Kathmandu:

One will not believe if told the Kathmandu Valley, which is 1,334 meters above sea level, is sinking. However, it is true. The Valley is sinking every year and one of the major reasons being cited is the huge amounts of soil being dug up for the many brick kilns.

The sight of buildings being constructed after every few steps has become a common sight in the here. But perhaps very few of us know how the bricks (from which we make our houses) are made and the effect of such brick-making kilns.

It is a known fact that the brick kilns contribute heavily to the pollution of the Valley air. The demand for bricks in the past year was 1.2 billion pieces, that too in the Valley alone. And the demand is increasing by the day.

Even if we do our simple maths, around 1,680,000 cubic meter of clay is needed to make that vast a number of bricks. To obtain this amount of clay, pits equivalent to 740 national-size swimming pools need to be excavated, or trenches of 1 cubic meter be dug out across the breadth of Nepal, not once but eight times simultaneously. And the estimate may jump from eight to 12 times as the demand for bricks in the Valley is increasing by 11 per cent annually.

With its topography, Kathmandu Valley displays a kind of ‘bowl’ effect. Bowl like topography restricts wind movement which prevents pollutants from escaping. This is particularly bad during the winter when thermal invasion helps to keep the pollutants within the Valley.

The brick kilns are operated in the winter season but with the deepening of the Valley’s ‘bowl’ due to mining of soil, and furthermore, in the absence of winter rain like this year, the environment situation is highly alarming.

If there is no winter rain in the coming years too, air pollution in the Valley can lead to many air born diseases and the aftermath might be an epidemic.

What are the possible steps to be taken to check this ‘sinking’ effect. Relocation of the brick

kilns could be the immediate thought. However, it will not be a sustainable way out as it can bring other problems.

For example, if brick kilns are relocated out of the Valley, around 1,600 trucks would enter the Valley everyday to meet the demand. And one can only imagine the traffic problems. At present the annual road maintenance cost has already exceeded Rs 1 billion. And when this happens, could we afford the bricks then? The price of bricks for 1,000 pieces at present fluctuates between Rs 2,700-3,200.

It is critical that we think what can be done and put our options into practice. One choice could be use of hollow bricks which will reduce soil consumption by 15 per cent slowing the ongoing excavation.

However, hollow brick technology has not been started in Nepal, but such technology has been successful and popular in countries like Vietnam.

Use of hollow bricks, cement-based building material and implementation of environment friendly brick technology are possible ways to save Kathmandu’s environment.

If we act proactively, we can stop our Valley from sinking into the pit or sinking under the black pool of emission.