Open-spaces inventory and analysis in planning for safe evacuation sites in earthquake emergencies for in Kathmandu Valley

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1 Open-spaces inventory and analysis in planning for safe evacuation sites in earthquake emergencies for in Kathmandu Valley Gopi Krishna BASYAL 1, Suresh CHAUDHARY 2, Surya Narayan SHRESTHA 3 1 Geographer, National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal (NSET) 2 Geographer, National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal (NSET) 3 Deputy Executive Director, National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal (NS ET) gbasyal@nset.org.np ABSTRACT An essential piece of earthquake preparedness is ensuring safe and accessible open spaces for emergency response. With the high rate of urban development in Kathmandu Valley, open spaces are gradually decreasing. An effort, by the government and community groups, is crucial to preserve the remaining open spaces in Kathmandu Valley. In this regard, an inventory of open-spaces in Kathmandu Valley is an initiative taken by National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal (NSET) as a part of Risk Mapping for Shelter Response Project. This study is focused on mapping and analysis of available public open spaces in Kathmandu Valley for possible use of temporary shelter and other facilities. There is a need of large open spaces considering possible displaces people during emergencies while as the amount of open spaces is decreasing because of several reasons. Recognizing that all open spaces do not show equal potential for use in post-disaster emergency, possible use of different open spaces for emergency was analyzed. The study was carried out with site visit and field verification including several attributes as observed and discussed with local authorities and people including use as parking, playground for children community use, drying food grains, fruit and vegetable vendors etc. Hence, preserving such public open spaces is essentially protecting the culture also. Realizing the importance of preserving these available open spaces, the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) and NSET has published an inventory of open spaces in the form of this Atlas. The main objectives of this atlas are: to help develop emergency response plans for a large earthquake disaster; and to help preserve the public open spaces. This paper presents the findings and challenges with suggestion for protection and development of open-spaces for better emergency response. Keywords: open-spaces, Kathmandu Valley, earthquake preparedness, atlas 1. INTRODUCTION This inventory and analysis of open spaces in Kathmandu Valley was carried out with the purpose of assessing available open spaces for shelter requirement in emergencies. This inventory was originally carried out as part of Risk Mapping for Shelter Response Project implemented with the support from UN Habitat, Global Risk Identification

2 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal Program (GRIP) of UNDP/BCPR, IFRC and ProVention Consortium; under the Global Emergency Shelter Cluster of the UN/IASC context. This study seeks to document and describe public open spaces available within Kathmandu Valley. Rapid urban growth in one hand increases the need for more open space (a larger displaced population requires more shelter space), and on the other - reduces its supply (through development) this is clearly an imbalanced equation. Recognizing that all open spaces do not show equal potential for use in post-disaster emergency, we have specifically targeted public lands, as private lands are both logistically difficult to use, and they are quickly disappearing due to development. Many of the sites visited were filled with people actively engaged in those spaces. During the field visit, we observed various daily uses of the open spaces such as vehicle parking, playground for children, meeting and chatting place for adults and retired persons, drying food grains, fruit and vegetable vendors etc. Hence, preserving such public open spaces is essentially protecting the culture also. An essential piece of earthquake preparedness is ensuring safe and accessible open spaces for emergency response. With the high rate of urban development in Kathmandu Valley, open spaces are gradually decreasing. A concerted effort, by the government and community groups, is needed to preserve the remaining open spaces in Kathmandu Valley. Realizing the importance of preserving these available open spaces, this inventory was carried out. The main objectives of inventory were to help prepare emergency response plans to be useful for a large earthquake disaster while preserving public open spaces. 2. METHODOLOGY There have been some works in the past for identification of large open spaces in Kathmandu Valley. Those earlier works largely based on the documents, satellite image or available maps, with least physical verification. However, the condition and actual usable size of open spaces are different than as seen in the formal documents, maps and images. Hence, a thorough verification of such sites at field is crucial for making them really applicable during the disaster situations. The previous work a) Study on Seismic Vulnerability of Drinking Water Supply System in Kathmandu Valley (NSET, 2003), b) Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan Framework (DPRF) in Lalitpur Sub- Metropolitan City (NSET/UNICEF, 2007) and c) Identification of Open Spaces for Humanitarian Purposes in Kathmandu Valley (IOM, 2008) were focused on the evacuation sites identification for emergency purposes. These works give an idea on its background which emphasize on identification of open spaces to be used in emergencies. 2.1 Field preparation and surveys Prior to the field visit, preliminary maps were prepared collected from different secondary sources. Preliminary screening of potential open spaces was carried out using such maps and images including cadastral maps, and Google Earth. Satellite images from the Google maps were further captured for wider use for field purpose. A survey form was developed for collecting information from the field. Major information of the each site was collected are shown in the following table (Table 1) with explanation. New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

3 Table 1 : Key information and attributes included in the survey of open spaces. SN Attributes Explanation 1 Name of site Local Name of the area (including with survey code - each survey site was given unique identification code for further processing of data in GIS) 2 Geographic location Latitude and Longitude, Altitude of the site (using GPS equipment) 3 Total area Reported (in ropani) vs. calculated, (1 Ana = sq. feet (31.8 sq. meter), 16 Ana= 1 Ropani) 4 Ownership While all lands surveyed were public lands, not all were state or municipal properties. Many of the open spaces surveyed were owned and managed by smaller community groups. 5 Contact person If a community group owns the land, a representative will be (name, phone contacted in the event of an earthquake to discuss shelter site number) implementation. 6 Master plan If a community group has a master plan for the development of the site, when will development begin? How long with this land be open and available for use as a potential shelter site? 7 Existing uses Park, Courtyard, Roadside. Land use specifics of the site. Certain existing uses are undesirable (e.g., garbage dumping). 8 Physical Slope of land, and drainage. environment 9 Potential hazards Fire: Due to proximity to fire pumps, gas depots, factories, or high-voltage power lines. Most of the areas surveyed in the denser parts of valley had a large number of high-voltage power lines, some of which were unprotected. Great caution must be taken when establishing shelter sites in these locations. Landslide risk (especially along the river side as danger of undercutting by river and slope) Flood risk (along the river, urban flood prone areas). Pollution (River, Sewage, Soil, Garbage, Noise). 10 Infrastructure Major Connecting Roads: Proximity to a major road is tremendously important for emergency vehicle access, aid delivery, and removal of waste and rubble. Water Supply System: brand, type, distance, and capacity. Stone taps and wells were also observed, and could potentially be damaged and put out of use in the event of an earthquake. We ve prioritized sites with clean and earthquake safe water supply systems. Electricity: Availability and capacity of generators, in the event of power failure. 11 Proximity to other facilities Hospitals (Number of available beds, medical specialty Schools: Education must continue after disaster. Ideal school (type, number sites will have large open spaces for sheltering students and available in faculty. proximity, Other Large Open Areas near Site: If small area does not work, distance, capacity) 12 Security (type, count, distance, capacity) people can be moved to larger areas. Police Station: Police are needed for both evacuation assistance and protection of those in the camp. Fire Brigade: Fire brigade services are extremely limited in Kathmandu Valley; an appropriate camp plan should be designed accordingly. Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley

4 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal SN Attributes Explanation Ambulance Service Availability: Where are ambulances stationed, which is the nearest station to the site. Fencing around site: Many of the open spaces within the denser parts of cities are surrounded on all sides by large buildings, but on the city s periphery, fencing may be useful in securing the shelter area. 13 Implementation issues What other issues may help or hinder the implementation of a post-disaster shelter site in this location? Are their potential governmental or political issues that could be in conflict with a plan for using a site for shelter purposes? Before conducting survey, an extensive training on data collection and field verification was provided to field surveyors. This includes process for conducting consultation with local government officers, local people, and other local stakeholders; steps for mapping and several other practical techniques required for the field survey. The university students from the background in geography were chosen having prior knowledge on mapping and surveys. The entire process was guided and monitored by NSET. 2.2 Field survey and verification Field survey was carried out during three months period (in November 2010 March 2011). Each team visited local government offices (VDC/Ward offices) and open space sites as assigned prior. The field approach was taken as: a) meeting with local government officials VDC and Ward officers, especially the secretaries were identified to be the ideal informants for obtaining information about the sites. Therefore, these key informants were met prior to survey of the actual open space. Surveyors brought 24 x36 satellite images of the ward areas, printed from Google Earth. The ward officers were then requested to identify open spaces and draw the associated boundary of the open spaces identified. Further information about the available open space (e.g., public or private, site conditions, surroundings) were also provided by these ward officers. Most of the ward officials are local residents; this provided added benefit and ease in doing the survey. If the ward officers were not-available, assistance was taken from other local residents around. The preference was given in group discussion for such inventories; and b) ground-truthing processes after meeting with the ward officers, and other local community members, the survey team physically visited each site for ground-truthing. The survey form was used to collect information from the field. For the ground-truthing and collecting field information, representatives of the community organization in-charge of the land were targeted; however, when they were not available, nearest shopkeepers or local residents were interviewed. The satellite images often attracted large crowds of local people, who further helped in providing information more accurately about the site. Community members were asked to provide information regarding a wide range of site-specific information, some of which can be used to prioritize shelter site locations: For each open space a single survey form was completed. New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

5 Open spaces available in all VDC/Municipalities Valley were surveyed with the aim of determining potential sites for post-earthquake evacuation camps. So, the characteristics of each site- population holding capacity, ownership (excluding private land), water availability, sanitary conditions, and accessibility (proximity to major roads and health) was collected. In addition, while collecting data in the field, the surveyors had the opportunity to discuss about earthquake risk and preparedness with both government officers and members of the general public (see Table 1 for detail taken in to consideration). People were found to be concerned and eager to help. Figure 1 : Determining site boundaries and identifying open spaces with ward officials (left) and on-site discussion on site-features with community members (right). 2.3 Data verification and mapping Collected information were checked again after the field visit. The collected data was verified with the pre-field visit data. The identification number was recorded on both the survey form and on the corresponding location on the satellite image. This allowed for easily connecting the open site in the image with the data recorded. Then boundary of the particular open space was drawn in map with some verification. Based on the defined boundary of the sites, each site was digitized using Google Earth, because of the quality of map. After digitization of each site in Google Earth, this data was exported into GIS for further processing and analysis. The location (coordinates obtained from a handheld GPS device) of each site was also recorded on survey forms. All the information of open spaces were presented in the form of maps. These maps are overlaid on the topographic maps prepared and produced by Department of Survey/Government of Nepal (DoS/GoN). Since the open space database has been stored in GIS formats, the maps thus prepared can be shared and it can be used with other databases compatible with the most common databases. These maps are highly useful for further awareness-raising of common people on evacuation site and most Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley

6 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal importantly for the planning purposes for preparedness and risk reduction. Since all maps are prepared in GIS environment, these could be easily updated in the future. All surveys were conducted on foot, in neighborhoods with narrow, mazelike streets. Locating ward offices and open spaces, was sometimes very time intensive. There is likely little way around this due to the architecture of the street system and the lack of street signage in Core city areas. Our experiences navigating the streets in core areas furthered our worries regarding the difficulties of post-disaster navigation, when many roads may be out of service. Source: Joshi et al (2013) Figure 2 : Open spaces in Kathmandu Valley then and now period. The community members who were interviewed were met spontaneously, and the quality of information provided varied greatly. Some interviewees were very knowledgeable of the site and its surroundings, while others were less. If possible, where the data is available, GIS could be used to confirm surface area and proximity to hospitals, schools, police departments, water sources, etc 3. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 3.1 Characteristics of available open spaces The type of open spaces surveyed were: playgrounds, road right-of-ways, community courtyards, temple areas, schoolyards, parks, river banks, pond margins, parking grounds, historic sites, gardens, and government office premises. One of the most common types of sites surveyed was the courtyard type settlement, called Bahaa in Newari, or Bahaal in Nepali which are basically community courtyards, often surrounding a temple or stupa at the middle, houses in the surrounding and large space in between. The neighborhood manages these grounds, and the funds for the upkeep are often provided by agricultural lands on the outskirts of the city. Thus bahaa represent two separate open spaces the urban courtyard and its associated rural agricultural land. In the event of a major earthquake, the narrow access ways to many of these bahaa may New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

7 be blocked by debris or fallen buildings. The access component of the survey form are especially relevant for these sites. It may be worth recording which agricultural lands are connected with which bahaa, so that if the bahaa is unsuitable for a shelter site, the community could shelter on their rural lands. Apart from the typical newari bahaa especially in city core area and in the old settlements of Kathmandu Valley, there are several types of public open spaces were found during the survey. They are: open spaces used by religious purposes, i.e. temples, guthi, church, bihar etc. The other type is the land occupied by other public entities such as Red Cross, public schools, ward offices. Land being used by government offices are also holding significant amount of open spaces within the valley. In the survey, some larger open spaces were also found which are unused in the present time; however, they were separated for the public purposes in the past. Open space of oxidation pond and Tribhuvan University compound in Kirtipur still remain larger open spaces within the valley. A summary of main types of public open spaces and their key characteristics are presented in Table 3. Table 2 : Different types of open spaces and their key characteristics Type of open space Courtyard Settlements (Bahaa, Bahaal) Playgrounds Institutional Areas Key characteristics Mainly community courtyard located amongst Newar communities. The major significance of this type of open spaces can be taken as a primary collection point. Playgrounds can be found in many places in Kathmandu varying in size and ownership. Institutional areas are mainly owned by Government offices, educational institutions etc. These are found as major areas can be used to establish emergency shelters. The size varies. 3.2 Distribution of open spaces Total 887 public open spaces were identified and mapped within Kathmandu Valley. Total area mapped was 15.5 square kilometers (sqkm) of open spaces of different sizes ranging from small to large. The majority of open spaces found in Kathmandu District (numbers 488), followed by Lalitpur District (numbers. 346) and Bhaktapur District (numbers 53). The total usable area is 9 sqkm, which is about 58 % of the total open spaces mapped. The open spaces are categorized according to the size/area, ownership, present use, purpose of open space etc Open spaces by size According to the size, open spaces are categorized into 3 categories. These are a) Large open spaces area with more than 10,000 sq meter; b) medium size open spaces - area with sq meters; and c) small size open spaces area with less than 5000 sq meters. Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley

8 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal Figure 3 : Open spaces distribution in Kathmandu Valley. Table 3 : Summary of open spaces in terms of size. Size of open spaces by District / Municipalities No. of open spaces Total (sq.mt.) area Usable (sq.mt.) Kathmandu District ,576,269 5,938,820 Kirtipur Municipality (19 Wards) 13 2,307,612 1,325,994 > ,282,236 1,308, ,131 6,505 < ,245 10,759 Kathmandu Metropolitan City (35 Wards) 266 5,737,268 2,962,287 > ,576,185 2,427, , ,386 < , ,377 VDCs (56 VDCs) 209 2,531,389 1,650,538 > ,731,134 1,167, , ,313 area New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

9 Size of open spaces by District / Municipalities No. of open spaces Total (sq.mt.) area Usable (sq.mt.) < , ,815 Lalitpur District 346 3,486,077 2,092,636 Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City (22 Wards) 137 1,850,728 1,221,890 > ,468,261 1,000, ,893 96,207 < , ,263 VDCs (26 VDCs) 209 1,635, ,746 > , , , ,318 < , ,384 Bhaktapur District 53 1,473, ,819 Bhaktapur Municipality (17 Wards) , ,492 > , , ,157 23,915 < ,558 19,278 Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (17 Wards) , ,572 > , , ,852 20,470 < ,033 8,053 VDCs (16 Wards) , ,756 > , , ,058 20,127 < ,679 21,739 Total ,535,804 9,030,275 Source: Field survey Open spaces by land ownership Land ownership of the open spaces are categorized as a) Institutional, b) Nepal Government Offices, c) Private in Lease, d) Educational (schools and colleges), e) Religious Institutions (eg. guthi, temple, bihar, church etc), f) Hospitals or Health Institutions etc. The following table shows the summary by ownership in different districts and according to total area as well as usable area. area Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley

10 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal Figure 5 : Distribution of open spaces in core city areas of Kathmandu of different sizes. Table 4 : Summary by ownership of identified open spaces. Ownership by District / Municipalities No. of open spaces Total area (sq.mt.) Usable (sq.mt.) Kathmandu District Kirtipur Municipality (19 Wards) Institutional Nepal Government Private in lease School Kathmandu Metropolitan City (35 Wards) College Guthi/Temple/Bihar/Church Hospital Institutional Nepal Government Private in lease School VDCs (56 VDcs) College Guthi/Temple/Bihar/Church Hospital Institutional Nepal Government area New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

11 Ownership by District / Municipalities No. of open spaces Total area (sq.mt.) Usable (sq.mt.) Private in lease School Lalitpur District Lalitpur Sub-metrop. City (22 Wards) College Guthi/Temple/Bihar/Church Institutional Nepal Government Private in lease School VDCs (26 VDCs) College Guthi/Temple/Bihar/Church Institutional Nepal Government Private in lease School Bhaktapur District Bhaktapur Municipality (17 Wards) College Institutional Nepal Government School Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (17 Wards) College Nepal Government Private in lease School VDCs (16 VDCs) Nepal Government School Total Source: Field Survey area 4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Conclusion Kathmandu Valley is the most populated region in the country. Population growth has now reached 2.5 million, with nine to twelve percent new construction in the urban area yearly. Rapid urban growth can be easily seen rapid change in the farmland, riverbank and cultural sites too. The numbers of houses is in increase, but the amount of land is limited. Infrastructural facilities in the valley are in a pathetic state. Hence, the open Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley

12 October 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal spaces in the Kathmandu valley are decreasing very rapidly. We will barely be able to find an open space in the valley, if this trend is continues. Nepal is notoriously prone to earthquakes. If the large scale natural disasters occur in Kathmandu valley (approximately million displace population) might be major challenge for the government and other humanitarian agency with the resulting significant shelter need. Through this process, many potential risk of the built environment were observed. The need for stronger land use planning, and earthquake safe building code enforcement is of extreme importance. The safety of the city s residents is under great threat, and the steps to address it should be prioritized. Preservation for open spaces could in fact be used as a means of bringing greater cooperation into the political process. Most of the community groups surveyed were happy to have their lands available for emergency purpose; however, some showed concern regarding potential crowding and the possible social impacts of such use. 4.2 Recommendations The following specific recommendations are made to promote emergency planning and shelter management for the post-earthquake situation in the Kathmandu valley. i. The importance of open-spaces during the time of disaster is highly realized throughout the world, it should integrate in local level planning and awareness among local level authorities is highly needed. The community is equally important in this awareness of the importance and use of open-spaces. ii. Detail investigation of open spaces in Kathmandu is still not finished, and the regular update of the information is quite important. So regular update of information is required, suggested every year. iii. Comprehensive study is needed for the open spaces in Kathmandu as a continuous process rather than onetime collection of data (repository). iv. Open-space cannot sustain alone. It requires basic infrastructure in the site. Detail assessment of such open spaces should be carried out in terms of basic infrastructure available around. Detail inventory of other facilities such as nearest hospital, drinking water facilities, road-accessibility etc. around such open-spaces is needed. v. Coordination among government partners and other institutions, associations, NGOs, INGOs and private sector to impart proper knowledge on open spaces is important. vi. MoU between stakeholders and Government can be one of the best way to keep those places available during the post-disaster operation. vii. Legal grounds for local government (VDC or Municipalities) to use in emergencies should be established. Cooperative partnership between local government and owner of the land (if other than local government) and other partners should be established prior. viii. For the care and maintenance of potential local evacuation sites, local CBOs can be a part of this. Community Based Open Space Planning Management could be an approach. New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia

13 ix. Community awareness programs on the need of open-spaces around the community should be carried, so that local people can preserve the open spaces around them. x. Improve the condition of open spaces wherever required xi. Prepare plans on how the open spaces can actually be implemented during situations, especially if the community disaster preparedness plan is prepared, take consider of the locally available open spaces. xii. Preposition minimum required supplies in the open spaces for evacuation and emergency food and some non-food items. xiii. Conduct periodic drills at local level. REFERENCES NSET/KVDA (2015), Open Spaces Atlas of Kathmandu Valley (in Nepali), published by Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), Kathmandu. National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal (NSET) 2012, Shelter Response Strategy and Plan for Earthquake Disasters for Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, Submitted to Global Risk Identification Programme (GRIP), UNDP/BCPR, Submitted by NSET. KVOctober2010.pdf Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance (2014) Budget Speech for Fiscal Year 2071/2072 BS (in Nepali) Government of Nepal (2014), Directives to the Ministry from Parliamentarian Committee on Environmental Protection on Nepal s Urban Environmental Condition and Future Action Plan (in Nepali) Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance (2014) Policy and Programmes of Government of Nepal for Fiscal Year 2071/2072 BS (in Nepali) pdf Government of Nepal (2014), Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal Gazette, , Dated BS), in Nepali NSET and UNICEF (2003) Study on Seismic Vulnerability of Drinking Water Supply System in Kathmandu Valley Final-Report.pd. NSET (2007) Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan for Safe Drinking Water in the Kathmandu Valley Submitted to UNICEF International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Nepal (MoHA/GoN) Report on Identification of Open Spaces for Humanitarian Purposes in Kathmandu Valley (nd) Purpose.pdf Joshi A, Basnet S, Dawadi GS, Duwal S, Pandey KR, & Irwin D (2013), Urban Growth Pattern in Kathmandu Valley. Unpublished. In. Kathmandu: Genesis Consultancy (P) Ltd & Welink Consultants (P) Ltd. Open-spaces inventory and analysis for planning of earthquake emergencies for safe evacuation sites in Kathmandu Valley