The danger of lack of public spaces was painfully brought home to the residents of Kathmandu valley during the 2015 earthquakes. People rushed out of their  homes in panic only to find there was no safe place nearby. But this is not the only danger. Lack of public parks dissuades people from physical activity, contributing to an ever-expanding number of people with non-communicable diseases. Some can afford expensive exercise gear, not so everyone. If there was a green park nearby, they could all have gotten some exercise without paying anything.

 

Kathmandu valley is a badly planned area. Houses continue to go up haphazardly in every little open space. Community parks, a salient feature of the Indian capital New Delhi for instance, are non-existent in Kathmandu. Nor is there the equivalent of the Central Park in New York, around which a whole city has sprung up. Government authorities say they are now working on establishing satellite cities around Kathmandu so that some folks can be relocated from core and congested areas. Other ideas include relocating Tri-Chandra Campus and the Chhauni barracks of Nepal Army and building massive green parks in their place.

 

They won’t do it too soon. Kathmandu is already among the cities with worst air pollution in the world. The incidents of diabetes and heart disease have rocketed. Seismologists fear another big earthquake. The national capital is a botch-job in urban planning. Yet some corrective measures can still be taken.

 

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