A state will take ages to attain a dream of becoming a nation. Many of us know that “Rome was not built in a day” as its establishment dates to 753 BC. Kathmandu, in comparison, developed from a collection of villages from around 1000 AD.

To be a nation, the entity must have heritage sites and national heroes. We have many heritage sites and our Rastriya Bibhutis are our heroes. Kastamandap in Basantapur, which gave Kathmandu its name, was one heritage, said to have been built from a single tree. It has been damaged once and rebuilt. Alas it is no more!

This is the time for town planning to ensure that the damaged old parts of our towns become accessible to ambulances, fire-brigades and even bulldozers at times of disasters. The authorities should even ponder the benefits of shifting the capital to the Chitwan area

The ‘Double Whammy’ of an earthquake of 2015 which we experienced is unforgettable for many. Our heritage sites had been built patiently over the centuries by our Licchavi, Malla, Shah kings and Rana prime ministers. Many have ‘Bitten the dust’ following the recent wrath of Mother Earth. Why was this devastation caused in this part of the world where poverty reigns supreme?  Was it the result of the clash of the Indian and Tibetan plates, which raised our Himalayas from the sea bed, which now makes us tremble with fear and anxiety as the ground shakes beneath our feet?

The huge walls around our crumbling Rana, Narayanhity, Singha Durbars and the PM residence have collapsed in many places, killing about fifteen people. This is the time to widen the roads around such sites looking at the future. The trend to build a wall and rebuild it again in one or two years, as has happened at Singha Durbar and the PM’s quarter, has to be stopped.

Why can’t some of the land within such areas be developed as ‘green areas’ accessible to the public where people can congregate for pleasure or at times of national calamities.

Why can’t the unutilised site of Kathmandu Metropolitan area of Dharma Path be converted into a park with underground parking space?

Similarly the Charkhal Adda, vacant for many years and now under AFP control, can also be similarly developed. Urban centres are supposed to allot 5% of the area vacant, but the reality is that only about 1% of the land is so kept. This state of affairs resulted in the practice by past rulers to hand out vacant public lands to their chamchas as baksheesh!

I remember a friend of mine telling me once that everything, metal, wood, clay, humans, animals and insects all have their life spans. These life spans must be noted and adhered to by us when we construct structures. It was perhaps with this thought that our erstwhile monarchs, whilst building temples to our Gods and Goddesses portrayed themselves as praying to the deities. Was the humbleness of our rulers the reason why our temples stood proudly for as long as this?

The Char Burja of Bahadur Bhawan, where the Election Commission is presently located, now boasts of temples at its four corners. The Dharahara, alas now no longer standing, is said to have been modeled on a minaret. A steel magnate has offered to reconstruct it at a high cost. A public suggestion is that the stump remaining should be reinforced and left with historical pictures nearby to remind us of both 1934 and 2015. It is worth noting that after the earthquake of 1934, the town planning done resulted in the New Road area. This is the time for town planning to ensure that the damaged old parts of our towns become accessible to ambulances, fire-brigades and even bulldozers at times of disasters. The authorities should even ponder the benefits of shifting the capital to the Chitwan area.

A number of Heritage Sites on the UNESCO list have now been reduced to rubble and cannot be erected by modern methods if they are to stay on that list. As one looks at the pictures of pre 2015 Bhaktapur Square and compares it with that of pre 1990 one sees that a number of structures were demolished and not rebuilt.

Enlightened and not emotional decisions should be taken regarding the destroyed structures. Perhaps the new UNESCO supported excavations of Tilaurikot can be a replacement for a heritage site lost!

Our tourism entrepreneurs and our government have stated that stress will be given to rebuild the heritage sites. We should contemplate and decide first as to which ones we want to resurrect. As our mountains are young and fragile, and, as the ground is bogged in fertile clay it is not enough to do Bhoomi Puja but rather proper soil tests. Use of traditional materials is said to make the pagoda type temples ‘top heavy’ and liable to topple.

New methods need to be applied for the replicas of the past. Some of our more recently constructed temples already have concrete pillars. Structural designs to resist ground breaking or cleft causing earthquakes, tensile metal inner structural support and light long lasting top covering materials are the needs of the present.

Young, innovative and versatile workers have to be encouraged to build for Nepali generations of the future. Let our engineers ponder over structures able to last easily into the 22nd century.

In 2012 there were 30,276 registered NGOs of which 18,625 and 1,318 were for Community/Rural Development and Environment respectively. This post earthquake scenario is the time for all NGOs to emerge from the shadows and contribute to nation building. They should make their presence felt.