Great Quake highlights value of Newari concept of 'Chowk'
Kathmandu, May
21, The 'community courtyard' known as 'Chowk' in colloquial Nepali was
prevalent among the traditional settlements of Newars in the Kathmandu Valley
until recently. With the rapid and wanton urbanization, the concept of such
courtyard ceased to exist.
Following the
April 25 quake, many inhabitants, both locals and outsiders, in the Valley have
started understanding the significance of the indigenous concept of the 'Chowk'
as it would offer them an open space to escape the disaster or any danger.
Many people who
made a narrow escape during the quake opine that the number of injured people
would have been lessened given the availability of such space, often built in
the middle of a cluster of five to six houses and from 20 to 25 at utmost in
traditional Newar's settlements.
Shyam Ale from
Jhapa district has been in the capital city for some years for employment. He
was of the opinion that many people, mostly migrant workers like him residing
in the congested areas in the capital city, have sustained injuries during the
quake while running out of houses.
"They have
been learnt to be injured in lack of adequate open space in their locality to
escape to safety," argued Ale, adding the government, in its new Building
Code, must adopt the policy to incorporate the traditional concept of 'Chowk'
in between every few houses in the new settlement.
Ale shared that
he found the 'Chowk' in the Newari settlement nearby his residence very useful
for the people to flee during the quake. The 'Chowk' seemingly offered the
locals there a space to reside temporarily as the frequent powerful aftershocks
continued jolting the valley.
Speaking in the
similar vein, Krishnaraj Thapa said, "I have been residing in the
settlement of Newars in Kathmandu. The earlier concept of leaving some space
for 'Chowk' while building house is commendable. We should emulate this
concept."
Thapa runs a business
in Ason, one of the ancient towns in Kathmandu. It has dense houses with small
open spaces left sparingly. He argued that the government should formulate
stern law instructing to spare some spaces open and build a way that allows the
entry of a vehicle during the medical and any other emergency like the quake.
To mitigate the
risk of disaster, especially quake, it is imperative that the human habitat has
adequate open space in the surrounding. Here, the concept of 'community
courtyard' would become useful for the people in distress to come close and
face the danger in unison.
The word 'Chowk'
deriving from Newari word 'Chukya' meaning the shared and barren land hovered
round by few houses. Such Chowks are
rampant in the old Newari settlements in various places in Kathmandu Valley as
Maru, Jaisidewal, Yatakha Bahal, Itumbahal, Nagbahal and the like.
These community
courtyards are found spanning across often four to five annas (around 1,000
square feet). In some places, Chowks are found to have spanned across four to
five ropani. But it's a rare sight any longer.
The Places in
Kathmandu valley developed in the recent decade like Samakhusi, Gongabu,
Machhapokhari, Banasthali, New Baneshwar among others are densely populated
areas in the capital. These places barely have adequate open spaces in them.
The need for such
Chowks was felt in these dense settlements in the recent quake and during the
subsequent powerful aftershocks.
The tall houses
and large high-rise apartments that have sprung up in the city, besides
spoiling the cityscape, have turned into 'death trap' at times of disasters.