Rebuilding heritage monuments will take years

Lack of timely maintenance and repairs main reason for such huge damage to historic monuments

SUJATA AWALE
KATHMANDU

 

The devastating earthquake on April 25, severely damaged historical and cultural monuments across the country. According to the Department of Archaeology (DoA), the massive earthquake has damaged 133 monuments fully, 95 partially collpased and 513 monuments partly damaged. Kathmandu valley renowned as the city of temples has lost 95 cultural heritage while 357 monuments are partially damaged.

UNESCO recognises the three Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan as World Heritage Zones. Experts stated that lack of timely maintenance and repairs were the main reason for such huge damage to these monuments.

According to the DoA, nine historical structures were totally destroyed while 26 structures are partially damaged in Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square. Temples like Char Narayan, Hari Shankar, Taleju and the two Manimandals  of Patan Durbar Square, Vatsala Temple of Bhaktapur Durbar Square were completely destroyed among many others. While the Changu Narayan Temple has been given external support, and satals around the temple has been totally damaged. The main dome of Swayambhunath has developed  cracks while shikara style temples like Shantipur, Pratappur, Kantipur and Karmaraja Mahabihar have collapsed. Reportedly, 80 per cent of all traditional style residential buildings were fully damaged in the Swayambhunath area. Boudhanath also has cracks on the dome, while a few temples in Pashupatinath were partially damaged. A total of 155 monastries were damaged across the country.

“The earthquake has destroyed many cultural and historically significant buildings, temples and monuments. The damage in the valley, in terms of structure, is severe including all seven World Heritage Zones,” said Bhesh Narayan Dahal, Director General of DoA. Citing that the relics inside these structures are safe and kept at various museums, he said, “We plan to respond and work in three different phases for reconstruction and maintenance — immediate, mid-term and long-term. For the first phase we have already started the documentation process and will bring in experts for other aspects of the plan.” According to him, the government will initiate the rebuilding as per the Procurement Act through a bidding process.

Dahal informed that they will conduct rebuilding and safeguarding of World Heritage Monuments as per the Venice Charter’s Article 10 using traditional artefacts. “As per our analysis, restoration of heritage both partially and fully damaged would require up to Rs 10 billion and can be completed within five to seven years,” he asserted, adding that the release of the full budget should be on time.

Negligence in maintenance
There are clear indications that lack of restoration and maintenance of monuments elevated the extent of damage done by the earthquake. Stakeholders pointed out that lack of proper and timely maintenance of monuments is the reason the country lost numerous historical and cultural heritage.

“The government purely neglected structural strengthening and retrofitting of these monuments. It only focused on occasional beautification of those century old structures,” said Rohit Ranjitkar, Director of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust. Giving the example of the recently renovated and retrofitted Sundari Chowk, he said, “Not a single tile has fallen apart from Sundari Chowk on which updated techniques of retrofitting were applied. On the contrary, the Radha Krishna Temple at Swotha which was simply renovated in 1991 totally collapsed.”

He stressed the need for a detailed study of these structures and restoration with updated techniques to sustain and rebuild heritage monuments. According to him, the government should learn from the past and now work to strengthen existing monuments.

Citing that there should be close collaboration between the government, donor agencies and other organisations, Ranjitkar said, “We are overwhelmed by the response from various countries and agencies to help restore these monuments. The government should have a proper plan to cash in on this opportunity and make use of professional available help while restoring these monuments.”

There is also the possibility of shortage of required construction material such as timber, traditional styled bricks and mud with workmanship to rebuild massive structures, he said, “The government should give national priority to restoration projects and manage all tasks efficiently.”

Agreeing with him, Structural Engineer Dr Prem Nath Maskey said, “While studying monuments which were destroyed, it was clear that the construction material were past its expiration date.” Citing that construction material have their own life span, he added, “We found that the Kasthamandap, Shiva and Visnu Temple along with the Royal Palace in Hanuman Dhoka were not repaired for years and the structures were weak with rotten wooden beams and walls.” Maskey opined that it is high time the government started to initiate heritage conservation tasks using earthquake resistant techniques to strengthen structures and discuss the most appropriate approach.

Challenges for restoration
The discussion over what technique should be adopted in the reconstruction of heritage sites is ongoing. Stakeholders are finding greater challenges to deal with partially damaged monuments. They are undecided about whether to retain the remaining structure or to demolish and rebuild them. “Reconstruction of fully demolished monuments will depend on documentation, its significance and available resources. In any case, we will need to plan the entire rehabilitation over a minimum period of six years,” said Kai Weise, Coordinator, Earthquake Response for Cultural Heritage, UNESCO Kathmandu Office.

Planning ahead
Citing that the most important consideration is the establishment of a coordination system, Weise said, “The rehabilitation of these monuments as well as traditional settlements will be a gigantic task involving lots of organisations and authorities. Coordination would need to ensure that there is no duplication, required expertise is sought or trained, materials are ensured and funds are made available on time and rigorously audited.” He further added that the government will also need to establish a clear set of guidelines to ensure that all involved parties work along similar lines. According to him, the Earthquake Response Coordination Office (ERCO) has already been set up at the Department of Archaeology in close collaboration with UNESCO.

Over 80 years later
Considering the fact that reconstruction of various structures that collapsed during the 1934 earthquake was still being planned even eight decades later, the current restoration process must be considered as a long term endeavour. “An initial six year period has been planned, which will probably allow for some of the most significant monuments to be rebuilt,” Weise informed, adding that during this period all residential buildings must be reconstructed.

Stating that the local community also plays a vital role in reconstruction, he said, “Many monuments will only be restored through cooperation from the local community and how they support and see through this restoration period matters.” According to him, a clear vision on the process, approach and extent of reconstruction is required before beginning reconstruction work after the monsoons.

  http://thehimalayantimes.com/business/rebuilding-heritage-monuments-will-take-years/

Published on June 21, The Himalayan Times Perspectives

Price of construction material could witness significant hike next fiscal

The price of construction material could increase by up to 40 per cent after the ban on construction is revoked

Sujata Awale

Kathmandu

The cost of construction material is likely to increase in coming fiscal year 2015-16. The business of construction material such as bricks, sand, aggregates, cement and iron rods is facing tough time due to the government’s ban on construction till mid-July. However, it is anticipated that the price of construction material will swell up to 40 per cent after revoking the ban owing to high demand. Even the scarcity of materials is likely to hit the market.

As per the Federation of Construction Materials Business Association of Nepal (FCMBAN), consumer will face 10 to 15 per cent price hike on cement, 10 per cent on iron rods, 40 per cent growth on sand and aggregates and the price of bricks will increase arbitrarily along with 25 per cent price hike on wages of workers while conducting construction the next fiscal. If it is something to go with the announcement of the government to provide home loans to earthquake victims, the industry will face massive growth in demand by mid-July to mid-September.

While the construction industry is in stagnant state with the imposed ban, the effect is seen to the construction material business. As much as 70 per cent sales have dipped after earthquake on April 25, according to the FCMBAN. “The demand of bricks industry came to nil while the demand for other construction material such as cement, sand, aggregates and rods have confined to 30 per cent as compared to the same time last fiscal year,” said Yubak Rajbhandari, President of FCMBAN. However, he said that the market is witnessing gradual momentum in sales a week ago. According to him, earlier April to June used to be peak season for the sales of construction material.

Providing example of recent price hike on sand and aggregates, Rajbhandari said, “The price of sand per tipper was Rs 8,000 just a month ago. But with the gradual demand seen in market, the price has jumped to Rs 9,500 per tipper.” According to him, the government should plan ahead about probable demand and control mechanism on pricing for construction material. “We have sufficient capacity to fulfil demands on cement industry. However, we will face crisis on iron rods and brick industry,” he asserted, adding that there will be the chance of artificial scarcity and stipulation in price for bricks, sand and aggregates.

Brick industry faces nil in demand after the earthquake. Earlier in mid-February, due to heavy rainfall green clay worth Rs one billion were destroyed and the earthquake further dipped the production of bricks this year. As districts like Sindhuli, Ramechap, Dhading, Sindhupalchowk, Kavre and the valley are the most affected by the earthquake, the stock of bricks is confined to merely 100 million units.

“Viewing with the current trend, we feel that the stock will be more than enough for the reconstruction,” said Mahendra Bahadur Chitrakar, President of Federation of Nepal Brick Industries (FNBI). He also stated that as the government will pose revised National Building Code and By-laws, the demand for bricks will not increase by December. Assuring that there will not be scarcity of bricks in the market, he said, “If there is a high demand, we will fulfil the products by bringing in from districts like Nawalparasi, Parsa and Janakpur.” According to him, the Federation has appealed all entrepreneurs to trade in same price set prior to the quake. Earlier the price of bricks set for Rs 14,000 to Rs 15,000 per thousand units. There are altogether 800 brick kilns across the country.

As the restriction on construction industry has multiple chain effect, entrepreneurs appeal to the government to revoke the ban at the earliest. With the ban in construction, the cement industry faces 85 per cent dip in demand. “The government should work efficiently and considering the emergency should introduce new Building Code and revoke the ban. If not it will create negative impact on whole economy,” said Dhurba Raj Thapa, President of Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal (CMAN).

Citing that the cement industry can fulfil extra 50 per cent demand, Thapa said, “We are operating only 50 per cent of installed capacity. If also the demand soars another 50 per cent, domestic production can meet the demand.”According to the CMAN, the annual consumption of cement totals 4.5 million tonnes and there are 45 cement factories operating across the country. 

Published on The Himalayan Times June 20, 2015 at THT Property Plus

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Manpower crunch hits reconstruction

Acute shortage of manpower accompanied by labour wage hike has made reconstruction even dearer

Sujata Awale

Kathmandu

Kathmandu valley is witnessing an acute shortage of labour in the construction sector following the recent earthquake and frequent aftershocks. The valley being one of the quake affected areas, labours have not returned to work after fleeing the capital. The majority of skilled and general workers in the valley are Indian nationals from Bihar, Kolkata and Orissa while Nepali workers are mostly from quake affected districts like Ramechap, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading and Nuwakot.

“Although this is the peak season for accomplishing road construction and other development works, we could not conduct it properly due to the lack of manpower,” said Sarad Kumar Gauchan, President of Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal (FCAN). He further said, “Frightened by the devastating quake on frequent aftershocks, the Indian workers have not returned to work in the valley yet.” Citing that they are collecting data on the loss incurred by the sector, he said, “Within a couple of weeks we will publish the data on financial and work loss due to the earthquake.” Gauchan stated, "With the onset of monsoon, we will have to face a tough time completing development work intended for this fiscal-end." According to him, constructions at hundreds of sites in the valley have been affected by the short supply of labour.
While there is already an acute shortage of manpower in the construction sector, the hike in wages of labour has made reconstruction even dearer. “With high demand and low supply, the labour cost has also escalated by almost 100 per cent,” informed Anil Maharjan, Managing Director of Vision Housing and Real Estate Pvt Ltd. According to him, general workers are now demanding Rs 1,000 per day from Rs 600 and skilled workers charge Rs 1,500 per day from Rs 1,000. Informing that most of the Nepali workers are from earthquake affected districts, he said, "Nepali workers have not been able to resume the works due to their family responsibilities while Indians are out of contact."

While the valley needs a huge workforce for demolishing and re-construction, the existing labour crunch will invite more problems in days to come. “Due to lack of general workers, city dwellers are compelled to pay as much as available workers demand. The government should immediately sketch out a policy to retain workers who migrated to gulf and third world countries,” said Maharjan. With the increased labour cost, demolishing a four-storey building costs up to Rs 900,000; a two and a half storey building costs Rs 500,000 and demolishing a rooftop tank costs Rs 25,000. He opined that the government should crack down to resolve the unhealthy practice.

Another contractor Pushkar Balami said, “Although we have less work in recent times, but still we are running out of workers." Citing that the government has imposed ban on construction of new houses, he said, "We don't have much problem for the time being but if the situation continues we will have to face a tough time later.” According to him, majority of his workers hails from Sindhuli and Nuwakot.

“As the construction works have not started yet, it would be baseless to state there is a shortage of workforce,” said Narenath Luitel, President of Central Union of Painters, Plumbers, Electro and Construction Workers-Nepal (CUPPEC). He added, “Since the government has banned all new construction works for the time being, we are focused in relief and resettlement work in affected districts.” Blaming the government for not having proper plan for managing workers, Luitel said, “While there was not much work for workers, the government could have conducted trainings on masonry for seismic resistant technology, which would have been fruitful.”
"Once the government revokes construction, the demand for skilled, semi skilled and general workers will be huge and the government will not have any alternative than to import workers," he said. According to him, the valley used to have 250,000 workers before the earthquake including both Nepalis and Indians. The government has set Rs 360 as daily wage for general workers, Rs 500 for semi-skilled and Rs 1,000 for skilled manpower.

Published  on June 6, 2015, The Himalayan Times

Price of neglect

No planning and research was done to identify and classify areas based on geographical characteristics, land capacity and soil quality

Sujata Awale

Kathmandu

The temblor on April 25 that hit the country left a lot of destruction. It destroyed many residential buildings, apartments, government offices, industrial enterprises, hospitals, schools, et cetera in the country. Few areas in the valley like Gongabu, Nayabazaar, Kalanki, Ramkot, Sitapaila, Sankhu were severely damaged due to the earthquake and frequent aftershocks. Experts said that most of these structures were constructed defying National Building Code (NBC) and building by-laws in the valley which made them risky and the earthquake took its toll. Haphazard and unplanned urbanisation, non engineering structures defying building codes, inadequate research, lack of dispatching information and lack of adaptation of seismic resistance techniques are reasons why the valley faced much deadly destruction.

Weak enforcement

Research shows that the Kathmandu valley is a seismic prone zone. However, this fact has been taken too lightly by the government and concerned stakeholders. “Despite having building codes for all purposed building, the government as well as public displayed indifference and did not bother to strictly enforce and implement the laws,” said Senior Structural Engineer Dr Rajan Suwal. Citing that people constructed buildings as per their wish, he said, “People transferred building purposes — residential to corporate, hospitals, schools, added floors on weak foundation, built non-engineering structures made the city more vulnerable to disaster.”

 
Citing that there was no monitoring mechanism, Suwal said, “Structural analysis was not made compulsory and people were not aware about the importance of engineering structures.” He said that everyone should now learn from the past mistakes and now should not compromise on design, soil testing, foundation design, quality of construction materials and adopting seismic resistant techniques on structures.

Lack of planning and research

No planning and no research was done to identify and classify sectors based on geographical characteristics, land capacity and soil quality. Identifying and zoning of land for housing and urbanising purposes was also left out. “The government randomly declared village development committees as municipalities without any plans and policies being unaware about the possibility of haphazard urbanisation in those areas,” blamed Suwal.

In this regard, Engineering Geologist Dr Ranjan Kumar Dahal said, “Not only were existing policies not implemented, but the government also did not prioritise the possibility of a natural disasters and its effect on development.” He is of the opinion that the city should be planned keeping in mind natural disasters such as landslides, floods, fires, earthquakes, soil erosion, et cetera.

In the Land Use Policy 2012, there is a segregation of liquefaction zones, flood and landslide prone areas. Engineering students have conducted many studies on disaster prone areas. However, the information was ignored and not adopted in the policy level. “It is matter of shame that the government has not done any research on geology till date. National Building Codes that we follow are based on Indian codes, which are not suitable for our topography,” said Dahal. He further said that city planning needs detail research about ground acceleration design, soil thickness, soil testing, ground response and microscopic survey for earthquake resistant preparedness. He stressed on the need for having a Seismic Zonation Map based on the research and a NBC that supports land use policy. “The existing building code has to be revised and it should include town planning, hydropower project development, transportation and other manuals clearly and the government should enforce it strictly,” he added. He further said that the government should not delay the introduction of the Disaster Risk Management Act to incorporate all possible disasters.
No data, no studies

While the general public awaits answers as to why a few areas were fully damaged and some are not, experts said that they didn’t have a database to complete their study. Geotechnical Earthquake Engineer, Dr Monika Maharjan said, “The government has not disclosed data of all 21 seismic stations till date, without which we could not find out why few places such as Goganbu, Nayabazar, Balaju, Sankhu, Kausaltar were so severely affected.” She said that unless the database is released, it will be hurdle for the study of liquefaction, thrusts and faults zones.

Maharjan stated that without data the soil testing and soil condition study is of no use. “The government should first proiritise release of data from the database stations to study the conditions of the ground underneath. Only after that with the help of research the government should introduce a seismic hazard map,” she opined. Elaborating about the hazard map, she said, “Seismic hazard maps will provide insights about the status of soil and other disaster prone areas. And it will categorise areas according to class and the National Building Code should determine how to design structures in such areas.”

Citing that this is high time to introduce proper guidelines and codes, Maharjan said, “Previously people along with enforcement agencies were liberal and indifferent about probable destruction by natural disasters like an earthquake. Now, we can’t afford to make the same mistake.” According to her, structures can be made anywhere but the important factor is the proper study and zonation of where and how to make such structures.

She stressed on revising the building code and strict monitoring and enforcement of existing policies while planning for a new city. “If the government does not strictly enforce this, we can’t imagine what the situation will be in case of any disaster in the future.”
Waiting for approval

The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management introduced the Land Use Policy 2012 and established National Land Use Project (NLUP) in 2002. NLUP is entitled to make national plans for land use. However, NLUP stated that they cannot enforce the plan into practice. “Land use policy is just a textual guideline which is not tangible to implement. There should be a law and an Act to provide right, responsibility and restriction for using land and to implement land use projects,” said Nab Raj Subedi, Project Chief at NLUP. Citing that they have already sent the Land Reform Act for a sixth amendment last year, he said, “The act is still pending with Cabinet. As soon as it gets a green signal, we will implement our plans,” he added. According to him, they have a land use plan for 450 VDCs alongside the Mahendra Highway.

However, no significant work till date has been done for zoning and mapping for urbanisation. In the policy, there was a study carried out classifying land for agriculture, forest, pasture, settlement, urban development, industrial area, et cetera. After the recent earthquake, the project is also working on rapid hazard assessment for 14 affected districts. “We plan to complete this study by next week and will initiate having a hazard map of the country within the end of this Nepali year 2072,” he informed.

Subedi admitted that there have been loopholes.“Now people have realised the importance of building structures as per policies and laws. They have realised that even though the government turns to a blind eye, nature can penalise heavily,” he added. He said that the government should introduce national planning to focus on natural disasters and food security while coming up with new city planning. “Here the role of the government in implementing laws is important while the public should follow them,” he added. “Lack of integrated systems and coordination with different government bodies to dispatch the right information is another challenge that we face,” he said, adding that the issue needs national priority.

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Published on The Himalayan Times, Perspectives May 31, 2015