How planting trees can mitigate urban flooding
On how something as simple planting more trees can help prevent flooding
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening from Kathmandu. This is Issue 193 of Kalam Weekly, the only newsletter you need to keep updated with everything happening in Nepal.
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In this newsletter:
India facilitates rescue of Nepali citizens from Iran
Dengue in 73 districts, over 1,500 infected
Government launches mobile app for migrants
Recommendations
The deep dive: How planting trees can mitigate urban flooding
India facilitates rescue of Nepali citizens from Iran
On Wednesday, seven Nepalis were evacuated from Iran to New Delhi with the assistance of the Indian government, bringing the total number of those rescued to nine. Two Nepalis had already been evacuated on Tuesday. India has dubbed the evacuation of its citizens from the warring countries of Iran and Israel ‘Operation Sindhu’ and, like always, has extended its help to neighboring countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka. As I wrote last week, the only way Nepal could rescue its citizens from Iran and Israel was with the help of India.
Early in the Israel-Iran conflict, the Nepali Embassy in Israel had opened registration for any Nepalis who wished to return to Nepal. However, with tensions now subsiding after a ceasefire allegedly brokered by US President Donald Trump, Nepalis in Israel are cautiously watching how events unfold. Unlike Iran, which faced a massive bombing campaign by Israel and the United States, Israel has been largely safe, with its Iron Dome intercepting most Iranian missiles. There are also thousands of Nepalis in Israel, compared to just 16 in Iran. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, five of the 16 are in jail for various crimes, one has refused to return, and one remains in the Iranian city of Mashhad due to a lack of exit papers.
Now, as Israel looks on at a pretty decisive victory over its arch-nemesis Iran, perhaps it is time for Nepal to pursue the issue of Bipin Joshi once again. When she first came to power, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba had spoken to Israeli officials about Joshi’s whereabouts, but it seems that she now has other things on her mind. Minister Rana Deuba has departed for Rome to attend the 44th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference. She will be travelling to Milan, Hamburg, and Berlin to attend events hosted by Nepal’s Investment Board, before returning on July 13.
Bipin Joshi, a Nepali student in Israel, was taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and has yet to be heard from. His family has been waiting in limbo for over a year now for any news of his well-being. Numerous other hostages have been released after lobbying by their respective countries, but Nepal, a country that has supported Palestine’s statehood at the UN, has been unable to bring back its one lone citizen hostage. When Rana Deuba took charge of the foreign ministry, I had written that the two biggest challenges before her were the rescue of Bipin Joshi and an end to Nepali recruitment in the Russia-Ukraine war. So far, she has failed on both counts. It should be deeply humiliating for Rana Deuba to leave office without having brought Bipin Joshi home.
Dengue in 73 districts, over 1,500 infected
With the monsoon rains come myriad problems, not the least of which is the spread of dengue. As of Tuesday, June 24, 1,561 people across the country had been infected with dengue since January. Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that causes high fever, chills, and body aches. Seventy-three of Nepal’s 77 districts reported dengue, with the highest number in Kathmandu at 156. Only the high-altitude districts of Manang, Rasuwa, Humla, and Dolpa have been spared.
Dengue is a relatively recent phenomenon in Nepal. The first recorded infection was in 2004 in a Japanese traveler. Indigenous dengue cases were then identified in 2006, and since then, the numbers have continued to rise. Dengue was declared an epidemic in 2019 with nearly 18,000 infections and six deaths. Last year, over 34,000 infections were reported nationwide, with 13 deaths. The year before, there were 52,000 infections with 20 deaths. According to a 2023 paper in Nature, dengue outbreaks in Nepal follow a three-year pattern, with large-scale outbreaks occurring in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.
The primary causes behind the spread of dengue are rapid urbanization alongside inadequate sanitation facilities, cramped living quarters, and the adaptation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito to higher, colder altitudes. According to the Nature paper, in 2018, dengue spread across the Kathmandu Valley from a small pocket area in Dhungedhara comprising just 25 households. City governments have attempted to control the spread of the disease through “search and destroy” campaigns, where mosquito breeding areas — usually stagnant pools of water — are identified and sprayed with pesticides to kill the eggs and larvae. Volunteers have also been mobilized to raise awareness about how mosquitoes breed and how the disease is transmitted. These campaigns, however, have been less than successful.
There is no real cure for dengue. Doctors advise taking over-the-counter medication to manage the fever and body aches, and drinking plenty of fluids to help the body fight off the infection. Hospitalization and deaths only occur among those with comorbidities and other complications.
Government launches mobile app for migrants
On Thursday, June 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security jointly launched the ‘Shram Sansar’ app targeted towards Nepali migrant workers in foreign lands. The app will allow Nepalis to formally register their presence abroad, allowing the authorities to obtain reliable information on the number, location, and needs of the migrant population. According to The Kathmandu Post, the app will also allow migrants working without formal labor permits to “legalised labour approval.” It is unclear what this approval exactly is and how migrants working illegally can access it. The government has also promised to update the app regularly; however, if other governmental apps, such as the Nagarik app, are any indication, expect a host of technical issues and narrow parameters for the kind of information it will accept.
The same day the mobile app was launched, news reports emerged of 57 migrant workers in India rescued from captivity and abuse. The Nepalis were deceived by employment agencies with promises of good pay and good jobs, only to have their phones and documents seized and be held captive. One Nepali even died in captivity, prompting a police complaint in Nepal’s Taplejung district, which in turn prompted the Indian police to investigate. The captive Nepalis were rescued from Rudrapur and Kashipur in the Indian state of Uttarakhand by the Indian police in coordination with a local non-governmental organization.
India is a major employment destination for Nepalis, especially from the western provinces of Sudurpaschim and Karnali. Millions of Nepalis — estimated variously at 4 million to 8 million — are reported to be living, working, and studying in India. Formal data is difficult to find, as Nepal and India share an open border, not requiring visas or labor permits to live and work in India. Nepal also receives billions in remittances from India. Although formally, remittances from India are second to those from Qatar, most money is sent home through informal channels. These Nepali migrants in India, however, are effectively invisible to the state. Their problems largely go unrecognized by the state since they are not formally recognized as migrants. It is only when something drastic like death, captivity and abuse happens that the state is forced to act.
I hope the Shram Sansar app will recognize Nepali migrants to India, allowing them to register and report complaints. A significant section of Nepali society and its contributions are being overlooked, and it is time to rectify that.
Recommendations
Article: Beware of spurious cancer drugs by Paul Eccles, Andjela Milivojevic, Ramu Sapkota, Nepali Times
Article: Trees could save Kathmandu. But can Kathmandu save its trees? by Marissa Taylor, The Kathmandu Post
The deep dive: How planting trees can mitigate urban flooding
The monsoon is upon us. Despite not being exceptionally strong or prolonged, they are already causing widespread damage and difficulty across Nepal. The Kathmandu Valley has been hit especially hard. Major rivers like the Bagmati, Bishnumati, and Dhobi Khola have already begun to overflow, entering homes, flooding streets, and even washing away people and vehicles. The monsoon, a lifeline for farmers in Nepal and South Asia, has become an annual specter, haunting residents of the Kathmandu Valley and threatening to turn homes into waterlogged reservoirs.
With each passing year, the monsoon is becoming more erratic, and with the rains just beginning, we have yet to see the full extent of the devastation that this season will bring. Last year, unseasonal rains in September, right after the end of the monsoon, led to hundreds of deaths and widespread damage to homes and infrastructure across the country. Yet, neither the federal government nor local city governments have enacted any measures to deal with the rains and the subsequent flooding. Citizens have been left to fend for themselves, adopting any and all measures to safeguard their lives and property. Waterproof machines that pump out water have suddenly become big business. Just like during the loadshedding years when the country suffered up to 16 hours of power cuts a day, Nepalis have adapted. To have some measure of light in the darkness, we installed large car batteries hooked up to inverters. This time, it’s water pumps.
Adaptation, however, is not always desirable. It makes you complacent; you come to accept things as they are. The inverters provided us with some measure of relief, and therefore, we did not revolt. Yearly flooding, too, is fast being seen as inevitable, as if it were fated. It is what it is, एस्तै त हो नि . The governments follow suit. If the people don’t demand a solution, why provide one? And so, despite the monsoon floods that occur each year, governments do little to prevent them.
However, there is a straightforward solution that everyone — governments and individuals alike — can adopt to mitigate urban flooding. Plant more trees. This might seem like a no-brainer, and yet, the Kathmandu Valley has become a dense jungle of concrete and asphalt with no accompanying reforestation efforts. When taken as a whole, forest cover in the Valley appears adequate. The average forest cover in the Valley is approximately 40-45%, with most of the trees concentrated in surrounding national parks and protected areas like Shivapuri, Nagarjun, Phulchowki, and Chandragiri. In the city proper, forest cover is much, much lower. According to a 2018 report by the Department of Forest Research and Survey, forest cover was just 2.2% in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, 2% in Lalitpur Metropolitan City, and 0.2% in Bhaktapur Municipality. These are the areas that see concentrated urban flooding.
It might seem like I’m repeating things we learned in school, but apparently, most of us have forgotten the numerous benefits that trees bring us, especially when it comes to addressing environmental issues like excessive rainfall. Large, mature trees can intercept between 2,000 to 4,000 liters of rainfall every year, depending on the climate and the type of tree. Instead of rain hitting impervious surfaces like concrete and then running off into drains or pooling into homes, tree leaves act as natural interceptors for precipitation, allowing gentle “throughfall”. This is called bioretainment, where trees store rainfall on their leaves, branches, and trunks, allowing the water to evaporate directly to the atmosphere, be absorbed by the tree itself, or flow down to the ground.
Trees are not just about interception, though; they also help retain and manage rainfall once it hits the ground. Concrete and asphalt have no capacity for absorption, so water runs off the surface towards the path of least resistance, usually down a slope. Since the Kathmandu Valley lacks adequate drainage, water overflows, and there is often a backwash of dirty water from the drains themselves. Tree roots create pathways into the soil, allowing water to penetrate deep into the ground and preventing runoff, thereby replenishing the water table. A fast-depleting water table is yet another ecological disaster that the Valley is facing.
Trees are especially necessary alongside infrastructure like roads and parking lots, which are necessarily made of impervious material. Yes, the Valley needs roads but they don’t have to be dead grey surfaces where nothing lives. Trees and plants can be planted on the median to act as natural separators, as they have along Maitighar-Tinkune stretch. They can also be planted alongside roads and on footpaths as bioswales, vegetated areas by the sides of roads that help remove pollutants from water and manage stormwater runoff. Trees and plants in such locations can help mitigate the numerous consequences of asphalt roads, including waterlogging and heat retention. They also add aesthetic value to modern infrastructure, which can often be lifeless and devoid of color.
Land use land cover change analysis of Kathmandu valley (1989–2016). (Image: Rapid Urban Growth in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Monitoring Land Use Land Cover Dynamics of a Himalayan City with Landsat Imageries)
These are decisions that the federal government and the three cities of the Kathmandu Valley need to make, but they are neither difficult nor expensive. Politicians make promises, but they rarely follow through. In 2019, the KP Sharma Oli government launched an ambitious campaign to plant 50 million trees nationwide within a year. Oli himself inaugurated the campaign by planting a sapling along the Koteshwor-Kalanki section of the Ring Road. The Ministry of Forest and Environment said that 2,600 saplings were planted in the area in a single day. But just days later, the saplings were dehydrated and dying due to a lack of care. Kathmandu Metropolitan City too had planted saplings along pavements, but without proper care, most died.
In 2013, Kathmandu Metropolitan City announced that all new homes would be required to plant at least two trees. City officials said that 10,000 new trees would be planted, as at least 5,000 design blueprints for homes are approved every year. Despite this announcement, the regulation was never enforced. In 2021, the city again announced that it would implement the two-tree rule, but would provide concessions to smaller plots, requiring them to have at least five flowerpots on their roofs instead. After being elected mayor in 2022, Balen Shah told the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) that he would require all homes to plant at least one tree, down from two, and that the city would plant trees on every sidewalk and empty plot of land. None of these pledges have materialized.
The government and the authorities alone are not to blame. Valley residents are a contradiction. They cut down existing trees to make room for larger homes and parking garages, but then take to their roofs to plant flowers and vegetables. They want controlled aesthetics. The wild, chaotic beauty of a fully grown tree is apparently not desirable. My neighbor complains that my avocado tree sheds leaves on his property, even as he enjoys the fruit. My other neighbor cut down a very large and old tree to install a basketball hoop for his son. Even when homes have green patches, they are not natural grass. Instead, many prefer the aesthetics of turf, called ‘carpet grass’ in Nepal. This short, even, and perennially green turf appeals to the modern Kathmandu aesthetic, but lacks the diversity and drainage capacity of wild grass. There are no clover flowers, no amaranth, no daisies. No butterflies, no dragonflies, no beetles, no earthworms, no birds.
It is, of course, also important that we don’t just plant any trees willy-nilly. Nepal’s rampant planting of pine trees across the country has done more harm than good. While pine trees might look evergreen, they hoover up water, leading to spring drying up and reduced vegetational diversity. In cities like Kathmandu, trees are often planted more for aesthetic purposes and ease of care than for their suitability to the local climate. For instance, Kathmandu’s vibrant purple jacarandas are beautiful to look at, but they are an invasive species that consumes a significant amount of water and outcompete other native species. Eucalyptus trees, which grow fast and without much tending, are also water sponges for a city that is already under water stress.
Planting the right trees will not just help contain urban flooding but can also alleviate so many of the Kathmandu Valley’s issues – air pollution, urban heat islands, the disappearance of bugs and birds. Lalitpur Metropolitan City under Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan is making the attempt; the city is greener than ever before, but much more needs to be done. The core city areas of Patan, where few trees exist, flood every year with water, often waist-high. Kathmandu and parts of Bhaktapur are in much worse shape.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to “make Kathmandu lake again.” Flooding in the Kathmandu Valley is the result of an intersection of climate change, poor urban planning, and environmental degradation. Trees alone cannot solve all of these problems, but they are a low-cost and effective intervention that provides the environment with the tools it needs to maintain balance. With proper legislation and political support for tree plantation, Nepal could even become a part of the US-based Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Cities of the World, a global network of cities that have pledged to plant and promote trees. From South Asia, only Mumbai has been recognized as a Tree City.
Perhaps now is a good time to revisit the Dr. Seuss classic, The Lorax. We need a Lorax of our own, someone who will speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
That’s all for this week. I will be back next Friday, in your inbox, for the next edition of Kalam Weekly.
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