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Ecological approach to post disaster settlement planning: a case of a traditional settlement Sankhu

Sangeeta Singh Associate Professor, Institute of Engineering

[email protected] ABSTRACT

The increasing trend of urbanization is one of the salient features of the twenty first century. With growing number of people residing in urban areas, the stresses on the ecological systems of the earth have been increasing and as a consequence climate change and its impacts are being realized on a global scale. Human settlement planning can no longer be carried out in isolation without considering the ecological consequences of the development efforts in the present context. The development approaches in the past seems to have undermined the fact that human beings are part of the ecological cycle and the planning initiatives focused mainly on physical, social and economic development. It is only recently that various planning initiatives have been propagated by planners such as eco city, sustainable city and so on to create cities in balance with nature and this paradigm shift in planning cities have gained a lot of significance. While planning ecologically sustainable cities is eminent for the survival of human species, it is equally important to plan settlements that are resilient to natural and manmade disasters especially in the disaster prone areas across the globe. In the context of Kathmandu valley it has been seen that most of the traditional settlements were planned in such a manner that the natural ecosystem is maintained to a great extent and this has been inculcated in the socio economic and cultural practices. The traditional settlements of the Valley especially Sankhu, Chapagaun, Kirtipur, Tokha, Khokana can be considered as good examples of settlements that are in balance with nature and are disaster resilient. However the recent earthquake on 25 April 2015 has impacted most of the traditional settlements in the valley. This paper focuses on the impacts of earthquake disaster in one of the traditional settlements, Sankhu of Kathmandu valley and seeks to explain the consequences. The results of the paper indicate that although the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley have been planned to be ecologically sustainable and resilient to disasters, there are significant lessons to be learnt from the recent experience. It further elaborates that an ecological approach linked with disaster resilience is the key to post disaster planning. Keywords: traditional settlements, disaster resilience, ecological approach 1. INTRODUCTION Planned and involuntary resettlement after natural disasters has been a major policy in post disaster reconstruction in developing countries over the past few decades. Studies show that resettlement can result in significant adverse impacts on the resettled population. Conversely, a well-planned and managed resettlement process can produce positive long-term development outcomes. (S. Ali Badri, 2006). Recovery is not

October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal

New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

considered complete until the domestic life has regained its pre-disaster state, and that the affected people should be the ones to determine whether domestic life has been restored. Building damage levels have a great impact on domestic life recovery times. The more serious the damage, the longer the recovery time will be. In addition, government policy intervention also has important effects on the recovery process. Post disaster recovery is a long process. Because affected families have different needs during different recovery periods, accurate and meticulous studies of recovery processes will provide important decision-making support, assisting the government in developing efficient recovery policies. (Wang, Li, Chen, & Zou, 2014). Disaster recovery operations that do not account for environmental sustainability (ES) risk exacerbating the impact of the disaster and hindering long-term recovery efforts. (Abrahams, 2014). The traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley have been among the worst affected areas in the earthquake that hit the nation on 25 April 2015. The impact of the earthquake as in the other traditional settlements of the Kathmandu valley has been felt in terms of destruction most of the buildings that were old from the medieval periods leaving a general impression that the traditional buildings are neither resilient nor are sustainable. However on a closer look this might not be true. An analysis of the philosophy behind the design of the built form and provision of infrastructure in the traditional settlements can provide meaningful insights to the issue of sustainability and disaster resilience of the traditional settlements for which Sankhu has been taken as a case study. Sankhu is one of the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley dating back to the ancient period (licchavi period) in the history of Nepal which flourished due to its strategic location in the trade route to Tibet. Located at the foothills of Manichud mountain range, 16 km towards North East of Kathmandu, this settlement has a unique identity being a typical newar settlement with a rich socio cultural environment. Sankhu, also known as Sankharapur for its famous ancient Sankha-shaped town structure, was formerly divided into 3 Village Development Committee namely Pukhulachhi, Suntol and Bajrayogini. Recently the town of Sankhu has been declared as Sankharapur Municipality merging 3 above mentioned VDCs and other neighbouring VDCs. Sankhu region is bordered by Chhaaling and Nagarkot VDCs of bhaktapur district in the south, Lapsephedi and Nanglebhare VDCs in north-east and Indrayani and Gagalphedi VDCs in west. With a total population of 2277 in the area of 14.25 sq.km. The core settlement of Sankhu has been severely affected with more than 95% of the buildings being damaged and resulting in 115 casualties (Sankhu reconstruction committee). 2. THE BUILT FORM AND OPEN SPACES

Fig: location map of Sankhu ( google maps)


Like other traditional settlements within the valley the planning is based upon vedic and cosmic principles. There are several legends and stories related to the establishment of the Sankhu that was built in the shape of a conc which is considered to be auspicious according to Hindu mythology. The land use and settlement pattern of the traditional towns reflects the fact that nature was considered as an integral part of the daily life and was treated with respect. The residential settlements were mostly located on elevated tar land and was a compact one. The domain of the built area was surrounded by the agriculture domain and further away towards the periphery was the domain of natural resources like forest. The tangible and intangible cultural heritage played a key role in maintaining the built form and in preserving the natural resources. The natural resources like forest and water bodies were thus given due reverence with the placement of temples and idols of gods which were considered to protect these elements. The location of Bajrayogini temple in the forest premises in the outskirts of Sankhu and the Madhav Narayan temple and other deities on the banks of the Sali river are examples of treating the forest and river as objects of respect. In a way the cultural traditions and belief systems acted as an unwritten doctrine towards maintaining what we consider as sustainable settlements.

The traditional towns of Kathmandu valley are “abodes of gods with various forms, characters and qualities. Wonderfully, the gods do not always live their lives inside their temples; once in a while they come out to renew their relations with humans, just as humans, as believers, visit the gods in their temples”. (Tiwari, 2002) The built form in these towns were guided by cosmic entities and gods and power places put in places and “streets laid out as if their function was to facilitate the passage of gods rather than that of man”. The settlements were thus compact as the towns grew “ through the process of in-fill, thereby keeping the ritual infrastructure static and

Fig: Bajrayogini for forest preservation Fig: Temples at Sali nadi ( River)



unchanged” and were “ walled in towns, with a clear definition of the inside ( dune in newari) and outside ( pine in newari), neither was able to transgress upon the other.” (Tiwari, 2002) In the more ancient of the indigenous towns, the ritual structure consisted of a dyoche, or house of god, in the town and pith, or aniconic power of place, outside the settlement limits in the domain of nature. (Tiwari, 2002). Such characteristics can still be seen in Sankhu which is a walled town delimited by the gates serving as the entry and exit points in the settlement.

It is interesting to see that some of these gates are still seen in Sankhu which are still being used for various purposes like Dyo Dhwakha for Lord Bajrayogini during Bajrayogini festival, Bhau Dhwakha, for welcoming the bride during marriage ceremony, Mhyaymach Dhwakha for seeing off the daughter when married, Magh Dhwakha for the entry of god Mahadev Narayan during Magh Bajrayogini festival, Si Dhwakha, for taking funeral procession to the rivers during the last right which is also known as Mahadev Dhwakha. The urban form which was inclusive of public and private open spaces formed an important element of the traditional settlements which gave it a unique identity. These open spaces usually in the form of squares, Chowks, Courtyards, Bahals, Bahils, Lachhi, khyos, dabalis are the key elements of urban settlements that define the urban fabric and which act as the focal point of social interaction, that knits the

Fig: Festival route of Bajrayogini jatra Fig: asta matrikas

Fig: Gates depicting the boundary of the settlement


communities together. The potential of the urban spaces in the contribution of sustainable urban development and also in the growth of the economy is quite significant. While parks (khyo) can foster the green environment and support the urban ecosystem, various activities like evening markets, outside seating areas for restaurants and pubs, street performances, occasional festival markets and so on not only enliven the urban spaces but contribute towards strengthening the economy as well. Both the public and private residential courtyard open spaces have been meticulously designed in the traditional settlements not only to improve the micro climate in the dense residential areas but also as spaces that are ecologically significant and which enhanced disaster resilience within the settlement. Streets have also been important open spaces where a myriad of activities happen and the fact the streets paving as well as that of the open spaces were done with open jointed bricks meant that people in those times were aware of the much needed water recharging in the urban areas. The water bodies like ponds, hitis, wells, stone spouts etc were important elements in these open spaces which contributed to water recharging as well. The open spaces also served the purpose of safe zones in case of earthquake disasters. The effective land use pattern, the compact built form with its open spaces as seen in Sankhu and other traditional settlements of the valley are the elements that are considered to be desirable in ecological cities in the modern context. Based upon these and other aspects such as the socio cultural traditions and belief systems it can be stated that the traditional settlements of Kathmandu valley have been planned for sustainability and disaster resilience. However the extent of destruction of the buildings in the present earthquake can be attributed to the fact that there was lack of proper maintenance. In fact the building technology of the traditional settlement can be considered as sustainable as well looking at it from the point of disposability and reuse of materials

Fig: open spaces in Saknhu

Fig: open spaces in Saknhu



which are of much significance. The building materials mostly used are bricks on mud mortar, with wooden doors and windows and tile roofing which are mostly natural materials that do not contribute to global warming. The buildings built in the traditional period were meant to have a certain lifetime depending upon the life period of the materials that were used and without maintenance these are bound to deteriorate. It has to be noted that disposability and perishability is also a significant aspect of sustainability and the traditional building materials unlike the materials of the contemporary times could be disposed off without much stress on nature as such. In fact due to the use of mud mortar the recycling potential of bricks were much higher.

3. WATER SENSITIVE URBAN DESIGN AND THE TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS Water has always been at the core of human civilization and settlements were historically located around water sources. With industrialization and development especially the western countries have been using the nonrenewable natural resources like water, fuel etc in an unsustainable manner. Water resources on which the modern society depends not only for daily needs but also for various other purposes does not seem to have received much priority in planning, resulting in water shortages, pollution of water bodies, flooding etc which is increasing at an alarming rate. “Conventional methods for water management fail to help the city to promote the importance of water resources. Under natural conditions, water operates in a cycle of precipitation, infiltration, surface runoff, and evaporation. However, in urban areas, this cycle is disturbed and cannot run its course. Urban water is polluted, cannot infiltrate the ground due to paved surfaces and is rapidly collected and discharged to the public draining systems leaving no time for evaporation. Finally, this negatively impacts groundwater recharge, water supplies, the qualitative and quantitative state of receiving rivers, and urban climate ” (Hoyer, Dickhaut, & Kronowitt, 2011). With the paradigm shift in the planning sustainable cities like the ecocities, green cities and so on, concerns have been raised regarding the sustainable water and waste management and water sensitive urban design and other concepts have started to gain significance. The objective of Water Sensitive Urban Design is to combine the demands of sustainable stormwater management with the demands of urban planning, and thus bringing the urban water

Fig: Blocked roads and buildings in need of demolition Fig: Internal roads blocked with debris


cycle closer to a natural one (Hoyer, Dickhaut, & Kronowitt, 2011). The Green Water Defense (GWD) has been developed as an extension of the ‘Green Growth’ concept in the water sector. GWD is an adaptive management philosophy and approach which seeks to spatially integrate natural forces and human interventions, and to balance incentive-based and supply-driven measures, with minimum footprints and externalities in sustainably providing water services and managing related climate risks. (Li, Turner, & Liping, 2012).The traditional societies especially in the East have been practicing this sustainable water management practices since the ancient times. Most of the traditional settlements in Kathmnadu have a very well managed and sustainable water supply system. The townships of the Lichchhavies located in the ridges and other high lands of the valley were away from the hill sources and at the same time the subsurface ground water table was also fairly low for the technology of that time. This led to the development of ponds with deep wells or fed by canals brought over long distances or in some cases, fed by naturally available water veins, as reservoirs and depressed pit conduits for water supply (Tiwari, 2001).

Sankhu is one of the traditional settlements in Kathmandu valley where the water system was well developed and sustainable management practices were inbuilt in the culture and traditions of the society. It is said that each and every household of Sankhu was connected to water supply canals which were fed by the network of Raj kulo (irrigation canal). The intricate network of rajkulo and ponds along with the deep wells and hitis form the water supply network of Sankhu. The ponds and wells and hitis were designed so as to recharge the aquifer in the ground which provided the source of water for the supply at lower levels. Various rituals and cultural traditions related to the ponds, wells and hitis were associated with maintaining the water quality. There were annual festivals like sithi nakha where all the water bodies were cleaned. The communal water supply points like stone water spouts, hitis etc were considered to be a sacred place which was supposed to be clean and were usually decorated with deities and idols of snakes at these areas which were worshipped. On a deeper level we can assume that the role of biodiversity preservation was well understood by the traditional societies and the role of snakes in opening the clogged water conduits was well recognized. The element

Fig: Raj kulo network of Sankhu Fig: Ponds of Sankhu



of sustainability in managing the water supply system is worth preserving and revitalizing in the modern context. 4. CONCLUSION The world commission on Environment and Development recognized how much industrialized cultures have to learn from traditional people and at the same time how vulnerable the latter are to encroachment by the former (WCED 1987). The belief and behavior pattern of the people, dictated by the native world views of the cultures have been supportive in sustainable patterns of resource use and management.

The post disaster settlement planning of the traditional settlements including Sankhu needs to focus not only on the reconstruction of the buildings and infrastructure but should be based on a wholistic approach considering the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional planning practices that are both sustainable and disaster resilient. The analysis of the traditional settlement planning of Sankhu shows that the settlements have been well planned both form the ecological sustainability and disaster resilience perspectives and that these are the basic parameters that are key to most of the planning concepts of the twenty first century like the eco city, green city etc. The philosophy behind the planning of traditional settlements can be adapted to suit the modern context so that the traditional settlements can be regenerated rather than reconstructed. REFERENCES Abrahams, D. (2014). The barriers to environmental sustainability in post-disaster settings: a case study of transitional shelter implementation in Haiti. Disasters. Hoyer, J., Dickhaut, W., & Kronowitt, L. (2011). Water Sensitive Urban Design: Principles and Inspiration for SustainableStormwater Management in theCity of the Future. Hamburg, Germany: HafenCity Universität Hamburg. Li, X., Turner, G., & Liping, J. (2012). Grow in Concert with Nature: Sustaining East Asia’s Water Resources through Green Water Defense. Washington DC: The World Bank. S. Ali Badri, A. A. (2006). Post-disaster resettlement, development and change: a case study of the 1990 Manjil earthquake in Iran. Disasters. Tiwari, S. R. (2001). The ancient settements of the Kathmandu valley. Kathmandu: Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University. Tiwari, S. R. (2002). The Brick and the Bull: An account of Handigaun, the ancient capital of Nepal. Kathmandu: Himal Books. Wang, Y., Li, J., Chen, H., & Zou, Z. (2014). The time process of post-earthquake recovery: the Yao’an earthquake in China. Disasters, 38(4). World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). (1987). Our Common Future, The Brundland Report. New York, United Nations: Oxford University Press.

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Ecological approach to post disaster settlement planning ... · Ecological approach to post disaster settlement ... Khokana can be considered as good examples of ... Ecological approach