Anish Bhandari (abhandari@soscbaha.org) works at the Centre for the Study of Labor and Mobility
(CESLAM) at Social Science Baha, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Those who have probably
known Kathmandu for a long time can see that it has changed its structure over
the years like every other rapidly urbanizing city. The eighteenth SAARC summit
hosted in Kathmandu and the government's road expansion project in recent years
has transformed the gaze of the capital city of Nepal. One can see the
construction workers with their helmets, jackets and tools working along the
road sides everywhere in the city. It is also clearly visible that Kathmandu is
slowly expanding to the peripheral hills which has difficult landscapes with forests
and national parks. This expansion is due to the booming urbanization in the
country and across the region. According to the 2011 Census Report, the urban
population constitutes 17% (4,523,820) of the total population and Kathmandu
alone accommodates a total of 1,744,240 people.
The fact that
Kathmandu accommodates more people than its capacity in terms of the resources
such as drinking water and electricity proves that the thriving urbanization is
responsible for changing the structure of the capital city. The road expansion
project and housing apartments building construction are the large scale
constructions going on in Kathmandu. Also, the Melamchi Drinking Water pipes
installation and solar lights installation along the city roads are speeding.
The proposal of the government to construct the flyovers in Airport-Kalanki
section and overhead bridge in New Baneshwor junction are also in the pipeline.
However, these large scale construction projects are proposed without proper
research and planning[i].Folks
across the county come to Kathmandu not only because of their aspirations for
better economic opportunities and access to basic services such as health and
education but also because of the central administrative structure of the
government that requires people to come to Kathmandu for multiple reasons such
as visa procurement or final departure from the only international airport of
the country. No wonder Kathmandu is one of the rapidly urbanizing cities in
South Asia because it not only accommodates the permanent dwellers but transient
migrants as well. Urban development, therefore, is an important indicator of change.
Urbanization
brings forth lots of challenges as well as opportunities. One of the major
challenges is its effective management. Administrative flaw of the unstable
governments and policy based contestations, lack of coordination and
cooperation between various departments and ministries of the state are some of
the major challenges of the rapid urbanization in the valley according to the Kathmandu
Valley Development Authority personnel[ii]. Apart
from the government headed projects, private house and building constructions
in Kathmandu have covered the fertile agricultural land of the country.
Nevertheless, in an effort to introduce the scientific land use
system, the government of Nepal has set out Land Use Policy 2012 which
envisages controlling rapid urbanization and haphazard use of land to ensure
proper utilization of the scare land across the country. Although this policy
has raised a ray of hope in terms of the scientific management of land, lack of
necessary acts to implement the objectives set forth by this policy is still a
challenge. Importantly, the
urban development action to manage the 'slum' and 'squatter' communities in
Kathmandu is another important aspect that the concerned stakeholders are
unable to accomplish in terms of urban development. It has evidently led to
some violent confrontations between the government forces and the people living
in such settlements in an attempt to manage this portion of the population[iii].
However, despite
lot of challenges, there is an underlying and mostly overshadowed range of
opportunities for the people and organizations involved in this process of
urbanization. Talking about urbanization, probably the most intrinsic but
overlooked facet is the construction sector and employment opportunities
provided by it. Construction sector provides opportunity in terms of employment
it calls for workers but does not require a skilled labor, although skilled
labor is always preferred. In terms of the wages, however, skilled workers are
obviously paid more. Nevertheless, skilled manpower being scarce in the
country, the construction industry itself provides on-the-job training
opportunities to the people who are engaged in it. Most of the construction
workers have engaged themselves in this sector as a fresh recruit. They have
learned the work on-the-job either working as a helper or directly through
experience. And those who have worked in this sector for long enough have been
able to upgrade themselves as petty-contractors and sub-contractors. Construction
industry is one such sector which is trying to attract large foreign
investments in Nepal. For instance, an Italian company CMC di Ravenna which
specializes in tunneling and currently working for the Melamchi Diversion
Scheme project, views Nepal as a potential market for tunneling work[iv].
Hydropower construction, for example, is yet another sector that is facing
crisis in terms of its under-utilization in Nepal. The government not being
able to carry out such large projects by itself leaves these sectors to fall
prey on the hands of international agencies that are waiting for a green signal
by the Nepali government to operate in such areas.
However, the
main challenge that the construction industry is now facing is to attract and
hold the labors that it molds. For example, not being able to pay according to
the increasing inflation in the economy is one major impediment to sustain the
laborers in the construction sector in Nepal. Another reason, and probably the
most important one, is that young people are attracted by foreign employment no
matter the consequences. Young people want to go abroad once in their lifetime
at least to see and to experience the life abroad. This probably has to do with
the social and cultural change that Nepal is facing at the moment.
Rapid construction
is going on in Kathmandu. And rapid construction demand workers. Data shows
that around 7% of the total population have gone abroad for better employment
opportunities[v].
Most of the people who go abroad are unskilled and semi-skilled people. Apart
from earning a decent salary (compared to Nepal), most of them are exposed to
hazardous situations and harassments from their employers. For instance,
holding the passports, unnatural deaths and inadequate pay according to work
are some of the most common issues pertinent to the Nepali workers abroad. In
such light, construction sector could provide the people with an alternative at
home. The construction sector silently watches the prospect workers going
abroad unable to interest them towards its own veil. Or maybe it is moving
ahead in such a pace that it does not have time to stop for a while and call
the people to fulfill its own demand for work.
[i]"Flyover
madness". For more details see, http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2012-04-14/flyover-madness.html
[ii]
Based on an interview with Kathmandu Valley Development Authority Commissioner.
[iii]"Urgent
Action Appeal". For more details see, http://hlrn.org.in/documents/NP-DDFE-080512.pdf
[iv]
Based on the fieldwork at the construction of tunnel for Melamchi Water Supply
in Kathmandu.
[v]"Labor
Migration for Employment: A Status Report for Nepal 2013/2014".For more
details see, https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/MigrationReportbyGovernmentofNepal.pdf
Nice Article(Y)
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