the new road named after him, Juddha Sadak, and Indrachowk at Sukhra Path, and Siddhicharan Chok at Dharma Path. The statue was visible from all directions at the crossing. <figure><img width="799" height="551" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5999c7e80680e09671bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Three years after the earthquake in January 1937 Nepal’s first bank, Nepal Bank Limited was established in a place where there were stables for horses. Nepal also got its first fire brigade, the Juddha Barun Yantra. ‘I want to build a fire brigade in Nepal. We need to be well prepared, fire can quickly engulf a house and can be dangerous,” Juddha Shumshere is quoted in a Gorkhapatra article in 1942. The first Maurice fire engine was carried over the Chitlang pass on the backs of hundreds of porters.   <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/01/12/katmandu-was-a-ruin/">Post-quake town planning </a>centralised the city’s amenities along New Road. Later, the offices of Gorkhapatra Sansthan, the municipal office, Nepal’s first movie theatre Jana Sewa Hall, Utpatti Kendra textile shop, Juddhodaya Public School, Bhugol Park to commemorate the earthquake, were all located along this intersection. <figure><img width="976" height="625" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce59c9c7e80680e09671cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The newspaper shop near the pipal tree became a hub for Nepal’s public sphere, and later also a centre for protests—much like the Mandala is now.       After completing New Road, the government started work on Putali Sadak, cutting through fields and houses. At the time these were one of the few straight roads in the Valley, and the goal of this ‘reconstruction’ was to recover the function of society in affected areas, including restoring livelihoods, and reviving economic activity.   Much was lost during this reconstruction, including Kathmandu’s traditional neighbourhoods, its architectural heritage and intangible assets. However, it also showed that post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation is a complex process that involved interaction of social, technical and economic factors. <figure><img width="799" height="558" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce59e9c7e80680e09671djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite everything, New Road and Putali Sadak are examples of public participation, good governance, and well-executed short and long-term post-disaster planning. A testimony to its success is that nearly century later, the two roads are still hubs of economic activity. <h2>Rising from the ashes</h2> <figure><img width="798" height="557" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5a19c7e80680e09671ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A city neighbourhood recovering from an earthquake would also need a school, so on 8 April, 1939, the Juddhodaya Public School was inaugurated housed in a 2 storey building on New Road. The school has moved several times since, and the high school is now located in Chhetrapati.  The newly developed neighbourhood was also where the first newspaper office in Nepal was set up in 1940. Gorkhapatra Sansthan was located in the Dugam Bahi neighbourhood, and stands in the same place to this day.While the reconstruction work was moving ahead, the government also handed out loans for private housing. More than 80% of the loans were repaid in full, and some of those who failed to pay were jailed. In September 1940, however, Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher cancelled all debts on loans.On 23 February, 1941 a column commemorating the disaster was erected at Bhugol Park which depicted Lord Shiva sitting atop a globe (pictured above). By February 1943 the Juddha Sadak to Khichapokhari road was completed. Plots of land with demolished buildings were sold for half the price of ongoing rates and new housing conforming to government guidelines built.In 1944, Dharma Path was completed with pedestrian sidewalks on both sides. In 1959, telephone cables were laid along New Road, and a Telecommunication Office located on the street.  The new Sabha Griha was built on Sukra Path in the neoclassical style blended with Newa architectural elements and over-sized carved windows on the sides of the portico. This was the first city hall, and later was converted into the Jana Sewa movie theatre, which was destroyed in a fire in 1960 and the Bishal Bazar mall built in its place.Alina Bajracharya is an architect, and this article is based on her thesis. <img width="89" height="107" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5a39c7e80680e09671fjpeg.jpg" alt="">

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Rebuilding Kathmandu after the 1934 quake

Earlier this month, Nepal received Rs1.6 billion from the World Bank as part of its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees">Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)</a>, rewarding the country for increasing its carbon sink capacity. Nepal is the first in South Asia to benefit from this facility, and it is specifically to recompense the country for increasing forest cover in 13 Tarai districts between 2018-2024. “We are also trying to get another Rs13 billion from the facility while also preparing for free market-based carbon trading in the international market,” says Nabaraj Pudasaini of the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre. Big emitters of greenhouse gases are under pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, and many have signed agreements to do so by investing in decarbonisation projects in developing countries. Countries that emit more than a specified amount of carbon would be able to buy emission rights from countries that emit less. Nepal is internationally known for its community forestry program which has been largely credited for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">increasing tree cover to over 45%</a> in less than three decades. But this achievement had not been adequately recognised or rewarded internationally before. Forests, especially in the tropics, absorb and store large amounts of carbon while releasing oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">Preventing deforestation</a> and increasing canopy cover is considered a much more achievable goal than reducing emission in the scale necessary to limit global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP11 in Montreal in 2005 first proposed reducing carbon emissions by improving forest quality by halting degradation. By 2015, a new mechanism of financial assistance was created to help less developed countries with sustainable management of forests <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/">(called REDD+)</a>. Under this new mechanism, countries receive aid based on their efforts to prevent forest degradation and increase carbon sink, and in 2021 the World Bank was entrusted with implementing it. Nepal’s FCPF receipt this month was calculated on the basis of 2.4 million tons of carbon stored at a rate of $5 per ton. In the second phase, Nepal will receive more than Rs4 billion within the next year for storing an additional 7 million tons of carbon. Eighty per cent of this amount obtained from carbon trading needs to be spent on local beneficiaries and indigenous communities.&nbsp; But carbon trading is not easy, Nepal needs to prove that protected forests will not be destroyed in future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="Greenbacks for greenery NT "> <figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Explains carbon trading expert Yugan Manandhar. “Forests should be handed over to the community and shown that they are managed sustainably. Proving this will be particularly challenging; forest encroachment and degradation is rife in the Tarai.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Deliberate forest fires</a> have also added to the challenge because they increase carbon emissions and reduce the sink capacity of forests. The basis for the amount that Nepal received was set five years ago by calculating the carbon reserves of forests in the 13 Tarai districts. In the meantime, sustainable forest management, tree plantation, forest destruction and erosion control were prioritised to increase carbon reserves in those forests. Nepal is signing another carbon trading agreement during the ongoing Baku climate conference. The <a href="https://www.leafcoalition.org/">Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF Coalition) </a>proposes to sell the carbon stored in the forests of Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. For this, Nepal signed the letter of intent three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow. The target is to store 70 million tons of carbon in 32 million hectares of forest in the three provinces per which Nepal will receive Rs13 billion in four years at $10 per ton with provisions to increase the rate if various conditions are met. However, the agreement in itself doesn’t guarantee the amount. According to the targets set by Nepal, forest degradation should be stopped and carbon reserves increased by protecting tree cover. Preparations are also underway for clean air carbon trade because it has offset fossil fuel use by introducing 30,000 electric vehicles. Nepal has been selected for the first round to receive $40 million within one and a half years through the Clean Air System of the World Bank. Given that most of Nepal’s energy mix is from biomass, replacing them with electric stoves can significantly improve health by reducing indoor pollution as well as strengthen the country’s capacity for carbon trade. “Nepal's goal now is to sell carbon in the free market where carbon credits are bought and sold based on supply and demand in an open and transparent manner,” adds Pudasaini of the REDD Implementation Centre. “Nepal can now set its own price and bargain with interested buyer countries and organisations.” Lately, India has been discussing setting up a carbon market. Nepal has exported Rs12.72 billion worth of electricity to India so far this fiscal year, which can be traded under Nepal’s carbon market. “Carbon trading can create significant economic benefits for Nepal, which will help reinvest in development and environmental protection projects,” says Manandhar. “But we must prioritise sustainable management of forests, cutting older trees and allowing regrowth as well as promoting electric stoves and electric vehicles.”

Greenbacks for greenery

Khukri Rum is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3719#.WurBk6SFPIU">one of Nepal’s most iconic brands</a>, and is now launching a new Cask Series premium product to sell in Nepal and abroad. The Cask Series Smoked Finish Khukri Rum is a limited edition sipping rum with only about 5,200 bottles made for export and rum connoisseurs in Nepal. Each bottle is numbered and will mention the cask from which it is derived. “We are taking a classic Nepali liquor to a premium, luxury rum category. Each Cask Series flavour line will only be produced once,” explains Shuvash Lamichhane, General Manager of The Nepal Distilleries that first started making Khukri rum in 1959 in Balaju and has never stopped. Fermented from molasses in the Tarai after the annual sugarcane harvest, the rum is matured for at least eight months during distillation. The distillery bottles the classic Khukri XXX, Coronation Khukri XXX, Khukri White Rum and Khukri Spiced Rum. It is now adding this limited edition of the Cask Series. While the original rum is stored in huge wooden vats, the rum used for this more exclusive line is in smaller casks made from oak or sal, with charred insides that give the rum a smoky, smoother flavour. The Cask Series rum is indeed smokier than the classic, while the spiced rum tastes toasty and mostly of cardamom. These flavours are carefully crafted by blenders and tasters who have to pass regular palate tests.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241122131124_10b8ddca93b37b0348bf964b4f09e7fac6ef4e754cca6231368850539cd558e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241122131124_10b8ddca93b37b0348bf964b4f09e7fac6ef4e754cca6231368850539cd558e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1498" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Khukri Rum"> </figure>  The packaging for the Cask Series is as special as the process. A sturdy patterned box that opens up to a black glass bottle with gold lettering, and an indication of which cask the rum is from. These are then shipped to premium customers around the world One of the reasons this is the more expensive premium line is because the casks are smaller than the vats and the blenders reject more than half of the rum in the casks when the aging period is complete. The trick for the blender is also to decide when to take the rum out of the cask. Says Lamichhane: “If we have 25 casks, only ten might match the flavour profile for a certain series.” Over the decades, The Nepal Distilleries has created and maintained a brand that feels quintessentially Nepali, and serves as Nepal’s ‘ambassador’ with exports to Germany, Korea, Belgium, Finland, the Czech Republic, besides the existing markets among Nepalis in the US, UK, Hong Kong and Australia. Its unique <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khukri-rum-sharpens-its-act">khukri shaped bottle</a> first introduced for King Birendra’s coronation in 1975 has been a collector’s item. The bottle and rum have been a staple for Nepalis and visitors to take as gifts when they leave the country, and is used as decoration on bar tables around the world. Now, nearly 40 years later, even that bottle will soon be getting a makeover with a sharper design and sleeker handle. “Our bottle design has always been instantly recognisable,” says Lamichhane.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241122131124_b9474db3fc83c85845348dddc30c49652ee1f17229531867fa241de50849cedc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241122131124_b9474db3fc83c85845348dddc30c49652ee1f17229531867fa241de50849cedc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Khukri Rum NT"> <figcaption>Christopher Armes, master blender of the Cask Series.</figcaption> </figure>  The Himalayan restaurant at The Hague, for example, has a Khukri Coronation bottle<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-himalaya-to-holland"> adorning its bar</a>. In Washington DC, Himalayan Heritage Restaurant &amp; Bar offers a ‘Nepalese Khukri Rum’ mojito with fresh mint, soda water, lime juice and sugar syrup, for $12. A distinct element of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/khukri-rum-gets-award">award-winning classic Khukri rum</a> is its 'modern auburn' colour from caramel sourced from cooking sugar and blended with the raw rum. The spirits are then stored in a warehouse with floor-to-ceiling vats which are not just for storage, as the wood imparts flavour into the rum, and removes a lot of the harshness. &nbsp; On a visit this week, the bottling room was just about to begin for the day and the production line was churning out different shapes and sizes of Khukri bottles. Most of the process is automated, including screwing bottle caps, sticking labels, placing the government seal, and packaging. The only manual intervention is quality control where bottles are held against the light to check for sediment and colour.

Khukri goes premium with new rum

Turkish Airlines has introduced a new amenity kit collection designed in collaboration with French fashion house Lanvin for international business class passengers on flights more than five hours. It consists of five pieces designed for sustainability and elegance. Bags are reusable and will consist of Lanvin cosmetic products like hand and body lotions and lip balm. Eye masks and socks are made from recycled materials, earplugs are packaged in paper and the toothbrush is bamboo.

Turkish amenity kit

Nepal now generates a surplus of electricity and it is all from renewable hydropower. Nearly half the country is under forest cover. Despite meeting these decarbonisation goals, Nepal’s hydropower plants are threatened by increased risk due to climate impact.&nbsp; Till <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">28 September</a>, Nepal was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/india-nepal-sign-power-exchange-deal">exporting just over 1,000MW</a> of electricity to power-hungry India, when flash floods and landslides unleashed by historically heavy rains damaged over 30 hydropower plants across the country, temporarily <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/power-to-the-people">slashing nearly half the power generation.</a> The 456MW Upper Tamakosi in Dolakha was the hardest hit and it will take six months and Rs2 billion to repair. This has significantly reduced exports as well as domestic generation. Two months later, Nepal has still not been unable to fully keep its export commitment, and is actually paying Rs100 million in fines to India. Thirty-seven existing and under construction projects under the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN) suffered Rs2.5 billion in damage. One of them is the 22MW Bagmati project in Makwanpur which was almost completely buried in flood debris. Even before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/60-dead-64-missing-in-nepal-floods">record-breaking rain in September</a>, 15 other hydropower projects had been damaged by floods. Last year, floods caused by heavy localised rain damaged 28 hydropower plants. World governments met in Baku for COP29 to discuss the Loss &amp; Damage Fund and the Adaptation Fund, but for countries like Nepal the commas and brackets are meaningless until they are turned into $ and €. And likelihood of adequate compensation for climate-related damage is a long way off, if ever. Nepal’s national strategy is to use its vast hydropower resource as clean energy to spur economic growth, job creation, and boost export revenue. But the plants are located in narrow Himalayan valleys prone to landslides and floods even at the best of times. Now, those <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/changing-climate-for-investment-in-nepal">risks have been heightened by weather extremes</a> due to climate breakdown. At present, Nepal generates over 3,300MW of clean hydropower, and the target is to reach 12,700MW in the next five years. Projects equivalent to 6,000MW are under construction or ready to start. The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has an Energy Development Roadmap and Action Plan with the target of producing 28,500MW by 2035 by when more than half of it will be exported.&nbsp; “The climate crisis will further change the rainfall patterns making hydropower generation a big question mark in the future,” Manjeet Dhakal in Baku, who is also the Nepali adviser to the LDC Chair at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “We are building hydropower projects on rivers without evaluating risk. This whole process needs to be reviewed and reconsidered.” The report of the National Adaptation Plan published by the Ministry of Forest and Environment last year mentions that hydropower production, transmission and distribution will be at risk from flash floods, debris flows, glacial lake outbursts and rising temperatures.&nbsp; This risk is not confined to Nepal. Average global temperatures have increased by 1.3°C compared to the pre-industrial era. Worse, the Himalayan mountains are warming faster than the global average by 0.7°C because of elevation-dependent warming. A study conducted by our own Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in 2017 showed that the average temperature in Nepal has increased in the last four decades. Scientists say this is leading to extreme weather unleashing floods and landslides on slopes already destabilized by seismicity.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241124071128_d22901a360e8958f606d80ffa21defba05a671f65afec65539dc21a6885d8345.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241124071128_d22901a360e8958f606d80ffa21defba05a671f65afec65539dc21a6885d8345" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Right climate for Nepal’s energy transition NT"> <figcaption>BIBLICAL RAIN: Photo taken during catastrophic rain on 27-28 September at the Upper Tamakosi project site that destroyed the control room, killing four staff and burying the sedimentation tanks. Photo: RSS</figcaption> </figure>  Increased atmospheric temperatures has made the monsoon rains more erratic. It does not rain when it is supposed to, and it comes down in torrents when it is not supposed to. The September floods happened two weeks after the monsoon was supposed to retreat from central Nepal. Kathmandu Valley received half its annual precipitation in just over a day. &nbsp; Winter precipitation has also failed, especially in the high mountains and trans-Himalayan valleys. Thirteen of the past 19 years experienced winter drought. This impacts on dry season flows of the rivers, reducing hydropower generation. Nepal’s power capacity normally goes down by one-fourth during winter, but the gap is widening. The Kabeli corridor could only generate 20MW November-March even though plants there have an installed capacity of 200MW. Similarly, Upper Tamakosi only produced 65MW at most against its 456MW capacity last winter. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) pays producers double the price for winter electricity, Rs8.40 per unit. Even though winter operation is highly profitable the rivers run low and NEA has to import from India to meet the winter demand. “This is not just a weather problem but a serious challenge also for the country's energy future, good climate-friendly design should be combined with policy and effective implementation,” says Subarna Das Shrestha, a hydropower investor and CEO of Sanima Mai Hydropower. “Insurance premiums have gone up as well, and settlement for damage is not timely.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-risk-to-hydropower-investment">Hydropower investment</a> at one time was regarded as having a high rate of return. Now, some investors have become <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">wary of the risks involved</a>. Says IPPAN’s Uttam Blon Lama: “Hydropower projects expected to give stable returns are now looking risky. Not only is climate adaptation design and planning expensive, but future repair and maintenance costs will also skyrocket.” Nepal has only one storage type dam <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/rivers-be-dammed">in Kulekhani</a> and another one is being built in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">Tanahu</a>, but they are also at risk. In September, the sluice gates of Kulekhani Dam had to be opened causing loss of life and destruction downstream. Nepal has to learn lessons from the deadly collapse of the $1 billion <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sikkim-flood-is-warning-to-nepal">Chungthang Dam in Sikkim</a> in October 2023 cause by a glacial lake burst. Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in Nepal pose potentially catastrophic risk to infrastructure. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">Thame flood in August</a> was a relatively minor debris flow that damaged half of this village in the Everest region when <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">two glacial lakes at 4,760m burst</a>. Luckily there was no loss of life. Of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">47 high-risk glacial lakes</a> in the eastern Nepal Himalaya, 21 are in Nepal and the rest are in rivers in China that are tributaries of the Arun and Bhote Kosi where Nepal has major hydropower plants under construction, or planned.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241123021128_b596cd8520c57a6c5476031e7a3ea6510f26b464c4d5351d2bc10f6f7d6b70d8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20241123021128_b596cd8520c57a6c5476031e7a3ea6510f26b464c4d5351d2bc10f6f7d6b70d8" data-rendition-name="original" width="871" height="648" loading="lazy" alt="Page 10-11 map #1236 NT"> </figure>  Global temperature rise is accelerating the melting of Himalayan snow and ice, increasing the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/living-below-nepal-s-melting-mountains">number and size of glacial lakes</a> so that we do not even have names for them. Imja Tso did not even exist in the old trekking maps until 25 years ago, but is now a 2km long lake. “Natural moraine dams in the mountains are weak, and the projects downstream can face major destruction if they burst, and the risk will only increase in future,” warns climatologist Arun Bhakta Shrestha at the <a href="https://www.icimod.org/">International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)</a>. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/terrifying-assessment-of-a-himalayan-melting">An ICIMOD assessment in 2019</a> projected that if present heating trends continue, as they probably will, the Himalaya will lose two-thirds of our glaciers by the end of this century. “Generally speaking, hydropower developers hand over the project to the government after 30 years but by that time given the climate risks, they may not be an asset anymore,” says Manjeet Dhakal. Indeed, the cascade of expensive projects India is building on the Arun River are supposed to be handed back to Nepal in 25 years, but there is a big ‘if’ about whether they will survive that long. &nbsp;&nbsp; Planning of hydropower projects is still based on historical hydrological data, and does not take into account future temperature rise and its consequences. Investors, on the other hand, say that planning hydropower projects with climate components would make them even more expensive.&nbsp; “It’s not that we aren’t preparing for climate risk, we design keeping in mind the once-in-100-year flood,” says Blon of IPPAN. “But if we start designing based on once in 1,000 years flood, the cost would be so high that we won’t be able to build them at all.” Nonetheless, Subarna Das Shrestha of Sanima Mai Hydropower says that there is no option but to go for climate smart infrastructure despite the higher cost. Sanima Mai's powerhouse, for example, is completely underground. The strategy could also be to spread the risk by building less expensive plants located on rivers all over the country. Nepal is also diversifying away from its sole reliance on hydroelectricity, which at present supplies 92% of the power in the grid. Most of the rest comes from solar plants, where the total potential has not even been scratched. &nbsp; This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>  &nbsp;

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