Tikapur. The final draft of the risk sensitive land use plan of Tikapur municipality of the district has been discussed with the stakeholders. It is said that if the land use plan of the municipality is implemented, it will help in urban development and risk reduction.
The land use plan includes urban condition analysis, multi-disaster risk assessment, multi-sector risk capacity analysis, urban population and local growth trends, land use zoning plan, proposed land use policy, etc.
In the plan, multiple disasters at the municipal and ward levels have been identified and mapped. The level of risk has been assessed in areas such as agriculture, roads and buildings. Based on multi-disaster risk assessment, the land in the ward has been classified into very high risk, high risk, medium risk and low risk categories.
Facilitating the program, consultant Dr. Sanjay Upreti said that various studies were done while creating the plan. “From the point of view of multiple disasters, Ward No. 1 has been placed as a low risk ward and Ward No. 8 as a high risk ward”, he said, “Ward No. 2, 5 and 6 are as medium risk wards. Dailekhpur and Payalgaon of Wards No. 6 and 9, including many settlements in Ward No. 5 and 7, are at high risk of flooding.”
He said that during the analysis of the risk assessment, which is closely related to the earthquake, construction and building of houses in high risk areas should be prohibited. “We have mentioned in the plan that the municipality should not develop and build houses in high-risk areas”, he said.
In the land use plan, land use areas are classified into 11 categories. It has been classified as mixed urban area, urban expansion area, urban market area, institutional area, industrial area, rural market area, low population density rural residential area, agricultural area, forest area, open area and river and water area. Land use planning works to promote development in protected areas, to conserve natural resources, to promote expansion of agricultural land and infrastructure around existing urban areas and rural markets. In addition, the land use policy of the municipality has been created.
Bhumishwar Pokharel, head of the local administration office Tikapur, said that if the plan is made, it will be easier for the municipality to develop the city in the future and invest in every ward. “After the land use plan, it is easy to make a plan of what to do in which area, how to develop”, he said, “this plan will help more in disaster reduction.”
In the program presided over by Ramlal Dagaura Tharu, head of Tikapur municipality, Bishwaraj Adhikari, head of the local police office, said that such issues should be included as random excavations have caused disasters. “Digging on one side and piling soil on the other in the name of construction has caused disaster. This year too, children have drowned in potholes”, he said. “There is a risk of people dying due to falling dead trees in the settlements in the camp. It is necessary to include such calamities as well.”
