Restoring Wells for Disaster Preparedness
Amidst the growing urban landscape, surrounded by buildings, filled with narrow lanes, and the hustle and bustle of city life lies Ward 7, in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, Lumbini Province, Nepal.
As beautiful as this place is, it also grapples with the repercussions of skewed development which has left the city susceptible to many disasters. Ms. Indra Nepali, a local resident of Ward 7 laments, “Looking back on the trajectory of events, we have been facing a lot of incidents related to community fires and inundation here.”
Yes, these narrow allies hold a lot of risks; in the past year alone over 160 fire-related incidents have been recorded in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City. But Ward 7 is demonstrating how traditional resources can be used as solutions to such risks. Wells have been a source of fetching water for the locals. However, with water pipes available in most houses these days, the utility value of the well has greatly diminished over time. That is, not until recently in Ward 7, as the residents are thinking of novel ways to restore wells and use them for disaster preparedness.
How?
The narrow lanes in many urbanized places in Nepal, including Ward 7 in Nepalgunj, means that it is difficult for fire trucks to reach houses nestled deep within these lanes, should any such disaster strike. But having replenished wells can provide the residents with a unique opportunity to use it as an ingenious solution in firefighting.
Mr. Prashant Shrestha, Ward Chair of Ward 7, elaborating on this vision, shares, “If the well is restored, then we can use the water to fill fire tanks during incidents of fires in the narrow lanes. This will allow us to respond faster and mitigate the risk of the fire spreading. We are thankful to the Strengthening Urban Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness and Response in Western Regions of Nepal (SUPER) project for collaborating with the ward and providing us with the technical know-how on the process of restoring wells and using them for disaster preparedness.”
The SUPER project, funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid is jointly implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, and UN Women. In Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, the project is implemented in coordination with the Nepal Red Cross Society and CDM-Nepal. This project supported the kickstarting of the restoration of these wells by introducing the concept of using wells as a source of water for mitigating fire, as well as by matching funds to restore them. With support from the project, two wells in Ward 7 and Ward 3 have been restored. And thus began the journey of the restoration of these wells as crucial disaster management assets, with the wards scaling up this practice beyond the two places.
Mr. Prakash DC, an environment engineer and the Disaster Risk Reduction Focal Person at the Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, speaking on how wells contribute to reducing water logging, elaborates, “Deep wells serve as water recharge sources which decrease water logging to some extent by increasing infiltration of runoff water during monsoon seasons.”
The well restoration efforts contribute to the Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP). Mr. Shrestha shares, “Based on the developed plan, Ward no 7 has formalized a ward level disaster preparedness plan, in which we have planned for the restoration of dormant wells and to link them with the disaster preparedness actions and fire mitigation actions.” This not only helps build urban resilience by addressing multiple disaster scenarios, but also helps adapt to the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, all future construction leading to the well will be designed with accessibility in mind, in order to promote inclusion.
The well restoration effort in Ward 7 and Ward 3 in Nepalgunj provides an example for all urban areas, nationwide, to use traditional resources and knowledge to become more disaster-resilient for a sustainable tomorrow.
Read more about UNDP Nepal SUPER: https://www.undp.org/nepal/projects/super
