In recent times, Kathmandu has been transformed by the mushrooming of high-rise apartments and commercial complexes. Government figures show that the number of apartments in Kathmandu rose more than threefold last year, at approximately 3,500 from 1,000 in 2007, as high land prices made the option of owning apartments more lucrative to prospective buyers.
The urban population has grown at the rate of 5% since the 1970s; consequently, 20% of Nepalis lives in the urban centers today. In the 1990s, the rate of urbanization in Nepal (6.6% per annum) was among the highest in the Asia Pacific Region, higher than in India (2.9%). Kathmandu has expanded rapidly, as increasing numbers migrate to the capital in search of economic opportunities.
“A decade ago, we couldn’t even imagine that the Valley would go through such rapid urbanization and population growth as it has now,” says Uttar Kumar Regmi, Chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s (KMC) Urban Development Division. According to Regmi, the Valley underwent rapid urbanization and unplanned development due to improper planning and lack of implementation of urban development programs.
Photo:Bijay Gajmer
Apartments are gaining popularity because there is an increase in nuclear families on the lookout for their own homes. Opting to invest in an apartment over building a house relieves people from the hassles of supervising the construction and worrying about utilities and security later on.
Developers, as a result, have been constructing high-rise structures of 17 to 22 stories or more. According to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Construction, there are currently more than 250 high-rise structures being built within the capital.
“It’s certain that the Valley will continue to grow in the future. The government and concerned authorities should enforce and implement an effective land-use plan to address issues of unchecked urbanization and population growth,” says Regmi, adding that it is always easy and cost-effective to address these issues now than years later when it will be too late to negate its effects.
According to the World Bank study report titled “Urban Growth and Spatial Transition: An Initial Assessment,” urban centers generate 65% of the country’s GDP at present. But urban economist at the World Bank, Elisa Muzzini who led the study, mentions that Kathmandu Valley in particular is facing serious challenges of inadequate infrastructure, haphazard planning and deteriorating environment.
Kathmandu Valley suffers from unplanned construction, and various places in the Valley, such as Koteshwor and Baneshwor that were either empty or used as residential areas a decade ago, have now been converted into commercial areas.
With rapid urbanization, unplanned settlement and development, the capital is suffocating in air and water pollution, traffic congestion and haphazard solid waste disposal which are severely degrading the environment of the Valley. Also there is the fact that the country is beset with hours of power cuts every single day and chronic fuel and water shortage.
For instance, access of households to water supply in Kathmandu has declined from 68% in 2003 to 58% in 2010 and open areas in the Kathmandu valley has fallen from 63% to 41% in the last two decades.
There is also the nerve-wrecking fact of Kathmandu being prone to earthquakes to be taken into consideration. One cannot even begin to fathom the loss of lives besides the damage to the city if the current trend continues, and if the issue of urban planning of Kathmandu isn’t addressed.
“If heterogeneous use of land by haphazard urban development goes unchecked, Kathmandu will soon become an unplanned congested city, and it’ll be immensely difficult to manage it then,” says Regmi.
Bhai Kaji Tiwari, Chief Urban Planner of Kathmandu Valley, admits that the number of proposals for new high-rise buildings and apartment complexes just keeps on increasing, as going vertical seems to be the only option left, now that the city is already overcrowded.
“Open areas are necessary to help ensure fresh air. When planning an urban area, priority should be given to such basic issues. We accept that there’s a lack of a mechanism to ensure that constructions comply with building codes and by-laws to maintain the social and ecological balance of particular areas,” says Tiwari.
Ram Prasad Bhandari, advocate and planning official who was involved with Subhakamana Housing Pvt. Ltd, says that the popularity of apartment complexes are on the rise because of the additional facilities it provides.
“At a time when the Valley is reeling under dire water and electricity shortage, availability of 24-hour electricity and water supply is enticing,” says Bhandari, adding that added expenses, however, can be backbreaking in the long run and it is not a permanent long-term solution.
The rapid urbanization of the Valley is appalling, to say the least. The government can definitely not stop people from coming to Kathmandu but what it can do is provide alternatives. If the facilities and opportunities provided in the capital could be apportioned to other cities as well, then half the problem could be solved; but that solution seems too farfetched to implement at the moment.
Till now, the government has done little to manage the expansion of the city but has finally decided to sit up and take notice and seems to be making plans to tackle this grave issue. Authorities have started working to improve the urban status of the Valley. In the National Land Use Policy 2012, the government has started attempts to categorize land as industrial, residential, commercial, and agricultural.
The Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee (KVTDC) has come up with a long-term development concept that ensures planned development of the city by enforcing separate planning standards. The Department of Roads is also working to implement a sustainable urban transport project which will focus on providing electric bus lanes along various routes on the Ring Road to minimize traffic congestion.
Another recent positive development to tackle the issue has come from KMC itself. The Cabinet has passed a decision to start monitoring the construction of high-rise buildings as well as the already established structures.
“We’re going to make a random selection from the current buildings and check whether or not they have followed the building codes and bylaws. If they haven’t followed, we’ll take the required measures. From charging heavy fines to demolishing the structures, we’ll do what it takes,” says Regmi.
Where does this head to and whether the efforts will positively tackle the alarming issue of urbanization remains to be seen. As for now, the unrestrained urban development is imposing a threat that Kathmandu is definitely not ready for. With an energy crisis so severe that power cuts are bound to increase, fuel shortage that have people queuing up in line for hours for a meager amount, and water supply that is barely usable, how the Valley will sustain these high-rise buildings and commercial complexes is a conundrum.
Malls add to Valley’s urbanization woes
Shopping malls have been a recent and popular addition to the urbanization of the Kathmandu Valley. The huge infrastructures cater largely to the Valley’s denizens’ needs for shopping, entertainment, and places for time out. But these high-rise buildings that attract consumers with its facilities, such as escalators, lifts and multiplexes, are not constructed according to commercial building codes, so say government officials.
“All the shopping malls have been constructed according to commercial and residential building codes even though they are solely used for commercial purposes,” says Bhai Kaji Tiwari, Chief Urban Planner of Kathmandu Valley.
According to him, commercial buildings such as malls can increase the criteria regarding ground coverage from 40-50% to 70%. Also, commercial buildings require more open spaces than residential ones, which are completely negated by the current structure of shopping malls, he says.
Photo:Bijaya Gajmer
Tanka Shrestha, designing supervisor of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, says that they have indeed followed commercial and residential codes. “We have designed enough parking space and floor area ratio as required by the regulations,” he says.
On the other hand, Suraj Poudel, chief engineer of Civil Mall at Sundhara, is unaware of what code has the building followed.
“Ours is a fully commercial building, so we must’ve followed commercial building codes,” assumes Nishant Shrestha, head of marketing and communications at Civil Mall.
Uttar Kumar Regmi, Chief of KMC Urban Development Division, says that buildings constructed in this way are also evading taxes, which are high for commercial buildings.
Apart from the building code issue, these malls also require excessive energy resources. Though energy crisis is hitting hard on the businesses of these shopping malls, with lights turned on throughout the day, air conditioning, escalators, lifts and multiplexes operating, these malls certainly consume excess energy resources.
“We have two backup generators in each store to run the facilities during power cut hours,” says Panu Poudel, head of operations at Bhatbhateni. He says that it requires 40 liters of diesel per hour to keep the supermarket running when they are required to use the backup generator.
Civil Mall, on the other hand, requires 75 liters of diesel per hour to run its facilities during power cuts.
“We ask the shopkeepers to keep the lights and other facilities to the minimum when we’re using the backup. We also cut down on air conditioning except inside cinema halls,” says Niraj Manandhar, operations head at Civil Mall.
“Fuel consumption by the commercial buildings is very high. People complain about lack of fuel for basic commutation but much of it is consumed by facilities in these commercial buildings,” says Regmi.
Government officials, though, point out the flaws of these commercial buildings and they have no solutions to these predicaments. Loopholes in the government system that allow construction of buildings wide off their mark should be addressed before the capital falls more into the trap of haphazard urbanization.
The capital needs more planning
Bhai Kaji Tiwari, Chief Urban Planner of Kathmandu Valley, has been involved with many development projects since he started his career in 1988. One of his initial planning is the Manthali Ring Road at Rammechhap District in 2001. Then, in Kathmandu, he completed the planning of Dallu Awash Chhetra and Kirtipur in 2003. Then in 2004, he was the coordinator for the Bagmati corridor road extension.
The Week talked to Tiwari about the current urbanization of the capital and the issue of the urban sustainability during the state of energy crisis.
Excerpts:
What are the criteria for the rapidly growing high-rise buildings in the capital?
Housing companies need to apply for their planning permit before they start construction. Companies should follow certain criteria, such as minimum 50% ground coverage, floor area ratio maintaining setback of at least six meters at the entrance, and four meters on the other three sides, and 20% greenery to build apartments. The more the companies increase floor area ratio, the building can also be higher in the same ratio.
In Kathmandu Valley, we follow the National Building Code and the building codes devised by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). According to the National Building Code, construction of high-rise apartments at world heritage sites and old settlements aren’t allowed but it has no specific mention of new developing residential areas. Due to lack of specific laws and codes, there are many cases where residential areas are gravely affected by the high-rise apartments.
With the increasing number of apartments and energy crisis hitting the country, do you think the capital can sustain in this state?
According to international standards, any buildings above five floors are required to install lifts inside them. Many such provisions are, however, not carried out properly in the capital.
To build apartments, housing companies have to comply with a set of criteria. And even due to overpriced apartments, the problem in apartments is not as severe as in many residential houses in Kathmandu. If we look at the current trend, there’s one family living in one room in a five- to six-storey house with no basic facilities or open spaces to accommodate such number of people in a building.
In addition, people have established schools, colleges, nursing homes and hospitals in the buildings that have no permit to set up such organizations. There are various institutions and finance companies crammed in a single building built for residential purposes.
Photo: Chandra Shekhar Karki
Huge shopping malls are also on the rise. What are your views on such development in terms of building codes and energy consumption?
All the malls in Kathmandu haven’t followed the commercial building code. They are permitted to construct malls according to commercial and residential building code, which cuts down the criteria regarding ground coverage and open-space setback. Such loopholes are also possible due to irregularities within the concerned authority divisions.
We had even published a notice regarding such irregularities, and to amend such licenses according to the types and usage of the buildings. But nothing much could be done after that. The shopping malls are definitely consuming a large amount of energy resources in addition to negligence in following building codes.
What do you think should be the government’s potential stride in organized urbanization?
The city can be organized if all government agencies come together to tackle the problem. If concerned authorities should just look after their respective areas, these kinds of problems can be sorted out. For an instance, if the Education Ministry regulates the building types of the schools and colleges when they apply for licenses or renewal of the licenses, people will be forced to choose building that are made to serve such purposes. Similarly, the Health Ministry can regulate hospitals, polyclinics and nursing homes in similar ways.
Regarding high-rise apartments, we’re bringing strict laws that will enforce their construction as per the building code. Also, we’re planning to bring regulations that encourage such apartments to use alternative energies.
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