Pay Heed To Laws Of Nature Or Perish

Humans are a part of the vast nature. Their relationship with nature is complex yet contradictory. People rely on natural resources for their survival. But, at the same time, they resort to excessive exploitation of natural resources for commercial gains. Such activities destroy the nature’s ecosystem. When the human-nature symbiosis is disrupted, the latter reacts in a disastrous manner, becoming merciless towards plants, animals and humans. Consequently, humans succumb to the fury of nature. So are the man-made structures that go up in flames at one stroke or collapse within seconds. The recent monsoon-induced floods and landslides that mainly hit central and eastern Nepal need to be viewed in the broader perspective because the disasters have wreaked havoc in the areas where the people had spoilt the ecology. 

The floods have washed away the people and their residences built by encroaching the rivers. Landslides have swept away the houses and buried scores of moving vehicles in the areas where the crusher industries have been operating and roads are being constructed without taking the geology of the site into account. Reckless extraction of sand, stones and gravel from the river beds has been cited as the factor that triggered heavy floods in Roshi River and Nallu-Tikabhairab areas of Godabari Municipality. 

The crusher industries dumped soil, generated from stone quarry, into the rivers, which gradually covered the river. With the incessant rains and the bloating layers of soil particles, the river’s surface come to the top, forcing the flooded water into the human settlements. This is what happened to the villages located near the Roshi River, according to the locals. In 2038 B.S., locals had witnessed a big flood in Nallu River, but it had not incurred much damage as of now. In the recent floods, the river brought alluvium and chippings, thanks to booming crusher industries that altered the landscape and worsened the environment, amplifying the damage of physical infrastructure and private houses.

Dozer-driven development 

Studies have revealed that dozer-driven development, deforestation, and unscientific land plotting, road and house constructions have brought a change to the structure of land. Local bodies have launched road construction drive using dozers but they have rarely deputed engineers in the field. Neither did they make environmental assessment and conduct the soil test. The roads are dug on the steep hills where soil is weak with no passage for water. As the stone chips piled up, continuous rains pushed them towards the foothills, causing landslips. Similar situation has been observed in the Jhyaple Khola landslide tragedy that claimed 35 lives. Nagdhunga Tunnel project and road expansion works have been underway adjacent to the disaster site. The tunnel construction works have made the land shaky. It is believed that the piles of soaked soil coming from road constructions swamped the advancing buses at night.

Natural disasters are harbingers of misfortunes for the affected people and the country as a whole but they also offer a lesson for them. The recent mayhem of floods and landslides have again given a stern warning – do not disturb natural course of rivers. The floods in the Bagmati River devastated the houses constructed by infringing upon the pristine river. This has brought the Supreme Court’s decision that prohibits any construction within 20 metres on either side of the riverbank into light. Pursuant to the apex court ruling, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) stepped up the measures to implement it. But the people, who will be displaced after the enforcement of the ruling, took exception to the KMC's move. They formed a struggle committee and asked the government to prevent the KMC from implementing the ruling. 

Upon hearing the grievances of the would-be affected residents, the government announced that it would appeal to the apex court to review the decision. The current government and protesting residents are on the same page with regard to the court’s ruling and KMC’s steps. They are of the view that demolition of houses and other structures built within the 20-metre area from the previous specified mark on either side of the rivers in Kathmandu Valley will not only displace the people but also destroy age-old cultural edifices.

Classification 

In 2008, a Cabinet meeting had also decided to restrict the construction within 20 metres on either side of the riverbank. Even before the introduction of multiparty democracy, the then government had classified the land of Kathmandu Valley into two categories – dol that are low-lying areas located near rivers and riverbanks and tar that is highland on the hill. It had introduced a rule that 90-metre areas from the bank of either side of Bagmati River should be kept open. But later the 90-metre range was reduced to 40 metres. However, this rule was flouted with haphazard urbanisation drive following the adoption of neo-liberal economy. In the absence of strong monitoring, the land near the riverbanks was encroached upon blatantly. There were efforts to remove the landless people from the banks of Bagmati River but to no avail. Such stringent measures were politicised, compelling the authorities to back out from clearing the encroached territories. 

The horrendous floods in the rivers in Kathmandu and Lalitpur has corroborated the SC ruling and KMC’s moves to prohibit any construction within the 20 metres areas from bank of rivers. The affected people have admitted that deluge did not pass into their houses but it is their buildings that came to the rivers. Now this natural disaster must serve as a wake-up call for the government, planners, environmentalists and common people to pursue sustainable development. We must learn to adapt to the law of nature. Failure to rationally co-exist with it will only invite catastrophes of scale beyond our imagination.

(The author is Deputy Executive Editor of this daily.)