SPACES Nepal MARCH 2016

Vol 11 No. 07 March 2015

A R T

A R C H I T E C T U R E

I N T E R I O R

BUILDING BACK BETTER

Price: NRs.100/- IRs.100/- USD 5.95 EURO 5.95 GBP 4.95

safer & greener

Building Materials and Technologies

Documenting history through new sources

TORANA

Wind and Solar Power Energy Stations for Future

www.spacesnepal.com

a case study of domestic

Biogas Technology in Nepal

Architecture of Santiniketan Tagore's Concept of Space

SPACES

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Contents Volume 11 NO. 06 | may

S P A C E S N E P A L . C O M

60

Scaling up small scale decentralized RET through PPP: a case study of domestic biogas technology in Nepal

Nepal has shown that scaling up of small scale renewable energy technologies is feasible if a sector development approach and favorable policy is adopted.

Report

72

2% 3% 9%

Every year, Nepal face numbers of forest fire views throughout the country, and Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha and some other similar invasive species in the dry season (April and May) are one of the major contributors in spreading forest fire.

Combining the Right Colors

Choosing a group of colors and hoping they work together architecture is a risk designers are not willing to take. This is when we should refer to the basics of color theory to always pick the right colors.

1%

48

An Illusive Beauty

54

54

Commentary: Earthquake Safety Nepal

The battle cry, “SESIMC, SEISMIC, SEISMIC�, should persist in all future construction, Interior restoration and retrofit. Silence from all stakeholder, design professionals, developers and construction industry professionals cannot make a safer tomorrow!

Wind and Solar Power: Energy Stations for Future

The prevailing limitation in generation of electricity, rapid rate of urbanization, life style, industrial growth and acute fossil fuel shortage has engendered a schedule of load shedding up to 16-hours a day and has escalated the year over year electricity demand by over nine per cent. art

85%

48

Synopsis of Wind Energy Development in Nepal

After the wind energy major intervention in Nepal during 1989 with installation of 20 kW (2*10kW) wind turbine, the country had to wait 2 decades to see another kilo watt sized wind turbines in Nepal. views

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88 From the shelf: Documenting History through New Sources; Torana, an Example

91 Artscape: Sagar Manandhar 92 SPACES Photo Contest 94 Open Spaces

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Volume 11 NO. 06 | May

CEO Ashesh Rajbansh Editor-in-Chief Sarosh Pradhan Director- products and Materials Ar. Pravita Shrestha Creative Manager Deependra Bajracharya Contributing Art Editor Madan Chitrakar

Kasthamandap Art Studio Junior Editor Ms. Shreya Amatya

Sristi Pradhan Correspondent Ms. Avantika Gurung Advisor Ar. Pawan Kumar Shrestha Contributing Editor President - Society of Nepalese Architects

Ar. Jinisha Jain (Delhi) Ar. Chetan Raj Shrestha (Sikkim) Barun Roy (Darjeeling Hills) Photographers Pradip Ratna Tuladhar Intl. Correspondent Bansri Panday Director- Operation & Public Relation Ms. Anu Rajbansh Business Development Officer Debbie Rana Dangol subs/admin officer Pramila Shrestha Accounts Sunil Man Baniya Legal Advisor Yogendra Bhattarai

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Regd. No 30657/061-62 CDO No. 41 SPACES is published twelve times a year at the address above. All rights are reserved in respect of articles, illustrations, photographs, etc. published in SPACES. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the written consent of the publisher. The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher and the publisher cannot accept responsiblility for any errors or omissions.

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editorial

Energy has been a much discussed topic presently – no matter what field you are in, more so in the building industry in the rural as well as urban landscape. In this issue we highlight features that discuss harnessing alternative energy from solar and wind, along with various alternative available renewable technologies.

It is estimated that the annual requirement of energy in Nepal is more than 9 million ton of oil equivalent energy and the demand of energy is estimated at growing around ten per cent each year. This gets equated by different sources like fuel wood, agriculture waste, dung, coal, petroleum, and electricity from hydro-power, solar energy and wind power. It is without doubt that we are heading towards an energy crisis with we can already regularly experience with a growing population and demand. The world reserves of natural oil, gas and coal are depleting exponentially and have a limited life span, thus it becomes imperative to explore and look at renewable energy sources and technologies, along with green building practices very seriously.

We do see it as an encouragement to see government institution such as the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), under the Ministry of Science and Technology developing as well as various private sector enterprises promoting renewable/alternative energy technologies in Nepal. According to the AEPC, Nepal lies at 30◦ Northern latitude which makes it an ideal region of having over 300 days of sunshine annually with an average solar insolation of 5kWh/m2 per day. These conditions make solar conversion technologies very feasible in our region.

The SAARC Association of Architects (SAARCH) - assembly and council meeting held in Kathmandu with a relevant theme of ‘Resilient Architecture: Responding to Disasters through the course of time’ produced a wide array of relevant viewpoints. In a nutshell Architect Divya Kush’s viewpoint “not Just resilient architecture: Development in harmony with nature" points out a direction for us in this region to work towards to mitigate the challenges brought by natural disasters. There were many other leanings also shared during the meet.

We also feature ‘Building back Better – Safer and Greener’ article that focuses on conscious environmental practices, especially in the post-earthquake and reconstruction period to reduce the environmental footprint and risk to future disasters.

In reflection, I would like to use the metaphor of the Health in the Human Body to the Health of the Himalayan Region and our planet. The largest organ in our human body – we all know is the skin. If we remove and cut our skin - we remove the barrier that protects us from heat and cold and infections. This is exactly what seems to be happening when we destroy nature and its forests and our waterways - which really is the skin and the elements of the EcoSystem. We are exposing ourselves to climate change and bearing a reaction of Mother Nature. We do not need to be Architects, Economists, lawyers, Musicians or Politicians to understand this. We just need to be better citizens of this planet and respect Mother Nature for our health and true prosperity.

Namaste!

Sarosh Pradhan / Editor in Chief

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Contributors Ramesh Saha Ramesh Saha is a project manager and consultant on renewable Energy design and installation with domain expertise in Solar PV Systems for above a 8 years. Saha also has 4 years of work experience as a lecturer at an Engineering college. Saha has done his M.Sc Electrical Engineering (automotive drive) from Byelorussian State Polytechnic University while has fetched a MBA (finance) from Purbanchal University, Nepal. He has also made his post graduation in Environment and Sustainable Development from IGNOU, India.

Anil Maharjan Anil Maharjan, a Mechanical Engineer by profession, has been working in renewable energy technologies at household and industrial level for over 8 years. He is working on improved cooking stoves, gasifiers, biogas, solar home system, and solar thermal technologies and is actively engaged in waste to energy management. Currently, he is engaged in Switch Asia Project that deals with improved charcoal making technologies to produce charcoal from forest residues and promoting its use in the fossil fuel (coal, LPG, Kerosene etc.) substitution in the brick kiln.

Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha Kayastha, is a graphic designer and follows her passion for writing on issues of art and culture. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Arts, and has a Master Degree in Nepali History, Culture and Archaeology. She currently is doing her Masters in Museum and Gallery Practice.

Santosh Rai Santosh Rai, an engineer at Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC).He is the acting manager for Wind Energy Component of AEPC. Earlier he worked for Centre for Renewable Energy (CRE). He is working for AEPC since January 2000.

Prof. Dr. Govinda Raj Pokharel Prof. Dr. Govinda Raj Pokharel, former vice chairperson of National Planning Commission is also an expert in renewable energy, climate change, and micro finance.

He was the executive director of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) Nepal. He has more than fourteen years of experience in Renewable Energy field. He was also the author and co-author of numerous research papers on sustainable energy, climate change, technical aspects of renewable energy technologies etc.

Along with over 3 years experience as a Manager in SNV based at various South Asia locations he was a team leader of numerous short duration assignments/projects which include designing and delivering technical assistance to ministries, external development partners, public and private sector institutions.

Yogendra Chitrakar Currently Yogendra Chitrakar is works as the executive director of Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA). He holds a Masters Degree in Environment Management and Sustainable Development. Trained on Education for Environment and Sustainability in Sweden and India he is also an expert of New Learning Technology on eLearning Development and Implementation trained from Hochshule Furtawagen University, Germany. He has over 20 years of experience in both field work and project management.

His recent focus has been promotion of low cost and simple climate mitigation and adaptation technologies and learning like solar, efficient stoves, CFEWS and improving school environment to increase the community resilience to disaster.

Chandra Laxmi Hada Chandra Laxmi Hada has worked as Green Recovery and Reconstruction Specialist in the Hariyo Ban Program, World Wildlife Fund Nepal since September 2015. Before joining WWF, she worked in various government, private and UN agencies for fourteen years in the fields of architecture, housing development, urban planning and disaster risk management. In 2009, she completed a Master of Science in Urban Planning at the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus and in 2001; a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from Nepal Engineering College, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She is also a graduate on Comprehensive Crisis Management (CCM) Course in 2013 from College of Security Studies, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), Hawaii.

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r e v i e w

Nepal’s Expression of

Contemporary Art Practices at IAF Yantra 4.0 was different than its predeceasing edition for many reasons. Most of these undertakings were motivated by a wish to grow and to become more substantive. With the concluded Yantra 4.0, the platform has set a new direction for the future editions and for the union of art, technology and science.

TEXT: Swosti Rajbhandari Kayastha

N

epal’s participation in the Indian Art Fair (IAF) heralds a new exposure for the contemporary arts of Nepal. This year Nepal commenced its participation in the IAF, which is the preeminent platform for South-Asian Contemporary art. According to ARTNEWS, the India Art Fair is the 7th most visited art fair in the world.

As stated by Dr Karen Exell, lecturer of Museum Studies, University College London in Qatar, the artworks

of the Nepali booth had the power to ‘raise emotions’ and engage the visitors in a dialogue. They are at a luminal stage almost ready to be included in the global contemporary scenario. Participation in such fairs, in South Asia, Asia, and in global platforms will definitely fill the gap that it faces presently.

This participation was facilitated by the Nepal Art Council (NAC) which took the initiative of selecting the works of seven Nepali contemporary

artist Asha Dangol, Bidhata KC, Birendra Pratap Singh, Hit Man Gurung, Manish Harijan, Samundra Man Singh Shrestha and Sheelasha Rajbhandari.

The show titled, Metamorphosis: Contemporary Art of Nepal was curated by Dr Dina Bangdel, executive board member of NAC also the Director of the Art History program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. The IAF took a step this year towards integrating the neighboring nations in a special section call the Platform, with participation from Blueprint12 (India), Nepal Art Council (Nepal), Theertha Artists Collective (Sri Lanka), Taseer Art Gallery (Pakistan), Swaraj Art Archive (India) and Bengal Art Lounge (Bangladesh).

The Nepali booth was a very popular one, attracting a large number of visitors to witness the powerful visual expressions narrated by the artists absorbing them in engaging dialogues about the socio-political as well as issues relating to natural calamities. Continuing those efforts, Dongol’s works at the IAF highlighted the glimmer of hope even during the toughest of disasters.

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The show stopper at the fair was the art in process of Bidhata KC. Singh’s pen and ink specially created for this show reflected a wide range of local visual expressions of natural and built heritage.

Harijan’s installation of resin skulls embedded with auspicious materials used during rituals, lit from within aroused curiosity and wonder at what was being expressed. His works engage the viewers into the cultural dichotomy of auspiciousness and its blind practices through modern expressions in the form of installation and paintings.

Drawing a large number of curios viewers were the powerful photographic constructions of Gurung. Trained in the traditional practices, Shrestha seeks to express in his art forms more than the religious and spiritual themes of traditional art. Rajbhandari’s installation is a representation of her interpretation of art as a therapeutic practice used to revive the spirit of the populace at Thulo Byasi (Bhaktapur), one of the worst hit area of Kathmandu Valley.

The collections of works of Nepali contemporary artists were visual commentaries raising dialogues on current socio-political and natural happening of present day Nepal. They present art, not only as visually appealing

forms but engage visitors in narratives and make them aware of various issues making them one of the most visited booths at the fair.

number has mushroomed in the past decade: from sixty-eight in 2005 to 189 in 2011.” The Art Newspaper‘s calendar presently lists some 269 fairs.

Art fairs are a place for people in the art business, from artists, dealers and art advisors to collectors, historians and curators. The 1980s witnessed an impressive increase in the number of art fairs globally. Art Radar reports that in 1970, there were just three events: Cologne, Basel and Art Actual and “the

For its 8th edition in 2016, a total of 70 galleries participated which had 18 first-time participants. Besides national galleries and art institutions and those from neighboring nations, those from Dubai, Jeddah, London, Madrid, Rome and San Francisco, New York, San Gimignano, Les Moulins, Beijing, and Havana.

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… r e v i e w †

The 8th edition of Artists in Concrete Awards Asia The 8th edition of Artists in Concrete Awards (AICA) to celebrate excellence in architecture, interior designing and landscape designing was organised at CIDCO Exhibition Centre, Vashi, Nabi Mumbai. This year the reify organised the event from January 20- 22, 2016.

The event had more than seventy five top architects namely Ar. Ratan Batliboi, Ar. Uttam Jain Asscoiates, Ar. Ambarish Arora, Ar. Oscar Concessao, Ar. Qutub Mandviwala , Ar. Vistasp Bhagwag. During the programme more than 180 shortlisted projects were presented. This year around thirty international architects displayed their projects. Jury member were from Indonesia, Italy, Costa Rica, Mexico, Austria, France, Cuprus, South Korea, Netherlands, Jordan, Estonia, Panama and Bangladesh.

Each pavilion during the event showcased unique collaboration between an architect and material company. AICA is the platform where the industry gets to witness and implement ideas by a significant number of Indian and International architects together indulging in variable activities.

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Nepal Buildcon International Expo 2016 The second edition of Nepal Buildcon International Expo 2016 and Nepal Wood International Expo 2016 is scheduled to be held from April 8-11, 2016 at Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu. The event is organised

by FUTUREX TRADE FAIR & EVENTS PVT.LTD., India and Media Space Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Nepal and is supported by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, India.

Spaces Magazine, for the second time is supporting this event as its magazine partner.

Since the construction sector is the fastest developing arena, this exhibition has proved to be one of the most counted and trusted upon exhibitions happening in

Nepal catering to the growing demand of professionals and end users simultaneously. This International event is the largest solely dedicated exhibition on Building, Construction, Heavy Equipments and Wood Industry in Nepal considering the number of exhibitors, visitors, media coverage and B2B associations.

This edition of the Nepal Buildcon Int’l Expo will showcase an open air pavilion for heavy equipment and prefabricated houses. The show presents the platform to its participants and buyers to exhibit the innovative products give detailed demonstrations, exchange the business ideas and

new investment opportunities in the sector. It features the presence of a plethora of knowledgeable and influential industry connoisseurs.

The first edition had more than 110 exhibitors and approximate 63,000 visitors comprising of Architects, Engineers, Builders, Contractors, Interior Designers and stake holders from the Construction Industry. Nepal Buildcon International Expo 2016 and Nepal Wood International Expo 2016 is an exhibition for Architects, Engineers, Builders, Contractors, Interior Designers, Dealers, Distributors and stake holders from the Construction Industry.

Let the Games Begin!!!

Asian Paints Nepal has hosted the Asian Paints Architecture Design Competition at several different engineering colleges in Kathmandu Valley, all culminating in a final national level showdown between 4th year architecture students from all across the valley. Also in 2015, this tradition continued as the Asian Paints Architecture Design Competition 2015 at three different colleges that are Institute of Engineering (Pulchowk), Kathmandu Engineering College, and Nepal Engineering College.

Institute of Engineering (IOE Pulchowk) The competition at IOE was held on Jestha of 2072 BS. The Institute had altogether sixteen participants who were asked to design an examination hall. Among the sixteen participants only top 5 students were awarded. Suraj Karki, was awarded with the 1st prize comprising of Rs 50,000 cash prize while Gaurav Neupane and Prakash Maharjan were announced as the 1st and 2nd runner ups with a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. Sohil Shakya and Ina Sthapit received the consolation prizes of Rs 5,000 each.

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14th SAARCH Assembly and Council meeting 2016

Formally established in 1991, SAARC Association of Architects (SAARCH) is an association of member Institutes of Architects of the SAARC nations (except Afghanistan). It was established with an aim for the development of coordinated architectural profession in the SAARC region by exchange of ideas, developing and assisting national architectural bodies, by working towards international recognition of qualifications, and by evolving professional ethical and educational guidelines.

T

he theme of SAARCH Conference 2016 was ‘Resilient Architecture: Responding to Disasters through the Course of Time’, which aimed to discuss on the possible adaptation of ‘Resilient Architecture’ practice and building technology to endure the natural and man- made disasters in the region.

President of SAARCH Ar. Dorji Yangki from Bhutan made the official commencement of programme on February 5.

Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA) had organised the 14TH SAARCH Assembly and Council Meeting on the February 5 -6, 2016 including a conference here. Earlier the association had hosted the SAARCH Assembly in 2002. During the two days

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programme work of local architects were exhibited meanwhile there were more than ninety national participants and twenty international delegates.

The member institutes of SAARCH are Institute of Architects of Bangladesh (IAB), Bhutan Institute of Architects (BIA), Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), Architects Association Maldives (AAM), Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA), Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP), and Sri Lanka institute of Architects (SLIA).

During the programme, architect/planner Arif Hassan from Pakistan stressed on the relationship between urban change and

Disaster risks in South Asian cities from an unintellectual perspective, policy making and implementation. His prime message was for the architects and planners to take back the city from developers and revisit by-laws that are currently anti-pedestrian, anti-street with no on mixed land use and community friendly public spaces. Hassan also called upon architects to take an oath at the completion of academic study.

Ar. Jalal Ahmed pointed out that Bangladesh being prone to river inflicted calamities with the river changing its course every season, erosion was the root cause of the disappearing lands. He instantiated with his village design projects

The technology is also affordable as it comes down to $5 - $8 per SFT, he added.

and prototype houses for the victims that resilience to natural calamities is exercised not only by building shelters for affected communities but by enriching their livelihood and economy.

Ar. Divya Kush from India presented his paper “Not Just Resilient Architecture: Development in Harmony with Nature." His line of reasoning was that more destruction is caused by irresponsible and reckless exploitation of natural resources in the name of growth and ad hoc development. He had ended with the message that it is the responsibility of the entire geographic region of South Asia to work together while facing challenges brought by natural disasters.

On the contrary, Er. Brian Planas representing Miyamoto International presented the paper on “Performance Based Engineering by using Seismic Dampers for improved Performance.”

He gave the confidence that Earthquake resistant high-rise can be built in Kathmandu valley provided proper engineering and technology is employed for improved seismic performance. He clarified

that the most damaged buildings were designed to the building code which could not accurately predict performance.

Fluid viscous dampers are being used that considerably reduce the drift of building during vibrations. These dampers are like shock absorbers that absorb energy which are otherwise taken up by walls and other elements.While dampers improve seismic performance, they can also be integrated with the aesthetic design of the building.

Ar. Surya Bhakta Sangachhen represented Nepal to present the paper on “Impact of the Gorkha Earthquake on Historic town Sankhu and its potential implication on reconstruction and regeneration”. He provided the statistics of the damage in the medieval town where the vernacular architecture suffered the most damage due to the current trend of building repair & replacement. According to Sangacheen indigenous knowledge on earthquake resistant construction exists but the lack of maintenance and desertification had led to severe damage of traditional architecture.

Furthermore, he raised his arguments on reconstruction Issue, Damaged infrastructure, Strategies/arrangement.

Ar.Fauzia Hussain Qureshi from Pakistan presented her paper on “Restoration for a Changing World.”. She exemplified the impact of human intervention on one heritage building; a Post Office Building in Murree which is a hill station located 45 kilometers from Islamabad. may 2015 SPACES / 17

Being a hill-station of political importance during the British Raj, infrastructure for the GPO was built in Colonial architectural grandeur in 1867. Up until 1960 the structure grew organically to expand and accommodate the changing functions always within the framework of its colonial vocabulary. In 1977, interventions with the intentions of Islamizing architecture completely transformed the GPO: arches were added, stone masonry plastered and rooms sealed from the outside. In 2013, the Prime Minister of Pakistan commissioned the restoration of the building. She stated the restoration process which included documentation, issues, dismantling, and adapting to the change. In essence she shed light on the importance of restoring heritage.

Ar. Veranjan Kurukulasuriya presented his paper on “An Urban Planning Perspective.�

The central theme of his paper was about the impact of climate change and the relationship of architectural resilience with food/water security. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is at a risk of inundation due to the rise in seas levels which in turn has been induced by climate change and hence making the land scarce. He suggested an urban planning based on population density with highly dense dwellings that leave land free from human encroachment.

The second day kicked off with the presentations by the national architects on how they had been working after the devastating Gorkha Earthquake and

possible measures that need to be taken to reduce damages.

During the second day programme Ar. Swati Pujari focused on social resilience or economical resilience. The study was based on the activities led by one local youth group, SankwoVintunaPucha working in the settlement and the comparison with the theory of the climate change, disastrous change and governance. The objective of study was to understand the role of people led self-organized groups in building resilience by comparing it with the literature.

She illustrated the relationship between Vulnerability and resilience and Government and governance. She emphasized that citizen led initiatives are more functional and have horizontal framework than government led initiatives which are more unidirectional and the importance to include the marginal groups in the decision making process in the community. She concluded by stating that the contribution of citizen led groups is positive in building social resilience.

Based on the findings, the facilitative role of government that theoretically sounded ideal was missing.

Dr. Bijay K. Shrestha presented the paper on Urban Design Guidelines For Redevelopment of Earthquake affected neighborhoods in Bhaktapur Municipality.

The paper focused to study the salient features of the core Bhaktapur settlement and to identify various issues associated with redevelopment projects. He pointed out that there was a harmonious balance and integration between the built structure and the natural ecology in the medieval times.

He presented the issues and challenges in the process of redevelopment process like multiple land ownership without clear legal basis, tiny elongated plots without adequate frontage, huge incurring reconstruction cost including poor economic condition of the households have emerged as another set of challenge for rebuilding process. Vertical addition of floors in structurally weak houses impaired the building façade and increased risks. Furthermore, he exemplified the threefold strategy of redevelopment.

He appealed that the Bhaktapur Municipality should invest for integrated infrastructure with provision of emergency

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facilities. He instantiated the necessary architectural consideration like the ratio of the height and width of the housing units, windows and openings need to be considered. He argued that single buildings divided among plots can have common foundation with division of spaces which can facilitate better lighting and ventilation and increase ground floor area by more than 40 per cent.

He expressed that social problems among the people must be solved for redevelopment and incentive mechanism should be initiated to conserve the traditional architecture.

Ar. Alex Shrestha presented his project “Pavilions Himalayas�.

According to Shrestha, the Pavilion Himalayas is the quintessence of self-sustaining resorts in Nepal

and probably one of the first in Asia itself. He illustrated the set of unprecedented new standards in the hospitality industry with numerous environment friendly features which will be an inspiration for future resorts. Basically, he listed the eco friendly features of the resort. As much as 15% of costs to heat the room has been saved due to the eco-friendly features. The resort is run through passive solar design, insulating materials.

He concluded by appealing the future hotels and resorts to incorporate eco-friendly and selfsustaining features in their designs for its smooth operations even in the times of crisis.

Anita Van Breda, Head of Disaster and Environment, WWF, USA presented her paper on Green

Recovery, Reconstruction and Risk Reduction. The main focus of her paper was environmental resilience based on the relation between the environment and hazards. The study was based on their experiences in the field of recovery and reconstruction as an environment based institution. The main focus of the paper was the effects of a healthy environment on disaster recovery and reconstruction.

On similar context, Ar. Chandra Laxmi Hada further illustrated on the Green Recovery, Reconstruction activities carried out by green recovery and reconstruction after April 25 Gorkha Earthquake. She listed the statistics of the destruction and stated that building back better and safer was not enough; integration of environmental aspects into the reconstruction process also needed to be focused.

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Different records show that the annual requirement of energy in Nepal is more than 9 million ton of oil equivalent. It gets fulfilled by different sources like fuel wood

ECCA in promotion of

alternative & renewable technologies

(77 per cent), agriculture waste (4 per cent), dung (6 per cent), coal (2 per cent), petroleum (9 per cent) and electricity from hydro, solar, wind (2 per

Impact of fuel shortage on firewood consumption in Nepal

cent).

A) At national level

In accordance with this,

Literature data

today’s complication of Nepali life undoubtedly suggests that we are heading towards severe crisis of energy. As we all know that world reserves of oil, gas and coal are depleting and in future we will not be

Parameter

Values

Comment

Source

No. of households impacted by fuel shortage

1,196,272

Sum of households using kerosene and LP gas

National population and housing census 2011

Daily firewood consumption per household (kg/ household/day)

6

For a family of 4-5 persons

Risk, vulnerability and Tourism in Developing countries: the case of Nepal, Martina Shakya, p. A-41, 2009

Weight of a fully developed tree

150 bharis – 6750 kg

1 bharis weights 45 kg

Planning in the Perspective of Development, Anima Bhattacharya, p.124

able to afford import and consumption of these fuels. Due to hardship and increase in daily wages, domestic energy is also getting unaffordable. Most

Impact on firewood consumption and trees Calculation

1.5 months fuel shortage

3 months fuel shortage

Firewood required to replace fuels (t)

322,993.44

645,986.88

No. of trees required

47,851

95,702

of the industry and employment suffer due to current crisis of electricity in Nepal.

At the same time the demand of energy is growing 9-10 per cent each year. This has led to gradual increase in

B) At Kathmandu district level Literature data Parameter

Values

No. of households 397,349 impacted by fuel shortage

Comment

Source

Sum of households using kerosene and LP gas

National population and housing census 2011

Impact on firewood consumption and trees

consumption of other

Calculation

1.5 months fuel shortage

3 months fuel shortage

natural resources such

Firewood required to replace fuels (t)

107,284.23

214,568.46

No. of trees required

15,894

31,788

as replacement.

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Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA), established in 1987, has been a leading organisation in the sector of social mobilization and community development. It implements various programs so as to raise the quality of life through wise-use of available local resources and application of alternate and renewable technologies.)

T

he data illustrates that the dependency on firewood has been increasing demand on the precious forest resources and decreasing the supply.

This leads to an unsustainable practice as the rate of consumption of forest resources is higher that it could be produced and supplied. This sort of depletion of the resources within the country will prove to be devastating in the long run. These will create a series of effects that includes increased soil erosion, desertification, loss of biodiversity, and negative impacts to land and watershed management besides

contributing to global warming and climate change.

In such scenario ECCA’s strategy is to conduct education awareness campaign for efficient and promotional use of energy efficient devices such as stoves, solar lights and alternative biofuel from locally available materials or waste. These latest technologies when merged with traditional systems can make the significant change in the fuel consumption pattern as well as increase the efficiency of the traditional fuels.

Promotion of technologies through ECCA Improved Cook Stove: Firewood, agriculture residue and other biomass are the main source of supply for household to meet the daily energy demand in rural and semi urban areas.

These sources are burned directly into the traditional cook stoves which have the efficiency of only 10 per cent.

In addition to its inefficiency, they produce smoke due to incomplete combustion of fuel wood, ultimately creating indoor air pollution and adversely impacting the health of the women and small children who spends lots of time for preparation of meal for their family. Release of various gases and shoots due to incomplete combustion during burning of firewood has been supporting global warming there by supporting the climate change effect.

Implementation of this program will help the villagers to know about different technology on improved cook stove which are highly efficient in terms of energy consumption. Ultimately the consumption of firewood and pressure in the local forest for firewood collection will be reduced which will lead to

maintain carbon sequestration within forest and decrease in the release of the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby reducing the effect of climate change.

As per the availability of different types of fuel wood, biomass and the local environment, ICSs with new models and designs can be introduced. Following ICS technologies could be promoted: • Various designs of mud-brick ICS • Air induced cook stoves • Metallic cook stoves • Gasifiers • Various designs of Envirofit stoves.

This will also help to establish a sustainable framework and strategy for making available needed technically and socially appropriate ICS in rural communities.

Promotion of Envirofit Cook Stove: According to the World Health Organization, more than three billion people cook their daily meals in-door using traditional fire and stoves, burning biomass fuels like wood and crop waste. These traditional cooking methods cannot achieve clean combustion. The majority of the heat is wasted and the biomass is converted into toxic substances like carbon monoxide, benzene and formaldehyde.

Thus, resulting indoor air pollution that kills over 2 million people every year i.e one person every 20 seconds and over 85 per cent of Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) deaths are women and children under five.

To tackle these issues, Envirofit international, an organization working for the development of technology solution that are affordable, aesthetic, well-engineered has launched a clean technology for cook stoves (Envirofit Cook Stoves) to address Indoor Air Pollution.

The Envirofit cook stoves are designed to reduce the emission of smokes and harmful gasses by 80 per cent, thus reducing the emission of indoor smoke / air pollution in the kitchen. Use of Envirofit cook stove reduces the consumption of biomass fuel by 60 per cent due to its increased fuel efficiency. The cooking cycle time is also reduced by 40 per cent, thus saving time, which could be utilized in other household activities.

may 2015 SPACES / 21

Briquette Biomass fuels like briquettes are made from different sources like; forest weeds, unpalatable grasses, agricultural residue and dry organic materials which are easily available in the local level. These types of fuels are being used in rural areas from long period. But the efficiency of these fuels is very low. Using different new technologies can increase the efficiency of these fuels and can help to lower the pressure on the forest resources.

Converting these matters into high quality fuel can also help to minimize the global warming rate which otherwise have been decomposed and resulting in methane (CH4) emissions which has more Global Warming Potential than CO2.

There are two types of briquette technology: 1. Bio briquette technology 2. Beehive briquette technology The benefits of using the beehive briquette are extensive as it greatly reduces Indoor Air Pollution of homes thereby improving the health of women and young children as well as reduces amount of open flame accidents. It contributes to the reduction of deforestation thereby maintaining the carbon sequestration within forests and decreasing the amount of CO2 and SO2.

22 / SPACES may 2015

Solar Tuki & Community Charging Station In Nepal 2.4 million households are to this day compelled to use kerosene based wicked lamps (known as Tuki in local languages, which are made by inserting strands of cloth or “wick” in glass bottles filled with kerosene) as they do not have access to. Also, kerosene which is not cheap by any means is also very difficult to get and frequent road blockades is creating troubles in its regular supply.

The burning of kerosene through the use of wicked tuki gives an inferior light, produces a lot of smoke and releases Carbon dioxide (CO2) affecting eyes and lungs (specially those of children and women because they sit close to it in the evenings while studying and during preparing food). In addition to that, the government also has to spend its limited foreign currency reserve annually to import the kerosene.

Keeping the social, economic and environmental impacts being created by the use of kerosene lamps as the major concern, “Solar Tuki” is developed to replace the kerosene lamp. Solar tuki is an alternative lamp consists of White Light Emitting Diodes (WLED) based solar lighting system with two units of 0.4 watt lamps with built-in Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries, which is charged by 3 watt solar photovoltaic panel. The lamp unit has 3 volt outlet for connecting

a FM/AM radio. Charging of 4 hours in the sun will make the battery/lamp work continuously for ten hours at night.

The campaign “Light for ALL” is targeted for the poorest of the poor household who are using kerosene tuki as an only means of light. Even though, the product “Solar Tuki” is promoted through micro finance mechanism, there are marginalized households who cannot even afford the technology.

Hence, to incorporate those marginalized households in the Light for All Campaign, the community-charging centre are being installed and promoted.

The provision of installation of community charging centre varies according to the need of the community as well as the capacity.

Currently, the community-charging centre for the mass charging of 30, 48 and 72 pc of solar tuki per one time charge can be established.

These alternative energy resources help to bring huge change in the fuel consumption pattern especially of the rural areas. This reduces the tremendous pressure on the natural resources particularly forest resources. Using available local resources can subsequently help to reduce the deforestation rate, enhance public health as well as help to lower the CO2 emissions and global warming enhancers.

may 2015 SPACES / 23

AN ILLUSIVE

BEAUTY TEXT: Anil Maharjan

It is destroying the jungles, posing a serious threat to its biodiversity and exceptional wildlife. These plants have massively spread out in our forest as well as in the grasslands and has become a devil species.

L

antana camara, Mikania micrantha and some other similar invasive species which has different local names like banmara, banmasa, kuri etc. in different geographical location are one of the devastating species in the forest. These species are known for its vigorous and rampant growth in high humidity, light and fertile soil areas. Besides, it can also easily adapt in less fertile soils. Today, these species are termed as forest killer. These forest killers, has been out destroying the jungles of the sanctuary, posing a serious threat to its biodiversity and exceptional wildlife.These plants have massively spread out in our forest (National, Community, Private, Collaborative, Leasehold, Religious) as well as in the grasslands and became a devil species. The eastern part of Nepal's forest has already been covered by Mikania micrantha (Lahare Banmara), while existence of Lantana camara (Banmara) dominates other shrubs and weeds in mid and far western region.

Banmara kills other plants by cutting out the light, smothering them and preventing the regeneration of other plant species and trees. In this respect it is especially damaging in young plantations and nurseries. Every year, Nepal face numbers of forest fire throughout the country, and these plant species in the dry season (April and May) are one of the major contributors

24 / SPACES may 2015

in spreading forest fire. Sometime these forest fires can also engulf the nearby village/community. In addition, burning of these species in forest supporting others in massive quantity contribute significantly in carbon emission releasing large amount of Greenhouse Gas in the atmosphere.

Every year, Department of Forest and Community forest user group spend hundreds of thousands of rupees to root out these plants from forest. In addition, a numbers of forestry related and focused organisation has also shown their high interest in eradication of such diseases from forest.

Coming through all those negative impact of the slow forest killer, at one part these species could be of some use to fulfill residential, as well as industrial energy requirement improving rural social and economic status. Nepal, the landlocked country, totally depends on the fuel import; this account for petroleum products, cooking gas and others. To this prospect, large amount of national economy has been utilised in procurement of daily required and consumed fossil fuel like LPG, Kerosene, Coal and other petroleum products. Most importantly there is big issue of energy security in nation along with irregular price hike raising illegal activities and other social implications. In connection to these, banmara seems to

have huge potential to generate energy for residential, as well industrial sectors creating employment at local level.

Transforming banmara into charcoal is not the new concept, as a niche of more than 18000 Community Forestry User Group has already been practicing it for making charcoal using conventional pit system, which is mostly focused on carbonised briquette by using such kinds of invasive species and other shrubs and weeds. Nevertheless, thus produced charcoal can have wide range of products like pellets, and other form of briquettes suitable for gastronomy sectors in thermal applications. Moreover, it can be directly used as substitution to coal in brick kiln.

From various applied researches in brick kilns both in Fixed Chimney Bull Trench Kiln and Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln; it was found that use of charcoal as external or internal fuel substitution coal in small proportion is viable. Nepal imports about 500,000 metric ton of coal every year spending more than 10 billion rupees, and even substation of 10-20 per cent of the imported coal from charcoal can have significant economic benefit to nation. In addition,

using the charcoal has further improved the environment performance reducing harmful emission.Further, to use in various other industrial sectors like steel industries, cement industries, incense stick industries; they import thousands of tons of charcoal from different countries. With this initiative a large chunk of charcoal import can be cut off and thousands of job can be created at local level improving local livelihood.

Unfortunately, there is numbers of issue with conventional charcoal making system; (i) excessive emission and directly release of pollutant to atmosphere, (ii) Health and life risk with low occupational health and safety (OHS) and release of high quantity of respirable suspended particulate matters (RSPM), (iii) low quality charcoal due to open fire in presence of sufficient air, (iv) high heat stress, and (v) low earning because of low quantity of charcoal yield.

Hence, these all of the problems lead to necessity of improved charring technology with high yield and low emission concept that can efficiently and conveniently transform such kinds of unwanted forestry residue resources into quality charcoal.

The application of improved technologies

for charcoal making process like retorts and kilns could mitigate aforementioned vulnerable scenario by reducing the harmful emission, increasing OHS and RSPM in production, and producing high quality charcoal in large amount at a time.

Nevertheless, these kinds of alien invasive species can be use directly or by transforming its form through densification mechanism, in power generation and thermal application in industries. At this verge of the high energy demand these kind of forest residue can be used in the thermal power plant using advance technologies like gasification mechanism.

To work on this a systematic scientific forest management practice has to be introduced along effective national policy for biomass consumption, and proper monitoring allowing sustainable biomass harvesting practice. Moreover, the sustainability can also assured upon resource assessment and various studies shows that such resources are abundant, ~12MT and ~6MT per hector in Tarai and mid hill region.What need to be done is introduce such novel deed in national priorities and take immediate action.

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Synopsis of

Wind Energy Development in Nepal

1. Background After the wind energy major intervention in Nepal during 1989 with installation of 20 kW (2*10kW) wind turbine, the country had to wait 2 decades to see another kilo watt sized wind turbines in Nepal. During that period, the focus has been on promotion of small scale micro wind turbines, especially for off-grid rural electrification. From 1989 to 2010 the cumulative wind energy capacity installed in the country was only 13 kW with the support from AEPC and Practical Action Nepal (former ITDG).

The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) conducted by AEPC with the support of UNEP/GEF in 2008 was the first intervention to explore the potential of wind resource in Nepal in broader level. SWERA reported very good prospect of wind energy development in Nepal with prediction of about 3,000 MW of wind power generation. The prediction was based on the assumption of wind potential map of 5 Km resolution, coverage of within 15 Km from NEA grid (11KV Transmission Line), having wind power density ≼ 300 w/m2.

AEPC has been continuously monitoring wind data from the potential sites of the country. However, due to less engagement, the wind energy sector lacks highly skill human resources pertaining to wind data analysis, detail feasibility studies and wind power planning from policy levels to professional levels resulting in low level of confidence on realization of wind turbines.

Installation of Met mast (data logger for wind data measurement) and monitoring

26 / SPACES may 2015

of wind data for at least one year is another important activity that AEPC has continuously been putting effort so far long.

Till date, altogether 21 number of met mast systems have been stalled and retrieved the wind data accordingly.

Recently, AEPC is giving high priority to wind-solar hybrid system promotion after successful completion of 10 kW wind and 2 kWp solar PV hybrid pilot project in Dhaubadi, Nawalparasi district, Nepal under

technical and financial support from Asian Development Bank.

2. Progress of Wind Turbine Installation and Wind Data Logging AEPC has supported more than 30 kW wind projects in different location of the country and wind data measurement has been taken from 21 most potential sites of Nepal.

In this regard, 525 households are receiving electricity service through wind energy projects in Nepal.

2.1 Wind Turbine Installation Capacity and Operation (The tabulated data may not cover all the turbines developed and installed by private sectors, researchers and NGO/INGOs) S.N.

District

Location

Capacity of Wind Turbine (kW)

Installation Date

Remarks

1

Surkhet

Charanga

3 kW

2016

Under Bidding Process

2

Achham

Kamalbazaar

20 kW

2016

Under Bidding Process

3

Jumla

Tatopani

15 kW

2015

Operation

4

Makawanpur

Bhorleni

10 kW

2015

Operation

5

Nawalparasi

Dhaubadi,

10 kW

2011

Operation

6

Palpa

Jogepani

0.4 kW

Lipin Devi Primary school but not in operation

7

Pyuthan

Neta

0.4 kW

Not in operation due to lack of maintenance

8

Pyuthan

Kaskot

0.4 kW

Not in operation due to lack of maintenance

9

Kathmandu

Bhimdhunga

0.4 kW

Not in operation due to lack of maintenance

10

Sindhupalchok

Haibung

0.9 kW

11

Lalitpur

AEPC Building

1 kW

12

Makawanpur

Thingan

3 kW

13

Solukhumbu

Pheriche

0.5kW

Total (kW)

65 kW

Just for testing of VSWT Operation 2001

Operation

AEPC is giving high priority to wind-solar hybrid system promotion after successful completion of 10 kW wind and 2 kWp solar PV hybrid pilot project in Dhaubadi, Nawalparasi district.

2.2 Achievement of Wind data measurement and logging AEPC has maintained wind data over the following 21 stations from different potential areas of the country

3. Potential in Nepal The following listed locations could be explored for future wind energy development.

S. N.

District

VDC or Village Name

Terrain In-country location

1

Jumla

Tatopani

West

High hill but River corridor

2

Humla

Challa

West

Highhill

3

Mustang

Jomsom, Kagbeni, Centre Thini, Lomanthang, Chusang

High hill but River corridor

4

Sindhuli

MahadevDanda, HariharpurGadhi, PahunTilpung

Centre

Mid hill

5

Panchthar

Amarpur Bazaar

East

Mid hill

6

Achham

Kamal Bazaar

West

Mid hill

7

Bajhang

Parakatne, Thingaparos

West

Mid hill

8

Navalparasi

Dhaubadi

West

Small hill

9

Pyuthan

Neta

West

Mid hill

10

Karnali

Chisapani

West

Mid hill

11

Taplejung

Suketar

East

Mid hill

12

Illam

Fikkal

East

Mid hill

13

Morang

Thalaha

East

Low land

14

Solukhumbu

Patale

East

High hill

15

Makawanpur

Phaparbari, Thingan, RaiGaun

Centre

Mid hill

16

Lalitpur

Tholudurling

Centre

Mid hill

17

Dhading

Gumdi, Mahadevsthan

Centre

Mid hill

S. N.

District/Place

Period

1

Okhaldhunga

Apr 2001- Aug 2005

2

Nagarkot (Bhaktapur)

Jun 2001- Apr 2006

3

Butwal (Rupandehi)

Mar 2001- Aug 2003

4

Kagbeni (Mustang)

Apr 2001- Feb 2006

5

Thini (Mustang)

Apr 2001- Jun 2007

6

Batase Danda (Palpa)

Sep 2003- Dec 2006

7

Ramechhap

Jul 2005- Oct 2007

8

Phakhel (Makwanpur)

Oct 2007- April 2009

9

AEPC building

Feb 2009- March 2009

10

Neta (Pyuthan)

Dec 2007- Feb 2011

11

Tangbe, Mustang

2012- 2014

12

Makawanpur

2013- 2014

13

Morang

2013- 2014

18

Palpa

Mityal

West

Mid hill

14

Saptami, Panchthar

2015

19

Gulmi

Mid hill

15

Bhorleni, Makawanpur

2015

Gwadi-Krishna West Danda, BanjhKatari

16

Hariharpurgadhi, Sindhuli

2016

20

Rasuwa

Syarbu

Centre

High hill

17

Tatopani, Jumla

2016

21

Okhaldhunga

East

Mid hill

18

Bahuntilpung, Sindhuli

2016

19

Bromdi, Dhading

2016

20

Parakatne, Bajhang

2016

21

Bajhkateri, Gulmi

2016

In the past, AEPC has been conducting wind feasibility studies for 10 meters and 20 meters, and recently 30 meters high wind met masts have been installed for data logging.

may 2015 SPACES / 27

Some of the 30 meter high wind met mast data collection stations under AEPC are listed in the table below: S. N.

Study Site or VDCs

District Terrain

In-country Location

Status

1

Thalaha

Morang

East

Installed 1 year before

2

Phaparbari

Makawa- Mid hill npur but River Corridor

Centre

Installed 1 year before

3

Saptami

Panchthar

Mid hill

East

Under Construction

4

Tatopani

Jumla

High Hill

Mid West

Recently Installed

5

Bromdi

Dhading

Mid Hill

Central

Under construction

6

Hariharpurgadhi

Sindhuli

Mid Hill

Central

Under Construction

7

Bahuntilpung

Sindhuli

Mid Hill

Central

Under Construction

8

Parakatne

Bajhang

High Hill

Far Western

Under Construction

9

Bajhkateri

Gulmi

Mid Hill

Western

Under Construction

Low land

4. AEPC’s role for bigger project From 2015 AEPC is also engaged with multilateral development organizations such as World Bank and Asian Development in developing wind energy feasibility study and wind atlas for the large scale wind power development in Nepal. The World Bank supported ESMAP is implementing the wind mapping project in collaboration with AEPC by installing 80 meter wind met tower covering various geographical locations of Nepal. Likewise, ADB funded South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) being implemented by AEPC is also conducting wind energy feasibility study to develop large scale wind farm of at least 1 MW capacity till 2018. In this regard, two wind met mast systems have been recently installed in Chisapani Kailali and Mityal Palpa for wind data measurement. The different solar wind mini grid projects with total capacity of 500 KW will be installed under SASEC projects as off grid application.

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5. Wind Energy Activities under AEPC • Wind Met Mast Installation and Database Management • Wind Mapping of Nepal • Feasibility Study • Wind Power Project Development • Wind Met Mast Installation and Database Management: Wind Met Mast System installation is one of the important regular activities of AEPC. Wind energy component of AEPC annually installs few numbers of such systems with its limited government budget. AEPC is going to install 1 number of wind met mast system with 80 meter height in this fiscal year. Till date AEPC has installed wind met mast systems in 21 different locations of the country and collected the local wind data. AEPC is working on development of Wind Energy Atlas for Nepal under Energy Sector Management Assistance Program

(ESMAP) with support from World Bank.

The micro scale wind map of Nepal will be developed under this project by 2018.

Under SASEC/ADB project, AEPC is going to prepare a Detail Project Report (DPR) to develop a wind farm in Nepal with a minimum capacity of 1 MW. For this, SASEC/ADB/AEPC has recently installed wind met mast systems at Karnali Chisapani and Mityal Palpa. Few such wind met mast systems will be soon installed in other potential sites at different locations.

• Wind Power Project Development in Nepal: AEPC has been installing wind power projects for off grid application.

Beside micro scale wind turbines installation in few locations, the first wind mini grid system installed was at Dhaubadi, Nawalparasi with technical and financial support from Asian Development Bank (ADB). The total capacity of the system is 10 KW consisting of 2 wind turbines of 5 KW each capacity. After that 10 KW wind mini grid system has been installed at Bhorleni Makawanpur with 2 wind turbines of 5 KW each capacity. Recently a 15 KW wind mini grid system has been installed at Tatopani Jumla with wind turbines of capacity 10 KW and 5 KW each. Few other projects are in pipeline to be implemented soon. In one hand, Wind Energy component of AEPC has been installing wind power projects for off grid application and in other hand SASEC component of AEPC is going to implement few wind power projects in Nepal for off grid application with support from ADB.

may 2015 SPACES / 29

The Urban

Solar Energy Programme: AEPC With the main goal to address the ongoing load shedding and promote the renewable energy technology Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) after a 5 years of endeavor has implemented its programme ‘Urban Solar Energy System and Loan Mobilisation Directive – 2072.

T

he programme is categorized as domestic and Industrial with a system capacity of 100 to 1500 Wp for domestic and above 1500 Wp for industrial with a subsidy benefit of Rs 15000 for a system of 500 Wp and above.

In conjugation a subsidised bank interest rate of 2.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent is applicable (seventy five per cent for domestic purpose and fifty per cent for industrial purpose with an effective credit interest rate of 9 per cent). Himalayan Bank Ltd, Nepal Investment Bank Ltd, NMB Bank Ltd and Civil Bank Ltd are the banks which will finance up to eight per cent with tenure up to 5 years for domestic and 7 years for commercial.

Meanwhile some banks are financing from a sum of Rs 35,000 and above whereas some are financing Rs 100,000 and above. The financing facilities comprises of systems of 100 Watt peak (Wp) to Mega Watt peak (MWp). A solar of 250Wp would generate electricity of 1 unit per day with a healthy sunshine of 5 hours and 80 per cent efficiency.

According to Yub Raj Guragain of Civil Bank Ltd, the most demanding system is 2 to 3.5 KVA. These types of system handles home lights, TVs, PCs, pumping

30 / SPACES may 2015

and or induction cookers Meanwhile Dinesh Dulal of NMB Bank states that the loan seekers have declined recently due to the possibility of extension of subsidy amount to Rs 20,000.00. He also said that the Industries as well offices and institutions are also taking this opportunity as a pursuit of their power solution as they subsist with existing power shortage.

The most demanding system is 2 to 3.5 KVA system that are able to handle home lights, TVs, PCs, pumping and or induction cookers. Energy consumption during the day for offices and industries can benefit the most as the excess daytime generation after the battery bank declared full could be used directly to the utility whereas in most household the daytime excess generation is almost wasted as they have no or negligible load during daytime.

The Law of Demand reveals that consumers desire more goods or services with a decline in price.The subsidy shifts the demand curve upward from equilibrium resulting in greater demand. Following this law the urban subsidy program has gained

caption area

popularity in urban dwellers and geared up installations in comparison to last year subsidy program.

Despite the encouragement, the programme is yet to benefit economy.

Since this has initiated surge in demand the bank process are taking longer though bankers confirming the process in two

working days. Apart from this the bankers claim that not all of the qualified companies are efficient enough with no consistency in product supply whereas after sales service and the warranty scheme especially with the battery is a big issue. Furthermore there is a lot of inverter system especially up to 900VA and a 150 to 200Ah battery that requires a solar panel to contribute

their charging requirement, these type of system could benefit with a 150 Wp of panel in average with additional cost of only up to Rs 20,000. Since this segment is huge it is worth considering some financial assistance so as to stimulate this segment and reduce the amount of energy required from the national grid to recoup their daily need.

may 2015 SPACES / 31

Scaling up small scale decentralized RET through Public Private Partnership:

a case study of domestic

Biogas Technology in Nepal TEXT: Prof Dr Govind Raj Pokharel

Abstract Scaling up of small scale decentralized renewable energy technologies as a part of sustainable development goal remained a great challenge until recently. However, a thorough evaluation of a public private partnership applied in biogas sector in Nepal has shown that scaling up of small scale renewable energy technologies is feasible if a sector development approach and favorable policy is adopted. Nepal’s biogas program has been instrumental in helping to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by creating economic and social development opportunities in a sustainable way. Such model could also be widely replicated in any other renewable energy technologies and other continent of the world.

1. Background Nepal, similar to many other developing countries, relies heavily on traditional fuels and natural resources causing damages to the environment. More than 89% people are using fuel woods for cooking.

Nepal’s per capita energy consumption is 353 KoE(kg of oil equivalent) and almost 96% percentage of energy consumed in residential sector comes from traditional resources like fuelwood, agriculture residue and animal dung (WECS, 2006). Domestic sector consumes more than 89 percentage of total primary energy consumption in Nepal (WECS, 2006), i.e. major energy is consumed by cooking activities. These cooking fuels are usually gathered by women and children, denying them time that otherwise can be spent on productive

32 / SPACES may 2015

activities or at school. In addition, by burning traditional fuels at home, women and small children are exposed to smoke equivalent of 2000 g-C per day (e.g. Todaro and Smith, 2003) and are prone to respiratory illnesses and eye ailments. In terms of energy distribution and consumption energy poverty in Nepal is widespread as most of families in rural areas are still waiting to have access to clean energy; they are not able to have minimum energy required per capita as defined by energy poverty level i.e.

40 KoE per year for cooking and 10 KoE per year for lighting (Modi et al., 2005). Energy is necessary for daily survival (WCED, 1987).

The minimum energy required for Nepalese people especially in the Hills is about 129.25 KoE for cooking, 72.62KoE for water boiling and 35.77 kWh for lighting per year

per household . According to Goldemberg (1996), energy consumption for a normal living standard for a person, on the average, is about 1000 - 1300 kg of oil equivalent.

The sustainable annual yield of fuelwood in Nepal is theoretically 5.448 million ton whereas about 10.972 million ton is the estimated consumption per year (WECS, 1996). This shows that the per capita accessible sustainable fuelwood is less than 230 kg per year, which is less than 92 KOE. This is far below the energy poverty level defined as per Modi et al.(2005).

About 80% Nepalese people are living in rural areas and majority of them are farmers.

Majority of farmers have livestock, normally one or two buffalo and at least two oxen and total livestock (cattle and buffalo) population

in Nepal is about 10.4 million. The available animal dung is either burnt directly as solid biomass for energy or used as fertilizer for agriculture field. Domestic biogas plants are therefore a sustainable solution for households with livestock and about 1.3 to 2.9 million domestic biogas plants can be installed in Nepal (Karki et al., 2009). However, technically, biogas is an effective and feasible means of alternative energy with a potential of 1.5 million biogas plants in Nepal (Mendis et al., 1999; Gautam et al., 2009). Nepal has started as early as 1970s to utilize the multiple benefits that can be achieved from animal dung with a sustainable approach although Nepal has over half a century history of biogas promotion that started an experimental biogas plant constructed in 1955 [Karki et al., 2009, Bajgain et al., 2005].

This paper evaluates that scaling up of the decentralized renewable energy systems to levels which would have a significant impact not only within Nepal but within the developing countries based on the success of public private partnership model implemented for biogas promotion in Nepal.

Figure 1. A typical fixed dome biogas digester plant used in Nepal (SNV, 2009)

Scaling up renewable energies could be achieved through appropriate interventions on policy and institutional framework, integration, investment mobilization, networking and capacity building (UNIDO, 2009). Scaling up biogas technology will not only increase access to clean form of energy but also increases the energy security and promotes socio-economic development.

2. Biogas Technology Although, there are several types of biogas digesters available in different countries but only the fixed dome type biogas digestors are popularly used in Nepal and this is adapted and revised from Chinese design made suitable to Nepalese condition [Karki et al., 2009]. The basic material required for the construction are cement, stone or

Figure 2. Plan and sectional view of the biogas digester plant (BSP/N (2009)

may 2015 SPACES / 33

Table 1.Input to and Output from a 6 Cubic Meter Biogas Plant S.N.

Items

Units

Amount

1

Average Cattle dung feeding

kg/day

36-45

2

Average water mix in feeding

Litres/day

36-45

3

Average daily gas production

m3

1.44

4

Average stove burning hours

Hours

3.6

5

Average daily energy production

MJ

27.35

(Source: Compiled from Karki et al. [2009])

Table 2. Impact of scaling up of biogas technologies in Millennium Development Goals Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Domestic Biogas Construction

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Through employment and increased agriculture yield, improved sanitation and integrated animal husbandry practices

Achieve universal primary education

Direct impact through reduced drudgery (time collecting firewood, for example), especially for girls,as well as access to brighter light

Promote gender equality and empower women

Reduces the burden of collecting firewood on women and allows the alternative allocation of precious time of, in particular, the female members of the household, opportunities in the development of biogas burners, lamps and refrigerators locally

Reduce child mortality

Reduced air pollution, associated respiratory diseases and accidents from open fire, improved sanitation and hygiene education, reduced parasitic infections, diarrhoea and other water and vector-borne diseases

Improve maternal health

Direct impact through reduced drudgery, improved indoor environment, etc.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Biogas stoves replace conventional cook stoves and energy sources, virtually eliminating indoor smoke pollution and, hence, the related health risks (e.g., respiratory and eye diseases, burning accidents of women and children)

Ensure environmental sustainability

Reduced deforestation and desertification, controlled GHG emission from livestock and organic waste disposal, and recycled nutrients and restored soil fertility

(Compiled from BSP/N [2008] BSP/N [2007], Mendis et al [1999], Bajgain et al [2005] GFA [2009], Karki et al [2009])

bricks, iron rods, aggregates, sand, burners, and lamps. These types of digestors can be made locally where most of the construction materials are available.

Biogas plants convert animal dung, human excrement and various other organic materials at household level into a combustible methane gas (50-70% methane, 30-40% CO2, 5-10% hydrogen

34 / SPACES may 2015

and others [Karki et al., 2009]) in large portion known as biogas which can be used in simple gas stoves for cooking and in lamps for lighting. Table 1 is a glance of total input and output from a typical 6 m3 biogas plant in Nepal. Approximately 36-45 kh/day of dung mixed with equal amount of water produces approximately 27.35 megajoule energy for use daily which is equivalent to 3.6-4 stoves hours.

3. Benefits of Biogas Due to a reduced indoor air pollution environment, biogas plants offer improvements in respiratory health and reductions in eye problems, especially of women and children who cook normally food in developing countries. In addition, improved hygienic conditions are achieved with improved sanitation practices through attachments of toilets to biogas plants as 72% of all biogas plants have attached toilets.

Biogas plants reduce time and labor of wood collection, cleaning of pots, and the actual cooking process [Karki et al 2009].

The workload reduction provides other opportunities. Workload per household (mainly women) has been reduced by 3 hours a day (Mendis et al., 1999). Biogas because of methane capture is also reducing the emission of green house gases. Each biogas plant, on the average saves about 3000 kg of firewood and 38 liters of kerosene consumption annually (Mendis et al., 1999) and saves equivalent amount produced from burning firewood and kerosene. It also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the extent of approximately 4.84 tons of CO2 emissions and potential employment generated by a plant on the average is 1.55 people-years for skilled people in the construction, maintenance, marketing, and financing of biogas plants (UNFCCC 2005). However, as per BSPN (2009) approximately 9,000 people are employed in the biogas sector in Nepal. Moreover, the residual biological slurry from the biogas plants can be used as superior organic fertilizers to enhance agricultural yields (UNFCC, 2005) thereby reduces the use of synthetic fertilizer and CO2 emission from its life cycle of the synthetic fertilizer manufacturing process.

Development of biogas technologies in Nepal has contributed significantly to help meet the Millennium Development Goals (MGD). Table 2 explains how domestic

Figure 3. Actors in public private partnership model in upscaling of small-scale renewable energy technologies

Government Sector

Quality Control, Assurance, guiding Policy

Private Sector

System and Service Delivery

Enabling Environment

Demand

Consumers

Awareness and consumer rights, training Civil Society, Academic Institutions

biogas technology promotion in Nepal has contributed in achieving the millennium Development Goals in Nepal.

4. Enabling Environment in the sector The domestic biogas technology promotion programme is firmly centered on a successful public private partnership model which works to enhance the capacities of the entire biogas sector rather than individual stakeholders (Figure 3). In addition to the Government, local NGOs, small and medium scale biogas companies/ enterprises are the main actors in supplying sustainable solutions to the demanding households in rural areas. The public private partnership modality has established the government enabled market based approach in renewable energy promotion activities in Nepal.More innovative approach was collaboration among the three development player i.e. government, private sector and civil society that exists for complementarities and synergy. The supply system is based on market demand

and all players play a great role to generate the demand. The government facilitates the supply-demand game where as civil society and academic institutions makes consumer aware of benefits, quality concerns and training skilled human resource to successfully implement biogas projects. In this way, an enabling environment has been created.

Rightly done public private partnerships are a powerful tool to provide enduring solutions to some of our greatest challenges such as renewable energy development.

USAID (2009) developed public private partnership model to promote clean energy access, expand access to energy, financing energy projects, creating favorable and enabling environment and training energy professionals.

According to Rural Energy Policy of Nepal, renewable energy promotion goal is mainly to reduce dependency on traditional energy and conserve environment by increasing

access to clean and cost effective energy in the rural areas, to increase employment opportunity and productivity through the development of rural energy resources and to increase the livelihoods of the population by integrating renewable energy with social and economic activities (GoN, 2006).

The policy has also helped to create the favorable environment for the sector. Even before the rural energy policy promulgated, Nepalese government has provided interest free loan to the interested farmer who were willing to install domestic biogas already in the fiscal year 1975/76 (Karki et al). Since eighth five year development plan (NPC, 1992) government has been providing promotional subsidy, which cover around 20-30 percent of total up-front investment of a plant.

Some 89 biogas companies and 16 component manufacturing workshops are involved in the service and technology promotion, installation through their private business model [BSPN, 2009] and in 2005

may 2015 SPACES / 35

there were 60 companies (UNFCC, 2005).

Local GOs, NGOs, CBOs are involved for equitable market development and promotion of biogas even in areas beyond private sector's ability to reach.

Development banks and micro finance institutions, rural cooperatives are actively playing their role for provision of credit to co-finance farmers' biogas purchase.

Nepal’s biogas programme represents a successful public private partnership which has altogether installed over 300,000 biogas plants in 72 districts across Nepal.

6. Up-scaling trend of Biogas Technology in Nepal A public sector company was established already in 1977 to promote the technology.

Government has targeted to install about 4,000 biogas plants already in its seventh five year plan during 1985-1990 (NPC, 1987). However, the ambitious target could not be reached without matured sector and functioning enabling environment.

However, as gradually benefits of biogas was realized by the users, local bodies, policy makers in one side and on the other side, capacity of the sector was also growing as supply side was becoming vibrant with growing market demands.

However, only in 1996, government has established a nodal agency to coordinate all activities, stakeholders and harmonize isolated projects to adopt sector development approach in other RE promotion activities also after having lesson learned from the biogas sector.

As promotion modality based on public private partnership approach which was maturing in biogas sector, has been applied to other RE sector. National level policy to promote wider scale renewable energy was brought after having several learning experiences only in 2006. By 2008, decentralized renewable energy technology could reach to seven percentage of population of the country with clean energy (GoN, 2008). Decentralized domestic small scale biogas alone is producing more than 420 MW of thermal power from around

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220,000 installed units as “the power equivalent of the installed biogas plants ranges from 1.16 KW to 2.32 KW” (UNFCC, 2005). A The up-scaling trend was achieved only with quality ensuring mechanism that is robust and tied up with incentives. The subsidy given to the farmers is actually a quality ensuring discount which is combined with compulsory after sale services. The mechanism is designed in such a way that it continues as “service against fee” principle. Developing such supporting policy framework is key to achieve scale up renewable technologies (Li, 2009).

The key to the current biogas development model in Nepal is that it offers uniform design of the plants all over the country, there is a thorough quality control, monitoring and after sales services, generation of public awareness and outreach to the users and the financial support in the form of subsidy (that is tied up with quality ensuring mechanism). One of the most important benefits of the biogas plant is that it helps to reduce various health problems such as respiratory diseases, eye diseases, asthma and lung problems. Since biogas plants have already been supplied in many accessible areas, the anticipation is that higher share of biogas plants will be sold to remote and poorer communities.

With a gradual strategy of phasing out of subsidies from Government of Nepal, these people may not be able to contribute their portion. Hence an access to microfinancing, developing suitable financing mechanism and awareness of health benefit can significantly help scale up of biogas to higher level in Nepal.

7. Functionality of Biogas Technology As per Karki et al. (2009) more than 95% are functioning after 3 years of installation, and 94% users are satisfied with the plant they installed. A biogas users survey carried

out by Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), a government agency through independent consultant for CDM registered Biogas Project-1 in 2009. Total 510 biogas plants (5% of registered 9708 plants) that were installed from November 1, 2003 to June 15, 2004 in 25 districts were taken as sample and findings are as follows: • About 80.82 per cent biogas user households reported that plants were producing gas smoothly and remaining 19.18 per cent households reported that plants were not producing gas continuously.

• Among the sample biogas user households 39.22 per also connected toilets • Level of Satisfaction with Biogas Plant: The study shows that out of total biogas user households surveyed 90.89 per cent users satisfied • The study shows that about 2 per cent biogas user households were also using the Biogas Lamps. Most of the lamps users were satisfied with the lighting performance of the biogas lamps.

However, as sector matures and grows, the plant quality improves because of user’s level of awareness and competition among the companies. The plants installed there after 2005 are functioning in larger percentage as shown by consecutive biogas users survey carried out by independent parties. In totality, around 94 to 98% plants are operating, around 63 to 69% plants have toilet connection; and around 74 to 86% users use slurry as liquid or after drying or composting. In addition to this, around 91% biogas users satisfied with the plants they have installed.

8. Conclusions Although more than 200,000 biogas digetsors were already installed in the country, there several lessons that are useful for up-scaling of small scale decentralized renewable energy technologies, particularly domestic biogas.

Why it is successful? From the perspective of policy makers • Involving relevant stakeholders in market based mechanism is necessary keeping private sectors in the fore front to ensure the fair play • Any financial incentives to the technology needs to be tied with functionality performance of system • Government shouldnot be directly interfering the implementation activities of private sectors rather limiting their role in supporting enabling environment • Focus should be on the sector development with bigger and long term goal to shift the paradigm rather than focusing to achieve government decided specific targets only

What was the enabling environment? What was the supporting instrument?

• Financial incentive was provided to provide equal level playing fields for competing technologies and fuels although this incentive has attracted more than 70% user’s contribution to the technology and small scale investors as a local entrepreneurs for the promotion and construction of technology • Quality of supplied service, after sale services and technology is ensured through provided incentives • The renewable energy technology or system was accustomed to local needs, demands and habits • Sector building activities like capacity enhancing, awareness raising, linking with other sector development activities like

forestry and agriculture brought synergy to generate more demands of technology Key messages and likely benefited population • Reliable functionality and ensured quality of the systems is pre-requisite for the upscaling in large numbers • Adequate and suitable financing mechanism need to be developed where micro-finance or local banks can play important role in supporting users financing capability • If domestic biogas sector is developed in current trend, more than one million families will be directly benefiting from the technology in Nepal and few more millions in the Asia and Africa with the on-going replication

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Wind and Solar Power

1%

2% 3% 9%

Energy Stations for Future The prevailing limitation in generation of electricity, rapid rate of urbanization, life style, industrial growth and acute fossil fuel shortage has engendered a schedule of load shedding up to 16-hours a day and has escalated the year over year electricity demand by over nine per cent

T

he diverse geography of Nepal accommodates a colossal potential of Energy including hydroelectricity and renewable energies like Solar, Biomass, Biogas and Wind.

Nepal has a high energy consumption rate in relation to its GDP with biomass being the most prominent and traditional source of energy. Lack of proper strategy and deferred investment in infrastructure has hindered the possibilities of switching traditional source of energy to commercial or renewable source.

About forty per cent of population with only 8 per cent in rural are benefited by electricity that includes thirty three per cent from national grid and rest from alternative energy. The prevailing limitation in generation of electricity, rapid rate of urbanization, life style, industrial growth and acute fossil fuel shortage has engendered a schedule of load shedding up to 16-hours a day and has escalated the year over year electricity demand by over nine per cent

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85%

Energy Consumption Bio mass Petroleum Products Coal Hydro electricity Renewable Energy

The present load shedding scenario has declined the overall development of nation with adverse effect in the government revenue; it has claimed the ease of livelihood of dwellers. Failure of hydropower projects has escalated the cost resulting in the economical crisis.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) with a little coverage is so far unable to meet the increasing demand of power. Moreover, the temperature changes due to global warming has shifted rainfall patterns, chronic droughts and shrinking river flow has decreased its Q40 per cent capacities and threatened the viability of hydro projects.

As these empirical evidences suggests, the only ideal solution to coincide the demand and supply gap in the present scenario is energy mixed with major contribution from hydroelectricity, and rest from renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

Wind Power Wind power having cumulative potential of 3000 MW with major potentials in Tansen

of Palpa, Lomangthang of Mustang and Khumbu regions is still in its experimental phase and lacks a comprehensive wind profile. Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) and some private enterprises have initiated some wind and solar-wind project in a small as well as KW scale. Small wind turbines are not only imported but manufactured locally as well.

Solar Power Currently Solar Thermal (solar water heating system, solar cooker and solar dryer) and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) are two technologies used as solar power in Nepal. The Solar PV technology in Nepal was initiated with Wp scale but is being accelerated into KW and MW scale. The technologies in photovoltaic commercially available are: Mono/Poly Crystalline Silicon – ninety per cent of current market presence with fourteen per cent to eighteen per cent conversion efficiency and ten per cent of current market presence comprising of Amorphous Silicon ~ 6-8 per cent, Cadmium Telluride around eight to nine per cent and Copper indium

gallium (di)selenide CIS/CIGS about eleven to twelve per cent conversion efficiency.

Statistics has shown of over 37500 km² of area with average of 5 kwh/m² /day whereas districts like Surkhet alone has a insolation of 5.959 kwh/m²/day whereas the world leader in solar PV system Germany has an average insolation of only 3.15 kwh/m².Only 2 per cent of such potential area would yield energy more than the present day time energy demand.

Initially people were apprehensive about Solar PV technologies but today it is popular as an alternative source of energy to suffice the need of their electricity. The present cooking gas scarcity has lead the demand unpredictable with bank soft loan and government subsidy has bought a surge in demand. Presently Solar PV technology is being used as home lighting system, home/ office backup system, solar street light system, solar pumping system and grid tied/ interactive system.

Grid tied system is usually an energy export system where the sunlight is converted directly to AC without the presence of

batteries by a central or string inverters and fed to grid upon synchronizing the grid electrical parameters. Grid interactive system is an energy export system with added features like energy storage system, here only the excess energy is fed to grid.

BIPV (Building Integrated PV system) could also gain popularity if introduced as it acts like roof and eliminates the cost of CGI (Corrugated galvanized iron).

In our context Grid tied systems are still limited in Pilot projects, conferences and seminars with some recent announcements on policy only whereas this is being used widely worldwide. These type of system with almost twice the insolation compared to the world leader and above 300 days of sunshine is an ideal solution in depleting the energy crisis.

For example, If 300 MW of PV is to be induced to NEA Utility Grid it would help shrink the load shedding by half and if the same would be possible from the individual roof top grid tied system we could almost be free from day time load shedding.

This will ensure all the office, institutions, hospitals, schools and industries with

Newly introduced 140 Km cross border Transmission line from Muzaffarpur – Dhalkebar which is currently charged with 132kvand extensions to 220kv and finally to 400 KV would have capacity for 1200MW that can be possibly utilized as backup for larger Solar PV plant upto 600MW solar PV plant. uninterrupted power for at least 300 days out of 365 days and ultimately help Run off River (ROR) Hydroelectricity plants (HEP) to reserve pondage facility that would serve to meet the peak power demand in the evening. Most of the NEA hydro power plant has pondage run of the river (PROR) facility of above 4 hours and only Chilime HEP has among private IPPs. Newly introduced 140 Km cross border Transmission line from Muzaffarpur – Dhalkebar which is currently charged with 132kvand extensions to 220kv and finally to 400 KV would have capacity for 1200MW that can be possibly utilized as backup for larger Solar PV plant upto 600MW solar PV plant. Power evacuation is major factor in Solar PV sector in terms of power utilization and minimization of losses.

Birgunj – Hetauda, the major industrial corridor has power demand of around 255MW. Setting up a large solar plant in this area can give big relief to industries of this corridor as power can be evacuated easily. NEA can benefit with solar power plant not only during the day time energy production but also compensating reactive

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Building complex of Centre for Energy Studies at Institute of Engineering with 6.5KW Solar Power System with fourteen years of age and still running without any maintenance or replacement of Solar PV Modules, Batteries and inverters.

power which it suffers more in industries with inductive load bank like motors, compressors, transformers, Computers etc. Under present context NEA has been generating more power to compensate these reactive loads. Today’s modern solar inverters are built to compensate reactive load even during night time when solar generation is zero with Static VAR (Voltage Ampere Reactive) Generator (SVG).

Solar off grid solar PV system in Nepal was initiated by Nepal Telecom (NT) in 1982 for microwave link station in Simbhanjyang from Telettra Italy. Since then NT including Ncell and Smartel are of the largest user of off grid solar system to back up their BTS. Small Solar Home Systems (SSHS) was started by AEPC since 1994 with installation of solar home system in Pulimarang Tanahun. Now above 900,000 SHS have been installed nationwide in rural market. New market now in the village are solar mini-grid with grid connect, solar wind hybrid or solar standalone system that is yet to be explored.

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Based on Indian subcontinent solar pumping system will be largest market in coming days which can gear up our agriculture economy to double its production. India plans to convert 2.3million diesel and electric pump with solar pump with investment of billions of dollars. Bangladesh already has introduced fifty per cent subsidy thirty per cent loan and twenty per cent equity by farmers targeting thousands of pumps. Nepal with agriculture based economy should focus solar PV technology for economic growth. Solar pumping is very potential in fish farming where round the year water is required. The system could also benefit drip irrigation, sprinkle irrigation and ease the requirement of clean drinking water of remote villagers who have to walk several hours to collect the water for their livelihood.

The most popular system is a solar backup system for home and offices. This type of system requires a battery bank as a backup unit where the charges are contributed from the solar PV system through a Charge Controller. The Charge Controller may be

inbuilt in the inverter to accomplish some intelligent function or may be externally mount. There are special solar batteries that come with deep cycle technology for better and enhanced performance and life.

The inverter is a device that chargers the battery and converts the stored DC energy to mains compatible AC. Recent inverters comes with better features with inbuilt MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking system) Charge controllers, higher efficiencies, mains and solar PV charge sharing with solar PV charging priorities and even grid energy saving system during shorter load shedding. There are inverters with all the above functions including excess energy export unit that would export the excess energy to grid hence reconciling the exported and imported energy. The grid export system is yet to be announced by the government.

Among the successful Solar PV installation is Solar PV in the Building complex of Centre for Energy Studies at Institute of Engineering with 6.5KW Solar Power System with fourteen years of age and still running without any maintenance or replacement of Solar PV Modules, Batteries and inverters.

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BUILDING BACK BETTER

safer & greener

WHY SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES ARE IMPORTANT IN POST-EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION TO REDUCE THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT AND RISK OF FUTURE DISASTERS

Photo: Earthquake affected stone houses along SyafrubesiLamtang way, Rasuwa

T

here is much focus on building back better and safer infrastructures after disaster to ensure greater resilience to future disasters, both globally and in Nepal.

However, to be truly effective, it is also necessary to ‘build back greener’ – incorporating environmental elements that use natural systems to reduce future disaster risk, and avoiding inadvertently degrading them during reconstruction.

Healthy natural systems often reduce the risk of disasters: for example, intact forests reduce the risk of shallow landslides and flooding by binding the soil and absorbing rain water. Healthy, vegetated flood plains unimpeded by barriers can help absorb flood water and reduce flooding downstream. On the other hand if natural systems are altered they are less able to play this role.

Recovery and reconstruction efforts should avoid inadvertently degrading the environment and creating new hazards.

This includes extraction of building materials: extensively logging a hillside for timber to rebuild housing may result in future landslides. Mining sand, gravel and stone from rivers in an inappropriate way may cause erosion and cutting of the

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© WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Ar. Chandra Laxmi Hada Going a step further, recovery and

streambed, threatening nearby bridges and buildings; and increased sediment loads in the water which can affect fish and hence livelihoods of fishing communities.

Consequences of bad environmental practices during reconstruction may affect people who have already suffered in the disaster, adding to their woes instead of helping them to build back better. Hence, incorporating green practices in recovery and reconstruction to maintain ecosystem services is very important. It can also go beyond this - if natural systems were degraded before the disaster there may be an opportunity to restore them as part of the recovery and reconstruction effort, in order to reduce future disaster hazards.

Many people in Nepal are highly dependent on locally available natural resources for their wellbeing and livelihoods, including water, fuel, food and building materials.

Restoring degraded ecosystems through sound management and governance can not only reduce disaster risk, but also increase productivity of natural resources.

Spatial planning is very important, to ensure that human activities including settlements, livelihood activities and infrastructure are located in the areas most suited for them.

reconstruction after a large disaster could contribute to global environmental problems, for example through carbon emissions in fossil fuel consumption and forest loss. For construction materials, for example, this can include impacts at any point during the lifecycle: mining raw materials and processing them; transport; construction process; waste and its disposal; and finally impacts when the building is demolished.

GLOBAL STORY OF GREEN RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION World Wildlife Fund US (WWF US) and the American Red Cross developed an innovative partnership after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to help improve the recovery outcomes of the American Red Cross by minimising or eliminating unintended negative effects on the environment. Combining the environmental expertise of WWF with the humanitarian aid expertise of the American Red Cross, the partnership worked in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives to make sure that recovery programs included environmentally responsible practices, which are critical to ensuring a long-lasting recovery for communities. Particular areas of focus were water and sanitation, shelter,

Figure 1: Project management cycle and environmental interventions4.

livelihoods, and disaster risk reduction.

This resulted in the Green Recovery and Reconstruction: Training Toolkit for Humanitarian Aid (GRRT), a training program designed to increase awareness and knowledge of environmentally responsible disaster response and risk reduction approaches.

While it was developed in the Indian Ocean region in response to the tsunami, the GRRT has global application. So far it has been used after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, 2009 earthquake and tsunami in Chile, 2011 floods in Pakistan, 2008 cyclone in Mozambique, and most recently the 2014 Terai floods and 2015 earthquake in Nepal. The GRRT toolkit and associated documents are designed to guide decision-makers, professionals and technicians involved in disaster recovery and reconstruction to make effective environmental interventions at different stages of the disaster management project cycle (Figure 1).

NEPAL POST EARTHQUAKE SITUATION Nepal is in ranked twentieth most vulnerable country in the global hazard map, and thirtieth in terms of waterinduced hazards such as landslides and floods. In seismic vulnerability ranking, Kathmandu valley is in first place. There is a high risk from glacial lake outburst floods.

Uncontrolled fires are a major problem during the dry summer season when temperatures are high and humidity is low.

Climate change is causing or exacerbating some disasters.

damaged beyond repair and 256,697 houses were partly damaged. A large number of people were displaced, forcing them to live in displacement camps; eleven months after the earthquake many people are still living in temporary shelters.

Nearly 7,000 schools were completely or significantly damaged, and many schools are using temporary learning centers with very basic conditions. The total estimated value of damage and loss was just overUS$7 billion, a major proportion of this being housing.

Nepal suffers huge loss of human life, property and ecosystem services due to disasters, and earthquakes are the most destructive. The earthquake of 25 April 2015 and its aftershocks affected 31 of the 75 districts, with 14 being severely impacted. According to the post disaster needs assessment (PDNA) there were over 8,790 human deaths and over 22,300 people injured. A total of 498,852 houses were categorized as fully collapsed or

Nepal is now in the recovery phase and will witness massive recovery and reconstruction efforts across the country in the coming years. Recovery cost is estimated around US$ 589.369 million.

Significant amounts of donor funding have been pledged to help the recovery effort.

With this scale of building reconstruction, using green practices will make a significant difference. The importance of rebuilding in an environmentally responsible manner

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Box 1: Green recovery and reconstruction principles developed by the PDNA and REA teams.

These principles apply across all sectors and humanitarian clusters involved in the Nepal earthquake recovery and reconstruction.

1. Ensure that building design and construction is environmentally sustainable, appropriate to the region, and will withstand future disasters.

2. Enforce environmental impact assessment/initial environmental examination regulations during reconstruction in order to avoid future disasters; and ensure enforcement.

Photo: Suryakunda User Comittee Office Building Damaged by the quake at Syafrubesi, Rasuwa © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Ar. Chandra Laxmi Hada

3. Ensure that fuel wood collection complies with existing forest management plans, and promote alternative energy and energy efficient technologies to reduce pressure on forests.

4. Recycle and reuse debris as much as possible, and ensure that solid waste disposal during the reconstruction phase is managed using environmentally sound practices, including the introduction of new systems.

5. Design water and sanitation interventions to reflect post‐ earthquake changes in water resources and future climate change scenarios, and promote integrated water resource management (IWRM).

6. Conduct land use planning, including zoning, before finalizing the locations of resettlement areas to minimize risks from landslides and floods, and ensure adequate land and natural resources to meet community needs, while minimizing environmental impacts.

Photo: Temporary Shelter and damaged houses along the should be taken by various sectors to was recognized in the PDNA. While the Dhunche - Rasuwagadhi Road, Rasuwa reduce the risk of adverse environmental PDNA covered environmental issues very © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Ar. Chandra Laxmi Hada impacts during recovery (Box 1). soon after the earthquake in an extremely fast multi-sectoral and data-seeking assessment, a rapid environmental assessment (REA) undertaken by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in collaboration with WWF Nepal and the USAID-funded Hariyo Ban Program through a multi-disciplinary team was able to assess actual and potential environmental impacts in more detail. A set of ten principles was developed jointly by the PDNA and REA teams.The REA includes an Action Plan that outlines actions that

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PROMOTING GREEN RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION IN NEPAL Several organisations are working to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of the earthquake during recovery and reconstruction. For example, many organisations took part in the environment and forests team of the PDNA. Community forest user groups are working to prevent unsustainable harvesting for forest products, and illegal settlement of

7. Ensure that reconstruction of roads and hydropower take the opportunity to build back safer and greener, and take account of increasing climate variability.

8. Prioritize support for rapidly restoring livelihoods in order to take pressure off forests and biodiversity after the earthquake; in the longer term ensure livelihood restoration projects reflect principles of resilient development.

9. Build capacity for green recovery and reconstruction, and ensure consultation/coordination with relevant stakeholders in recovery and reconstruction.

10. Take into account the specific rights, needs, and vulnerabilities of women and marginalized people in relation to natural resources during recovery, promote equitable access to recovery.

people displaced by the earthquake. The Department of Forests is looking at how to support sustainable extraction of timber.

The Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, in partnership with several other organizations including the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), is assessing landslides and prioritizing them for treatment. UNEP is convening forums to promote exchanges and collaboration.

Hariyo Ban is undertaking direct earthquake recovery work in four seriously affected districts (Gorkha, Dhading, Rasuwa and Nuwakot) which lie within one of the Program’s working areas. This work includes support to restoring and enhancing livelihoods and food security; protecting vulnerable communities and groups such as women and girls; and promoting disaster risk reduction; applying and demonstrating green practices.

In order to scale green practices Hariyo Ban is building capacity in green recovery and reconstruction with training in various sectors at national, district and local level.

The program is working with the WASH sector since many water supplies were disrupted by the earthquake, and there is a risk of environmental impacts as new water sources are tapped.

Between September 2015 and January 2016, the Program has conducted numerous green recovery and reconstruction trainings, for its consortium and implementing partners at central and district level; foreigners and architects of the Ministry of Urban Development and DUDBC from central and district level; for engineers of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage; and for members of District Disaster Relief Committees. In the months after the earthquake the program held several meetings with UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nepal and humanitarian clusters such as Shelter; Food Security; and Education to

Photo: Metallic Improved Cooking Stove at Rangrung, Gorkha discuss environmental in recovery. © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Banissues Program/ Judy Oglethorpe Training is now planned for government and NGO members of several of these clusters.

Sensitization has been undertaken for the media, who can play a very important role in communicating green recovery information to the general public.

Since there is a huge demand for masons, and extensive mason training is being rolled out in the country with new curricula, a training of trainers is planned for mason trainers with the Council for Vocational Training and Technical Education. Hariyo Ban is also working with DUDBC to provide environmental inputs to mason training curricula, many of which currently have gaps on environmental aspects. Masons can be important change agents as they will be working on constructions sites and making or influencing many local decisions. The Program is also working on other specialized skill based manuals and guidance: for example it provided inputs for the Department of Education’s guide on reconstruction of schools .A guide is being produced on building materials which will help people think through the environmental impacts of a particular building material in the local context.

The intended outcome of this work is to raise awareness and build capacity in these sectors for environmentally responsible reconstruction, enabling professionals,

Photo: Water Tank Tap for School Children at Rangrung, Gorkha © WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program/ Judy Oglethorpe

Photo: Green Reconstruction of Foot Trail from Cash for Work Activity -Simjung VDC, Gorkha craftsmen andHariyo the general public toJudy think © WWF Nepal, Ban Program/ Oglethorpe through the environmental consequences of their recovery work and make changes to reduce adverse environmental impacts.

We will continue to provide support after the training phase by providing technical assistance within the bounds of our capacity.

Beyond this, WWF and Hariyo Ban are undertaking advocacy and outreach on green recovery and reconstruction with influential groups as part of promoting and scaling up adoption of environmentally sound practices. In many cases Nepal has

may 2015 SPACES / 45

robust policies but implementation needs to be tightened; in other cases there is need for policy reform to make them more disaster resilient, climate smart and environmentally sensitive.

CONCLUSION The rapid environmental assessment showed that there is a high risk of environmental damage during recovery and reconstruction. In the early recovery phase there is a very good and urgent opportunity to promote sound practices for reconstruction that take the environment into account, building back better, safer and greener to enhance future resilience of communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.

Professionals, craftspeople, local communities, government organizations, donor organizations, and private citizens can all take specific steps to address environmental sustainability to reduce risk and vulnerability to future disasters. These activities include incorporating sustainable spatial planning; procuring and using environmentally friendly building materials and practices; promoting bioengineering to stabilize surfaces exposed by construction; promoting energy and water efficiencies; re-establishing sustainable livelihoods; improving management of natural resources and eco systems; and adopting environmentally sound water and sanitation approaches that include conservation of water catchments.

All disaster recovery work should take climate change into account: climate change is increasing the risk of some types of disasters, and exacerbates the impacts of others (including earthquakes). And recovery should always be sensitive to gender issues, and to social inclusion. Strong leadership is required to promote green practices, and many reconstruction stakeholders play an important role in this. The REA has demonstrated that all sectors risk having negative impacts during recovery and reconstruction, but there are huge opportunities to build back not only better and safer but also greener, for a more resilient Nepal.

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Photo: Green recovery and Reconstruction Training to WASH Sector Š WWF Nepal, Hariyo Ban Program

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Impact

Earthquake

Safety Nepal TEXT: Ananta Ram Baidya, P.E.

A

veteran school teacher asked: “Please, can you show us how to make our school buildings safe from earthquakes so that we do not lose an entire generation of our future in the next earthquake?” during a need assessment trip to his village in Kavre.

To address that very appropriate, important question and to attempt to improve public awareness, this commentary relies very heavily on the author’s experiences in Nepal pre- April 25, 2015 earthquake and subsequent observation of damage from his June 2015 visit. Social engineering, politics, events and attitudes and other human aspects of Nepali cultural and beliefs are considered so “Public Safety for All”, including for people with disabilities and the elderly, becomes a reality.

It receives lip service and remains unfulfilled.

The recent tragic 2015 Gorkha-Nepal provides a window of opportunity to “right the ship”.

Earthquakes in Nepal are historical realities.

Future earthquakes should not, however, create loss of life, limb and property as reported.

“Public safety for All” must transcend other

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interests and be assured for all by authorities charged to protect, provide and promote the well-being of all Nepal residents. The battle cry, “SESIMC, SEISMIC, SEISMIC”, should persist in all future construction, restoration and retrofit. Silence from all stakeholder, design professionals such as architects, engineers, developers and construction industry professionals cannot make a safer tomorrow!

Nepali chronicles mention destructive earthquake from as early as 1255 A.D. Past earthquake events warn of the potential damage and destruction from high intensity earthquakes in the Himalayan region. The 1408 earthquake reportedly destroyed the Patan MachendraNath Temple. Earthquake of 1681 and 1810 are mentioned as significant earthquakes. People share experiences from the 1934 Bihar Nepal Earthquake (90 salko bhukampa, estimated at 8.3 magnitude) . It destroyed much of the then Kathmandu and forced reconstruction.

Juddha Sadak is the result. The1833 earthquake, estimated magnitude 7.8, is remembered.

The April 25, 2015 Gorkha-Nepal Earthquake demonstrated once again the poor performance of structures in the village of Nepal as expected. Structures of heavy mud and stone or rubble masonry have historically performed poorly during earthquake events. Unmanaged and controlled growth in the Valley was always a recipe for disaster. Lack of unenforced comprehensive pre-disaster mitigation programs resulted in poor post disaster performance. Misunderstood priorities, misconceptions, missed opportunities and mismanagement persist. Pre-disaster mitigation issues were ignored Reviewing and correcting some of these causes will improve “Public Safety for All”.

In 2011, “Perspective on the Safety and Security of Heritage Sites and Structures in Nepal”, discussed the seismic vulnerability of heritage and historic sites and structures in Kathmandu Valley was a presentation in Nepal. In 2015, those fears became a reality. Many historical and heritage sites and structures have now been either completely destroyed or are on braces and life support. The Kastamandapa has been destroyed. The KalamochanTemple

by Bagmati River Bank has suffered a similar fate. Many temples structures in Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapurare damaged or on life support and braces. Sanhku is a totally destroyed. Village after village are no more. Fear of landslides persist.

another. This enables passage to inner courtyards. Imagine these braces coming lose during future after-shocks. Adjoining buildings will collapse on one another, resulting in same fate as those structures that came tumbling down, have been damaged or destroyed. These situations create public hazard and erodes public safety.

School buildings visited at Kavre fundamentally lacked seismic resisting structural systems. School buildings built using typical standard government design or international aid, performed miserably.

These building systems, though engineered, demonstrated systemic seismic design systems flaws and oversights. They were inadequately designed for earthquake forces and local site conditions. Such buildings were safe for children and tagged “green” by Government inspectors. This is “criminal” negligence!

Children, the next generation, could have suffered mass casualties from collapsed mud rubble walls, inadequate anchorage, failed or inadequate or non-existent load paths and transfer mechanisms.

Green tag, yellow tag, or red tag?

Site visits, observations, media reports and public social media chatter indicates total misunderstanding of “Rapid Visual Assessment” Methodology. (RVA) and tagging of buildings after disasters.

Volunteerism of young engineers during RVA training needed to classify buildings received heavy media coverage. Unfortunately, readily available trainings on public safety generally occur before disasters. RVA is never VOLUNTARY but MANDATORY. Enthusiastic engineers, young and seasoned alike, deputized by the sole authorized entity, the Government, prior to disasters is “pre-disaster mitigation” and planning.

Such deputized and trained manpower would then correctly conduct the necessary RVA on each and every building once initial and primary search and rescue phase is complete. Required technical manpower need to be trained, updated and certified for the next events so that the “green, yellow or red” tag have substance and authenticity and are used properly to determine public safety.

Some recent rebuilding efforts at heritage sites and structures are using materials of construction that have proven record of very low tolerance to earthquakes.

Scientifically educated architects and engineers should know that this remedy is flawed. The ultimate objective is to maintain the old ambiance and looks of the heritage sites and structures and to design based on modern earthquake science. While quickly patching the wounds, authorities fail to understand that more people will be at risk from the next unpredictable seismic event.

Many buildings and structures around Kathmandu Valley are braced against one

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most floors of a 5 story buildings being used as a hospital. Such is the reality in many hospital/medical facilities. These facilities, termed ”essential facilities”, must serve the sick, the critically injured and the dying especially during disasters and must meet very stringent public safety requirements designed so they can remain operational after a disastrous earthquakes or fires.

These requirements for “essential facilities” involvestringent structural safety, fire safety and disabled accessibility different from those for residential or office building structures.

Many hospitals facilities received damage and became non-operational during the earthquake. Most private hospital in Kathmandu are housed in facilities not designed as essential facilities. This area also remains unregulated and existing laws unenforced.

YouTube Video showed the collapse of the tall Morang College building in Kathmandu.

This building appears like an apartment or residential building. It probably got converted to a college. Saturday earthquake occurrence meant that no student were in class. Otherwise, an another group of Nepal’s future would have been lost. These conversions should not be allowed without evaluation by certified, qualified professions with the proper knowledge.

Safety requirements for educational institutional use is very different from those for residential use. Should children from elementary to university level be placed at such converted facilities, knowing now the dangers and hazards caused by earthquakes? If losing an entire generation of Nepal’s future is a probability, the risk are too high. How many such conversions are there in Nepal? Too many! Many where yourchildren go to school at elementary to college levels. They have not been regulated by the concerned authorities!

Are these issues even discussed in the current legal Nepal National Building Code94? They are not and they should be!.

Imagine your loved one or your own parent, in intensive care unit located on the upper

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The Kathmandu and Patan Fire Stations are also “essential facilities” . They were housed in an unreinforced masonry building before the earthquake. Both these facilities suffered major damages during the quake. The Patan facility is now completely collapsed.

Kathmandu’s has got major cracks in it, making it unsuitable for occupancy.

Still, Kathmandu Fire Station hasn’t been relocated even though subsequent aftershocks could be dangerous.

Understanding that “essential facilities” such as schools, hospitals, first responder facilities ensure public safety during and after earthquake events will force design and construction based on higher standards than ordinary residences or offices. Maybe this earthquake will result in changes that will start to classify buildings based on use and make seismic requirements for essential facilities such as schools, hospitals and first responder facilities different than for other uses.

A young bio-medical engineer found that patients who had been victims of the earthquake were discharged from a Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, but they had no place. Volunteerism was noticed at its very best. Through his foundation, he took 2 such indigent patients. He now services

29 but in a residential building where public safety is still an issue. Younger generations are helping each other and the community to cope with the situation created by the earthquake.

In 2012, a course was developed for engineering and architectural students and focused on “Fundamental Concepts of Land Development, Building and Disabled Accessible Codes” for Nepal. It aimed to discuss with the younger generation of engineers and architects issues of public safety so that tomorrow’s infrastructures would provide improved “Public Safety for All” based on codes and their applications.

Unfortunately, this course was discontinued after 2 semesters. Should this syllabus be taught in the engineering and architectural educational institutions of Nepal, given current realities? This course, post the earthquake, is extremely relevant and essential for Nepal.

This earthquake provides the opportunity for a dramatic shift by which Nepal looks at “Public Safety for All”. This earthquake provides a living laboratory for the education and training for young engineers, architects and those interested in public safety can feel “Public Safety for All”.

Expertise in seismic engineering is an experience based process and must be learned through mentoring and full understanding of code requirements based on the material of construction. If this earthquake experience can be used to pay special emphasis on seismic design and construction, load transfer mechanisms a remarkable achievement can be achieved in how engineering and architectural education is planned, programmed and executed in Nepal by teachers and student alike.

will be needed to make construction in Nepal seismically resistant and address all issues of public safety. Local builders may have developed methodologies that included some form of seismic resistance construction in Kathmandu Valley using materials and construction techniques known at that time. Tradition ways of construction can and should be evaluated for its seismic vulnerability.

After experiencing the unique 2015 Gorkha-Nepal Earthquake, the public needs to understand that new unnecessary made-made hazards will have been imposed upon them if seismic, fire-life safety and disabled accessibility issues are not addressed immediately. Decision makers and professionals cannot be place existing lives and the future generations at

undue risk. Otherwise, future earthquakes will result in unnecessary deaths, major destruction of life limb and property.

Earthquakes do not kill people, seismically non-resistant buildings and structures do.

If life and living has any value in Nepalese culture and society, death of 10,000 people is unacceptable in these modern times! Planning for governance, people centric heritage and culture reconstruction, conducted after comprehension of the impacts upon the social, economic and cultural realities of Nepal as a result to this earthquake and taking into account public safety including seismic safety will be a prudent move. This will initiate “Public Safety for All”, especially the future generation of Nepalese. Maybe that teacher’s question will then be answered?

Many intellectuals in academia and elsewhere that will study this earthquake.

Technical recommendations and design methodologies, based on mathematical models, and theories, etc. will be developed.

This article did not focused on that side of the equation as current science of earthquake engineering is developed.

Modern knowledge, means and methods

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Architecture

Building Materials and

Alternative

Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB)

http://greenevolution.ru/2012/11/28/v­amerikanskij­standart­po­strojmaterialam­dobavlena

Made by compressing combination of earthen materials and stabilizers (cement/lime), the CSEB provides durability, water resistance properties and compressive strength.

Therefore, proper soil identification to reach for its optimum level is considered important.

Else poor stabilization amount may result to poor quality CSEB blocks. The soil used to make CSEB can be extracted from the site itself, considering logistical costs to cut down.

These are great alternatives than country fired bricks that create pollution and 20-40 per cent cheaper than burnt clay bricks. In extreme climate conditions, more insulation can be added accordingly.

Prefabricated Material Prefabrication is the method of assembling components that have already been manufactured. While the conventional method allows constructing raw materials into different component in a structure, like ceiling, walls, door, etc. Prefabricated materials are already manufactured in a factory, transported into the site and assembled as a part of construction.

Such products deviate away from the ‘Do It Yourself’ culture.

Some of the prefabricated materials include:

a. Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) While its recyclability may not be very high, it’s Global Warming Potential (GWP) is lower than that of the many types of foam. EPS allows only low level of moisture to pass by, making it extremely minimal and less prone to moisture related damages. EPS that is used for prefabricated homes and buildings usually come in different sizes of panels and regular standards of walls, ceiling, and many more. http://www.encon.co.uk/products/view/217/kay­metzeler­kay­cel­eps­29a­l

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CLC Blocks

http://www.bpindex.co.uk/supplier/10896/

Cellular light weight concrete (CLC) is an easy substitute for conventional building material like concrete or even bricks. CLC reduces the deadweight of structure blocks and its optimum use would be in high rise construction. Because these blocks have varying density from 800 kg/m3 to 1800 kg/m3, it offers 500 per cent more thermal insulation. If concrete were to offer similar thermal insulation as CLC blocks, the wall would be five times thick and ten times more material is used. Such engineered material requires minimal waterproofing and plastering.

Light Gauge Steel Framing

http://www.buildingmaterials. co.uk/h­and­h­celcon­standard­ aerated­3­6n­concreteblock.html?version=2

Light gauge steel framing are applied in both commercial and residential buildings. These materials have high tensile strength and take advantage of being light weight. As these materials do not rot, decompose, shrink or warp like organic and natural materials, there is very less cost of maintenance and damages due to moisture. Unlike conventional building materials, LGS considers time and cost to be very efficient. It is also fire resistant and said to be a flexible material for designs.

c. Cement boards Cement boards have popular and flexible applications- from residential homes, hospitals to hydropower site offices, due to its durability, cost and time efficiency. Cement boards are usually considered due to its long lasting performance. Although it is not a waterproof material, it is highly resistant to moisture and dries up easily as well. Because of its long lasting performance, it is costlier than other types of gypsum board. It is heavier and cannot be handled by a single person. http://www.chinaqualitycrafts.com/images­fiber­cement­flat­board/page7.html

b. Poly Urethane Foam (PUF) PUF are manufactured in panels and slabs into desired thickness and sizes. Due to its high thermal conductivity, its popular for its excellence in energy saving properties. PUF panel and slabs are preengineering and are quality controlled for consistency.

Because they are manufactured in standard and custom sizes, the construction is quicker and efficient.

http://www.okorder. com/p/office­ building­exterior­wall­ fiber­cement­board­ cladding_507305.html

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Straw Bale Straw Bales are the waste product of the harvested grain, usually used for feeding livestock else used for Straw bale houses. The construction of straw bale walls is moderately easy for new builders, therefore it requires a few skilled labors for supervision. The thickness of straw bales are 18 inches (1.5 feet) providing good insulation than most building materials and fibres, good thermal mass once they are plastered. It has high sound absorption coefficient.

http://www.gardenvalleyhomestead.com/wp­content/uploads/2015/02/Squaredbales.jpg

Rammed Earth Construction Rammed Earth Construction has been used in 6 continents in various climates due to excellent durability. This building technology provides good thermal mass and insulation, keeping the structure cool in summer and warm in winter. Compared to other alternative building technologies, rammed earth building construction requires specific equipment and more labor. This construction may be favorable choice for Nepal in terms of the availability of local materials (such as mud, stone chips and stone aggregate) and climate compatibility. https://ghanamud.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/formwork.jpg https://canadiandirtbags.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/pic33.jpg

Earthbag Unlike straw bale construction, Earthbags do not have problems with moisture, therefore are suitable for areas susceptible for rain and flooding. Earthbags also respond to uncomfortable climates, if the Earthbags are filled with insulating material. Earthbags may be an inexpensive and ecological building material option; here the time is mainly consumed in filling up the bags and properly stacking them up to the desired design of the structure, and further plastering. If the materials used for the Earthbags is carefully reviewed for climate compatibility, this construction might be useful for Nepal yet it’s still experimental.

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Nepatop 1. Tell something about your company and its product.

Nepatop, a construction-oriented business house in Nepal established by a group of young entrepreneur in the name of Nepal Hilltop Industries Pvt. Ltd. to manufacture plastic storage tanks in Manamaiju-6, in 1999. Later on grew up as a leader of plastic manufacturing and processing industries of Nepal with a brand name Nepatop, possessing different manufacturing units and wide range of products including Plastic Storage Tanks, Compost Bins, Dust Bins, Road Dividers, Urban Bio Gas Plant, PPR Pipes & Fittings, UPVC Pipes & Fittings and HDPE Pipes.

Products are strictly made from top quality raw materials specially procured from internationally acclaimed manufacturer around the world which ensures the optimum quality production. We keenly observe the superior quality of our products as per international quality standards and

believe in considering the quality as the next cornerstone of our huge success in the local market. Last but not the least we have advanced technologies, well equipped laboratories and a team of trained and highly qualified manpower that have adequate experience in dealing with different types of plastic products

good. Overall production and distribution channel has been affected.

2. How is its market presence?

4. How is the market competition at present?

Among out products, Water Tank has 35 per cent of market share, pipes and fittings have 75 per cent while PVC pipes have 45 per cent of market share. At the same time HDPE has its own market share at rural hilly areas. HDPE is also generating its market at Melamchi project at Kathmandu.

It is also growing at some project works at Biratnagar and Birgunj.

3. How is the current Nepali market scenario? How can it be improved if changes are required?

After earthquake followed by month’s long blockade along with load shedding and fuel crisis the current fiscal year has a real negative impact in overall market. Therefore the market scenario is obviously not so

We think that the present market scenario will remain the same unless we start a new fiscal year which of course is being awaited by most of the business and trading houses.

Market competition is a good thing. It is a must as it generates quality in the market. Without a competitor the on the whole demand and supply will remain unmanaged. As it is said a single race is not interesting therefore we need a competition and competitor for a healthy market. At the same time the market must be transparent and quality should be maintained.

5. How do you suggest people to choose building materials?

Customers or buyers should have a clear idea about the products and its quality.

Products should be reliable. They should also have a clear picture about the after sales services.

Natural Furnishing 1. Tell something about your product and its market presence.

Though having a long market presence Natural Furnishing was formed in 2008. The company has been working since 2000 with different names. The company is an expert in prefab and steel structure,

aluminum, interior decoration, furniture and furnishing, flooring and partition, false ceiling and aluminum composite panel etc. Along with experienced team of qualified civil engineers, interior designers, supervisors and dedicated workers the company has contributed a lot in the market with quality product and effective services. The company offers integrated services, customized to each client’s individual and specific needs in different areas.

2. What is your experience in the construction field?

We are more focused on Prefab work.

At the mean time as the market trend is gradually shifting to the prefab work compared to the brick work we are getting more inquired regarding the prefabrication of house, office building, schools and hospitals. Similarly the construction work is rising compared to the past few months however it is still in need to take a pace.

My experience in the construction field is

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since many years and I feel that it needs to be more healthier and there needs to be appropriate plans and policies from the government level to make it more systematic.

We also are in need of trained and skilled man power. The demand of prefab is increasing and at the same time the need to get skilled manpower is increasing at the same pace. Our customers are still in doubt whether a building more than that of two storey is feasible or not due to the lack of proper resources and manpower.

We currently are doing a number of projects some of them are Euro Kids, IEC Fashion Collage, Kasthmandap, Raj Overseas, Satya Sai Kendra, S.E.A Academy, Prabhu Management etc.

3. How is the market competition at present? How can it be improved if changes are required?

After the earthquake people are willing to invest but they are in dilemma to make the right choice. Unhealthy competition has deep rooted our society making it more complicated for investors to make a good choice. People are more diverted towards flashy advertisement and are not able to make right investment. My personal view on that is people should have a wide view on of the choice they are going to make, they must also be clear about how long the product lasts and their investment won’t go on vain. In terms of traders and companies they should try and maintain quality in the material they supply such that there will be healthier business environment. Even the government should also watch the market and encourage quality product and services.

4. How do you suggest people to choose building materials?

We personally want to suggest that people should first get a wider knowledge of the product they are going to choose. Their choice should not be based on commercial advertisement but experiences from the market. They should believe in hard and smart work. While investing they should be aware about the guarantee time they will get that is after sales services also.

We are here with a long term experience and we have an experience of fifty years in our products. There are companies which have recently joined the market but the buyers should be experienced enough to know the product through expert advice and suggestions. They must choose quality rather than cheaper materials.

They must cooperate with experienced workers and technician so that the buildings and interiors can get excellent finishing. People should also be aware of inexperienced technician in the market.

KSHAMADEVI GROUP 1. Tell something about your product and its market presence.

Kshamadevi Group supplies various building materials of good quality. Our company currently supplies UPVC Windows, Doors, Partitions and Roofing Sheets, Aluminium Profiles, False Ceiling which includes Gypsum Board and 2 x 2 PVC Laminated Ceiling with accessories, Prefab Panel, Cement Board and MRI Roofing which are used for construction as well as interior designing purposes. We also construct prefab houses or just supply the materials required to build such houses.

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With much effort Kshamadevi Group has been able to make a mark in the field of UPVC products in Nepali Market. UPVC products are stronger and cheaper than wooden products. Our company aspires to help people build strong and safe constructions either residential or others such as schools, hospitals and so on. After the devastating earthquake we are trying to make Nepali people aware of Prefabricated House which is also popular as “Prefab House” or “Earthquake Resistant House”.

Till now we have constructed many Prefab Houses for Schools, Colleges, Hospitals and many more.

2. What is your experience in the construction field?

With the effort of our expertise for last

Fifteen years, we have become able to establish distinctive image of Kshamadevi Group for quality and standard. From the days when we embarked into this business, we have thrived through different challenges. We have been trying to make a trading hub of building materials in order to make them easy available. We are very much dedicated towards social responsibilities.

3. How is the current Nepali market scenario? How can it be improved if changes are required?

The devastating earthquake made us conscious about the insecure housing prevailed in our country. From the schools where our children study, hospitals where

we go for treatment to our residential structures are insecure structures. Since long time, we have been trying to make our people aware about the concept of “Prefab Houses”. But now we are doing this rigorously after the destructive earthquake besides supplying various building materials. With the increase in population density and especially after earthquake, our supply of UPVC products and Prefab Constructions has increased.

As we witnessed how newly built as well as old buildings collapsed due to the earthquake every company contributing in this sectors must be concerned about their product quality and as far as possible provide technical expertise.

3. How is the market competition at present?

We too have competitors and competition in the market. Apparently, the more the competition, the more can customers have options in terms of price and quality.

But, it is sad to express that unhealthy competition has made customers confused about the quality and standards of products. Although some of our products are little expensive than others in the market, we always believe in quality of products and supply the same kind.

4. How do you suggest people to choose building materials?

and security of people in the building whether it is residential home, schools, hospitals or other buildings for other purposes. Even when choosing the materials for stylish and modern housing the cost, quality and durability must be considered. By choosing quality products from reliable company, we have to build back safe, secure and strong Nepal and handover it to the next generation.

Regards, Hom Bahadur Basnet Chairman Kshamadevi Group Kaushaltar, Bhaktapur, Nepal

While choosing building materials everyone’s first priority should be safety

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Documenting history through new sources

TORANA

TEXT: Swarnim Raj Lamsal

I

s history drawn only from books?

Not really. Every seemingly useless artifact can show some pictures of history. They can exhibit something very interesting about our past. For instance, if we understand the languages written in the stone inceptions of many temples, we'll definitely have broader knowledge about history. Thus, keeping such realizations in mind, Gautam Vajracharya, one of the country's foremost art historians views Torana – the decorative framework or a gate surrounding a deity or employed above a temple doorway- in a way that sheds some important understanding in Nepali art and history.

Gautam Vajracharya is a founding member of Sansodan Mandal- a group that is established with an object to provide some undiscovered facts of history through

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research in general and teaching Sanskrit in particular. There are so many facts that might have been hidden in the history and the Mandal tries to unravel them. With the experience garnished from it and his own knowledge, he presents Torana in a new light –as a cloud gate. Through his intensive study he notices that there is no piece of literary writing in Sanskrit, where there is no mention of rain. On further investigation, he studies a book "Vrihal Samhita", where he saw a chapter called “Gharbhe Lakshan“(Symptoms of conception). However, the symptoms relate clouds and made sky the mother.

Vajracharya, then studies Ajanta- a highly decorative art- in this light and saw that it made sense; or else, Ajanta had been so difficult for him to interpret. He saw animals like elephant, crocodile, fish, garud,

trees in Ajanta and believed that they are metaphors to express about rain, as they are closely connected to water.

He continued such studies, completed his maters in Art history from University of Wilkinson and turned on to Torana for its better understanding and interpretation.

According to Vajracharya, sky gets pregnant and that is expressed by clouds in its various forms. He opines that the entire world follows two periods every year: Hibernation (the sleeping period) and Aestivation (the working / waking period).

Hibernation generally falls during the period of snow fall in the west and rain fall in the eastern context. He further says that rain fall is actually the child of the sky goddess, who has now gone for hibernation after ten months of gestation.

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Relating this to the concept of Torana, Vajracharya argues that since temple are considered to be heaven on earth; their gates should be ways to heaven, which is, without doubt, the clouds.

When clouds are represented at gate (Torana), then it becomes mandatory they be represented with all those forms they might take. Here, also he noticed that the common images are that of those animals, which are in one way or the other related to water and rain.

With the examples of many temples (for instance those at Yetkha, Itumbahal), he shows how temples have Kirti much, Makar face to show they are creatures of clouds. For him, “Torana is the cloud gate. Following the age old concept of atmospheric gestation, artists decorated the cloud gate with various mythical creatures expected to be seen in the pregnant sky.�

Now, why might have such representation keen done? For this, Vajracharya argues that the entire culture of South Asia is established on rain. Rain, cloud and sky hold a unique significance in our context. From avid description of Meghdoot (Megh-cloud in Sanskrit) in Ramayan to birth of Kumar from river these celestial bodies have been perennial sources of reverence in our culture and hence Torana form a perennial motif of our art.

Therefore, he requests us to go beyond the common sources of history and keep on researching; for anything can be source of history. He also suggests teaching history and art from basic level on a very practical basis (i.e. through exposures and visits). If done so, he believes our culture can maintain our history and vice versa.

(The article is based on Vajracharya’s presentation on Torana at Martin Chautari and an interview done by the author of the article)

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Interior

Combining the Right

Colors Color combinations can be difficult to achieve; two colors that look good when viewed separately may not have the same effect when placed next to one another. This is because the effect a color has in the presence of another is always different.

Choosing a group of colors and hoping they work together is a risk designers are not willing to take. This is when we should refer to the basics of color theory to always pick the right colors.

In addition we need to understand the effect each color has on our emotions and the designed space, then only we can move forward by using a combination of colors to create a visually appealing space.

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Color Harmony In color theory, color harmony is the basic technique for creating color combinations. Two or more colors existing in harmony is always aesthetically pleasing to the eye as they relate to each other creating a perfect balance.

Harmony ensures that all the colors that comprise a color scheme share some mutual attributes such as hue, value

and chroma. The concept of color harmony is the basis of understanding the theories associated with arranging colors into practical color schemes.

Color Wheel- the tool for combining colors The color wheel is an abstract illustrative representation of 12 basic hues of visible spectrum around a circle. First developed

by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, the color wheel is the basis for all color theory as it is designed in such a way that any two colors that we pick from it will look good together. Color wheel is the basic tool for establishing color schemes which are based on the harmonious relationship between colors. These schemes are used by designers to set a rule of thumb to build a design.

Types of Color Schemes 1. Monochromatic Color Scheme: Monochromatic scheme uses a single color with variations in terms of tints, tones, and shades. For an elegant and subtle design, this onecolor combination can be used as it produces a soothing effect because of the unity between colors. Being a simple and balanced scheme, it may be easy to manage but can appear rather monotonous as it lacks contrast. Adding some variety in intensity, texture, and form can give new meaning to the space.

For example: Various tints, tones and shades of blue.

3. Complementary color scheme: Complementary color scheme comprises of two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.

(For example: Red and Green) When these colors are placed together, the inherent high contrast makes them appear intense and dramatic drawing attention.

When a forceful visual impact is required, one color is used as the background while its complementary color as the dominant to highlight the important features. The amber of sun against the blue backdrop of the sky is the perfect example of complementary color scheme.

2. Analogous color scheme: Analogous color scheme uses three or more colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel. (For example: Red- Violet, Violet, Blue-Violet). Designers select one of the colors as a dominant theme and accent with the other analogous hues.

This scheme is more vibrant than the monochromatic, however, use of many colors must be avoided as it may misbalance the harmony. The primary source of inspiration for this color scheme is definitely the nature with its infinite color combinations. The various shades of green plants around u s against the blue sky is the perfect example of this color scheme.

4. Triadic scheme: Any three hues that are equidistant in the color wheel compose a triadic color scheme.(For example: Orange, Green and Violet)Sharp in color contrast while retaining harmony, it can produce some of the most diverse color schemes.

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5. Split complementary color scheme: Rather than being exact opposites or complementary, the split complementary scheme uses the combination of a color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary. (For example: Red, BlueGreen and Yellow-Green) While achieving the desired contrast, it offers wider variations between the hues.

6. Tetrad (double complementary) color scheme: Tetrad color scheme comprises of four colors that are complementary color pairs.

(For example: Red, Green, Yellow and Violet). Because of the double contrast, the scheme offers the most in variety but balance is very difficult to achieve.

7. Square: Four colors equidistant on the color wheel form a square scheme. (For example: Green, Red, Yellow- Orange and BlueViolet). This scheme can also be thought of as a balanced double-complement color scheme, although the colors are not adjacent. To achieve a harmonious scheme, the warm and the cool colors should be balanced.

Use of color combinations in Architecture: Bricks may shape a building but colors enhance the form as well as the interior space and bring it to life. In architecture and interior design, designers experiment with the interdependent mix of design elements- structure, form, space, light, texture and color to create a masterpiece. Most often overlooked, color is by far the most powerful tool in the design process because of the diverse roles it can offer.

Color comprises of myriad of objects and surfaces ranging from the building to the interior space including the walls, carpets and even furniture.

Hence, the wall colors and other

materials should be perceived as a single color composition.

Designers use color scheme as per the effect they want to create. Color combinations can be used as an architectural design ingredient to manipulate the space itself. It can be used for focusing or diverting attention from a certain element.

Moreover, colors can be used strategically to either break up and define the space or unify the space and knit it together.

Having the power to stimulate our mind and soul, colors have been used from time immemorial to create a positive energy around us. With the use of right color combination, we can create the perfect balance in our lives.

Picture: Diverting attention Using a monochrome scheme, the organic and muted colors along with the rich materials give the otherwise complex design a sense of order and tranquility.

Picture: Unifying the space Using split- complementary colors (blue, yellow- orange and red-orange) to highlight the rich natural wood tone.

The splash of the contrasting colors throughout the space knits every element together.

Picture: Focusing attention The multi-color analogous color scheme (orange, yellow, yellow-green, blue) gives the space a tropical feel.

The full intensity of warm as well as cool colors in perfect harmonystirs up excitement.

Picture: Breaking up and defining the space Square colors (yellow-orange, violet, red and green) have been used to break down the space while still conjoined at some point.

The vibrant contrast of the variety of colors enliven the restaurant.

From the Shelf

Architecture of Santiniketan Tagore's Concept of Space

Architecture of Santiniketan: Tagore's Concept of Space is a search for the clues hidden in Rabindranath Tagore's philosophy and architecture that will link the past with the present. This book highlights Tagore's architectural vision through his writings.

A product of immense research and emotions gathered over fifteen years, Architecture of Santiniketan: Tagore’s Concept of Space extends beyond brick and mortar in an effort to understand the significance of the creation of space. It is an expression of the amalgamation of music, art, literature, poetry, letters and functional ornamentation. The book explains the different levels of this form of architecture and evaluates it in the context of the present artistic and cultural environment, while connecting it with the Bengal Renaissance.

Creativity permeates every object it comes across in its process of expression. In our mundane world of experience, however, we often tend to categorise and divide the creative fields in smaller fragments and prefer to believe that any one of these is essentially incompatible with the other.

Tagore had been acclaimed in his lifetime for his multifarious dimensions of ideas, expressions and actions, not to speak of his varied innovations in the domain of literature. That is one of the reasons why he had to proclaim a number of times publicly that in his essential being he was a poet.

Besides the act of composition of poems

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that by common parlance mates one a poet, a poetic sensibility pervades all activities and expressions of Tagore. It does not pertain to mere mode or style of expression; it is embedded in the basic philosophy that works at the back of every articulation— activist or artistic.

Tagore had no formal training in many of the fields he traversed, like architecture.

He virtually had little experience even in a mundane enterprise like house building till his fiftieth year, around the time he came to settle down at Santiniketan. When his own two-storeyed Bichitra building was being built within the Jorasanko premises on a plot of land endowed by his father Debendranath in 1897—Tagore was a resident at Silaidaha then—it was found on completion that there had been no space provided for the staircase! What is rather striking is that right from the early days of his transfer of residence to Santiniketan he did not go for brick-built houses in his ashram, rather he preferred the Santal style of mud houses—some even doublestoreyed—to begin with thatched roofs— gradually accepting tin or corrugated ones to avoid the hassles of redoing these every year. Even when money was not a big

on the growing minds of the students an appreciation for any good work of art.

Kala-Bhavana quite justifiably, has been the nursery of artistic and architectural creativity and innovations in Santiniketan.

In fact, what was once confined to the enterprises of the institution and its inmates has by now reached the circle of inhabitants of the locality and its vicinity with a renewed interest.

constraint, he built an exquisite mud house, Shyamali, with tar finished engravings and reliefs on its external walls—a practice experimented earlier at Kalo Bari, now a part of Kala-Bhavana.

plantation of trees, efforts undertaken by Tagore and his institution. He is reported to have said that the height of any building should not have gone above that of the tallest trees in the vicinity.

The first building in Santiniketan that gave the place its name was made of brick and mortar. It is interesting to note that a spirit of assimilation of styles had been present in Santiniketan architecture right from the very beginning. The Greco-Roman columnbased portico with an overlooking roofbalcony—which was subsequently enclosed as a room—looked like a nineteenth century British country house; the circular staircase was reminiscent of Dutch buildings and the long veranda connecting rooms was suggestive of the traditional Bengali datan (a brick-built home). The best example of bringing together different architectural styles, however, has been the grand Udayana in the Uttarayana complex. Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu styles exist there by the side of SouthEast Asian, Tibeto-Burman decorative patterns both at the exterior and the interior.

Space in architecture was for him like leisure in a work crammed life. Frames such as these mostly conformed to geometric designs and proportions, but Udayana stands out as an example of asymmetric structures also.

The story of Santiniketan's metamorphosis, from a scarce rain zone to a ram prone one had been the result of programmed

Innovations in planning and designing of the ashram as well as the Uttarayana compounds are indeed too many to be mentioned. In both these areas doorless brick or concrete gateways were used at times as dividing lines between two or more zones in the complex, at others to hold creepers and let them run along these, adding an additional beauty to the surroundings as also to offer shade during the summer days.

Bhavana, Patha-Bhavana and Santoshalaya add much to the artistic ambience of the place. Even a less important venue like the Panthanivas or Dinantika was decorated with wall paintings, perhaps only to impress

If Tagore sought freedom from the stereotype, it should not be lost sight of that the basic principles of geometric proportions were maintained meticulously.

The architecture of Udayana offers a feast in bringing out the principle of proportions, its geometry and mutations of forms still retaining a balance in distribution of space in its projection. Now, if the maths of its ratio could be worked out, then and only then would we be able to hear its music; if its geometry of proportions could be deciphered, then and only then could we appreciate its sheer poetry. Like the architecture at Santiniketan, this book, too, has developed gradually; nowhere is there a sense of definite closure.

The Puranas and Indian folktales educate people through examples, metaphors, descriptions and the like. Similarly, in describing the history of the Bengal Renaissance, Santiniketan's architecture perhaps acts as a metaphor, narrating in a concrete form the passage between tradition and modernity. Santiniketan's architecture is not limited to its bricks and mortars but extends way beyond, in multiple dimensions. It is the silent expression of the coming together of music, art, literature, poetry, letters, functional ornamentation, festivals and so on.

In Rabindranath's thoughts, philosophy, history and science, combine with the details of day-to-day Irving to create a unique vision that is reflected in his entire body of works and in the architecture he conceptualised. may 2015 SPACES / 67

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ARTScape

“Tatva” In Sagar Manandhar's paintings, forms, lines and colors are harmonized with an aerial perspective view. His characters and images are from his own dream land, where he has created a miniature form of living and non-living characters. The recurrent motif of geometric forms and elements of “Tatva” reflect as the main motif on his canvas.

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Sagar Manandhar Born in Kathmandu, Sagar has completed his BFA and MFA in Painting with Gold Medal from Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He has a credit of eleven solo shows in Kathmandu and has fully participated in the 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival (KIAF) Kathmandu 2012 and 15th Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh at Shilpakala Academy 2012. He is currently a lecturer at Kathmandu University School of Arts, Centre for Art and Design. He was awarded the First Position in National Exhibition of Fine Art organised by Nepal Academy of Fine Arts in 2011, and has designed the flag of Kathmandu Metropolitan City in 2002.

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SPACES

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What motivated you to pursue photography?

Having worked in development and communications sector for quite a while, picking up photography came naturally. My work takes me outside this urban valley into rural areas, and photography became a powerful tool of documentation. Even regardless of work, I am passionate about photography.

I have taken basic trainings on the technicalities of photography, and besides that I try to read about it and discuss the implementations with my photographer friends.

How do you think SPACES Photo Contest will contribute to the scenario of young aspiring women photographer like yourself?

SPACES Photo Contest was an empowering experience- I have never entered a competition. My photographs have been appreciated by my friends and family, but never outside that. Thank you SPACES!

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The scenario of women photographers in Nepal has been grim; people tend to get critical over a girl/woman carrying camera and equipment. I think women in technical professions are prone to get criticism. However, I would say that Nepali families and societies are getting progressive by the day. Such Photo Contest is an incentive for young aspiring photographers.

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The School of Creative Communications is a unique blend of creativity and communication. We provide a platform for those who dream of nurturing one’s creativity through communication. We offer training programs on art, photography, writing and languages. We have been conducting SCC Explore Photography workshops since its establishment in 2009. We have been organizing SCC Blue Bag, a sharing program with scholar once a month.

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Eurasian collared dove caressing each other at Koshi Tappu Wild Life Reserve.

The Photographer Bipin Bajracharya, a management graduate is a business man by profession working in the field of hospitality and leather products. He enjoys cycling and passionate about nature and wildlife photography and he is a School of Creative Communications (SCC) alumnus.

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