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Haphazard urbanisation ravaged the green valley
AUG 25 -
With sprawling hills covered with large swathes of green forests, Kathmandu Valley was once hailed as the enigmatic ‘Shangri-La’ of the country. The city’s natural charm, green terraced hills, blessed with beautiful river and rich cultural and historical sites had captured the imagination and hearts of countless visitors.
But those days are long gone and the charm has faded away with the rapid and unplanned urbanisation. A 1999 data shows that around 33 percent of the total area of the Valley was covered by forests. The Valley was surrounded by dense patches of forests in most parts, particularly Nagarjun, Shivapuri, Bajrabarahi, Bouddha and Chandragiri about a decade ago. Though we do not have an exhaustive data on the forest cover inside Kathmandu, as a Valley resident for decades, I have seen the massive denudation of the hilly slopes.
Since the beginning of boom period in real estate business some five years ago, giant bulldozers started ravaging the Valley’s landscape. The green patches covering the hills, earlier considered as public forests, now fall under private ownership. And it really intrigues me.
The latest onslaught on the green slopes has come from housing companies. They have transformed the lush green hills into concrete colonies. The construction boom in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur have been going on in full swing. Places like Chapagaun, Bajrabarahi, Bhaisepati and Changunarayan are now being levelled for commercial housing.
The city planners have failed to come up with land zoning system that would have segregated the Valley into different specific areas like service-oriented areas for hospitals, schools, colleges and banks; community living areas for apartments and private buildings.
There is still an opportunity to set things right. We can get the glory of the city restored. More than three dozen plans have been drawn up but none was implemented for the sustainable development of the city. For instance, Tribhuvan University, which covers hectares of land, was built in compliance with the international standards. But, now a college can be operated in a small building and there are over 300 colleges in the Valley alone. The crux of this phenomenon is haphazard urbanisation in the city. I think it is a Herculean task to restore the original landscape of the Valley; however, we can manage the remaining resources.
Most of the cities in the world, especially those in the West, which had lost their appeal in the face of urbanisation, have regained their lost grandeur. It was possible due to residents’ commitment to make their surroundings clean and green. This is applicable to our context as well: the kind of city Kathmandu will become hinges largely on the government’s vision and residents’ commitment.
(As told by Yonzon, a conservationist and chairperson of Resources Himalaya Foundation, to Pragati Shahi of the Post)
Posted on: 2010-08-26 08:42
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