1 day Ago By Jiba Raj Pokharel
The monsoon has been preceded by incredible environmental ups and downs over the last fortnight in the country. The pollution surged so high that Kathmandu earned the ironic distinction of being the most polluted city in the world with the Air quality Index mounting to an all-time high of 348 on April 10. It thus entered into a hazardous zone after it recorded more than 300.
Luckily, the heavens opened up creating immediate relief. Barely had a week passed that the country began to heat up, exceeding 40 degrees Celsius especially in the tarai. The pre-monsoon rain has brought temporary relief, but again it is like a double-edged sword being marked by hot air, popularly known as loo, as well as hail stones which can damage crops.
It can trigger domestic as well as forest fires that create a breeding ground for pollution. The high-speed wind can uproot the trees and pull out the roof coverings of buildings. The pre-monsoon and the monsoon can be portrayed as both a boon and a bane.
A boon because they provide the much-needed relief. For instance, the pre-monsoon brought down the pollution as well as unbearable temperature to a comfortable level. But again, it also created inconvenience in the form of hot air, high wind and the like.
Similarly, the monsoon provides the water necessary for planting rice, but it also triggers floods and landslides. The latter is more likely this year also with the likelihood of more than average rain like last year. What can be done in such a circumstance? We generally think that these problems can be addressed only by modern methods.
But given that such events have been occurring since time immemorial, indigenous techniques can also be very effective. Our ancestors have developed some methods which should not be rashly discarded or dismissed. Instead, such practices should be subject to necessary analysis, and if found to be scientific, these should be used for contemporary use.
An example is landslide prevention technology. A bhal katne and chapari purne technology was used in the past in Nepal. The former is known as drainage and the latter as crack-filling technique in contemporary literature.
The drainage is used to divert the descending rain down the slope to the gullies on either side of a dug canal. The crack-filling technique ensures that there is no water leakage below the surface of the earth which otherwise creates pore pressure, leading to the occurrence of landslides. This is done by digging a 6-inch wide and equally deep pit on either side of the crack.
It is filled with fine soil dug from the sides, and it is covered with green turf. It prevents the rainwater from entering the ground surface below. Both these aspects have been highlighted in a journal article entitled 'Failure mechanism of landslide.
..' by Huang et al (2015).
Thus, these techniques used by our forefathers were scientific. This technique was implemented in Siranchok Rural municipality of Gorkha district where the sloping land below a settlement was vulnerable to landslides. The area which was expected to be affected by landslides remained in its original form without any problem.
The old practice of constructing ponds, as one sees in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts in the valley and in Dhanusha outside, also prevents many disasters. Chanakya, in particular, had recommended establishing such water bodies in all the settlements. It reduces flood and landslide risks as it prevents rainwater from descending at great speed as it is collected in the ponds.
Wild cattle also do not enter settlements when drinking water is found in their own habitat. The ponds reduce wildfire incidents as they lower the temperature and increase humidity. Lightning also falls on the sparsely-populated colder highlands, claiming lesser lives rather than in the warmer midlands or hotter lowlands.
In this context, some 101 ponds in Mahottari and another 70 in Khotang district have already been constructed by this columnist for this purpose with the support of Rotary Club of Thamel and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology. Unfortunately, the local government has not looked after them, with the result that these are now covered by flowing sediments, which if collected could be used as fertiliser that is so sparse in the country. The hot temperature also can be significantly moderated through the use of an indigenous and modern heat insulation technique.
The inhabitants of Jajarkot had complained of discomfort as they had to stay in temporary shelters made of galvanized iron sheets, which became very hot during the summer and very cold during the winter. But the modification of traditional mud-plastered double bamboo lathe practiced in the tarai into a double-layer enclosing a 2-inch air gap with the support of the Community Self Reliance Centre made the interior very comfortable. It can thus be seen that the environmental irritants can be addressed successfully through the use of indigenous technology.
This was highlighted by this columnist at a meeting on 'Beginning of dialogue with the Home Minister' in Kathmandu last Sunday, chaired by the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority, Dinesh Bhatta. This programme, organised by Disaster Prevention Network in collaboration with two other agencies, the AWO as well as Aktion Deutschland Hilft and anchored by energetic and charismatic DPNet president Dr Raju Thapa amidst the presence of disaster stakeholders, ended with the Home Minister, Ramesh Lekhak, giving assurances to hold such meetings regularly in the future. This is encouraging as it paves the way for the use of scientifically proven indigenous techniques that are cost-effective as they use local materials and labour instead of over-reliance on its modern counterparts.
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