CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Developers reap profits from
riverside projects as
homeowners suffer
BIDHYA RAI
October 30, 2022CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Developers reap profits from riverside projects as homeowners suffer
BIDHYA RAI
October 30, 2022Video source: Sajans Photography
Gayatri Shrestha, a 57-year-old resident of Kuleshwar, starts getting restless with the arrival of the monsoon. She bought a house near the banks of the Balkhu stream, about 10 years ago, thinking it would make her life easier and more organized. But for the past three monsoons, she has not been able to sleep well, and her heart sinks whenever the sky gets cloudy.
In mid-July 2019, the Balkhu stream got flooded following the incessant rainfall. The flood washed away the concrete wall that had been built along the shores and entered into the residential areas, including Shrestha’s house. The entire ground floor was submerged. Yet, it wasn’t just water, the sludge that deposited after the water receded left the entire house smelling for months. Unable to live, her family moved to Kalimati.
Today, she regrets spending her hard-earned money to buy that house.
Kuleshwar-based Gayatri Shrestha’s house in Ayusha Colony, just 5 meters away from the Balkhu stream. According to government standards, the distance should be 10 meters. Photo: Bidhya Rai
Shrestha is among 18 families who bought houses in Ayusha Colony built by Ayusha Developers. Every monsoon, the ground floor is submerged, causing them to lose their belongings and property. Homeowners are still traumatized and fearful that the disaster will strike again.
Kuleshwar Apartments and Metro Apartments in Kuleshwar, built on the banks of the Balkhu stream, were also flooded. Opposite Ayusha Colony, the stories of the homeowners in Oriental Colony, built by Oriental Builders and Developers Pvt Ltd, are similar. When the flood entered their homes three years ago, they posted a picture of the flood on Facebook as their profile picture. One of the residents, Navin Gauli even expressed his disapproval of the colony in Google Reviews, writing, “Not properly planned and maintained.”
According to government standards, the distance of the residential areas close to the rivers should be 10 meters in the Balkhu area. However, half a dozen of these residential areas have built walls and houses within 5 meters of the river, violating the code. Many families in the valley are at risk of losing their homes as a result of this.
These settlements were not built by individuals, but by companies with official government permission. The government, which is supposed to safeguard the citizens’ right to housing, is indirectly involved in violating the same. There is no record of the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) asking for an explanation from the developers, let alone taking action against anyone.
Developers make a profit by building and selling houses. Sudhir Basnet, manager of Ayusha Developers and Oriental Builders, sold the houses 10 years ago. He sold the idea of a dream house and collected deposits, but he fled before handing over the property. Basnet has more than a dozen cases filed against him in various courts for defrauding the families. Even after calling and texting him for two days, he was not available to comment.
Satellite Image Source: Google Earth Pro (October 2020)
Riverside peril
Our investigation turned up many cases of encroachment in the Balkhu area. This led us to investigate other housing complexes (apartments and colonies) built with official permission along the river banks in Kathmandu Valley. We found the situation to be dire because there were a significant number of such complexes.
According to the information obtained through the right-to-information (RTI) applications, among the 233 community housing projects (housing, colonies) and joint housing schemes (apartments), commercial buildings, health institutions, etc. that got the official permission so far, we identified 95 using Google Earth Pro with satellite images and geospatial information software.
Our investigation found 41 percent (39) of the 95 such units were built along the river, with partial or full encroachment on the nearby rivers. These complexes have encroached, narrowed, or even changed the flow of the rivers or streams. Forty-one percent of those areas are residential, indicating that residents there are at high risk of flooding, according to independent engineers and planners.
Large residential complexes around the valley identified by Google Earth Pro.
According to Saroj Karki, an engineer of water resources and rivers, with the increasing amount of (average) rainfall in a day and the increasing urbanization, the ground has not had time to absorb the rain, resulting in a large volume of water accumulating in the rivers at once, inundating residential areas. According to five other experts, the river banks have become narrower as houses or walls have been built along both sides of the river. That means the once peaceful rivers that flowed in their paths have now turned into a source of disaster.
“The increasing flood in Dhobi Khola in Lalitpur, Balkhu in Kathmandu, and Hanumante in Bhaktapur is the result of human intervention. It is because of the unnatural activities along the river that obstruct the natural water flow, not because of climate change,” said Sudeep Thakuri, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Mid-West University.
Home truths
Our on-site investigation revealed the housing plans, which included 11 housing complexes and two hospitals, had either fully or partially encroached on the rivers and riverbanks on both sides. Of them, five housing complexes were built along the bank of the Balkhu River in Kuleshwar, three along the Bishnumati River in Tokha, one near the Nakhkhu stream, and two along the Karmanasha stream in Imaldole of Lalitpur.
Developers built these complexes and hospitals while claiming to have valid government permits. However, they violated the government’s standards and deceived the customers. Developers’ scams and cheap attempts to make more profits have left citizens, who spend their lifetime earnings to buy these houses, to suffer. People who bought those houses and apartments are now flood victims. Meanwhile, the developers have already gone out of contact or vanished. However, the monitoring body, Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), has conducted almost no surveillance to determine whether the standards have been met or not. People’s right to housing, guaranteed by Nepal’s constitution, has also been violated as a result of this negligence.
According to Januka Dhakal, the Development Commissioner at the KVDA, recent permissions have not been granted haphazardly. However, when questioned about past incidents of misconduct and incompetence, she was unable to provide a satisfactory answer. “While we have not issued any new permits that contravene our standards, there are a few existing permits that do not meet our requirements. We have sent notices to the relevant parties to rectify these issues and comply with the standards.” Despite this, no legal action has been taken against any developer for encroaching on public land.
During the on-site reporting of housing complexes in Tokha, we observed a concerning situation at the Grande Tower Apartments located near the Bishnumati river bank, close to the Grande Hospital. The structure was found to be encroaching on the river, in violation of the aforementioned standards.
Tokha-based Grande Hospital has constructed a concrete wall on the bank of the Bishnumati river breaching the standards. Photo: Bidya Rai
As we made our way to the back alley of the Grande hospital, we noticed a wall structure that had been built along the banks of the Bishnumati River, creating a compound. Continuing along, we came across Grande Villa which had unlawfully occupied the entire land on the river bank and erected a wire fence around its perimeter.
Tokha-based Grande Tower has built a guard house by encroaching on the river bank against the standards. According to the standards, when building a structure near the Bishnumati river, they have to leave 20 meters on both sides. Photo: Bidya Rai
During our investigation, we discovered that Shubh Homes, constructed by Housing and Development Pvt Ltd in Tokha, Vegas City Housing, and Hill View Housing Balkumari, built by Kohinoor Housing in Balkumari, were all constructed by encroaching on the river area. In doing so, they diverted the river, changed its natural course, and narrowed its width. They have all used the same method of building a concrete wall close to the river bank.
Sumit Agrawal, the owner of Sunrise Developers, built Sunrise Apartments in Nakhkhu of Lalitpur and has also encroached on the river and even interrupted the flow of the river by erecting a wall against the standards that state that any structure must be 12 meters away from the bank of the Nakhkhu stream. Sunrise Apartment appears to have opened a new corridor in the water body after erecting a wall on the bank.
Medicity Hospital, built with the investment of businessman Upendra Mahato, encroached on the rajkulo (royal canal) and the Nakhkhu stream. According to Madhav Khadka, a resident of Nakhkhu, “In the previous map, the river was winding like a snake, now it has been straightened out and all its streams, canals, and public lands have been all encroached. It is also common knowledge that the hospital has encroached on some 50 ropanis of land in Sainbu, Bhaisepati area alone.” Dhakal said the KVDA has written several letters to Medicity Hospital to remove the illegally built structures in the city. But the authority has not taken any action against it so far.
Weak riverbanks, lives at risks
Builders are constructing more houses and apartments than are permitted, claiming that they have permission. But the question remains: why do the developers want to build housing complexes on the riverbanks? The answer is cheap land and more profit. They take advantage of the authority’s inactivity and silence, even though the developers have violated the standards.
Kishore Thapa, a former secretary and strategy expert, said: “Developers are targeting riverside land for cheap property and to convert public land into roads.” Grande Tower Apartments’ children’s park in Tokha is located within its premises as per the standards.
When we contacted Deepak Kunwar, the chief executive officer of CD Developers, the company that built the apartment, in mid-September, he avoided answering any questions and referred us to Ichchha Bahadur Wagle, the president of Nepal Land and Housing Developers Association, the developers’ umbrella organization. Kunwar is its second vice president.
Wagle insisted over the phone that the Grande Tower Apartment, built in 1999, met all of the standards approved by the Kathmandu Valley town development committee at the time. When reminded of the standards set in 1993, he did not want to accept that he was meant to leave 20 meters on both sides of the Bishnumati river. “The rule to leave 20 meters from the river came later; it was not there in 1993,” he claimed.
Screenshot taken from page 51 of building construction standards set in Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan areas, 1993.
When Gayatri Shrestha of Kuleshwar bought her house, she looked at the developer’s plan, but she did not realize that the plan shown to her was being built by encroaching on the riverbanks. According to urban development expert Surya Bhakta Sangachhe, only those who have studied the field in depth are aware of whether such areas are suitable for living or not. Sangachhe, who was also the former head of the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee (currently KVDA) from 1998 to 2003, claims the developers have duped their customers by claiming they have received all approvals from the local level, the KVDA, and that everything is on track.
The ground below the riverbed is considered weak and not appropriate to build any structure there. Geotechnical engineer Suman Manandhar warns against constructing structures on unstable river banks without thorough geographical and environmental assessments. “We do not recommend building structures on the river banks as the terrain is weak. But if one has to, then they have to conduct a detailed geographical study, of the flow of the river, and an environmental assessment,” he said, “The problem occurred because the Authority did not thoroughly check the assessments before giving permission.”
He said, “The buildings put pressure on the ground there and even disrupt the natural recharge of the underground water system, as well as the ‘free’ flow of the river. Many settlements in the valley have been inundated even just after 15 to 30 minutes of rain in the past few years.” The riverside settlements are also at high risk of earthquakes. Sangachhe said, “There is sandy soil under such land areas and constant water, which causes a high possibility of land liquefaction and earthquakes.”
Saroj Karki believes that the issue is that the land is not being used properly. People invite disaster because they don’t know which land to use for farming and which for building houses, he adds. It has also been discovered that violations of river and stream standards are related to political changes. “The previous mandate clearly stated that construction was prohibited along riverbanks or anywhere where water accumulates, except for agriculture or greenery,” Sangachhe said. He was the coordinator of the 2007 Building Code Committee.
According to experts, the standard that was once stated during the Panchayat period that structures needed to maintain more than 90 meters (300 ft) of distance from the river was suddenly reduced to 20 meters after the multi-party democracy was restored in 1990. It was also around this time that cases of standard violations began to rise.
Where it all started
In 1993, a code of standards was established, mandating a 20-meter distance on both sides of rivers in the Kathmandu valley, including the Bagmati, Bishnumati, Dhobikhola, and Manohara. This standard was maintained in the 2007 ‘Bylaws for municipalities and urbanizing VDCs within the Kathmandu Valley.’
Additional standards were set the following year for other rivers and streams, ranging from 12 to 4 meters. According to the new criteria, one has to leave 12 meters on both sides of the Nakhkhu stream; 10 meters on both sides of the Balkhu stream, Karmanasa, Konku, Sangle stream, and Mahadev stream; 6 meters along the Karkhushi stream and 4 meters in Tukuchu, Samakhushi and other streams of Kathmandu. It also said that no construction was to cover the streamlets, brooks, or royal canal.
However, these standards were not enforced, as evidenced by the numerous violations. Our investigation found that almost all the developers who built housing colonies and apartments on the banks of rivers and streams have violated strict standards. They altered the natural flow of the water and put up walls and gardens to attract buyers.
Though Wagle claims that developers have done such a thing, Sangachhe does not agree with Wagle and says, “’The river does not flow straight like a canal, it has many twists and turns.”
The evidence of river encroachment is undeniable, as walls and houses have been erected along the riverbanks. “Developers and the government have redirected and made the rivers and streams straight like canals. Their goal is to narrow the river to get more land in their names. As a result, floods have entered and damaged those places,” said Sangachhe.
The illegal construction built after encroaching on the rivers inundated not only the four housing complexes of Kuleshwar, but also the Bhatbhateni complex and the Kalanki police office, as well as the surrounding houses.
Satellite Image Source: Google Earth Pro
Mum’s the word
The state affairs and good governance committee monitored and studied the floods that hit the Kuleshwar residential area in 2019. The committee had already concluded that the settlement was flooded because the Balkhu stream was encroached upon while making housing plans.
According to the committee’s report, out of 127 flats in 7 blocks of Oriental Colony, the ground floor with 22 flats was flooded, destroying all physical materials and amenities and costing NRs 1.54 crores. Similarly, 17 flats in the nearby Kuleshwar Apartments were flooded and damaged, resulting in a loss of NRs 7 lakh. In addition, the flooding of the ground floor cost nearby Metro Apartments NRs 1.67 crores.
After conducting an on-site investigation and analyzing satellite images from the past 15 years, it’s clear that developers have been encroaching on riverbanks for quite some time. Although the parliamentary committee confirmed the flood was caused by developers’ negligence in developing housing plans, the committee has yet to identify the specific developer or housing company responsible for the disaster. Furthermore, the committee has been silent on the lack of monitoring and the inaction taken against builders who continue to engage in such construction practices.
The committee has proposed a solution, recommending that major rivers in the valley, including Balkhu stream in Kathmandu, Hanumante and Khasangkhusung streams in Bhaktapur, be re-managed in accordance with the 1964 survey map, and all built houses and physical structures be removed.
However, there is no mention of holding the developer and KVDA accountable for the damage done. Residents hoped that the establishment of the parliamentary committee would result in efforts to protect their community from flooding. Gayatri Shrestha and other residents, on the other hand, have been disappointed by the lack of progress or work over the last four years. “When the government people came to monitor, we hoped that they would build a taller, stronger wall so that our houses would never flood, and we could live safely, but the problem is the same,” she said.
Shashi Shrestha, the former Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation who also served as the chairman of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, evaded questions about the matter. She said the previous government was responsible for the inaction. When pressed further, she stated, “We provided our recommendations and studied the issue attentively. The question we should be asking is why our report was not implemented.”
When asked about the lack of action taken against the wrongdoing developers, Prem Suwal, a member of the monitoring committee, revealed that their proposals were ignored. Suwal said the committee recommended identifying the apartments and colonies encroaching on the river, restoring the river areas according to official maps, and penalizing those responsible for river encroachment. The secretariat and the chairman ignored their recommendations. “But neither the secretariat nor the chairman heeded our requests,” he said.
We also solicited feedback on the housing complexes built by encroaching on river channels from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), which is currently demolishing structures built on public land, and other local levels of the valley. They have all stated that they will monitor the buildings and other structures built along the river to ensure that they meet the standards.
However, they did not appear to be serious about understanding the problems of people who purchased houses and apartments built with government permission. They are also ambiguous about taking action against developers who have encroached on water bodies or riverbanks.
Left in a limbo
It seems that enforcing the standards and using a bulldozer over the housing complexes is more difficult for the officials than demolishing a house built by an individual. And when one government body takes action against another government body’s negligence, it is the buyers of these houses and apartments who bear the brunt of the floods.
KMC spokesperson Nabin Manandhar said that they are monitoring the metropolis regarding the encroachment of public land and the forced narrowing of streams and rivers. “According to the report prepared by the monitoring team, we will make decisions on what to do against those who have built illegal structures, and proceed accordingly,” he said.
Dhruva Khatri, Chairman of Mahalakshmi municipality, Ward no:2, has also stated his commitment to clearing encroached land and maintaining the 10-meter standard distance from the water body. Kohinoor Housing Pvt Ltd built a wall here, encroaching on the Karmanasa stream while constructing Vegas City Housing and Balkumari Hill View Housing. “Those housings built a wall on the river eight to nine years ago, but now we are opening a corridor, and the wall will have to be demolished because, according to the standards, the land by the riverside must be cleared regardless of who built what structures,” he said.
Tokha municipality, on the other hand, is preparing the details of the structures built before and after the implementation of the standard, which requires a 20-meter distance on both sides of the Bishnumati bank. Mayor Prakash Adhikari is opposed to using bulldozers to demolish buildings right away, but has promised to stop the encroachment on public land. He said, “We plan to reclaim the land encroached upon by Grande Tower and reopen the riverside corridor. However, a dispute with the locals has slowed the process.”
Januka Dhakal of KVDA said: “We are studying the housing plans throughout the valley. We will discuss what to do with those who built against the standards once the study report is received.”
Despite the severity of the issue, none of the governments involved have formulated concrete plans on how to resolve the housing crisis in the Kathmandu Valley, which has left homeowners like Gayatri Shrestha lamenting their lifelong decision.
This investigative report was prepared under the Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI) of the Center for Investigative Journalism, based in UK. The original version of this story was published in Kantipur. Click here to read the story.
