The provincial government should therefore consider using climate-resilient local materials, such as bamboo and laterite soil, instead of environment-unfriendly steel, cement, and the likes for residential buildings
The provincial governments are often portrayed as white elephants that a poor country like Nepal can ill afford. Some political parties like Jana Morcha have already written their obituaries, despite them being still alive, wishing to remove them from the national scene. Other parties are more kind; some of them have opined for their restructuring. But not all provincial governments are that unfeasible as can be seen by the latest plan and programme of Bagmati Province.
It has decided to construct 1,000 houses for poor people under the Chief Minister Poor Housing Programme. It has set aside a budget of Rs 20 crores for this financial year. This fact was disclosed by Prabhat Tamang, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning.
Some local governments have also done some marvelous jobs. It can be seen in the conservation of monuments such as temples, patis, dabus, and ponds, which were in a deplorable state in the past. The construction of patis as bus stops in Kathmandu is yet another glaring example. All these have certainly attracted outside tourists. The arrival of number of Indian tourists flooding the beautiful city of Pokhara is an indicator of this reality.
Bagmati Pradesh has adopted the approach of planned development since its inception. Accordingly, it had published the First Periodic Plan (2076/77-2080/81) with a slogan of cultured and happy people-oriented socialist developed province. It had set a rather ambitious goal of achieving 10.6 per cent growth, but it ended up securing only 2.5 per cent. The Second Plan (2081/82-2085/86) had targeted, firstly, to construct productive, safe, and cheap houses for poor families with necessary facilities. Secondly, it aimed to resettle earthquake and other multiple disaster-vulnerable villages. Thirdly, it decided to reflect Nepali civilization, culture, art, and style during the construction of houses in the province.
The Nepali Living Standard Survey (NLSS) of 2022/2023 has revealed some interesting facts. Some 73.7% of the poor people in Bagmati Pradesh own their own houses while 22.7% live in rental accommodation. Mud-bonded houses make up 39.3 per cent and cement-bonded 36.2%. About 6% use wood while 9% bamboo. Also, 70.7% have GI sheet roofing, 17.3% concrete, and 2.8% thatch. Almost 56% have mud floors and 41.5% cement ones. About 2% use wood planks. On average, houses have 3.4 rooms, and dwelling area is 361.3 square feet.
The annual income of the poor is about Rs 66,000 per year, according to NLSS, and they spend about 10% of their income on rent. So, the poor in Nepal can invest only about Rs 4,000 every year on housing.
In the past, when the Vishnumati road squatters were relocated to the Kirtipur Housing Project by the Kathmandu Municipality, people were charged Rs 35,000 per house. They were provided with a loan at 5 per cent interest payable after 15 years at the rate of Rs 2,000 per month. The Provincial Government should thus sponsor a part of the cost for which it has already shown the willingness by seeking to invest 20 crore rupees.
In order to make this dream come true, the government should focus on cost-effective or low-cost housing. Janata Housing has been launched by the provinces in this direction, but its efficacy is less than desired. It is also because of the use of conventional materials like cement and galvanised iron sheeting, which are costly.
For this purpose, locally available materials like bamboo and laterite soil or red mud can be used. This columnist has found that a 17% bamboo reinforced laterite soil can be as strong as brick masonry in 1:4 cement mortar. This finding has been validated by similar other tests carried out by one Mohammad Mustafa in Nigeria, which was later published in the Leonardo Journal of Sciences. It is better than Janata Housing, which uses 1:7 ratio cement mortar. Moreover, a bamboo grid structure can be used for the floors that can withstand live and dead load.
Bamboo is a climate-resilient material when compared to its modern counterparts such as cement and steel. The production of one ton of cement pumps one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, while steel is even worse as one ton of its production emits two tons of carbon dioxide. The production of one ton of bamboo in turn absorbs one ton of carbon dioxide. It is also light and earthquake-resistant. Moreover, bamboo is available in almost all the districts of Nepal barring a few in the Himalayan region.
Recently, bamboo has appeared prominently in the national scene after a Bamboo Conference was organised last year in Diktel under the leadership of its dynamic Mayor Tirtha Prasad Bhattarai. Bhattarai went for a fast unto death protest at the Maitighar quadrangle, after which the government agreed to use it to the extent possible. As a result, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction has also published a Manual for Design of Bamboo Structures. The Department has yet to prepare several other regulations so that bamboo construction could be a part of the construction industry as others like cement and steel.
The provincial government should therefore consider using climate-resilient local materials, such as bamboo and laterite soil, instead of environment-unfriendly steel, cement, and the likes for residential buildings. These materials could be used for constructing multi-floored buildings. This is one of the ways that the government can fulfil its promise of constructing 1,000 houses within a budget of Rs 20 crores.