Walking along the narrow lanes in Kathmandu is very invigorating, even today, if it is early in the morning. The serenity we lost as a trade off for the facilities we added for our good can be felt during those hours amidst the sense of spirituality the strolling devotees bring along. Relieved of the noise brought in by uncontrolled migration, early morning hours remind me of my childhood days.

Living in a clustered dwelling was an experience in itself, perhaps more secure than living in housing colonies of today. The height of the houses around the courtyard were restricted by the height of the temple in the neighbourhood which remained intact for ages. This was until the need for extra space to accommodate the amenities of the modern world and to house the expanding fragmenting family structures and the influx of immigrants looking for cheaper space in the core areas changed it.

Hungry for space

The rooms were narrower and lower in height. Nevertheless, the centrally-located courtyards would adequately ventilate the houses and the thick mud-mortared walls. Roof tiles above the layers of wood and mud would insulate the space. The courtyard used to be the most happening place, which I believe, was key to the unbroken harmony the dwellers had nutured for ages. This is perhaps what people residing in flats and condominiums out here need to learn the most, given the sense of compassion we are abandoning. It was not only due to the demand for additional space but also due to a wrongly established social belief that a cemented house with a tin roof would be superior to the traditional ones and imply prosperity and success, our ‘colonies’ started losing their faces which irreversibly ruined our creation forcing the people, who could afford, out to new addresses in search for extra space, fresh air, sunlight and adequate water.

New buildings started sprouting out in the middle of nowhere as an immediate solution to the suffocation. Neither the lack of all-weather roads nor the absence of a sense of security deterred the exodus. Even the absence of municipal water lines and sewer lines could not stop the rapid but haphazard urbanisation of the suburbs. Though life was not miserable with only a few houses to be catered for; the services meant for the core city could somehow be extended to meet the added demand. The lush green fields had such soothing ambience and openness to offer as a consolation for the facilities and the homogeneous neighbourhood the urbanites left behind.

A different city

The demand for extra space did not stop—and it was not only because of an increase in population and change in family structure. It was also due to the large number of people migrating to cities in search of a sense of security, opportunities and facilities. Owning a house of one’s own, be it on a very small plot, became the ultimate goal for most of the middle class families. With our law permitting fragmentation of land up to as small as 857 square feet plot, the farmers  who got land under ‘mohiyani haak’ for agriculture, and the locals, who inherited considerable chunks of land, saw opportunities to sell them off at higher prices to quickly buy their dreams and to create rentable spaces. The municipal authorities were either indifferent towards implementing the set bylaws or were unaware of the gravity of the problem of unplanned urbanisation—which resulted in a slum like neighbourhood with limited open space and ventilation, mixed type of land usage, open or overflowing sewer, dry waterlines and narrow roads.

With people from all walks of life and from different parts of the country converging, a lavish bungalow began having shanties around it. A supermarket shared the roadway with a carpentry shop, a barber’s shop, a blacksmith’s foundry and a bar besides which would be at least a couple of schools and a hospital. The results were quarrelsome neighbours always picking up fights and anxiety due to class differences and lack of compassion. Our neighbourhoods literally lost the harmony we nurtured for so long.

The current road widening project does little to correct the mess we have created for so long. With textbook design principles for road construction shelved and without a local elected body in place, the ongoing road revamping spree—especially of the inner roads, under the municipality and quite often dictated by a handful of influential folks without public participation—is yet to show positive results. Nonetheless, there is hope for the fortunate ones who live near the city under reconstruction. But the ones who live elsewhere are still witnessing uncontrolled urbanisation as authorities remain indifferent, possibly waiting for another widening spree. Had the village development authorities surrounding our cities started working on plans and implementing bylaws stringently, we would have had better places for our children to live in. Unfortunately, we are not learning from our mistakes. So this will perhaps necessitate one more change of address.

Stringent laws

If only the regulators had a better grip on the housing business, people would not have lost their life time savings and faith in planned housing colonies.  As there are still a few genuine developers in spite of an adverse investment environment we might still get a chance to live in a better location. The demand for organised housing  is surely not only from high income groups. If the middle and low income groups can be targeted with affordable financing schemes, there will be a greater demand for houses and developers can obtain sustainable profits. A penny earned is anyway better than a quarter lost. The state, in its part should facilitate such development and help rebuild the consumer’s lost confidence on such investments and make sure the product promised will be delivered on time.

Our search for a neighbourhood of our liking may perhaps conclude by reconstructing our suburbs and reinitiating more land pooling projects or implementing stringent bylaws in neighbouring VDCs and opting modern housing colonies. However, the sustainability of such initiatives will entirely depend upon our behaviour.

It will only be a matter of time before we start ruining them unless we revive our culture of living in harmony.

Pradhan is general manager project at Tara Management Pvt. Ltd