By Razen Manandhar
The credit of "success" of the unprecedented three-day bandh, called by the alliance of six left parties goes to the city squatters. Regardless of the organising parties and their motives, they come out enmass, where local people’s participation is scanty, to destroy the public and private property indiscriminately.
Development of a city, everywhere in the world, draws more and more people from surrounding city and even from the neighbouring countries. This extra numbers of immigrant population is not only a decoration but also a prerequisite to turn any settlement into a city. Growing urban population is an indicator of the people eager to earn more, which in turn makes the governments’ revenue and vote base broader.
Broadly speaking, Kathmandu Valley migrants, who squat upon public land without the permission of the local authorities during and after the Panchayati era, have a special identity. They presume all vacant public land as their own and it is within their rights to live there undisturbed.
They also enjoy all the advantage of being "citizens" but never pay back their dues. They are the squatters, the landless people or rural poor of different genre.
In a city one has to pay for everything. And, city life generally means expensive life. But, these hordes of people neither buy land nor pay rent. Why should they? If the local authority allows them to squat upon the entire public land, why spend money for room or a flat.
Now, the squatters themselves admit that there are around 1700 people living on public land. The real number can be double the figure because of the continuously growing encroachment. It is not a surprising sight to see scores of new hut mushroom overnight along the riverbanks.
For the local authorities they are heaven sent gifts. For them, the more the squatters the more chances of winning the next local election, be it at the cost of the planned development of a city. That is why such illegal settlements are seldom controlled or evicted. Rather, they work hard to issue them with voter’s list and sell dreams of providing land ownership certificates before each elections. Come election time, they even lend helping hands to provide them water and drainage facilities.
It is strange that no ministry, department or section has any jurisdiction over the thousands of wrongdoers. There is the Squatters’ Problem Solution Commission but the district where it has the office is not within its concern.
The municipalities often turn blind eyes to this sore sight of the city. The Kathmandu Mayor went to distribute "certificates" to the squatters living in permanent houses near Balaju. And Lalitpur Mayor persists that there are no squatters in his municipality so it is not necessary to devise any plan against them.
In that context it is not surprising that the squatters are now organised and they even threaten to protest over any urban planning along the riverbanks, conservation of river and riverside monuments or about the responsibilities of the citizens.
Most of those who called themselves landless are well-off people. The squatters’ organisation admits that many of the squatters have land in the village and have occupied several "plots" in the city. They earn enough for their family and have no bread and butter problem. They are employed in teaching, business, tailoring, running teashops, army or soldiers or other professions. They have their own co-operative company with millions of rupees that gives loans to women for small-scale business too.
Apart from that, the possibility of the squatters being involved in pick pocketing, prostitution, smuggling and other criminal activities cannot be overruled. Since they are not affiliated with the culture of the city dwellers, they are free to live, as they want.
Thanks to the foreign donations and some non-government organisations for helping them to develop their living standard. This is a big incentive for the newcomers — everything is ready for them. So why not some more squatters?
The strange aspect among squatters is that they do not want to live in some planned settlement in the periphery. They want to stay in the core city area and that too at free of cost. Democracy has given one right to all — be united and demand for anything, be it unreasonable.
We have to see how long the local representatives keep on caressing the city’s tumour in hope of winning next election at the cost the city’s structure, social and cultural values.
[Kathmandu Friday June 01, 2001 Jestha 19, 2058.]
Friday, June 01, 2001
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
Squatters threaten agitation for free land
By Razen Manadhar
KATHMANDU, May 22[2001] - Nearly 17,000 land-less people living in various areas of the Kathmandu Valley are threatening to take to the streets if the government fails to provide them ownership certificates of land they have squatted upon for years. But, the issue being a complex one, officials are still muddled in their response.
The squatters are asking the government to let them live on the river banks legitimately where they have been doing so for the past two or three decades. "Otherwise, we will take to the streets and will even launch demonstrations," said Dipak Rai, the secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), one of several squatters’ organizations in the Kathmandu Valley.
However, government agencies have been muddled in their response. Over a dozen of government commissions have been formed to solve the squatters’ problem in the last one and a half-decade. But none of them have focused on finding a solution to the problem of Kathmandu squatters.
Member secretary of the present Squatters’ Problem Resolution Commission, Tirtha Prasad Ligal said finding solution for the squatters of the Kathmandu Valley is not their responsibility. But he does concede, "The problem is quite complicated. The squatters’ problem in the Capital is artificial and only a bold decision can solve it."
But Rai, the general secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), refutes such claims. "We left our villages because the property we had was not adequate enough to meet all our needs. It is for the government to provide us food, cloth and shelter in the city." But he admits that many are not as pathetic as they appear to be. "Many of the landless people here have lands in their villages and some of them have huts in several settlements here."
The trend of squatting on public land - generally on the river banks - started in 1960s, thanks to the quiet encouragement given by the local representatives in the hope of creating vote bank. But more than three decades later, the squatters’ problem in Kathmandu has become a ticking time bomb.
Along the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, several squatters’ villages have cropped up, becoming an eyesore to metropolitan authorities. NSPS volunteers say that there are nearly 17,000 landless people living in 66 settlements in the Capital city, each of them comprising of up to 186 slum households. The biggest is Pathivara Tole behind Chabahil. Other noteworthy settlements with over 100 households are Ramhiti, Bauddha, Sankhamul, Khadipakha of Maharajgunj and Jagriti Tole of Nayabazar, Balaju.
Along with the poor families, many well-off squatters live in huts or concrete houses with colour TVs and even motorcycles. They say that they work as drivers, labourers and shopkeepers. Some are even employed as government staff, teachers, soldiers, police and so on.
The squatters’ organization defines themselves as those who have had to come to the Capital displaced by natural calamities. At the same time, there are those who came in search of better opportunities leaving their parental properties behind in the villages.
The Kathmandu Mayor, Keshav Sthapit, says he is drawing up a plan to bring all the squatters under a system. "This problem is in an alarming state. We will verify the squatters first and if they are found possessing landed property in the villages, then we will confiscate their land."
The metropolitan authorities plan to provide alternative land at minimum cost to the squatters. "However, they must first abandon the river banks for this is not a proper place to live in," Mayor Sthapit said.
But the squatters are unlikely to heed his call just yet. Part of the reason is, along with the free land, they also get free basic services from well-meaning non-governmental organizations. The Lumanti Support Group for Shelter (LSGS), for instance, is providing free education, water and sanitation to squatters in several areas. Critics say, such free schemes could become a magnet to attract more squatters.
Director of LSGS Lajana Manandhar said that the organization is helping the "urban poor" community. "The government must make a policy to control the flow of people to the city and help manage the existing unmanaged settlements," she said.
[Kathmandu Wednesday May 23, 2001 Jestha 10, 2058.]
KATHMANDU, May 22[2001] - Nearly 17,000 land-less people living in various areas of the Kathmandu Valley are threatening to take to the streets if the government fails to provide them ownership certificates of land they have squatted upon for years. But, the issue being a complex one, officials are still muddled in their response.
The squatters are asking the government to let them live on the river banks legitimately where they have been doing so for the past two or three decades. "Otherwise, we will take to the streets and will even launch demonstrations," said Dipak Rai, the secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), one of several squatters’ organizations in the Kathmandu Valley.
However, government agencies have been muddled in their response. Over a dozen of government commissions have been formed to solve the squatters’ problem in the last one and a half-decade. But none of them have focused on finding a solution to the problem of Kathmandu squatters.
Member secretary of the present Squatters’ Problem Resolution Commission, Tirtha Prasad Ligal said finding solution for the squatters of the Kathmandu Valley is not their responsibility. But he does concede, "The problem is quite complicated. The squatters’ problem in the Capital is artificial and only a bold decision can solve it."
But Rai, the general secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), refutes such claims. "We left our villages because the property we had was not adequate enough to meet all our needs. It is for the government to provide us food, cloth and shelter in the city." But he admits that many are not as pathetic as they appear to be. "Many of the landless people here have lands in their villages and some of them have huts in several settlements here."
The trend of squatting on public land - generally on the river banks - started in 1960s, thanks to the quiet encouragement given by the local representatives in the hope of creating vote bank. But more than three decades later, the squatters’ problem in Kathmandu has become a ticking time bomb.
Along the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, several squatters’ villages have cropped up, becoming an eyesore to metropolitan authorities. NSPS volunteers say that there are nearly 17,000 landless people living in 66 settlements in the Capital city, each of them comprising of up to 186 slum households. The biggest is Pathivara Tole behind Chabahil. Other noteworthy settlements with over 100 households are Ramhiti, Bauddha, Sankhamul, Khadipakha of Maharajgunj and Jagriti Tole of Nayabazar, Balaju.
Along with the poor families, many well-off squatters live in huts or concrete houses with colour TVs and even motorcycles. They say that they work as drivers, labourers and shopkeepers. Some are even employed as government staff, teachers, soldiers, police and so on.
The squatters’ organization defines themselves as those who have had to come to the Capital displaced by natural calamities. At the same time, there are those who came in search of better opportunities leaving their parental properties behind in the villages.
The Kathmandu Mayor, Keshav Sthapit, says he is drawing up a plan to bring all the squatters under a system. "This problem is in an alarming state. We will verify the squatters first and if they are found possessing landed property in the villages, then we will confiscate their land."
The metropolitan authorities plan to provide alternative land at minimum cost to the squatters. "However, they must first abandon the river banks for this is not a proper place to live in," Mayor Sthapit said.
But the squatters are unlikely to heed his call just yet. Part of the reason is, along with the free land, they also get free basic services from well-meaning non-governmental organizations. The Lumanti Support Group for Shelter (LSGS), for instance, is providing free education, water and sanitation to squatters in several areas. Critics say, such free schemes could become a magnet to attract more squatters.
Director of LSGS Lajana Manandhar said that the organization is helping the "urban poor" community. "The government must make a policy to control the flow of people to the city and help manage the existing unmanaged settlements," she said.
[Kathmandu Wednesday May 23, 2001 Jestha 10, 2058.]
Squatters threaten agitation for free land
By Razen Manadhar
KATHMANDU, May 22[2001] - Nearly 17,000 land-less people living in various areas of the Kathmandu Valley are threatening to take to the streets if the government fails to provide them ownership certificates of land they have squatted upon for years. But, the issue being a complex one, officials are still muddled in their response.
The squatters are asking the government to let them live on the river banks legitimately where they have been doing so for the past two or three decades. "Otherwise, we will take to the streets and will even launch demonstrations," said Dipak Rai, the secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), one of several squatters’ organizations in the Kathmandu Valley.
However, government agencies have been muddled in their response. Over a dozen of government commissions have been formed to solve the squatters’ problem in the last one and a half-decade. But none of them have focused on finding a solution to the problem of Kathmandu squatters.
Member secretary of the present Squatters’ Problem Resolution Commission, Tirtha Prasad Ligal said finding solution for the squatters of the Kathmandu Valley is not their responsibility. But he does concede, "The problem is quite complicated. The squatters’ problem in the Capital is artificial and only a bold decision can solve it."
But Rai, the general secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), refutes such claims. "We left our villages because the property we had was not adequate enough to meet all our needs. It is for the government to provide us food, cloth and shelter in the city." But he admits that many are not as pathetic as they appear to be. "Many of the landless people here have lands in their villages and some of them have huts in several settlements here."
The trend of squatting on public land - generally on the river banks - started in 1960s, thanks to the quiet encouragement given by the local representatives in the hope of creating vote bank. But more than three decades later, the squatters’ problem in Kathmandu has become a ticking time bomb.
Along the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, several squatters’ villages have cropped up, becoming an eyesore to metropolitan authorities. NSPS volunteers say that there are nearly 17,000 landless people living in 66 settlements in the Capital city, each of them comprising of up to 186 slum households. The biggest is Pathivara Tole behind Chabahil. Other noteworthy settlements with over 100 households are Ramhiti, Bauddha, Sankhamul, Khadipakha of Maharajgunj and Jagriti Tole of Nayabazar, Balaju.
Along with the poor families, many well-off squatters live in huts or concrete houses with colour TVs and even motorcycles. They say that they work as drivers, labourers and shopkeepers. Some are even employed as government staff, teachers, soldiers, police and so on.
The squatters’ organization defines themselves as those who have had to come to the Capital displaced by natural calamities. At the same time, there are those who came in search of better opportunities leaving their parental properties behind in the villages.
The Kathmandu Mayor, Keshav Sthapit, says he is drawing up a plan to bring all the squatters under a system. "This problem is in an alarming state. We will verify the squatters first and if they are found possessing landed property in the villages, then we will confiscate their land."
The metropolitan authorities plan to provide alternative land at minimum cost to the squatters. "However, they must first abandon the river banks for this is not a proper place to live in," Mayor Sthapit said.
But the squatters are unlikely to heed his call just yet. Part of the reason is, along with the free land, they also get free basic services from well-meaning non-governmental organizations. The Lumanti Support Group for Shelter (LSGS), for instance, is providing free education, water and sanitation to squatters in several areas. Critics say, such free schemes could become a magnet to attract more squatters.
Director of LSGS Lajana Manandhar said that the organization is helping the "urban poor" community. "The government must make a policy to control the flow of people to the city and help manage the existing unmanaged settlements," she said.
[Kathmandu Wednesday May 23, 2001 Jestha 10, 2058.]
KATHMANDU, May 22[2001] - Nearly 17,000 land-less people living in various areas of the Kathmandu Valley are threatening to take to the streets if the government fails to provide them ownership certificates of land they have squatted upon for years. But, the issue being a complex one, officials are still muddled in their response.
The squatters are asking the government to let them live on the river banks legitimately where they have been doing so for the past two or three decades. "Otherwise, we will take to the streets and will even launch demonstrations," said Dipak Rai, the secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), one of several squatters’ organizations in the Kathmandu Valley.
However, government agencies have been muddled in their response. Over a dozen of government commissions have been formed to solve the squatters’ problem in the last one and a half-decade. But none of them have focused on finding a solution to the problem of Kathmandu squatters.
Member secretary of the present Squatters’ Problem Resolution Commission, Tirtha Prasad Ligal said finding solution for the squatters of the Kathmandu Valley is not their responsibility. But he does concede, "The problem is quite complicated. The squatters’ problem in the Capital is artificial and only a bold decision can solve it."
But Rai, the general secretary of Nepal Settlement Protection Society (NSPS), refutes such claims. "We left our villages because the property we had was not adequate enough to meet all our needs. It is for the government to provide us food, cloth and shelter in the city." But he admits that many are not as pathetic as they appear to be. "Many of the landless people here have lands in their villages and some of them have huts in several settlements here."
The trend of squatting on public land - generally on the river banks - started in 1960s, thanks to the quiet encouragement given by the local representatives in the hope of creating vote bank. But more than three decades later, the squatters’ problem in Kathmandu has become a ticking time bomb.
Along the banks of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers, several squatters’ villages have cropped up, becoming an eyesore to metropolitan authorities. NSPS volunteers say that there are nearly 17,000 landless people living in 66 settlements in the Capital city, each of them comprising of up to 186 slum households. The biggest is Pathivara Tole behind Chabahil. Other noteworthy settlements with over 100 households are Ramhiti, Bauddha, Sankhamul, Khadipakha of Maharajgunj and Jagriti Tole of Nayabazar, Balaju.
Along with the poor families, many well-off squatters live in huts or concrete houses with colour TVs and even motorcycles. They say that they work as drivers, labourers and shopkeepers. Some are even employed as government staff, teachers, soldiers, police and so on.
The squatters’ organization defines themselves as those who have had to come to the Capital displaced by natural calamities. At the same time, there are those who came in search of better opportunities leaving their parental properties behind in the villages.
The Kathmandu Mayor, Keshav Sthapit, says he is drawing up a plan to bring all the squatters under a system. "This problem is in an alarming state. We will verify the squatters first and if they are found possessing landed property in the villages, then we will confiscate their land."
The metropolitan authorities plan to provide alternative land at minimum cost to the squatters. "However, they must first abandon the river banks for this is not a proper place to live in," Mayor Sthapit said.
But the squatters are unlikely to heed his call just yet. Part of the reason is, along with the free land, they also get free basic services from well-meaning non-governmental organizations. The Lumanti Support Group for Shelter (LSGS), for instance, is providing free education, water and sanitation to squatters in several areas. Critics say, such free schemes could become a magnet to attract more squatters.
Director of LSGS Lajana Manandhar said that the organization is helping the "urban poor" community. "The government must make a policy to control the flow of people to the city and help manage the existing unmanaged settlements," she said.
[Kathmandu Wednesday May 23, 2001 Jestha 10, 2058.]
Saturday, May 12, 2001
Capital’s mushrooming Gombas worry experts
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, May 11 – The tendency of Nepalis to overindulge in whatever is the flavour of the month is now extending to Buddhist gombas (monasteries), worrying archaeology and cultural experts.
The case in point is the construction of yet another monastery on the hill of Swoyambhunath, which critics say, is in violation of the Swoyambhunath Conservation Master Plan (Swoyambhu 2000), recognised by the Ministry of Culture in 1989.
The master plan proposed strict controls on new construction 11 years ago but no such check has been put in place. As a result, new gombas are sprouting here and there on the Swoyambhu hill and also across the Valley.
Devi Prasad Adhikari, the Archive Officer of Monastery Management and Development Committee (MMDC), said that the number of monasteries in the Capital has grown exponentially in the past decade.
A survey shows that there were only 49 monasteries in Kathmandu district a decade ago. "But the number might be between 200 to 300 by now," says Adhikari.
Even the community groups, which normally ought to welcome the emergence of new gombas, are not happy with this trend. Raju Lama, the chairperson of Ghyang Guthi, just one such group at Swoyambhu, said that the construction of Lamaistic monasteries in the central as well as surrounding foothills of the Kathmandu Valley has gone beyond control. "Their growth has hit the maximum limit," he said.
The director general of Department of Archaeology (DOA), Sanu Maiya Rana admits that the department has failed to control such activities. "We tried to control it, but couldn’t succeed."
No one can pinpoint exactly why so many monasteries are coming up, but they say that most of the funds are pouring in from outside for the construction of new monasteries. Even though, the permission to build new gombas is required from the municipality or the concerned Village Development Committee. Yet in many cases, construction is being carried out without such permission.
At the heart of the debate is whether such large number of monasteries are needed for the relatively small number of Lamaist Buddhist adherents in the Kathmandu Valley.
"How many gombas does this valley need," asks Buddha Ratna Bajracharya, a pilgrim at Swoyambhunath. "Why can’t they share the same gomba for praying?"
Bajracharya says that the growing number of Tibetan-style monasteries is the indication of the flow of migrants, either from neighbouring countries like Tibet (China) and Bhutan or from other mountainous districts of Nepal. "Making of a monastery gives them a means to live here permanently," he says, adding that it also provides them an opportunity to squat upon public land.
But such talk is brushed aside by other interest groups. Ratna Bahadur Bajracharya, the chairman of Swoyambhu Renovation and Management Federation, supports the construction of more such monasteries on the Swoyambhu hill saying that they at least protect the hills "from being messy."
Although Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has no specific programme to bring this mushrooming of monasteries under control, Mayor Keshav Sthapit said that he is prepared to take some necessary steps to control it.
"If nobody does anything to control this cultural encroachment in the city, I am ready to do something to bring them under regulation," he said.
Construction of a religious shrine compatible with the local surrounding can be taken as value-adding for conservation, he says. "But if this takes the shape of competition, it is sure to degrade the natural landscape."
12/05/2001
KATHMANDU, May 11 – The tendency of Nepalis to overindulge in whatever is the flavour of the month is now extending to Buddhist gombas (monasteries), worrying archaeology and cultural experts.
The case in point is the construction of yet another monastery on the hill of Swoyambhunath, which critics say, is in violation of the Swoyambhunath Conservation Master Plan (Swoyambhu 2000), recognised by the Ministry of Culture in 1989.
The master plan proposed strict controls on new construction 11 years ago but no such check has been put in place. As a result, new gombas are sprouting here and there on the Swoyambhu hill and also across the Valley.
Devi Prasad Adhikari, the Archive Officer of Monastery Management and Development Committee (MMDC), said that the number of monasteries in the Capital has grown exponentially in the past decade.
A survey shows that there were only 49 monasteries in Kathmandu district a decade ago. "But the number might be between 200 to 300 by now," says Adhikari.
Even the community groups, which normally ought to welcome the emergence of new gombas, are not happy with this trend. Raju Lama, the chairperson of Ghyang Guthi, just one such group at Swoyambhu, said that the construction of Lamaistic monasteries in the central as well as surrounding foothills of the Kathmandu Valley has gone beyond control. "Their growth has hit the maximum limit," he said.
The director general of Department of Archaeology (DOA), Sanu Maiya Rana admits that the department has failed to control such activities. "We tried to control it, but couldn’t succeed."
No one can pinpoint exactly why so many monasteries are coming up, but they say that most of the funds are pouring in from outside for the construction of new monasteries. Even though, the permission to build new gombas is required from the municipality or the concerned Village Development Committee. Yet in many cases, construction is being carried out without such permission.
At the heart of the debate is whether such large number of monasteries are needed for the relatively small number of Lamaist Buddhist adherents in the Kathmandu Valley.
"How many gombas does this valley need," asks Buddha Ratna Bajracharya, a pilgrim at Swoyambhunath. "Why can’t they share the same gomba for praying?"
Bajracharya says that the growing number of Tibetan-style monasteries is the indication of the flow of migrants, either from neighbouring countries like Tibet (China) and Bhutan or from other mountainous districts of Nepal. "Making of a monastery gives them a means to live here permanently," he says, adding that it also provides them an opportunity to squat upon public land.
But such talk is brushed aside by other interest groups. Ratna Bahadur Bajracharya, the chairman of Swoyambhu Renovation and Management Federation, supports the construction of more such monasteries on the Swoyambhu hill saying that they at least protect the hills "from being messy."
Although Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has no specific programme to bring this mushrooming of monasteries under control, Mayor Keshav Sthapit said that he is prepared to take some necessary steps to control it.
"If nobody does anything to control this cultural encroachment in the city, I am ready to do something to bring them under regulation," he said.
Construction of a religious shrine compatible with the local surrounding can be taken as value-adding for conservation, he says. "But if this takes the shape of competition, it is sure to degrade the natural landscape."
12/05/2001
Tuesday, May 01, 2001
Thousands of stolen artefacts await return ticket home
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, May 30 - Thousands and thousands idols stolen from Nepal, mainly from Kathmandu Valley and its vicinity, since the 1950s are waiting their return home from various museums in Europe and the Americas. Yet the authorities seem to be nonchalant about it.
Knowledgeable experts claim, between 50 to 60 per cent of the Valley’s works of art have been stolen in the last five decades. And, little has been done by the government to restore the pre-historic images of such deities as the Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwora, Durgabhawani, Laxmi and so on to their original places.
Not that it is impossible to return the stolen heritages. Many of the new western owners have returned a dozen such stolen idols in recent years. Examples abound. A 11th-century idol of Uma Maheshor was returned in September 2000 after about 18 years in a German museum, barely a year after another American antique-collector returned three ancient images of Hindu deities that were stolen from various temples of the Valley. The American returned the idols in August last year.
"We have never tried to use the convention from our sides," said an officer at Department of Archaeology, the body responsible for preserving and protecting the countries’ cultural heritages. The process of claiming such stolen images needs certain "diplomatic channels". But, in the past three decades, Nepali government has not even decided who and how the present owners of the Nepali artefact should be reached, the officer said.
The concerned authorities are shedding off their shoulders from even sending application letters, the basic requirement to go through the long procedure that includes two countries and the international institution working for the conservation of heritage.
United Nation’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) launched steps to curb this international trade of artefact as early as 30 years ago.
The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibition and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970, was the first international legal instrument to tackle these issues of world’s concern. There are 91 state parties, including Nepal, signatories to the convention.
According to the Convention, the State Party of origin requires to go through diplomatic channels and with evidence to its claim, another State Party will seize and return cultural property on its territory stolen from a museum, religious institution or public monument. And the UNIDROIT Convention of 1995 on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects enhances the former convention’s resolutions.
Prof Kumar Khatri, the former chief of Central Department of Culture at Tribhuwan University said that Nepali government has enough grounds to claim those countless images scattered in so many museums, private collections and curio shops around the World. "We have rights to bring them back. But the crux of the problem is that even the government authorities are ignorant of the international convention."
Khagendra Basnet, the secretary-general of Nepal National Commission for UNESCO said that it is not the commission’s duty to retrieve stolen artefacts.
Gyan Chandra Acharya, the spokesperson of Foreign Ministry, said bringing such artefact according the convention is not easy. "In principle, those owners should return the idols, but we can’t ask them to return all just because they were taken away from Nepal," he said.
Former Ambassador to France and permanent representative to UNESCO Keshav Raj Jha said that we have not been able to utilise the provisions of the convention, though it was made especially for countries like Nepal that has been a constant victim of illicit trade of cultural objects.
"Only a channelled application is needed to find out our property. UNESCO and other institutions have a network to find out such items world-wide and finding is not very difficult too," he said.
He claimed that Nepali government does not want to claim such stolen artefact because "some high-profile people, some above legal restrictions, are responsible in smuggling them out".
He recalled that when he was the Ambassador to France he saw an ancient wooden image and wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nepal with needed documents of evidences to stake a claim. "But after a year or so, I got an irresponsible reply which suggested me to read a book on stolen images and do the needful accordingly,"
Art theft is not only the problem of Nepal. UNESCO reports state that between 30,000 and 40,000 cultural objects are stolen each year in France and Italy. In 1995, insurance companies in the United Kingdom paid out nearly one billion US Dollars for artwork stolen in that country.
KATHMANDU, May 30 - Thousands and thousands idols stolen from Nepal, mainly from Kathmandu Valley and its vicinity, since the 1950s are waiting their return home from various museums in Europe and the Americas. Yet the authorities seem to be nonchalant about it.
Knowledgeable experts claim, between 50 to 60 per cent of the Valley’s works of art have been stolen in the last five decades. And, little has been done by the government to restore the pre-historic images of such deities as the Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwora, Durgabhawani, Laxmi and so on to their original places.
Not that it is impossible to return the stolen heritages. Many of the new western owners have returned a dozen such stolen idols in recent years. Examples abound. A 11th-century idol of Uma Maheshor was returned in September 2000 after about 18 years in a German museum, barely a year after another American antique-collector returned three ancient images of Hindu deities that were stolen from various temples of the Valley. The American returned the idols in August last year.
"We have never tried to use the convention from our sides," said an officer at Department of Archaeology, the body responsible for preserving and protecting the countries’ cultural heritages. The process of claiming such stolen images needs certain "diplomatic channels". But, in the past three decades, Nepali government has not even decided who and how the present owners of the Nepali artefact should be reached, the officer said.
The concerned authorities are shedding off their shoulders from even sending application letters, the basic requirement to go through the long procedure that includes two countries and the international institution working for the conservation of heritage.
United Nation’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) launched steps to curb this international trade of artefact as early as 30 years ago.
The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibition and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970, was the first international legal instrument to tackle these issues of world’s concern. There are 91 state parties, including Nepal, signatories to the convention.
According to the Convention, the State Party of origin requires to go through diplomatic channels and with evidence to its claim, another State Party will seize and return cultural property on its territory stolen from a museum, religious institution or public monument. And the UNIDROIT Convention of 1995 on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects enhances the former convention’s resolutions.
Prof Kumar Khatri, the former chief of Central Department of Culture at Tribhuwan University said that Nepali government has enough grounds to claim those countless images scattered in so many museums, private collections and curio shops around the World. "We have rights to bring them back. But the crux of the problem is that even the government authorities are ignorant of the international convention."
Khagendra Basnet, the secretary-general of Nepal National Commission for UNESCO said that it is not the commission’s duty to retrieve stolen artefacts.
Gyan Chandra Acharya, the spokesperson of Foreign Ministry, said bringing such artefact according the convention is not easy. "In principle, those owners should return the idols, but we can’t ask them to return all just because they were taken away from Nepal," he said.
Former Ambassador to France and permanent representative to UNESCO Keshav Raj Jha said that we have not been able to utilise the provisions of the convention, though it was made especially for countries like Nepal that has been a constant victim of illicit trade of cultural objects.
"Only a channelled application is needed to find out our property. UNESCO and other institutions have a network to find out such items world-wide and finding is not very difficult too," he said.
He claimed that Nepali government does not want to claim such stolen artefact because "some high-profile people, some above legal restrictions, are responsible in smuggling them out".
He recalled that when he was the Ambassador to France he saw an ancient wooden image and wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nepal with needed documents of evidences to stake a claim. "But after a year or so, I got an irresponsible reply which suggested me to read a book on stolen images and do the needful accordingly,"
Art theft is not only the problem of Nepal. UNESCO reports state that between 30,000 and 40,000 cultural objects are stolen each year in France and Italy. In 1995, insurance companies in the United Kingdom paid out nearly one billion US Dollars for artwork stolen in that country.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Nepal-India eco-region concept gaining new heights
By Razen Manandhar
GODAVARI, Lalitpur, April 23 - The idea to develop Nepal-India Terai region as an eco-region took a new shape today with experts and stakeholders actually sitting together and chalking out plans and programs to make that dream into a reality.
At the start of a one-day stakeholders’ consultative workshop on Terai Arc Landscape Conservation in Nepal here today, the concerned parties including the government vowed to protect the bio-diversity of the region.
Conservation experts want to connect 11 conservation areas spread across an area of 30,000 kilometers in the Terai of Nepal and India and develop the same into what they call Terai Arc Landscape (TAL). They say connecting the isolated to protected areas is very important for long term conservation of bio-diversity of the region, and a project has already been launched to that effect.
The protected areas include Royal Chitwan National Park, Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve of Nepal, plus Dudhwa National Park, Katarniaghat Wildlife Reserve, Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Swehingaohegi Barga Wildlife Reserve, and Corbett-Rajaji National Park of northern India.
Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Prakash Koirala opening the meet, participated mainly by the locals and local government representatives, expressed the government’s firm commitment to put in place its best of efforts in the direction.
Country Representative of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal Program Dr Chandra P Gurung said, "This is going to be one of the most ambitious and important conservation initiatives in Asia, if not in the entire world," he said. He was addressing the first stakeholders meeting on the TAL conservation.
Dr Gurung added that the program is now a vision, which needs a long-term effort to make it a success. He said, "After a decade the vision will find a shape and will take almost a decade to see full swing of development."
He added that the project needs around six million US dollars for the coming five years. In the long run, it will need a trust of around 20 to 50 million US dollars. He is hopeful that international donor agencies will provide fund for the project. "Agencies like Save the Tiger Fund and other potential major partners are interested to make it a success."
WWF program coordinator, Ukesh Bhuju said that all government institutions, non-government organizations have "technically accepted" the idea and interactions on this issue is going on in various levels. "There has been an agreement between WWF of Nepal and India on this issue," he said.
According to him, TAL Project will not only restore deforested areas outside the protected areas but also address the socio-economic concerns of the local people, who are in fact the major factors to make the project a success.
"The users of the community forest should understand the significance of the TAL and should also be convinced that it will eventually help their economic development," he said.
The Chief Scientist of WWF, Dr Eric Dinestein said that Nepal’s greatest export is visionary approaches to conservation. "This is the prime habitat of tigers, rhinoceros and elephants. This development would provide bigger room for the conservation of the wild animals and will contribute to a global conservation effort altogether."
WWF believes the TAL project is a great opportunity to protect Asia’s remaining habitat for the world’s critically endangered wildlife species. However, the users of community forests are not convinced that their rights over the forest they developed would be protected.
"We should first need to be assured that the community forests would be handled by the government under the Forest Act and our right would be guaranteed," said Hari Neupane, the chairman of Federation of Community Forest Users’ of Nepal. The Ministry of Soil Conservation and WWF NEPAL Program jointly organized the one-day workshop.
[ Kathmandu Tuesday April 24, 2001 Baishakh 11, 2058.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/apr/apr24/index.htm#8
GODAVARI, Lalitpur, April 23 - The idea to develop Nepal-India Terai region as an eco-region took a new shape today with experts and stakeholders actually sitting together and chalking out plans and programs to make that dream into a reality.
At the start of a one-day stakeholders’ consultative workshop on Terai Arc Landscape Conservation in Nepal here today, the concerned parties including the government vowed to protect the bio-diversity of the region.
Conservation experts want to connect 11 conservation areas spread across an area of 30,000 kilometers in the Terai of Nepal and India and develop the same into what they call Terai Arc Landscape (TAL). They say connecting the isolated to protected areas is very important for long term conservation of bio-diversity of the region, and a project has already been launched to that effect.
The protected areas include Royal Chitwan National Park, Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve of Nepal, plus Dudhwa National Park, Katarniaghat Wildlife Reserve, Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Swehingaohegi Barga Wildlife Reserve, and Corbett-Rajaji National Park of northern India.
Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Prakash Koirala opening the meet, participated mainly by the locals and local government representatives, expressed the government’s firm commitment to put in place its best of efforts in the direction.
Country Representative of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal Program Dr Chandra P Gurung said, "This is going to be one of the most ambitious and important conservation initiatives in Asia, if not in the entire world," he said. He was addressing the first stakeholders meeting on the TAL conservation.
Dr Gurung added that the program is now a vision, which needs a long-term effort to make it a success. He said, "After a decade the vision will find a shape and will take almost a decade to see full swing of development."
He added that the project needs around six million US dollars for the coming five years. In the long run, it will need a trust of around 20 to 50 million US dollars. He is hopeful that international donor agencies will provide fund for the project. "Agencies like Save the Tiger Fund and other potential major partners are interested to make it a success."
WWF program coordinator, Ukesh Bhuju said that all government institutions, non-government organizations have "technically accepted" the idea and interactions on this issue is going on in various levels. "There has been an agreement between WWF of Nepal and India on this issue," he said.
According to him, TAL Project will not only restore deforested areas outside the protected areas but also address the socio-economic concerns of the local people, who are in fact the major factors to make the project a success.
"The users of the community forest should understand the significance of the TAL and should also be convinced that it will eventually help their economic development," he said.
The Chief Scientist of WWF, Dr Eric Dinestein said that Nepal’s greatest export is visionary approaches to conservation. "This is the prime habitat of tigers, rhinoceros and elephants. This development would provide bigger room for the conservation of the wild animals and will contribute to a global conservation effort altogether."
WWF believes the TAL project is a great opportunity to protect Asia’s remaining habitat for the world’s critically endangered wildlife species. However, the users of community forests are not convinced that their rights over the forest they developed would be protected.
"We should first need to be assured that the community forests would be handled by the government under the Forest Act and our right would be guaranteed," said Hari Neupane, the chairman of Federation of Community Forest Users’ of Nepal. The Ministry of Soil Conservation and WWF NEPAL Program jointly organized the one-day workshop.
[ Kathmandu Tuesday April 24, 2001 Baishakh 11, 2058.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/apr/apr24/index.htm#8
Sunday, April 15, 2001
Bagmati ghats in dire need of protection from squatters
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, April 14 - The historic stone-paved bank of the holy Bagmati river, stretching from Teku to Thapathali continues to be encroached by squatters, polluting the water and damaging the monuments, thanks to lackadaisical metropolitan unit and drying river.
Bagmati is considered the holiest river system of the Kathmandu Valley which brought civilization in the Valley thousands of years ago. Ancient inscriptions state that the Saint Ne, who gave Nepal his name, used to live at the confluence of Bishnumati that meets the Bagmati at Teku.
But right from Teku, just 100-meter from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s (KMC) central office, ghats, or steps made with brick-shaped steps to control the river flow and also give space for the pilgrims of the holy river, have been the favourite of squatters.
A three-storey concrete building was made recently right on the 150-year-old ghat behind the Maternity Hospital at Thapathali. It has even barred part of the river with wall and a gate, like it was its private property. An old tree has been chopped off to the root and a vermilion-smeared idol installed next to it.
The regulation to protect the Bagmati states that construction of any building within the distance of 20 meters from the river is illegal.
The owner, Bhim Kumari Shah, who proudly announces that Inspector General of Police Pradip Sumsher Rana is her nephew’s son, claimed that the house has been there for a long time and so it is not illegal. "This is our ancestor’s house and we claim it is legal," she said.
Similarly, a building belonging to Advocate Sundar Lal Chaudhary, next to Bhagbateshwor Ghat is constructed on the river boundary itself. The building’s surrounding wall has covered the stone paved boundary and a small Shiva-Linga is left outside the wall.
Over a hundred make-shift huts have been put up at Banshi Ghat on the dry river bank which not only houses the squatters but also gives shelters to some social organizations, registered in the government, like Nepal Basobas Basti Sanraksyan Samaj at Banshi Ghat and Sahara Sewa Sadan.
Similarly, scores of traditional rest houses or dharmasalas, built by the Rana prime ministers and their families for the people who wished to die by the holy river have been turned into private houses, schools or police residences.
According to article 96 of Local Self-Governance Act 1999, the duty of conserving the rivers cultural heritage falls upon the municipality but KMC has so far not introduced any such programs to safeguard this ghat area from squatters.
"We should immediately make the site free of the squatters," Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Bidur Mainali said. But he admits that no programs to clear the area have been launched.
Hutaram Baidhya, the 80-year old activist for saving the Bagmati says that only a strong superpower can save the river from the clutches of the squatters.
He says, "Unfortunately, the Bagmati has been a target for all opportunity-seekers who have no sentimental attachment to its the religious and cultural values. This is the only reason behind the continuous deterioration of our beloved river."
He blames the local representatives for this domination of squatters. "They are indirectly protecting this practice, in hope of securing votes in the local election, though at the cost of these heritage sites," he said.
Heritage expert Oj Man Singh Shrestha, presently working on the Bagmati area heritage, said the locals should be aware of this and know who loves Bagmati. "This area should be declared protected monument zone to prevent it from the squatters," he said.
This ghat area houses sixteen major temples, built in pagoda and dome style, in the period between 1812 and 1950 by various rulers, government staff and people in general. In 1996, a study was done to renovate four temples of the ghat, which was never realized. Bend von Droste, the then director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre said then that "the Teku-Thapathali group, on the banks of the Bagmati, has social problems associated with squatters in the surrounding dharmasalas".
The longest stone paved ghat of the country was made by the first Rana Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana by 1850, in mourning of the massacre he initiated to take over the power. According to the architects, this is a unique blend of the traditional Newari architecture and the neo-classical Rana architecture.
KATHMANDU, April 14 - The historic stone-paved bank of the holy Bagmati river, stretching from Teku to Thapathali continues to be encroached by squatters, polluting the water and damaging the monuments, thanks to lackadaisical metropolitan unit and drying river.
Bagmati is considered the holiest river system of the Kathmandu Valley which brought civilization in the Valley thousands of years ago. Ancient inscriptions state that the Saint Ne, who gave Nepal his name, used to live at the confluence of Bishnumati that meets the Bagmati at Teku.
But right from Teku, just 100-meter from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s (KMC) central office, ghats, or steps made with brick-shaped steps to control the river flow and also give space for the pilgrims of the holy river, have been the favourite of squatters.
A three-storey concrete building was made recently right on the 150-year-old ghat behind the Maternity Hospital at Thapathali. It has even barred part of the river with wall and a gate, like it was its private property. An old tree has been chopped off to the root and a vermilion-smeared idol installed next to it.
The regulation to protect the Bagmati states that construction of any building within the distance of 20 meters from the river is illegal.
The owner, Bhim Kumari Shah, who proudly announces that Inspector General of Police Pradip Sumsher Rana is her nephew’s son, claimed that the house has been there for a long time and so it is not illegal. "This is our ancestor’s house and we claim it is legal," she said.
Similarly, a building belonging to Advocate Sundar Lal Chaudhary, next to Bhagbateshwor Ghat is constructed on the river boundary itself. The building’s surrounding wall has covered the stone paved boundary and a small Shiva-Linga is left outside the wall.
Over a hundred make-shift huts have been put up at Banshi Ghat on the dry river bank which not only houses the squatters but also gives shelters to some social organizations, registered in the government, like Nepal Basobas Basti Sanraksyan Samaj at Banshi Ghat and Sahara Sewa Sadan.
Similarly, scores of traditional rest houses or dharmasalas, built by the Rana prime ministers and their families for the people who wished to die by the holy river have been turned into private houses, schools or police residences.
According to article 96 of Local Self-Governance Act 1999, the duty of conserving the rivers cultural heritage falls upon the municipality but KMC has so far not introduced any such programs to safeguard this ghat area from squatters.
"We should immediately make the site free of the squatters," Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Bidur Mainali said. But he admits that no programs to clear the area have been launched.
Hutaram Baidhya, the 80-year old activist for saving the Bagmati says that only a strong superpower can save the river from the clutches of the squatters.
He says, "Unfortunately, the Bagmati has been a target for all opportunity-seekers who have no sentimental attachment to its the religious and cultural values. This is the only reason behind the continuous deterioration of our beloved river."
He blames the local representatives for this domination of squatters. "They are indirectly protecting this practice, in hope of securing votes in the local election, though at the cost of these heritage sites," he said.
Heritage expert Oj Man Singh Shrestha, presently working on the Bagmati area heritage, said the locals should be aware of this and know who loves Bagmati. "This area should be declared protected monument zone to prevent it from the squatters," he said.
This ghat area houses sixteen major temples, built in pagoda and dome style, in the period between 1812 and 1950 by various rulers, government staff and people in general. In 1996, a study was done to renovate four temples of the ghat, which was never realized. Bend von Droste, the then director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre said then that "the Teku-Thapathali group, on the banks of the Bagmati, has social problems associated with squatters in the surrounding dharmasalas".
The longest stone paved ghat of the country was made by the first Rana Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana by 1850, in mourning of the massacre he initiated to take over the power. According to the architects, this is a unique blend of the traditional Newari architecture and the neo-classical Rana architecture.
Friday, April 13, 2001
Bisket Festival turns a shame for Bhaktapur
By Razen Manandhar
BHAKTAPUR - Though Bhaktapur proudly proclaims of being the World Heritage Site, and free of unplanned urbanization now and then, it blushes in shame every year after the biggest local festival of Bisket starts.
This 1400-year-old festival is the identity of this cultural city which has now turned into a means to show the extent of barbarism against own fellow-dwellers, depending mainly on agriculture and handicraft business.
This year alone, around two dozen participants of the chariot festival, that later turned into a "gang-fight" were injured right on the first day. Even police had to be rude in an attempt to take the situation in control.
The secretary of Bhaktapur Municipality sheds off his shoulder by saying that the administration did its best to prevent any such unwanted incident but it simply failed.
Buddhi Lal, an old man of 70s, ironically said that it is not a fight but only "a game, a merry-making." But there is a pain in his comment. They, however, have realized that it is certainly not an occasion to be proud of .
Even today, the residents, proud of their culture, wait eagerly for the festival but they have become used to with this "ritual" dark side of the joy so much so that the locals do not go to fetch the vandals after the incidents end, neither they even go to report to the police; they say it is their unity. Locals say it started in 1969, which somehow became an annual event.
Everything was planned this year. Bhaktapur Municipality, Chief District Office, District Police Office and political parties committed to make this year’s festival riot-free and set up a group of 800 volunteers. They indeed made a history last year by completing the festival peacefully, but they failed to continue it this year.
Local witnesses say the dispute started when the supporting beam of the chariot cracked at Taumadhi, in front of the famous Nyatapola temple by 7.30 p.m. It had proceeded around the half of the city, so the locals of the other half charged at the organisers. It was only an immediate cause which led a mass of around 60 to 80 people suddenly attack the participants and buildings with stones and bricks. They turned into demons and plucked bricks from all nearby temples, including that from the Nyatapola temple, which they love so much.
Police came late, when the situation went out of their control. So, the mass showed their anger at the police force too, leveraging them to use tear gas cells and even to shoot out. The nightmare lasted till 2 a m in the morning.
When the people woke up next day, they saw a carpet of brick pieces around the Nyatapola temple and many buildings damaged. Only those buildings, protected their doors and windows with plywood and iron sheets, were safe. This has become a routine to save their shops in this way, for some vandals target shops with expensive commodities too.
The target of the vandalism were the guest houses, local houses and temples rather than the people. Pahan-Chhen Guest House, with finest carved windows and doors had its all the window glasses shattered. The owner Ramji Prajapati said, "Even saving our life was difficult. The shower of bricks came from all directions."
The root cause of the yearly hooliganism is division of the ancient city into two parts : Thaane (the upper part) and Kwaane (the lower part). This helped them develop their localities competitively in the past ,but the modernisation has taught them only to envy and destroy each other. They wait for the festival to show off their sordid anger at the other half. And in this barbaric exhibition of the ego, residents of Taumadhi, the middle part of the city, become the bull’s eye.
Historian Dr Purushot am Lochan Shrestha said that the tradition of Bisket Jatra started from the later Licchivi Period, by the 7th Century. The original form of the festival is erecting a wooden pole that symbolizes Biswaketu Bhairava. The festival is named after this diety. As time passed, chariot festival of Bhairava and other episodes were added, making it the biggest festival lasting for nine consecutive days.
This savage fighting could never be the culture of the residents of Bhaktapur, who spend their money, time and even life to decorate the city, and have been living in harmony. The locals blame jealousy, "imported" modernization as well as political parties in this regard. Should this continue and defame the world reputed city again in the future? Only the city-dwellers of Bhaktapur can give answer.
[Kathmandu Friday April 13, 2001 Chaitra 31, 2057.]
BHAKTAPUR - Though Bhaktapur proudly proclaims of being the World Heritage Site, and free of unplanned urbanization now and then, it blushes in shame every year after the biggest local festival of Bisket starts.
This 1400-year-old festival is the identity of this cultural city which has now turned into a means to show the extent of barbarism against own fellow-dwellers, depending mainly on agriculture and handicraft business.
This year alone, around two dozen participants of the chariot festival, that later turned into a "gang-fight" were injured right on the first day. Even police had to be rude in an attempt to take the situation in control.
The secretary of Bhaktapur Municipality sheds off his shoulder by saying that the administration did its best to prevent any such unwanted incident but it simply failed.
Buddhi Lal, an old man of 70s, ironically said that it is not a fight but only "a game, a merry-making." But there is a pain in his comment. They, however, have realized that it is certainly not an occasion to be proud of .
Even today, the residents, proud of their culture, wait eagerly for the festival but they have become used to with this "ritual" dark side of the joy so much so that the locals do not go to fetch the vandals after the incidents end, neither they even go to report to the police; they say it is their unity. Locals say it started in 1969, which somehow became an annual event.
Everything was planned this year. Bhaktapur Municipality, Chief District Office, District Police Office and political parties committed to make this year’s festival riot-free and set up a group of 800 volunteers. They indeed made a history last year by completing the festival peacefully, but they failed to continue it this year.
Local witnesses say the dispute started when the supporting beam of the chariot cracked at Taumadhi, in front of the famous Nyatapola temple by 7.30 p.m. It had proceeded around the half of the city, so the locals of the other half charged at the organisers. It was only an immediate cause which led a mass of around 60 to 80 people suddenly attack the participants and buildings with stones and bricks. They turned into demons and plucked bricks from all nearby temples, including that from the Nyatapola temple, which they love so much.
Police came late, when the situation went out of their control. So, the mass showed their anger at the police force too, leveraging them to use tear gas cells and even to shoot out. The nightmare lasted till 2 a m in the morning.
When the people woke up next day, they saw a carpet of brick pieces around the Nyatapola temple and many buildings damaged. Only those buildings, protected their doors and windows with plywood and iron sheets, were safe. This has become a routine to save their shops in this way, for some vandals target shops with expensive commodities too.
The target of the vandalism were the guest houses, local houses and temples rather than the people. Pahan-Chhen Guest House, with finest carved windows and doors had its all the window glasses shattered. The owner Ramji Prajapati said, "Even saving our life was difficult. The shower of bricks came from all directions."
The root cause of the yearly hooliganism is division of the ancient city into two parts : Thaane (the upper part) and Kwaane (the lower part). This helped them develop their localities competitively in the past ,but the modernisation has taught them only to envy and destroy each other. They wait for the festival to show off their sordid anger at the other half. And in this barbaric exhibition of the ego, residents of Taumadhi, the middle part of the city, become the bull’s eye.
Historian Dr Purushot am Lochan Shrestha said that the tradition of Bisket Jatra started from the later Licchivi Period, by the 7th Century. The original form of the festival is erecting a wooden pole that symbolizes Biswaketu Bhairava. The festival is named after this diety. As time passed, chariot festival of Bhairava and other episodes were added, making it the biggest festival lasting for nine consecutive days.
This savage fighting could never be the culture of the residents of Bhaktapur, who spend their money, time and even life to decorate the city, and have been living in harmony. The locals blame jealousy, "imported" modernization as well as political parties in this regard. Should this continue and defame the world reputed city again in the future? Only the city-dwellers of Bhaktapur can give answer.
[Kathmandu Friday April 13, 2001 Chaitra 31, 2057.]
Saturday, April 07, 2001
She is now widow after 13 months of marriage
By Razen Manandhar
KIRTIPUR, Kathmandu, April 6 - When 30-year-old Dhanshobha Maharjan, who is in her eighth month of first pregnancy, saw over 50 relatives visit her mud-and-brick home Thursday, it was a consolation for her aching heart that she was indeed a brave man’s widow.
She was married to thirty-three years old Sub-Inspector Purna Bahadur just 13 months ago. And, Purna was one among the 30 policemen massacred by the Maoists Sunday night at Rukumkot.
Her dry and mute eyes could be seen searching something on the ceiling. When the final floodgates opened, a middle-aged woman by her side caressing her said, "You must not let a single drop of tear come out. You know you were married to a martyr. Remember, the whole of the town crowded in on during the funeral."
The dead body was brought to Kirtipur and cremated at the local Dikhu river Tuesday evening.
After a long silence, Dhanshobha opened her mouth: "I know everybody must die one day but..."
Her eyes glanced over the wedding gifts still lying packed in the small showcases. She was ruminating with herself, while her relatives were narrating tales of other local women whose husbands too had died in their early youth.
Purna was the only bread-earner of the six-member family. The Maharjans were hereditary farmers but their association to the land was "snatched away" after their fertile 20-ropani land was taken over by Tribhuban University. After this, Purna’s father became a mason and retired from work few years ago due to old age.
Apart from this, Purna’s second brother Kiran is working with a medicine firm to earn his pocket money and the youngest one Sharan is studying. All his three sisters are married.
Kiran said that his brother was scheduled to return home next month. "When he came here last time, he told us that he was safe there and would come back soon ."
His father Hiralal Maharjan, who is in his 70s, putting a brave face says, "Indeed, my son was a brave man. Every son should have courage like him."
It was just by co-incidence that a young man from an indigenous farmer’s family chose to join the police force 11 years ago, just before the popular movement broke out. His friendship with Dinesh Paudyal, lured him to don the policeman's uniform.
The locals of Kirtipur have always been against the government. They had to suffer tyranny right from the time this small town was defeated by King Prithvinarayan Shah. They actively participated in the popular movement of 1990 and the area is also believed to be a major sheltering ground for the Maoists. And, ironically, a resident of the so-called ‘Rebels’ hill’ became a victim of the Maoist rebels.
Grieving father Maharjan could never understand when Purna all of a sudden told him that he wanted to join police. Nobody from our family had ever been in police, so he could not decide what to say.
Now he understands the joy of being a policeman. He said that Newars love their children so much that they can’t tolerate even a short departure from traditional professions. But being a policeman is something, each son should try, he adds.
However, his youngest son Sharan, who passed physical test and is waiting to appear in the written exams, is not sure whether his father would again really agree to see another son wear policeman’s uniform.
He said, "I can’t say anything about it. Let’s see what ba (father) will say in future."
And, father Maharjan is proud that his son had done something, which nobody in this town had ever done. "If a real son has to die, he should die like my son," he said, trying to wiping off his teary eyes.
[Kathmandu Saturday April 07, 2001 Chaitra 25, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/apr/apr07/local.htm#1
KIRTIPUR, Kathmandu, April 6 - When 30-year-old Dhanshobha Maharjan, who is in her eighth month of first pregnancy, saw over 50 relatives visit her mud-and-brick home Thursday, it was a consolation for her aching heart that she was indeed a brave man’s widow.
She was married to thirty-three years old Sub-Inspector Purna Bahadur just 13 months ago. And, Purna was one among the 30 policemen massacred by the Maoists Sunday night at Rukumkot.
Her dry and mute eyes could be seen searching something on the ceiling. When the final floodgates opened, a middle-aged woman by her side caressing her said, "You must not let a single drop of tear come out. You know you were married to a martyr. Remember, the whole of the town crowded in on during the funeral."
The dead body was brought to Kirtipur and cremated at the local Dikhu river Tuesday evening.
After a long silence, Dhanshobha opened her mouth: "I know everybody must die one day but..."
Her eyes glanced over the wedding gifts still lying packed in the small showcases. She was ruminating with herself, while her relatives were narrating tales of other local women whose husbands too had died in their early youth.
Purna was the only bread-earner of the six-member family. The Maharjans were hereditary farmers but their association to the land was "snatched away" after their fertile 20-ropani land was taken over by Tribhuban University. After this, Purna’s father became a mason and retired from work few years ago due to old age.
Apart from this, Purna’s second brother Kiran is working with a medicine firm to earn his pocket money and the youngest one Sharan is studying. All his three sisters are married.
Kiran said that his brother was scheduled to return home next month. "When he came here last time, he told us that he was safe there and would come back soon ."
His father Hiralal Maharjan, who is in his 70s, putting a brave face says, "Indeed, my son was a brave man. Every son should have courage like him."
It was just by co-incidence that a young man from an indigenous farmer’s family chose to join the police force 11 years ago, just before the popular movement broke out. His friendship with Dinesh Paudyal, lured him to don the policeman's uniform.
The locals of Kirtipur have always been against the government. They had to suffer tyranny right from the time this small town was defeated by King Prithvinarayan Shah. They actively participated in the popular movement of 1990 and the area is also believed to be a major sheltering ground for the Maoists. And, ironically, a resident of the so-called ‘Rebels’ hill’ became a victim of the Maoist rebels.
Grieving father Maharjan could never understand when Purna all of a sudden told him that he wanted to join police. Nobody from our family had ever been in police, so he could not decide what to say.
Now he understands the joy of being a policeman. He said that Newars love their children so much that they can’t tolerate even a short departure from traditional professions. But being a policeman is something, each son should try, he adds.
However, his youngest son Sharan, who passed physical test and is waiting to appear in the written exams, is not sure whether his father would again really agree to see another son wear policeman’s uniform.
He said, "I can’t say anything about it. Let’s see what ba (father) will say in future."
And, father Maharjan is proud that his son had done something, which nobody in this town had ever done. "If a real son has to die, he should die like my son," he said, trying to wiping off his teary eyes.
[Kathmandu Saturday April 07, 2001 Chaitra 25, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/apr/apr07/local.htm#1
Sunday, March 25, 2001
Guthi Sansthan set to lease religious land
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, March 24 - Guthi Sansthan (GS), the Trusts Corporation, is all set to lease four plots of land, that has religious and archaeological importance, for commercial purposes in the Kathmandu Valley.
GS decided on March 6 to lease three plots of land at Pakanajol and one of Siphal inviting through a public notice for private individuals or firms to apply for setting up structure for commercial purposes.
Saroj Thapaliya, engineer at GS, said that it is leasing the land to generate income from these plots of land that so far were going to waste.
Locals fear that these four plots of land too could meet similar fate faced by another such land leased out by GS.
A 193-year-old Shiva temple and its surrounding 14 anaas area opposite of Paknajol Sorhakhutte Pati, that was leased by GS is now being used as storage for kerosene and cooking gas by Durga Devi Amatya who pays "minimal rent" to GS.
This has blocked the devotees from visiting the temple. Worse, a semi underground tank has been built and the temple has turned into a warehouse.
The temple was constructed around 1807 by a government officer, Bhotu Pande, who played an important role in Nepal-Tibet-China war. Historical documents state that he constructed a Shiva Linga, Mahadev temple, pond, platform, road, rest-house surrounding a temple, and his own statue in that area. He had allocated around 70 ropanis of land for continuation of rituals in the temple and its renovation.
However, the whole area has been occupied by residential houses these days. There was a pond some 15 years ago on which the squatters have built private houses. A part of the pond was "donated" to Lekhnath Sahitya Sadan. Now, the area is used as a bus park.
Besides, a water spout is being covered by piles of garbage and plastic bottles and the path to the spout is blocked by kerosene containers. Ward police office and several private houses have been built between the two temple areas.
Ram Bir Manandhar, chairman of Ward No 16 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, said that the ward office has been trying to rescue the temple from the kerosene oil seller for years but GS has been supporting the lease and Department of Archaeology is not taking any action. "This can one day cause a big damage to the archaeological site," he said.
"Guthi Samsthan is meant to protect the monuments, not to destroy them. While it is not protecting the leased area, it is again trying to make money out of the land that has cultural value for the local people," he said. "This tradition of destroying our culture by leasing the land for commercial purpose should be stopped."
He added that such areas should be used as open space, either as widened roads or gardens or parks for the growing population of the metropolis.
Department of Archaeology presented a report to then Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture in May 8, 2000, after the minister’s instruction to survey the area, following the ward office’s memorandum to the prime minister and the minister, to evacuate the temple premises.
An officer of Department of Archaeology said it wrote several times to GS to conserve the monument site but it never reacted.
KATHMANDU, March 24 - Guthi Sansthan (GS), the Trusts Corporation, is all set to lease four plots of land, that has religious and archaeological importance, for commercial purposes in the Kathmandu Valley.
GS decided on March 6 to lease three plots of land at Pakanajol and one of Siphal inviting through a public notice for private individuals or firms to apply for setting up structure for commercial purposes.
Saroj Thapaliya, engineer at GS, said that it is leasing the land to generate income from these plots of land that so far were going to waste.
Locals fear that these four plots of land too could meet similar fate faced by another such land leased out by GS.
A 193-year-old Shiva temple and its surrounding 14 anaas area opposite of Paknajol Sorhakhutte Pati, that was leased by GS is now being used as storage for kerosene and cooking gas by Durga Devi Amatya who pays "minimal rent" to GS.
This has blocked the devotees from visiting the temple. Worse, a semi underground tank has been built and the temple has turned into a warehouse.
The temple was constructed around 1807 by a government officer, Bhotu Pande, who played an important role in Nepal-Tibet-China war. Historical documents state that he constructed a Shiva Linga, Mahadev temple, pond, platform, road, rest-house surrounding a temple, and his own statue in that area. He had allocated around 70 ropanis of land for continuation of rituals in the temple and its renovation.
However, the whole area has been occupied by residential houses these days. There was a pond some 15 years ago on which the squatters have built private houses. A part of the pond was "donated" to Lekhnath Sahitya Sadan. Now, the area is used as a bus park.
Besides, a water spout is being covered by piles of garbage and plastic bottles and the path to the spout is blocked by kerosene containers. Ward police office and several private houses have been built between the two temple areas.
Ram Bir Manandhar, chairman of Ward No 16 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, said that the ward office has been trying to rescue the temple from the kerosene oil seller for years but GS has been supporting the lease and Department of Archaeology is not taking any action. "This can one day cause a big damage to the archaeological site," he said.
"Guthi Samsthan is meant to protect the monuments, not to destroy them. While it is not protecting the leased area, it is again trying to make money out of the land that has cultural value for the local people," he said. "This tradition of destroying our culture by leasing the land for commercial purpose should be stopped."
He added that such areas should be used as open space, either as widened roads or gardens or parks for the growing population of the metropolis.
Department of Archaeology presented a report to then Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture in May 8, 2000, after the minister’s instruction to survey the area, following the ward office’s memorandum to the prime minister and the minister, to evacuate the temple premises.
An officer of Department of Archaeology said it wrote several times to GS to conserve the monument site but it never reacted.
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Heritage conservation campaign likely to meet its end
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, March 12 - As the 21 year-old international campaign to conserve the cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley, launched with the initiation of United Nation’s Scientific Cultural and Educational Organization (UNESCO) ends this month, the UN body is unlikely to renew the campaign.
A heritage expert, on condition of anonymity, said UNESCO will free itself by the end of this month from what it has been doing to conserve the archaeological monuments of the Kathmandu Valley in the past two decades.
The conservation experts warn that end to this Campaign would dampen the ongoing preservation works in and around the Kathmandu Valley, which are mostly run by international donations.
International Campaign for Safeguarding the Cultural Heritage of Kathmandu Valley (ICSCHKV), which works in association with the UNESCO is among the major fund raising units for such conservation works.
Former Ambassador to France and permanent delegate to UNESCO Keshav Raj Jha said that the Campaign made a significant achievement in the public and the government staff’s attitude toward heritage conservation.
"The conclusion of the campaign should not be taken negatively. Because this will provide a good opportunity for the Nepali government and the people to manage their cultural property themselves, " he added.
On the other hand, Peter Laws, information and culture specialist of UNESCO said that this conclusion should not be taken as end of UNESCO’s assistance in the conservation works. He said, "The only difference is that from now onwards, Nepali government will be the driving force behind the works to conserve the heritage sites."
ICSCHKV is holding its fifth and the last Campaign Review Committee (CRC) Meeting from 28 March to 30, where past twenty-one years of work will be evaluated.
Peter Laws, however, said the meeting would also discuss various strategies for the future.
Dr Safalya Amatya, former Director General of Department of Archaeology hopes that the meeting would re-launch another campaign in future.
Some monument zones which were renovated with the assistance of the fund raised by the campaign include the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and areas like Swayambhu, Pashupatinath, Boudha, Panauti, Thimi, Dahachowk, Lubhu, Bungamati, Khokna, Bode and Dadhikot.
The main objective of the Champaign was to promote significance of the Kathmandu Valley cultural heritage among the people of Nepal and the world, and to preserve it, so that the relevant national authorities can preserve and promote all the cultural heritage of Nepal, the fourth CRC report has stated.
The ICSCHKV was launched by then UNESCO Director General Amadour Mahatar M’bow in Paris on 25 June 1979. The very same year the Kathmandu Valley, consisting of seven zones — Royal palaces of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, Stupas of Swayambhu and Baudha, Temples of Pashupatinath, Changu Narayan — was enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was based on the Master Plan for the Conservation of the Cultural Heritage in the Kathmandu Valley, formulated in 1977.
[Kathmandu Tuesday March 13, 2001 Falgun 30, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/mar/mar13/index.htm#7
KATHMANDU, March 12 - As the 21 year-old international campaign to conserve the cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley, launched with the initiation of United Nation’s Scientific Cultural and Educational Organization (UNESCO) ends this month, the UN body is unlikely to renew the campaign.
A heritage expert, on condition of anonymity, said UNESCO will free itself by the end of this month from what it has been doing to conserve the archaeological monuments of the Kathmandu Valley in the past two decades.
The conservation experts warn that end to this Campaign would dampen the ongoing preservation works in and around the Kathmandu Valley, which are mostly run by international donations.
International Campaign for Safeguarding the Cultural Heritage of Kathmandu Valley (ICSCHKV), which works in association with the UNESCO is among the major fund raising units for such conservation works.
Former Ambassador to France and permanent delegate to UNESCO Keshav Raj Jha said that the Campaign made a significant achievement in the public and the government staff’s attitude toward heritage conservation.
"The conclusion of the campaign should not be taken negatively. Because this will provide a good opportunity for the Nepali government and the people to manage their cultural property themselves, " he added.
On the other hand, Peter Laws, information and culture specialist of UNESCO said that this conclusion should not be taken as end of UNESCO’s assistance in the conservation works. He said, "The only difference is that from now onwards, Nepali government will be the driving force behind the works to conserve the heritage sites."
ICSCHKV is holding its fifth and the last Campaign Review Committee (CRC) Meeting from 28 March to 30, where past twenty-one years of work will be evaluated.
Peter Laws, however, said the meeting would also discuss various strategies for the future.
Dr Safalya Amatya, former Director General of Department of Archaeology hopes that the meeting would re-launch another campaign in future.
Some monument zones which were renovated with the assistance of the fund raised by the campaign include the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and areas like Swayambhu, Pashupatinath, Boudha, Panauti, Thimi, Dahachowk, Lubhu, Bungamati, Khokna, Bode and Dadhikot.
The main objective of the Champaign was to promote significance of the Kathmandu Valley cultural heritage among the people of Nepal and the world, and to preserve it, so that the relevant national authorities can preserve and promote all the cultural heritage of Nepal, the fourth CRC report has stated.
The ICSCHKV was launched by then UNESCO Director General Amadour Mahatar M’bow in Paris on 25 June 1979. The very same year the Kathmandu Valley, consisting of seven zones — Royal palaces of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, Stupas of Swayambhu and Baudha, Temples of Pashupatinath, Changu Narayan — was enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was based on the Master Plan for the Conservation of the Cultural Heritage in the Kathmandu Valley, formulated in 1977.
[Kathmandu Tuesday March 13, 2001 Falgun 30, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/mar/mar13/index.htm#7
Tuesday, March 06, 2001
Fresh storm brewing in the ‘census’ drill
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, March 5 [2001]- The once in a decade census that determines everything from the fiscal budget to future planning for the country is being conducted this year. Yet, people especially the ethnic minority groups are expressing their doubts that the results would be anything close to the reality.
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is conducting a nation-wide census from June 10 to 21 that is suppose to show statistical reality of a country.
But even before officials leave for the cities, towns, villages and remote dwellings knocking on doors, these groups are already crying about conspiracy. And it is not just them ... Majority groups too are crying foul here.
On one hand, Nationalities associations claim that a big conspiracy is being woven to project non-Hindus and people outside the Bahun and Kshetris communities fewer than their actual number in this country that is known for its rich ethnic diversity; Hindu organisations say that this census is an attempt to dismantle the only Hindu Kingdom in the world.
Balkrishna Mabuhang, the general-secretary of Nepal Federation of Nationalities (NFN) said that the nationalities are not confident about results of the coming census.
"We (Nationalities) are not assured that the government would publish true facts. As in the past, they will show that majority of the country is comprised of the Hindus that include Bahun and Kshetris," he said.
He charged that CBS, which is controlled by these predominant caste groups, deliberately ignored NFN’s co-operative approaches and refused their help in the census.
According to him, the bureaucrats want to hide the reality from the world because they do not want the world to know about who suffers the most in economy, education, employment and health and that they belong to the lower class people and the Nationalities.
Similarly, chairman of Dharmodaya Sabha, the leading Buddhist organisation, Lok Darshan Bajracharya said that he believes that only 60 per cent of the figures in the census result could be regarded as credible.
"The government is trying to show that there are only handful of Buddhist in this country," he said.
In 1961, 1971 and 1981, the percentage of the Buddhists was projected as 9.3, 7.5 and 5.3 respectively in CBS reports.
He accused the government that the enumerators are not selected democratically, CBS has never held discussions or interaction programmes with activists and concerned citizens and that is the reason why the present census format is faulty.
He particularly blames the government body for not making the people aware of the objectives, importance and process of census, among the mass.
The Hindus, who are estimated to be 80-to-90 per cent of the total population of the country, too are also not satisfied with the present census pattern.
Senior vice-chairman of World Hindu Federation-Nepal, Bharat Keshar Singh said that a grand plot is being designed to fragment the only Hindu Kingdom and this census is part of the plots.
"Over 40,000 people are working actively to take advantage of this census to bring down the percentage of the Hindus to 17 per cent and then to make this country a secular one. Then they will one day challenge our Hindu King also," he claimed.
"So many new Nationalities and religions have suddenly appeared in this small country. This is a cleverly planned strategy to break the country into small pieces," he claimed.
CBS, the government authority to hold census, however, says the bureau is working hard to compile the true statistics from all over the country.
CBS Deputy General Director Radha Krishna GC said, "We are positive that the result of the census would be conscientious because the people have become fairly aware by now and we are also well prepared."
Trainings on various levels are in the offing and questionnaires and other related documents would be dispatched to the districts next month, he said.
About advertisement, GC admits that due to lack of budget, CBS has not been able to disseminate basic information about the census all over the country.
KATHMANDU, March 5 [2001]- The once in a decade census that determines everything from the fiscal budget to future planning for the country is being conducted this year. Yet, people especially the ethnic minority groups are expressing their doubts that the results would be anything close to the reality.
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is conducting a nation-wide census from June 10 to 21 that is suppose to show statistical reality of a country.
But even before officials leave for the cities, towns, villages and remote dwellings knocking on doors, these groups are already crying about conspiracy. And it is not just them ... Majority groups too are crying foul here.
On one hand, Nationalities associations claim that a big conspiracy is being woven to project non-Hindus and people outside the Bahun and Kshetris communities fewer than their actual number in this country that is known for its rich ethnic diversity; Hindu organisations say that this census is an attempt to dismantle the only Hindu Kingdom in the world.
Balkrishna Mabuhang, the general-secretary of Nepal Federation of Nationalities (NFN) said that the nationalities are not confident about results of the coming census.
"We (Nationalities) are not assured that the government would publish true facts. As in the past, they will show that majority of the country is comprised of the Hindus that include Bahun and Kshetris," he said.
He charged that CBS, which is controlled by these predominant caste groups, deliberately ignored NFN’s co-operative approaches and refused their help in the census.
According to him, the bureaucrats want to hide the reality from the world because they do not want the world to know about who suffers the most in economy, education, employment and health and that they belong to the lower class people and the Nationalities.
Similarly, chairman of Dharmodaya Sabha, the leading Buddhist organisation, Lok Darshan Bajracharya said that he believes that only 60 per cent of the figures in the census result could be regarded as credible.
"The government is trying to show that there are only handful of Buddhist in this country," he said.
In 1961, 1971 and 1981, the percentage of the Buddhists was projected as 9.3, 7.5 and 5.3 respectively in CBS reports.
He accused the government that the enumerators are not selected democratically, CBS has never held discussions or interaction programmes with activists and concerned citizens and that is the reason why the present census format is faulty.
He particularly blames the government body for not making the people aware of the objectives, importance and process of census, among the mass.
The Hindus, who are estimated to be 80-to-90 per cent of the total population of the country, too are also not satisfied with the present census pattern.
Senior vice-chairman of World Hindu Federation-Nepal, Bharat Keshar Singh said that a grand plot is being designed to fragment the only Hindu Kingdom and this census is part of the plots.
"Over 40,000 people are working actively to take advantage of this census to bring down the percentage of the Hindus to 17 per cent and then to make this country a secular one. Then they will one day challenge our Hindu King also," he claimed.
"So many new Nationalities and religions have suddenly appeared in this small country. This is a cleverly planned strategy to break the country into small pieces," he claimed.
CBS, the government authority to hold census, however, says the bureau is working hard to compile the true statistics from all over the country.
CBS Deputy General Director Radha Krishna GC said, "We are positive that the result of the census would be conscientious because the people have become fairly aware by now and we are also well prepared."
Trainings on various levels are in the offing and questionnaires and other related documents would be dispatched to the districts next month, he said.
About advertisement, GC admits that due to lack of budget, CBS has not been able to disseminate basic information about the census all over the country.
Monday, January 08, 2001
Kathmandu Valley heritage , witnessing transformations
Francis Childe, the Chief of Section of Europe Asia and the Pacific Division of Cultural Heritage Sites -UNESCO, is one of the well wishers of the cultural heritage of the World Heritage Sites enlisted Kathmandu Valley. In different ways, for the last two decades, he has been contributing a lot to raise awareness among the people about the significance of the heritage sites and to protect the ancient Nepali monuments.
Francis Childe was in Kathmandu during the first week of December as a member of the team of The International Campaign for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Kathmandu Valley (ICSCHKV). Razen Manandhar of The Kathmandu Post talked to him on his long associations with the cultural heritage sites of the world and that of Nepal as well. The excerpts:
Razen Manandhar: What is the meaning of cultural heritage?
Francis Childe: This is the blend of knowledge and wisdom, accommodated by the hundreds or thousands of years, which has been transmitted to the present in the form of language, religious teachings, social customs, science, arts and architectural forms. It does not mean just the monuments but also the houses we live in, and the whole environment around us.
RM: Why should we preserve the cultural heritage?
FC: To be very simple, we ought to preserve these monuments and particularly the heritage itself in general, because it is precious. It is our identity, the evidence of our existence and, as it is often said, the gift from the past to the future.
Our ancestors must have put a lot of efforts to make them, and erect them where they now stand. This is the outcome of our millions of years of long journey from the primitive jungles to today’s way of life. In that sense, it is our spiritual duty also to honour those things, which are more than merely the past records.
And, these physical heritages reflect some sort of cultural identities too. For example, the traditional houses of the Kathmandu Valley with four floors and the kitchen on the top demonstrate the dwellers’ psychology. Once you change this age-long system of house building, you break yourself away from the chain of generations as well as the philosophy of life you are basically from. This is the big part the modern life-style is missing today.
RM: Even after two decades of the Kathmandu Valley being included in the World Heritage Sites, the people here are not fully convinced about this listing. What is the significance of being enlisted in the World Heritage Sites?
FC: It is basically the recognition of the importance of a monument in the global context. It means the site is not only important for the makers’ family, the community and even the nation, but it’s so precious that it in fact is the matter of concern for the whole world. It is similar to say it belongs to whole world.
RM: How do the locals "benefit" from the enrolment of their monuments, areas or cities in World Heritage List?
FC: It has little to do with benefit and sacrifice of the people. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. Even though we are aware of the significance of the monuments, preserving them as such in today’s ever-changing world is not so simple or easy. Preservation may sound contrary to evolution too, especially in the developing country like Nepal.
Therefore, preservation of heritage sites is challenging. People have to pay a lot for preserving the priceless treasures. And, the payment should not be counted only in terms of money. It needs broad thinking and learning to be proud of them.
Besides, directly or indirectly, it offers a very special social, economic and development prospects. It is because of the monuments in the World Heritage Sites that flow of tourists never ends in these regions. Being in the prestigious list matters a lot when the innumerable people select their travelling destinations. Especially for countries like Nepal, where tourism is one of the highest foreign currency earners, it is the responsibility of all the citizens as well as the government to take heritage conservation seriously.
RM: These days, the preservation of ancient monuments generally targets tourist, as if it’s the only area of promoting tourism. Whom should heritage preservation target?
FC: Tourism could be one among the targets because it pays you back financially. But, this should not be the absolute aim of heritage preservation.
The locals should be given the first priority while preserving any monuments. Spending money on any monument would be meaningful only if the locals who live in or around the site are proud of it and convinced of the reason of preservation. Apart form this; the nation itself also could be the target because the preserved monument is a property of the nation itself. And, in this context, we cannot overlook the importance of the tourists. In short, all these factors should be taken into consideration while intending preservation.
RM: You have been working in many countries. Which of the countries satisfy you the most in reference the to the preservation of cultural heritage?
FC: Each country has separate reasons behind its success to preserve the monuments in the World Heritage List. Still, if I have to select some of them, I would choose those of Morocco, Vietnam and some others.
RM: And, where do you think does Nepal stand?
FC: Of course, the present efforts of the Nepali government and the local communities are appreciable. Though Kathmandu is a small valley, you can find a new identity of separate settlements, which lies just a half an hour’s drive from one zone to another.
Some areas are well preserved and some are constantly being changed. You can find elements of primitive settlements as well as a metropolis of the 21st century in the same valley. The small settlements like Patan and Bhaktapur should learn a lesson from this fast growing city of Kathmandu and be prepared to save it from further destruction.
RM: You have been associated with the World Heritage Sites of Nepal for last 21 years. What changes did you find during this period concerning the preservation activities and peoples’ attitude toward it?
FC: We have to look at this in two ways. On one hand, I say, in this period of two decades, a lot of things have changed - social, political, economic as well as people’s philosophy of living. Urbanisation is a natural process and we should not take it as incongruous. When I first came to Nepal in 1979, I could see the Bouddhanath Stupa from the hills of Pashupatinath and there were only paddy fields in between. But now we can see hardly anything except concrete buildings. New constructions are mushrooming from almost everywhere and monument sites lie in the shadows.
Still, in this long period, I am happy that people have taken to heritage preservation seriously. In the past, it was only a topic for some government staff and we visitors. But you see, in these days, common people have realised that those ancient monuments have indeed some value for them. I can see, heritage societies, community based groups are also showing interest to preserve the monuments. From school children to media, social workers to policy makers and politicians are a bit more conscious. From the government side as well as the public, a sense of preservation is growing up. People want to preserve the traditional style while building their houses. This is more important. I wish this to continue in future too.
Saturday, January 06, 2001
How local initiative can change the fate of neglected monuments
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, Jan 5 - While the Department of Archaeology, the government body responsible for safeguarding the cultural heritages of the country, is turning a blind eye to the crumbling monuments, a group of conscious people is setting an example in preserving these age-old treasures.
A royal-dome-shaped 19th century temple of Lord Ram Chandra, popularly called Ram Mandir of Battisputali, is likely to undergo a facelift soon – indeed the renovation work has already begun. Thanks largely to the Committee for Renovation and Promotion of Ramchandra Temple (CRPRT), a small committee of locals.
Out of the donation collected from the locals, the eight-year-old Committee has so far spent Rs 1.1 million on the restoration works of the temple. And another 1.2 million rupees has been spent on a rest house with carved pillars and windows at the temple premises. But the amount spent so far is only a fraction of the estimated 8 million rupees needed to complete the renovation works.
"When we started the ambitious project eight years ago, we had only Rs 501 and we were not sure whether we would be able to make any tangible difference," says cultural expert Dr Govinda Tondon, a local resident and the member-secretary of the CRPRT.
"We are now proud that we have come a long way spending millions of rupees on the temple neglected by government bodies." Ram Mandir is one of the hundreds of archaeologically and culturally significant monuments of the Kathmandu Valley, a UNESCO World (Cultural) Heritage Site.
The temple was built in 1871 AD by Commanding Colonel Sanak Singh Tondon. Some locals say that the Colonel constructed the temple after he discovered three potsfull of golden coins in that place. The site is equally famous for the archaeological findings dating back to the 7th century.
The temple consists of five black-stone idols of Lord Ram, his consort Sita, brothers Laxman, Bharat and Satrughna and a standing Hanuman, Ram’s devotee, outside.
It is one of the few Shah dynasty monuments which bear outstanding fresco (wall) paintings around its walls. The temple is noted for its 32 butterfly images, and locals say that the place is named after these images.
Dr Tondon says that the temple was never renovated, and that it survived 8-plus rector scale earthquake in 1934 that wrecked the parts of Bihar and Nepal and claimed thousands of lives. But as time passed, rest houses in the temple premise collapsed, its roof began leaking. Worse, the area around the temple turned into a garbage dump.
"Instead of waiting hopelessly for the government to renovate the cultural heritage site, we have mobilised a large number of locals behind," says Tondon. The initiative has not only brought changes in the temple’s appearance, but also helped bring a change in the attitude of the locals towards our monuments, he adds.
Almost deserted by devotees till few years back, now about 180 locals wait for their turn to offer daily pooja in the temple. But this is not all. The committee has also started holding religious functions and other religious events. "Temple is not only a place for worship," says Puspa Pani Gautam, Chairman of the Committee. So the process of demystifying the conventional concept of temple as such has already begun. "These days we have started holding classes of culture and classical music, recitations of Ramayana and many more."
Ambika Shrestha of the Dwarika’s Hotel, which stands close to Ram Mandir is all praise for the renovation works. "Locals who live around such historic monuments should take inspiration from this step to preserve our monuments."
[ Kathmandu Saturday January 06, 2001 Paush 22, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/jan/jan06/index.htm#6
KATHMANDU, Jan 5 - While the Department of Archaeology, the government body responsible for safeguarding the cultural heritages of the country, is turning a blind eye to the crumbling monuments, a group of conscious people is setting an example in preserving these age-old treasures.
A royal-dome-shaped 19th century temple of Lord Ram Chandra, popularly called Ram Mandir of Battisputali, is likely to undergo a facelift soon – indeed the renovation work has already begun. Thanks largely to the Committee for Renovation and Promotion of Ramchandra Temple (CRPRT), a small committee of locals.
Out of the donation collected from the locals, the eight-year-old Committee has so far spent Rs 1.1 million on the restoration works of the temple. And another 1.2 million rupees has been spent on a rest house with carved pillars and windows at the temple premises. But the amount spent so far is only a fraction of the estimated 8 million rupees needed to complete the renovation works.
"When we started the ambitious project eight years ago, we had only Rs 501 and we were not sure whether we would be able to make any tangible difference," says cultural expert Dr Govinda Tondon, a local resident and the member-secretary of the CRPRT.
"We are now proud that we have come a long way spending millions of rupees on the temple neglected by government bodies." Ram Mandir is one of the hundreds of archaeologically and culturally significant monuments of the Kathmandu Valley, a UNESCO World (Cultural) Heritage Site.
The temple was built in 1871 AD by Commanding Colonel Sanak Singh Tondon. Some locals say that the Colonel constructed the temple after he discovered three potsfull of golden coins in that place. The site is equally famous for the archaeological findings dating back to the 7th century.
The temple consists of five black-stone idols of Lord Ram, his consort Sita, brothers Laxman, Bharat and Satrughna and a standing Hanuman, Ram’s devotee, outside.
It is one of the few Shah dynasty monuments which bear outstanding fresco (wall) paintings around its walls. The temple is noted for its 32 butterfly images, and locals say that the place is named after these images.
Dr Tondon says that the temple was never renovated, and that it survived 8-plus rector scale earthquake in 1934 that wrecked the parts of Bihar and Nepal and claimed thousands of lives. But as time passed, rest houses in the temple premise collapsed, its roof began leaking. Worse, the area around the temple turned into a garbage dump.
"Instead of waiting hopelessly for the government to renovate the cultural heritage site, we have mobilised a large number of locals behind," says Tondon. The initiative has not only brought changes in the temple’s appearance, but also helped bring a change in the attitude of the locals towards our monuments, he adds.
Almost deserted by devotees till few years back, now about 180 locals wait for their turn to offer daily pooja in the temple. But this is not all. The committee has also started holding religious functions and other religious events. "Temple is not only a place for worship," says Puspa Pani Gautam, Chairman of the Committee. So the process of demystifying the conventional concept of temple as such has already begun. "These days we have started holding classes of culture and classical music, recitations of Ramayana and many more."
Ambika Shrestha of the Dwarika’s Hotel, which stands close to Ram Mandir is all praise for the renovation works. "Locals who live around such historic monuments should take inspiration from this step to preserve our monuments."
[ Kathmandu Saturday January 06, 2001 Paush 22, 2057.]
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2001/jan/jan06/index.htm#6
Friday, December 29, 2000
Roja ends with zeal among Muslims
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, Dec 28 - Hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the country, as well as the world over, celebrated the greatest Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, today, ending the month-long Roja, strict daylight fasting, with the sighting of the new moon.
For the whole month of Ramjan, Muslims do not eat or drink anything till the sun sets.Even swallowing saliva is considered to be a sin for the strict observers of Roja, compulsory to all adult Muslims of both sexes, they say. Eid ends in a delightful festival symbolising tolerance, love, friendship and hospitality.
On this day, the Muslims hug one another, brush away past enmity and promise one another a happy and friendly year to come. All Muslim households prepare sumptuous feasts and invite friends and relatives in a cheerful mood of sharing.
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Roja fasting. On this day, they invite guests, eat various dishes together and buy new clothes and give money to hermits and beggars. "Even the poorest of Muslim wishes to buy new cloth to mark this great festival and show his faith in Allah," they say.
Twenty-two years old Matin Uddin Shekh, who runs a clothes store at Khichapokhari said that following the strict rules of the month-long fast is just like climbing a mountain. "For the first half of the month, each day becomes difficult to pass and the second half is full of joy. The nearer you reach the end, your heart begins to fill with a holy excitement and you do your best to complete the cycle," he says.
"Naturally, we feel hungry. But, we do not seem to take notice of any foodstuff. A strange energy comes from within which keeps our sinful desires away," he adds.
Roja is compulsory only for adults, but his two-year-old nephew Nazir Shekh is also following it religiously.
Jaffar Uddhin of Nepali Jame Masjid said that the Muslims chose this month because it is the holiest in the whole year. "This month is chosen by Allah," he says.
Muslims believe the Koran, their holy book, was revealed to Mohammed over the Ramjan period, 1400 years ago. They say that this is a holy month by many means and any virtue done during this month is equal to doing it seventy times more during the rest of the year.
The month of Rajman is fixed according to Muslim calendar. But, the daily fasting period and the month also changes every year.
This month-long ritual teaches the people to live a modest and religious life. "The rules remind us of the roots of Islam, which should be the guidelines for the rest of life. Observing Roja for a month purifies us for the world’s betterment for the next 11 months," Uddhin said.
Shekh says, some may even escape by making some excuses,in cities, but in rural areas the whole village follows the fasting of Roja strictly. Only sick, elderly and new mothers are excused by the religion. "Nothing like modernisation has ever affected the people’s zeal to remain hungry for a month and celebrate the end of it as a great festival."
All religions consider fasting as a way of regular, religious life. The Muslims take fasting as one of the five basis of Islam; other four being faith, prayer, pilgrimage and donation.
According to 1991 national census, Muslim population in Nepal is around 665 thousand.
[Kathmandu Friday December 29, 2000 Paush 14, 2057.]
KATHMANDU, Dec 28 - Hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the country, as well as the world over, celebrated the greatest Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, today, ending the month-long Roja, strict daylight fasting, with the sighting of the new moon.
For the whole month of Ramjan, Muslims do not eat or drink anything till the sun sets.Even swallowing saliva is considered to be a sin for the strict observers of Roja, compulsory to all adult Muslims of both sexes, they say. Eid ends in a delightful festival symbolising tolerance, love, friendship and hospitality.
On this day, the Muslims hug one another, brush away past enmity and promise one another a happy and friendly year to come. All Muslim households prepare sumptuous feasts and invite friends and relatives in a cheerful mood of sharing.
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Roja fasting. On this day, they invite guests, eat various dishes together and buy new clothes and give money to hermits and beggars. "Even the poorest of Muslim wishes to buy new cloth to mark this great festival and show his faith in Allah," they say.
Twenty-two years old Matin Uddin Shekh, who runs a clothes store at Khichapokhari said that following the strict rules of the month-long fast is just like climbing a mountain. "For the first half of the month, each day becomes difficult to pass and the second half is full of joy. The nearer you reach the end, your heart begins to fill with a holy excitement and you do your best to complete the cycle," he says.
"Naturally, we feel hungry. But, we do not seem to take notice of any foodstuff. A strange energy comes from within which keeps our sinful desires away," he adds.
Roja is compulsory only for adults, but his two-year-old nephew Nazir Shekh is also following it religiously.
Jaffar Uddhin of Nepali Jame Masjid said that the Muslims chose this month because it is the holiest in the whole year. "This month is chosen by Allah," he says.
Muslims believe the Koran, their holy book, was revealed to Mohammed over the Ramjan period, 1400 years ago. They say that this is a holy month by many means and any virtue done during this month is equal to doing it seventy times more during the rest of the year.
The month of Rajman is fixed according to Muslim calendar. But, the daily fasting period and the month also changes every year.
This month-long ritual teaches the people to live a modest and religious life. "The rules remind us of the roots of Islam, which should be the guidelines for the rest of life. Observing Roja for a month purifies us for the world’s betterment for the next 11 months," Uddhin said.
Shekh says, some may even escape by making some excuses,in cities, but in rural areas the whole village follows the fasting of Roja strictly. Only sick, elderly and new mothers are excused by the religion. "Nothing like modernisation has ever affected the people’s zeal to remain hungry for a month and celebrate the end of it as a great festival."
All religions consider fasting as a way of regular, religious life. The Muslims take fasting as one of the five basis of Islam; other four being faith, prayer, pilgrimage and donation.
According to 1991 national census, Muslim population in Nepal is around 665 thousand.
[Kathmandu Friday December 29, 2000 Paush 14, 2057.]
Saturday, December 16, 2000
Int’l meet to be held to safeguard Nepal’s heritage
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, Dec 15 [2000]- The International Campaign for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Kathmandu Valley (ICSCHKV), which began here twenty-one years ago, is being terminated, and another programme that targets the preservation of heritage sites is to be launched soon.
Unlike the current campaign, the new program will cover all heritage sites throughout the kingdom.
A member of the UNESCO Evaluation Team, which was here last week to supervise heritage preservation works in the valley, informed The Katmandu Post that ICSCHKV is organising an international conference here from March 28 to 30 to work out a strategy and action plan for next program.
"The conference will work out a new vision for the new millennium and decide how to revive the campaign in broader and more effective ways, " he said.
The venue of the conference has not yet been fixed, but it could be in the historic city of Bhaktapur.
On the first day, the participants will analyze the achievements and failures of the previous campaign. On the second day, the participants will discuss papers presented at the conference and the concluding day will be set aside for strategy formulation and drawing up the new action plan.
Francis Childe, chief of the operational section for Asia and Pacific Division of Cultural Heritage, UNESCO Headquarters, during his recent visit said that the campaign would, among others issues, concentrate on providing training to the craftsman and technicians who are directly involved in preservation works.
Childe was one member of the evaluation team who stayed in the valley for two weeks - from November 28 to December 12. The others being Giles Proctor, an expert from English Heritage International and Keshav Raj Jha, the former Nepali ambassador to UNESCO.
The evaluation team surveyed the 20 heritage sites, met concerned officers and expressed mixed reaction on people’s awareness on heritage conservation.
ICSCHKV works constantly in the field of heritage conservation and raising public awareness in the Kathmandu Valley -- among the elite and illiterate locals. Some areas where it has worked include the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and areas like Swayambhu, Pashupatinath, Bouddha, Panauti, Thimi, Dahachowk, Lubhu, Bungamati, Khokna, Bode and Dadhikot.
However, some local heritage experts complain that UNESCO is spending a big part of international donations on technical visits than on real conservation works. Out of total US 240,374 dollars, US dollars 62,601 has been spent on visits of experts to Nepal, they say.
Kathmandu Saturday December 16, 2000 Paush 01, 2057.
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2000/dec/dec16/index.htm#6
KATHMANDU, Dec 15 [2000]- The International Campaign for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Kathmandu Valley (ICSCHKV), which began here twenty-one years ago, is being terminated, and another programme that targets the preservation of heritage sites is to be launched soon.
Unlike the current campaign, the new program will cover all heritage sites throughout the kingdom.
A member of the UNESCO Evaluation Team, which was here last week to supervise heritage preservation works in the valley, informed The Katmandu Post that ICSCHKV is organising an international conference here from March 28 to 30 to work out a strategy and action plan for next program.
"The conference will work out a new vision for the new millennium and decide how to revive the campaign in broader and more effective ways, " he said.
The venue of the conference has not yet been fixed, but it could be in the historic city of Bhaktapur.
On the first day, the participants will analyze the achievements and failures of the previous campaign. On the second day, the participants will discuss papers presented at the conference and the concluding day will be set aside for strategy formulation and drawing up the new action plan.
Francis Childe, chief of the operational section for Asia and Pacific Division of Cultural Heritage, UNESCO Headquarters, during his recent visit said that the campaign would, among others issues, concentrate on providing training to the craftsman and technicians who are directly involved in preservation works.
Childe was one member of the evaluation team who stayed in the valley for two weeks - from November 28 to December 12. The others being Giles Proctor, an expert from English Heritage International and Keshav Raj Jha, the former Nepali ambassador to UNESCO.
The evaluation team surveyed the 20 heritage sites, met concerned officers and expressed mixed reaction on people’s awareness on heritage conservation.
ICSCHKV works constantly in the field of heritage conservation and raising public awareness in the Kathmandu Valley -- among the elite and illiterate locals. Some areas where it has worked include the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and areas like Swayambhu, Pashupatinath, Bouddha, Panauti, Thimi, Dahachowk, Lubhu, Bungamati, Khokna, Bode and Dadhikot.
However, some local heritage experts complain that UNESCO is spending a big part of international donations on technical visits than on real conservation works. Out of total US 240,374 dollars, US dollars 62,601 has been spent on visits of experts to Nepal, they say.
Kathmandu Saturday December 16, 2000 Paush 01, 2057.
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2000/dec/dec16/index.htm#6
Friday, December 15, 2000
KMC composting plant rusting despite garbage pile
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, Dec 14 - The Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Keshav Sthapit never forgets to demand 200-ropani of land from the government whenever he addresses a programme. He wants the land to establish a composting plant in a city overburdened by 350 tonnes of garbage accumulated daily. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old composting plant with a capacity to produce 60 tonnes of manure daily is lying abandoned in the KMC office premises itself.
The Solid Waste and Sewerage Management Project imported a composting plant from an Indian company in 1984 at cost of Rs 5.5 million. The project managed the garbage of the newly-emerging capital city for several years under the German assistance.
Nowadays, drug addicts use the huge apparatus left idle on the municipality premises as a hideout and rag pickers use it for storing their wares.
It produced as much as 40 tonnes of manure daily in 1990. After the political change of 1990, locals started to raise their voices against the plant, saying it spread a foul smell in the locality. The project stopped operating the plant and ultimately it phased out without proper handover.
"Everything was okay until the movement of 1990. After that, people made an issue out of the plant for their political gains," said Bishombhar Lal Pradhan, under secretary for solid waste management, Ministry of Local Development (MLD).
Pradhan was associated with the project in those days.
During those days, the manure produced by the plant was very popular among the local farmers as well as those from Lalitpur, Thimi and Bhaktapur. Pradhan said that demand for manure was so high that the traditional farmers had to queue for their manure.
However, producing manure for the sake of garbage management was not as practical as it sounds. Sanjeev Bajracharya, managing director of Social, Environment and Engineering Concern Pvt Ltd, said that though it helped quite a lot to keep the city clean, it was not economically feasible.
"You can repair the plant and run it again now. But still, composting the garbage and making money out of it is not a lucrative idea. For the production cost of one tonne of manure was around Rs 1,000 but we had to sell it at Rs 250 per tonne," he said. Bajracharya was one among those who played key role in establishing the plant in Kathmandu.
But, the KMC officers say that the plant is completely useless. Padma Sunder Joshi, the co-director of Kathmandu Valley Mapping Programme said, "It should be dismantled and sold in pieces.
Still, MLD’s Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre (SWMRMC) is taking steps to make the machine functional again. According to Devi Nath Subedi, the general manager of SWMRC, the MLD is working on a plan to use the abandoned plant.
"We have recently examined the plant. It has only rusted and one screening part is missing. We have not yet examined the maintenance cost but still, we are committed to repair it soon," he said.
[ Kathmandu Friday December 15, 2000 Mangshir 30, 2057.]
KATHMANDU, Dec 14 - The Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Keshav Sthapit never forgets to demand 200-ropani of land from the government whenever he addresses a programme. He wants the land to establish a composting plant in a city overburdened by 350 tonnes of garbage accumulated daily. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old composting plant with a capacity to produce 60 tonnes of manure daily is lying abandoned in the KMC office premises itself.
The Solid Waste and Sewerage Management Project imported a composting plant from an Indian company in 1984 at cost of Rs 5.5 million. The project managed the garbage of the newly-emerging capital city for several years under the German assistance.
Nowadays, drug addicts use the huge apparatus left idle on the municipality premises as a hideout and rag pickers use it for storing their wares.
It produced as much as 40 tonnes of manure daily in 1990. After the political change of 1990, locals started to raise their voices against the plant, saying it spread a foul smell in the locality. The project stopped operating the plant and ultimately it phased out without proper handover.
"Everything was okay until the movement of 1990. After that, people made an issue out of the plant for their political gains," said Bishombhar Lal Pradhan, under secretary for solid waste management, Ministry of Local Development (MLD).
Pradhan was associated with the project in those days.
During those days, the manure produced by the plant was very popular among the local farmers as well as those from Lalitpur, Thimi and Bhaktapur. Pradhan said that demand for manure was so high that the traditional farmers had to queue for their manure.
However, producing manure for the sake of garbage management was not as practical as it sounds. Sanjeev Bajracharya, managing director of Social, Environment and Engineering Concern Pvt Ltd, said that though it helped quite a lot to keep the city clean, it was not economically feasible.
"You can repair the plant and run it again now. But still, composting the garbage and making money out of it is not a lucrative idea. For the production cost of one tonne of manure was around Rs 1,000 but we had to sell it at Rs 250 per tonne," he said. Bajracharya was one among those who played key role in establishing the plant in Kathmandu.
But, the KMC officers say that the plant is completely useless. Padma Sunder Joshi, the co-director of Kathmandu Valley Mapping Programme said, "It should be dismantled and sold in pieces.
Still, MLD’s Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre (SWMRMC) is taking steps to make the machine functional again. According to Devi Nath Subedi, the general manager of SWMRC, the MLD is working on a plan to use the abandoned plant.
"We have recently examined the plant. It has only rusted and one screening part is missing. We have not yet examined the maintenance cost but still, we are committed to repair it soon," he said.
[ Kathmandu Friday December 15, 2000 Mangshir 30, 2057.]
Friday, December 08, 2000
Private construction encroaches historic site
By Razen Manandhar
LALITPUR, Dec 6 - Despite the locals’ protest, a concrete house is being built, on war footing, encroaching a 2000 years old stupa site, directly opposite to the Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City (LSC) office, say locals.
Anil Rajbhandari, a local resident of Lalitpur ward No. 3, has already built a concrete foundation and possibly a basement, too which is just a metre away from the Ashoka Stupa.
"We protested against this construction a month ago at LMC office," said Shyam Maleku Shrestha, a 76 year-old local resident. "But we don’t know what is going on between the owner of that land and municipality. But, they are not stopping it, though this is taking place under the nose of the municipality office," he added.
According to Shrestha, the house also encroaches upon a 240-year old historic rest house (Sattal) site, which holds ritual importance during the festival of Akshaya Tritiya and Indra Jatra.
An officer at the Department of Archaeology (DoA), on condition of anonymity, said that he rejected the construction proposal when the land owner came to seek permission a week ago. But, the owner later approached another officer and had the proposal approved "under strange circumstances," he said.
He also adds,"The building owner had faced several orders to stop construction in the past, whenever he tried to build it."
He also informed that the house owner had tried to obtain similar approvals number of times in the past but each time his bid to construct a house was foiled by DoA and the municipality.
However, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya, Mayor of LSC said, the building doesn’t encroach the historical site and also has not violated the rules and standing laws. "Those who oppose may have some vested interest," he added.
Bajracharya, however, informed that LSC had not given permission to the owner for the basement construction.
Documents at LSC show that Rajbhandari got the permission in September 1999. The blue print of the building bears signatures of the mayor, executive officer, acting engineer and representative of DoA.
Acting engineer at LSC Map Approval Department Badri Tamrakar said that LMC gave permission to build the house because the builder has followed all the criteria and also had the permission from the DoA, which is vital in such a sensitive region.
Historian Hari Ram Joshi said that finding ancient objects in that area is not unusual. "Excavation in that area would bring many important facts regarding the history of the stupa. But it is a shame that the government gives permission not only to build a house but also to dig a deep basement in that area."
He also recalled that, seventh century objects were found while building Nepal Telecommunication Corporation building at Naxal and a subway crossing at Bhotahity but the government did not stop the constructions.
LALITPUR, Dec 6 - Despite the locals’ protest, a concrete house is being built, on war footing, encroaching a 2000 years old stupa site, directly opposite to the Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City (LSC) office, say locals.
Anil Rajbhandari, a local resident of Lalitpur ward No. 3, has already built a concrete foundation and possibly a basement, too which is just a metre away from the Ashoka Stupa.
"We protested against this construction a month ago at LMC office," said Shyam Maleku Shrestha, a 76 year-old local resident. "But we don’t know what is going on between the owner of that land and municipality. But, they are not stopping it, though this is taking place under the nose of the municipality office," he added.
According to Shrestha, the house also encroaches upon a 240-year old historic rest house (Sattal) site, which holds ritual importance during the festival of Akshaya Tritiya and Indra Jatra.
An officer at the Department of Archaeology (DoA), on condition of anonymity, said that he rejected the construction proposal when the land owner came to seek permission a week ago. But, the owner later approached another officer and had the proposal approved "under strange circumstances," he said.
He also adds,"The building owner had faced several orders to stop construction in the past, whenever he tried to build it."
He also informed that the house owner had tried to obtain similar approvals number of times in the past but each time his bid to construct a house was foiled by DoA and the municipality.
However, Buddhi Raj Bajracharya, Mayor of LSC said, the building doesn’t encroach the historical site and also has not violated the rules and standing laws. "Those who oppose may have some vested interest," he added.
Bajracharya, however, informed that LSC had not given permission to the owner for the basement construction.
Documents at LSC show that Rajbhandari got the permission in September 1999. The blue print of the building bears signatures of the mayor, executive officer, acting engineer and representative of DoA.
Acting engineer at LSC Map Approval Department Badri Tamrakar said that LMC gave permission to build the house because the builder has followed all the criteria and also had the permission from the DoA, which is vital in such a sensitive region.
Historian Hari Ram Joshi said that finding ancient objects in that area is not unusual. "Excavation in that area would bring many important facts regarding the history of the stupa. But it is a shame that the government gives permission not only to build a house but also to dig a deep basement in that area."
He also recalled that, seventh century objects were found while building Nepal Telecommunication Corporation building at Naxal and a subway crossing at Bhotahity but the government did not stop the constructions.
Friday, November 24, 2000
KMC launches Household Waste Collection Programme
By Razen Manandhar
KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - Kathmandu Metropolitan city (KMC) decided today to charge fee for its service of collecting garbage from approximately 130,000 houses and other commercial firms, in a bid to gather local participation in solving garbage disposal problem.
In a public notice issued Thursday, KMC Executive Officer Hari Prasad Rimal stated that those who overlook the decision would be subjected to pay a fine of up to Rs 15,000.
He said that this decision to operate the Household Waste Collection Programme was only an attempt to seek people’s cooperation in managing the pile of garbage in the metropolis. "Charging for the garbage would at least compel city-dwellers to reduce the amount of garbage and would also encourage them to reuse the waste as much as possible," he added.
"It will take time for the people to adjust to the habit but we will not let anybody litter the streets as before. Collecting the local’s names will continue for one or two weeks. The locals will pay after one month’s service," said Shanta Ram Pokharel, the chief of KMC’s Environment Department.
In the first phase, seven roads in the capital have been chosen for the project. The residents of Teku-Kalanki Road, Kalimati-Balku Road, Tripureshoar-Minbhawan-Tilganga Road, Maitighar-Putali Sadak-Kings Way, Singh Darbar-Kings Way, Sinamangal-Bag Bazar Road and Tripureshwor-Thapathali Road will not be allowed to throw garbage in the streets from Thursday onwards.
In these areas, containers will move around about between 6.30 to 9.00 a.m. and the locals must deposit their daily bulk of garbage in the vehicles. For this, they will have to pay from Rs 75 to Rs 20,000 monthly according to the nature of the institutes.
"An average family which produces around 10 litres of garbage daily will pay Rs 75 monthly. Whereas a five-star hotel producing 1500 litres of garbage daily should not dissaprove of paying Rs 20,000 monthly for managing its huge bulk of garbage," said Pokhrel.
However, KMC will not take responsibility for collecting hazardous, chemical, infectious and expired pharmaceutical wastes from hospitals etc unless the wastes is separated categorically.
Pokhrel said, "Although KMC was doing its best to manage the garbage, it apparently has failed in the past because the locals litter the streets when we finish collecting it."
He added,"Some so-called NGOs also create additional problems by collecting garbage from the courtyards and dumping it in the main streets. They collect money for littering the city."
Now such NGOs will have to obtain KMC’s permission to continue wih this practice.
A team of city policemen will accompany the KMC staff while visiting the locals door to door for "subscription" fees.
Deputy superintendent of city police Bishnu Singh Basnet said the a team have been appointed for enforcement of this new project. "We will fine the locals immediately if they are found dumping garbage at wrong time. Our jawans in point-duty and mobiles will inform us of such misconduct."
KMC spends around Rs 170 million annually to manage 350 tonnes of garbage Kathmandu produces daily.
[Kathmandu Friday November 24, 2000 Mangshir 09, 2057.]
KATHMANDU, Nov 23 - Kathmandu Metropolitan city (KMC) decided today to charge fee for its service of collecting garbage from approximately 130,000 houses and other commercial firms, in a bid to gather local participation in solving garbage disposal problem.
In a public notice issued Thursday, KMC Executive Officer Hari Prasad Rimal stated that those who overlook the decision would be subjected to pay a fine of up to Rs 15,000.
He said that this decision to operate the Household Waste Collection Programme was only an attempt to seek people’s cooperation in managing the pile of garbage in the metropolis. "Charging for the garbage would at least compel city-dwellers to reduce the amount of garbage and would also encourage them to reuse the waste as much as possible," he added.
"It will take time for the people to adjust to the habit but we will not let anybody litter the streets as before. Collecting the local’s names will continue for one or two weeks. The locals will pay after one month’s service," said Shanta Ram Pokharel, the chief of KMC’s Environment Department.
In the first phase, seven roads in the capital have been chosen for the project. The residents of Teku-Kalanki Road, Kalimati-Balku Road, Tripureshoar-Minbhawan-Tilganga Road, Maitighar-Putali Sadak-Kings Way, Singh Darbar-Kings Way, Sinamangal-Bag Bazar Road and Tripureshwor-Thapathali Road will not be allowed to throw garbage in the streets from Thursday onwards.
In these areas, containers will move around about between 6.30 to 9.00 a.m. and the locals must deposit their daily bulk of garbage in the vehicles. For this, they will have to pay from Rs 75 to Rs 20,000 monthly according to the nature of the institutes.
"An average family which produces around 10 litres of garbage daily will pay Rs 75 monthly. Whereas a five-star hotel producing 1500 litres of garbage daily should not dissaprove of paying Rs 20,000 monthly for managing its huge bulk of garbage," said Pokhrel.
However, KMC will not take responsibility for collecting hazardous, chemical, infectious and expired pharmaceutical wastes from hospitals etc unless the wastes is separated categorically.
Pokhrel said, "Although KMC was doing its best to manage the garbage, it apparently has failed in the past because the locals litter the streets when we finish collecting it."
He added,"Some so-called NGOs also create additional problems by collecting garbage from the courtyards and dumping it in the main streets. They collect money for littering the city."
Now such NGOs will have to obtain KMC’s permission to continue wih this practice.
A team of city policemen will accompany the KMC staff while visiting the locals door to door for "subscription" fees.
Deputy superintendent of city police Bishnu Singh Basnet said the a team have been appointed for enforcement of this new project. "We will fine the locals immediately if they are found dumping garbage at wrong time. Our jawans in point-duty and mobiles will inform us of such misconduct."
KMC spends around Rs 170 million annually to manage 350 tonnes of garbage Kathmandu produces daily.
[Kathmandu Friday November 24, 2000 Mangshir 09, 2057.]
Monday, November 13, 2000
Cultural city of Bhaktapur could face garbage problem
By Razen Manandhar
BHAKTAPUR, Nov 12 - The cultural city of Bhaktapur, one of the most appealing tourist destination of Nepal, could develop a garbage crisis soon if immediate steps are not taken, the locals said.
"Along with urbanisation and the growing tourism industry, use of plastic and other non-biodegradable objects are on the rise. But the local authority has not been working at the necessary pace to keep the possible hazard at bay before it gets out of hand," said a local shop-keeper Kaushal Ratna Bajracharya.
Similarly, historian Dr Purushottam Lochan Shreshta said that the municipality is showing more concern for cleaning tourist areas but the other areas of the city are neglected. "The entrance gates like Sallaghari, Mangal Tirtha and Hanuman Ghat have been turned into dumping sites."
The small yet unique city, just 12 kms east of Kathmandu, is dominated by local farmers. The residents traditionally compost the domestic waste in their backyards so the problem was not apparent earlier. But in recent years, the tendency to use plastic has become a threat to Bhaktapur’s small-scale solid waste management system.
Dr Shrestha said that before the problem escalates, the municipality must provide a permanent dumping site and keep the city free of the garbage heaps.
Bhaktapur city with a population of 70,000 produces around 18 tonnes of garbage daily and dumps it at Bhelukhel of Ward No 11.
An estimated 10 ropanies of land has been used for collecting the garbage from all 17 wards, sorting out the recyclable materials and composting it too. The composting plant does produce some one tonne of compost manure daily which is sold out to local farmers in the planting season but during other seasons the manure remains unsold.
Bhaktapur Municipality (BM) Sanitation In-charge, Dilip Kumar Suwal, said collecting the garbage has been going on but the garbage is not completely managed.
He has perceived the possibility of a hazard. "I don’t say the problem has started yet but the possibility cannot be overlooked," he said.
Bhaktapur Mayor Prem Suwal, said that the municipality is fully committed to control the spreading menace of garbage in the tourist city. The municipality allocated Rs 3 million to acquire a piece of land for a big-scale composting plant, but since the budget is not sufficient, he expects the government assistance.
"The problem of a dumping site must be solved soon. We are doing our best from our side. We have asked the government to assist the municipality in managing the garbage. It depends when we will get a hopeful reply."
[Kathmandu Sunday November 13, 2000 Kartik 28, 2057.]
BHAKTAPUR, Nov 12 - The cultural city of Bhaktapur, one of the most appealing tourist destination of Nepal, could develop a garbage crisis soon if immediate steps are not taken, the locals said.
"Along with urbanisation and the growing tourism industry, use of plastic and other non-biodegradable objects are on the rise. But the local authority has not been working at the necessary pace to keep the possible hazard at bay before it gets out of hand," said a local shop-keeper Kaushal Ratna Bajracharya.
Similarly, historian Dr Purushottam Lochan Shreshta said that the municipality is showing more concern for cleaning tourist areas but the other areas of the city are neglected. "The entrance gates like Sallaghari, Mangal Tirtha and Hanuman Ghat have been turned into dumping sites."
The small yet unique city, just 12 kms east of Kathmandu, is dominated by local farmers. The residents traditionally compost the domestic waste in their backyards so the problem was not apparent earlier. But in recent years, the tendency to use plastic has become a threat to Bhaktapur’s small-scale solid waste management system.
Dr Shrestha said that before the problem escalates, the municipality must provide a permanent dumping site and keep the city free of the garbage heaps.
Bhaktapur city with a population of 70,000 produces around 18 tonnes of garbage daily and dumps it at Bhelukhel of Ward No 11.
An estimated 10 ropanies of land has been used for collecting the garbage from all 17 wards, sorting out the recyclable materials and composting it too. The composting plant does produce some one tonne of compost manure daily which is sold out to local farmers in the planting season but during other seasons the manure remains unsold.
Bhaktapur Municipality (BM) Sanitation In-charge, Dilip Kumar Suwal, said collecting the garbage has been going on but the garbage is not completely managed.
He has perceived the possibility of a hazard. "I don’t say the problem has started yet but the possibility cannot be overlooked," he said.
Bhaktapur Mayor Prem Suwal, said that the municipality is fully committed to control the spreading menace of garbage in the tourist city. The municipality allocated Rs 3 million to acquire a piece of land for a big-scale composting plant, but since the budget is not sufficient, he expects the government assistance.
"The problem of a dumping site must be solved soon. We are doing our best from our side. We have asked the government to assist the municipality in managing the garbage. It depends when we will get a hopeful reply."
[Kathmandu Sunday November 13, 2000 Kartik 28, 2057.]
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