Transcripts For KCSM Asia Insight 20170119

Is home to 2. 5 million people. On april 25, 2015, the region was struck by a major earthquake. The tremor destroyed 890 buildings and left nearly 9,000 people dead. Even now, more than 20,000 are still living as evacuees. Many unesco World Heritage sites were badly damaged. 30 registered buildings, including palaces and temples were completely destroyed. Another 80 or more suffered partial damage. Many people still live in temporary housing and their wellbeing takes precedence, so the government is too busy to look after heritage sites. An npo called the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust or kvpt has taken up the challenge of restoring damaged World Heritage sites to their former glory. With financial and Technical Support from overseas, kvpt aims to restore 16 buildings. Its not easy to secure the materials and personnel that we require for restore ration. However we want to do everything we possibly can to complete the work. The project employs around 100 local crafts people, but some of them still live in temporary housing. On this episode of asia insight we follow the efforts of the people of nepal to restore their rich cultural heritage. Tourism is one of nepals major industries. World heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley used to attract large numbers of tourists every day. The valley has prospered for centuries as an easy point of transit between india and tibet. This history has resulted in a diverse culture where elements of both hinduism and buddhism exist side by side. This culture flourished during the dynasty is that lasted from the 15th to the 18th century. Buildings were erected with wood and delicately carved architecture. Various temples were built around the royal palace and the area is known as durbar square. The Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust has an office in the city south of kathmandu. The organization was founded in 1991 for the purpose of restoring and preserving historical buildings. It employs 12 members of staff including experts in construction and archaeology. This man is the head of the nepal office. On the day of the earthquake, he and his staff were enjoying an excursion on the outskirts of the city. The earthquake struck just before noon. The tremor was stronger than anything we had experienced before and none of us could keep standing. The traffic was extremely congested and by the time we got back, it was already evening. We went straight to durbar square to see what was happening. What we found was rubble everywhere and a large crowd of people. We didnt know what to do. This a photograph of durbar square taken immediately after the earthquake. Rescue attempts are under way to save those trapped under collapsed buildings. At the beginning of the 17th century, the mala dynasty split into three ruling houses and one of the palaces was built. The royal palace was made up of buildings constructed around central courtyards known as chokes. A choke contains the kings residence and office, and a new choke was constructed every time a new king ascend to the throne. Temples were constructed in the vicinity of the palace. Two Hindu Temples built in the 16th and 17th centuries were completely destroyed. Rest areas for visitors were also left in ruins. A further 11 buildings in the complex suffered partial damage. It was heart breaking to realize the scenery we had become so accustomed to seeing had been lost completely. When i considered how long it would take to restore everything to its original state, i found it really hard to take. I was devastated. Throw days after the earthquake, military bulldozers were brought into durbar square to take away the rubble. However he urged the military to stop the removal work. He encouraged local people to help him collect pieces of wood and brick from the collapsed World Heritage buildings. Work continued at the site for one week. This man lives near durbar square and is a leader of the local heritage foundation. Kvpt has been protecting the World Heritage buildings in this area. We were grateful for their effort and their technical skill so we were willing to offer them a helping hand. Retrieved wood was placed in storehouses. However, the debris was cleared from durbar square in a hurry, without organization or cat gorization. So the first job was to divide the materials according to which part of what building they came from. It was a laborious process. Bricks were also collected from the destroyed buildings. They were kept close by in vacant lots. These are the bricks we rescued from the rubble. We only keep bricks that we can use. They date back to the mala dynasty and theyre very valuable. If we throw them away, were throwing away history itself. Here, work is under way to restore wooden parts collected after the earthquake. 25 local carpenters are involved in the task. He aims to restore the World Heritage buildings by making as much use as possible of the rescued materials as he can. This part was damaged by the earthquake, so we added some new wood in here, and recreated the original carving. Right now, you can clearly see the difference, but after about two years of exposure, the color will be more or less the same. This man has been working on the project for one year. He adds new pieces to damaged art works. Skillfully using 20 different tools to reproduce the intricate carvings. This photograph was taken by a kvpt staff member, its all he has to work with. He is considered one of the most talented artisans in the workshop. This intricate art work will take him more than two weeks to complete. When hes finished for the day, his colleague gives him a ride home. He lives in temporary housing. His family home was destroyed during the earthquake. His immediate family consists of his wife, their children and his mother. However, they have been forced to live separately due to the limited size of the accommodation units. Before the earthquake, he created wooden carvings which he sold to souvenir stores. I dont know how much they sold them for. But they gave me around 9 for each one i made. He still creates wooden carvings whenever he has time. But there are few shops that will purchase them. Taking part in the kvpt restore ration work has allowed him to earn the same pay as he received prior to the earthquake. When i was struggling to meet my living expenses, i was happy to be able to start work at kvpt. The first thing i want to do is rebuild my house, then there are various other things to think about. Following the earthquake, the number of tourists visiting nepal fell by nearly 20 . Tourism is important to the economy and the lull in tourism has hit the city hard. A crowd gathers around a collapsed hindu temple. Today is a hindu festival and worshippers are pray fog the temple statue. Im extremely sad the temple has been destroyed. Usually there is a railing around here and we can only pray from the outside. They opened it for the festival. But they will close it again. I hope the temple will be completely restored. Even if they cant achieve that in my lifetime, i hope that my grandchildren will see it happen. 15 buildings in durbar square were damaged in the earthquake, reconstruction work is under way on six of these. This building was originally used as an assembly room. The walls and roof of the third floor also collapsed. He visits the work site as often as he can to check on the progress. This man, an architecture major is in charge here. Hes been contributing time to kvpt ever since the earthquake. That wooden beam is rotten and bent. It seems to be in very bad condition. I think we should replace it. I prefer to use the original materials, but it cant be helped. I guess well have to replace it. What should we do with the adjacent beam . Leave it as it is. I dont think we need to replace that with a new one. Five professional bricklayers and ten parttime workers are pulling together to complete the restoration work on this brick wall. New bricks are used on the outside, while the original bricks are placed on the inside. The philosophy of making bricks close to the originals is part of the construction work. Over the past ten years, he has also been renovating traditional residential properties. Today hes visiting a 200yearold house. One of the buildings facing the courtyard has been vacant for over 30 years. He approaches the owner and advises him on what should be done for the best. He suggests that the building be renovated into a tourist guest house, preserving the propertys traditional features. I was thinking of knocking the whole thing down and rebuilding it from scratch. But now ive become aware of its potential and cultural value. And i want to carry on using it. If lots of modern concrete buildings are constructed close to the square, i want to refurbish many homes so he has been familiar with traditional architecture ever since his childhood. His father worked as an at the nepalese government. He joined them on their survey of nepals cultural assets, resulting in the World Heritage registration of the palaces and temples of the Kathmandu Valley of 1979. His father encouraged him to pursue a career that he would enjoy. In the end, he decided to study architecture at university, following in his fathers footsteps. I grew up near durbar square in kathmandu. My family home is surrounded by many traditional houses. Whats more, my father worked for the development of archaeology and was involved in restoring old buildings. On school holidays, i would often go to his place of work and watch what he was doing. So i suppose its only natural that i decided to go into the same line of work. In 1985, he traveled abroad on a scholarship from the soviet government. He went on to graduate school in minsk, the capital of bella reuss. His interest in japanese architecture began to grow even stronger. Nearly all of the buildings in bella reuss were build after the second world war, so there were very few old buildings, most were modern. Its a common saying that people never appreciate whats right under their nose. When i went to bella reuss, it made me realize how beautiful and precious the buildings of nepal are. He returned home to nepal in 1991. The same year the kvpt staffed principally by architects in order to restore the World Heritage assets. Following an introduction from a professor in nepal, he became kvpts local representative. The characteristic of nepalese architecture is the abundance of styles used in its ornamentation. So no two pillars are the same. In europe, however, the emphasis is on harmonizing the entire building by repeatedly using pillars with the same decorative patterns, whenever you look at a nepalese building, youll discover something new. Thats why nepalese architecture is so complex and interesting. Up until the 2015 earthquake, kvpt had renovated more than 50 buildings. He had also carried out reenforcement work to improve earthquake resistance. Look up there. We used a bolt to join two overlapping timbers in order to provide reenforcement. Thanks to these reenforcements, this palace building was unaffected by the effort quake. He has also introduced innovations where bricks and timber are used side by side. The bricks causes the timbers to rot. In order to prevent this, we have to place copper plate between the bricks and the timber whenever we can. Please compare these two pillars, this part and this part for instance. You can see that all the patterns are different. It takes an enormous amount of time to record all of these variations. It is extremely difficult to reproduce the same pattern again if it is not recorded properly. Hes preparing to rebuild the destroyed hindu temple. He showed us the blueprint. Immediately after the tremor, aided by the local people, managed to recover the pillars. Each of the pillars was precisely measured. Then, by referring to various photographs, he and his staff produced the blueprint. Theyre planning to strengthen the temples foundations to ensure that it with stands future tremors. The stone foundations were not joined together. They were only stacked on top of each other. So it seems that one of the corner stones was kicked out by the earthquake. This disturbed the balance of the building, resulting in the collapse of the pillars and eventually led to the complete destruction of the temple. That is why he is considering binding the Foundation Stones together with stainless steel stakes and also use these stakes to connect the pillars to the Foundation Stones, rather than simply fitting them into holes chiseled out in the stone. When this temple was constructed, their techniques were not very advanced, now we intend to rebuild using modern techniques, so even if a major earthquake occurs again, the temple will not collapse. The efforts of the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust will ensure that the beauty of nepals unique heritage will be seen and admired by future generations. Hello and welcome to nhk newsline. Im raja pradhan with the latest from tokyo. A court in seoul will not allow an arrest warrant for the de facto head of the countrys biggest conglomerate samsung. It doesnt see the need for an arrest right now. The court spent all night considering whether to approve the warrant for lee jaeyong is suspected of bribing a friend of park geun hye. Its part of the influence peddling scandal that led to