Almost everything is made of local materials, making people the least dependent on outside the world
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| Published | 2023-02-17 | ||
| Title | Almost everything is made of local materials, making people the least dependent on outside the world | ||
| Continent | Asia | ||
| Country | Nepal | ||
| Location | Gobargada | ||
| Disaster Group | Hydrological | ||
| Category | Institutional | ||
| Sub Category | Protect and restore biological resources | ||
| Knowledge Attribution | Local people in Gobargada inclusively use locally available materials based on plants in the construction of houses, cowsheds and other essential products. This practice offers a comparative advantage to live in floodplain areas. Such materials are free, easy to repair and transport and do not require a specialist knowledge. | ||
| Description | The village is situated in the floodplain area and surrounded by the Koshi River, one of the largest rivers originating from Himalaya, covering the parts of Nepal and Tibet, China and meanders across Gangetic plain areas of Nepal and India. The river shifts randomly and studies have shown that it has shifted more than 133 km from east to west during the last 200 years. The study area lies just 80 km south of Chure Mountain (Chatara) along Nepal-India border. It is an isolated village situated in the river island formed by the two major tributaries (both branches on either side of the river appear to be the same, making it difficult to identify the main stream). There is no bridge and locals have to take a traditional boat to reach the village in all the seasons. The Koshi has been a problematic river due to massive floods during monsoon season that begins in June and ends in September every year. The flood not only inundated the nearby settlements, but also destroyed cropland by excessive siltation and land cutting/erosion. The village lies south of Koshi Barrage, a huge intervention to control floods and soil erosion that the Government of India completed in 1962. However, flooding and land cutting are common problems. People rely on forests for a variety of items including construction of houses and other essential products. Here forest provides more than 98% resources for construction of houses, fences and other essential materials, which mostly come from three species that are abundant in the area. | ||
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People have best guess when to shift their houses into new location
River channel shifting possesses a significant risk to life and property within the floodplain. But this is not the case in Shrilanka Tappu and Gobargada, where several shifts of human settlement within a few kilometers (in some cases 100-300m) in the last fifty years have been recorded. We found some houses were just within 100 m of the river and locals were confident about their safety, at least for this year. The traditional form of observation is quite strong and reliable that helps locals stay alert in the flooding season. People accept the fact that rivers are always in motion and the experience shows that they change their direction every 10-12 years. Therefore, the community is always prepared for the worst. Their past experience has equipped them well in using the knowledge shared by the elders to monitor the flow pattern of the river. They have been wisely using the knowledge to constantly monitor the flow direction, water current and annual erodibility that gives a tentative idea in terms of occurrence and extent of the disaster each year. They have their own system of confirming the information they gather, then discussing with the other community members to plan further. The people use the knowledge that has been transferred from the previous generations to prepare relocation and resettlement plans. The people residing nearest to the river or the most vulnerable ones are to shift first, hence, they have their own way of maintaining the shifting cycle.
People have unique house construction technique, well suited for flood prone situation (foldable and portable house)
Houses are made without using mud, stone or brick. Locals just used locally available materials, such as, Khar, Pater, Bamboo, wood. The construction of the house is very basic and doesn’t take much time either. If they have to relocate to another place, it is quite easy to bring their house by separating different structures and carrying them on a tractor. Moreover, if the flood destroys the house it wouldn't harm them much as it is lighter and can float on the water. The only change that can be seen at present is very few use of concrete pillars while constructing the houses. These pillars are the byproduct of Trikhutti that is used to prevent the flood.
Flood and inundation made the villagers to make unique choices of vegetables that grow fast and resist flood
Every year villagers plant the suitable vegetables prior to the rainy season, using their knowledge and experiences acquired over generations. The priority is given to the vegetables that can resist flood and serve them throughout the rainy season. They opt for the suitable plants that cannot die in water and be harvested in a short time. The vegetables that are grown in the village are mostly vines/climbers such as pointed gourd (parwal), bottle gourd (lauka), oal (Elephant yam), tossa jute (Patuwa) and taro (karkala), that aren’t easily damaged by the water. The traditional approach taught them that vine plants don’t get damaged easily as they aren’t completely submerged in water.