Kathmandu, August 23 Kathmandu Metropolitan City has launched ‘Bagmati Hangout’ campaign to carry out a two-week long Teku Dobhan-Kalmochan Ghat post-earthquake assessment with the help of volunteers and cultural enthusiasts. About 50 volunteers comprising architects, engineers, cultural historians and art historians have already registered for documenting and mapping tangible and intangible heritages on the banks of the Bagmati River along the Teku Dobhan-Kalmochan Ghat stretch by September 4. Dina Bangdel, director of Art History Programme at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar will be overseeing and training volunteers for mapping and documentation of cultural heritages. The volunteers will be divided into three groups of architects, engineers and cultural historians for interdisciplinary documentation. Bangdel said, “The volunteers will prepare a digital document by studying the cultural mapping, urban and ritual spaces and heritages.” She added that the groups must interact with indigenous locals for mustering genuine information on the historical, religious, traditional, social and psychological aspects in the periphery of Teku Dobhan-Kalmochan Ghat. “Interaction with locals motivates local participation in information gathering, documentation and inventories. The locals have better spiritual, social and environmental understanding of their deep-rooted culture,” Bangdel said, adding that the locals are practitioners and experts of genuine ritual, culture and tradition of their locality. Shriju Pradhan, chief of Heritage Conservation and Tourism Section at KMC, said vast treasures of cultural heritages exist along the 2km stretch of Teku Dobhan-Kalmochan Ghat. Though many of the heritage objects and monuments are in very poor condition, especially after the 2015 earthquake, the area is still an interesting place to walk, relax and learn about the vibrant cultural heritage. “The tract is home to countless Hindu and Buddhist shrines and ghats (cremation areas), some of them dating back to the 7th century. It’s necessary to revitalise the hangouts of the pilgrims, locals and tourists along the tract paved along the Bagmati riverbanks,” she said. Impact Productions is providing technical support to KMC for post-earthquake assessment of Teku Dobhan-Kalmochan Ghat. Alok Siddhi Tuladhar, co-founder and director at Impact Productions, said the participants will gain awareness, capacity building.