Development should be redefined as a disaster-resilient activity as against the present disaster-promoting one. And this should start immediately
At a time when the country was preparing for the celebration of the national festivals Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, it had to face what is perhaps the worst spate of floods and landslides in the country in general and the capital city, Kathmandu, in particular. More than 170 people have lost their lives, with the figure likely to mount after the completion of the rescue effort, which has just begun. The physical damage has been simply staggering, leading to huge social and economic losses, which will a take long to compute.
The government and the political parties have held emergency meetings with the former offering compensation for the invaluable lives lost. The Nepali Congress has donated Rs 5 million while the Unified Marxist-Leninist party has deployed its cadres in the rescue efforts, with other parties following suit. In the rescue efforts, individuals like Chaniklal Tamang outshone the government in Kathmandu although it performed relatively well in other areas.
The monsoon rains have been a blessing as well as a curse for Nepal. A blessing because it helps in the production of rice, the staple Nepali food which is consumed round the year, and a curse as it brings calamities like floods and landslides, which are, however, due to lack of proper preparedness.
In the past, disasters were addressed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in accordance with the Natural Calamity Act, 1982, which is translated into Nepali as Daiba Prakop Udhar Ain, meaning "Divine Hazard Rescue Act". It implied that natural disasters are acts of God, and, therefore, no preparation could be made as doing so would mean risking a confrontation with the Almighty. Hence, the Act provided for rescue and relief after the occurrence of a disaster. Recently, following the earthquake of 2015, the Act has been amended as the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, but the hangover of the Godly phenomenon is still lurking on the sidelines.
This is evident in the present disaster very glaringly. The government, through the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology as well as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, had informed about the likelihood of heavy rains around the country. It had cautioned the people to stay indoors and make the necessary preparation. That implied that the people living in the underlying areas were to move to the elevated areas along with their valuables. But the lack of a preparedness culture has led the country to its current depressing state of affairs.
The government is not an exception either as it had filed a petition not to amend the present provision, which requires maintaining a 20-meter distance from the river edge, to 40 meters by a Supreme Court order. However, the present floods have shown that even a 40-meter setback might not be adequate during times of heavy floods, which tend to occur at intervals of 20, 30, 50 or even 100 years.
Such deluges have a history going back to mythical times. When the people of Brindaban were hit by heavy rains, Lord Krishna evacuated them by sheltering them under the Gobardhan Mountain, which he lifted with his little finger. People took shelter on the underside of the mountain and weathered the disaster.
The Kathmandu Valley, in 1834, during the time of Bhimsen Thapa, one of the mightiest prime ministers in the country's history, was hit by double blows, one by the killer earthquake and the other by the flood in the Bagmati, which damaged lot of crops on its banks.
More recently, in 1993, about 1,336 people perished in the floods after 540 millimeters of rain fell in Tistung, causing debris to fill the Kulekhani dam. A similar situation has happened now when its gates had to be opened, creating a flood downstream in the Sisneri River. It triggered a landslide, resulting in the tragic death of four budding players who were undergoing training in the sports academy. Several such disasters have occurred in the past, but Nepal has learnt very little lessons from them. This year, the monsoon broke its own record with 624 millimeters of rain falling over Kanchanpur district.
What are the causes of this catastrophe? Of course, it is climate change. Because, it is not Nepal alone which is being hit by such disasters. Italy was swept by floods after it received a month's rain overnight, and Florida in the United States was hit by Hurricane Helene killing more than 50 people. Indian cities can be seen reeling under water. But Nepal does not have control over climate change. Nepal produces almost zero carbon which fuels climate change, with the developed countries producing it rather exponentially.
What it has control over is the scientific planning of settlements. It can even draw a lesson or two from our traditional planning. It can be seen how our ancestors centered their settlements on relatively flatter and warmer midlands, using the cold highlands for winter crops and the hotter lowlands for the summer crops. This can be seen more glaringly in the valley towns which were planned in a compact manner on elevated areas, leaving the depressed area for agriculture. The city centre was occupied by the Gods at the center, followed by the kings, courtiers, business and agriculture community, and the people of the lowest hierarchy living on the periphery encircled by a city wall. The cities were located by the side of the rivers but far enough to be affected by the monsoon flare-up.
What is the way forward then? The local governments should be empowered to relocate the vulnerable settlements located on the river banks with the provincial and federal governments working hand in glove. Development should be redefined as a disaster-resilient activity as against the present disaster-promoting one. And this should start immediately as the next monsoon is just round the corner after one year.
