INTRODUCTION:

It consists of 1109 households with

5627 populations (1991 Nepal Census).
Chobhar is famous for the mythical
story of Manjushree cutting the ridge in
half to drain the lake which is now
Kathmandu valley.

LOCATION:
Chobhar village is an ancient hill village located about 6 km south-west outside of
Kathmandu valley, ward no. 13 of Kirtipur municipality. Settlement is situated at the
top of the hill with dominant Newari community. The streets are rubble filled.
Aadinath Lokeshwor Mandir is the main shrine of Chobhar village.
Approach to the settlement:

Access from all directions.

Walking trails for the peoples
Road access for the vehicles.

Features of Aadinath temple:

Consists of three tiered wooden pagoda style.

Newly Wedded believe that fixing a metal utensil to its wall will ensure a
happy marriage life.

The temple consists of numerous Buddhist and Hindu shrines. So the village is
reversed by both Buddhist and Hindu people.

Form and Morphology of the settlement:

The settlement seems to being developed in the concentric form with famous
Aadinath Lokeshwor temple at the center.

AIM OF STUDY:

To preserve and promote the local vernacular architecture.

To utilize and enhance the local available resources.
To identify the existing problems and issues.

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:

To understand the human settlement pattern of the settlement.

To analyze the planning of the settlement.
To familiarize with the socio-economic status of the population.
To find out the religious and cultural aspects of the settlement.
To analyze the impact of earthquake on the settlement.

LITERATUR E REVIEW (THEORITICAL REVIEW)

A literature review is an evaluative report of information found in the
literature related to your selected area of study. The review should describe,
summarise, evaluate and clarify this literature. It should give a theoretical base for the
research and help us to determine the nature of our research.

POPULATION:
According to the above bar diagram the population of chobhar settlement (ward 13 )
is found to be 1500 person.

EDUCATION:
According to the above bar diagram we came to find out that the population of age
group going to school is almost 500 for ward 13 with a number of school.

SETTLEMENT:
Densely towards west direction as it is less sloppy than other direction
Form: branching, houses are building along the either side of the road

Road are curvilinear

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Services
Agriculture
Handicraft
Restaurants

CULTURAL ASPECTS:
Main event take place in the month of Chitra with a large number of people
attracting to the place.

METHODOLOGY:
The main objectives of methodology are to gather and measure information on
variable of interests that enables one to answer stated research question and to
evaluate outcomes. It studies physical and social sciences, humanities, business etc.
We adopted two ways of data collections:
1) Primary Data
2) Secondary Data
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PRIMARY DATA:

Site Visit
Interview
Questionnaire survey/ house hold survey
Focused Group Discussion

Site visit:
Site visit is the first and prime step of collection of primary data. It is the direct
observation of field.
Interview:
It is the process of conversation with individual with one-to-one question in the field.
It provides more accurate information and is easy method of data collection. Due to
personal presence of the investigator there is flexibility of enquiry.
Questionnaire survey/ household survey:
In this method of collection of data, questions are prepared and asked to the people
from whom the information can be collected. The questions incorporate physical
economical, environmental, social, religious, cultural issues of the research field. It is
also an accurate process of data collection.
Focused group discussion:
In this method, information is obtained from a part of the group of focused people. It
is a group discussion related to particular subject of research. It gives the information
of overall society rather than that of any individual.

Secondary data:
Common sources of secondary data for social science include censuses orgational
records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or qualitative research.

FINDINGS AND OBSERVATION:

Located at top of high hills.

Western part is denser due to its low slope gradient and other parts are less
dense.
Approaches from all directions with walking trails for people and road
way for vehicles.
Used locally available resources for building constructions.
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Stone masonry used widely rather than brick masonry due to high
transportation cost of bricks.
Houses were generally of 2 or 3 storied.
In an questionnaire survey, Buddhilal Maharjan ,a local permanent
resident of chobhar village aged 58 says, Water supply in Chobhar
village is very scarce and is provided for only an hour a day.this
statement states there is poor supply of drinking water in the village.
Hari Govinda Maharjan, a member of same community explained the
poor condition of road through his statement , In case of fire hazard, its
not possible to reach fire brigades inside the village due to very narrow
road. Due to negligence of the policy makers, Chobhar village is
backward in the development of infrastructures like road,water supply and
drainage even though it lies inside the capital city.

ANALYSIS:
HUMAN SETTLEMENT:
With the motto of unity in diversity we found various kind of ethnic group( Newar,
Brahmin chhetri, sudhra ) in that locality living together in peace and harmony
majority of people living here are Newar (the oldest indigenous group of Kathmandu
valley), Newars are renowned for their many feasts and festivals celebrated
throughout the year. The living standard of the people is primate. Although it is
situated just 6 km from the core part of the capital the available services (health
education security access road) are not sufficient. The people use traditional means for
their farming. Materials for the building construction is mud, stone .Only old people
are found all the other young generation are out for the employment.

PLANNING:
The planning of Chobhar village is infrastructurally poor. The narrow curvilinear
pathway up to the adinath temple/ central settlement lacks the proper drainage system.
Though the settlement has got water storage tank, it has got shortage of drinking
water. There is improper planning of road so people are facing difficulty for public
transport. From the security point of view settlement feel insecure due to the lack of
police station. The community is trying to preserve and promote the historical
monuments, Adhinath temple.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS:
The diverse Chobhar villages are living in peace and harmony. Majority of people
depend upon agriculture and young generation depend on services. The scope of
tourism is good enough as it comprises old historic monument. The forest in and
around the village provide recreational site for tourism and also helps in conservation
of bio diversity. Some people depend on art and craft, stone craving so it helps for
preservation of ancient architecture.
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RELIGIOUS AND CULTURE ASPECTS:

Both hindu and Buddhist people are accommodated in the community as it has got
Adhinath temple and Buddhist monk in the core settlement. Newari people celebrate
several fest and festival in which they have got mela in Kartik which last for one
month. Newly married couple hangs utensils on the wall of temple for happy married
life.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS:
Community based forest and greenery nearby the settlement has significant value for
biological eco system. No risk of landslide and erosion. no exploitation of land and
hazardous urbanization as most of chobhar land is occupied by Nepal Government.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:

As we know chobhar settlement have a great history from the period Late king
Prithivi Narayan Shah but if we look the present scenario it does not seems like that.
The settlement is just 6km away from core part its development is not sufficient
enough. Settlement form is branching with densely populated towards west due to less
sloppy land. Major problem of that settlement area is drinking water and transport.
The heavy vehicles cant approach to that place so people are forced to build their
buildings with traditional building material (mud, stone, wood etc) the cost to carry
the building material from the lower level to the upper settlement is high because
manually they are to be carried. Due to transport problem fire brigade cant reach to
the settlement area. In case of water it is to be pumped through the low land to high
land through electric pumps. There is no any natural means for water (kuwa, water
spout, well). Drainage facility is also poor. Agricultural farm lands are far away from
their home so they have to long walking distance to reach their fields. So slowly
people lift their farming and engage in other services. Regarding the health services
there is no any health institution (private clinics, health post). But electricity and
telephone services are quite good enough. No institute that provide higher education
study are available.
In order to preserve and promote this old settlement following below listed strategies
can be adopted:

DRINKING WATER:
a. Rain water harvesting concept can be introduced to the settlement.
b. Alternative source of water such as boring on the low land and
pumping to the high level.

DRAINAIGE SYSTEM:
a. Its land topography itself
makes easier in drainage
system because it is easy to
drainage from high to low.
b. Proper drainage system
appropriate manhole and
sewer pipe line should be
maintained.

flow
with

ACESS ROAD:
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a. As there is main problem to circulate the vehicle at high land

topography due to compact settlement on either side of road so
alternative wide road from east direction will be suitable.

SERVICES ( HEALTH AND EDUCATION)

a. Healthcare centre should be established which provide basic health
treatment to the people.
b. For higher education government should establish colleges for the
benefit of the local children as there are more than 500 students are
studying at high school level.

CULTURAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS:

a. In order to uplift the agriculture
product introduce of new
technology on cultivation of land.
b. Animal husbandry will be
alternative source of income for
the people as they have plane land
on the lower level.
c. In order to preserve the cultural architecture of the settlement
government should implement the strict policy.

Fig: Agriculture Farm land

PLANNING:
a. As the planning form of the settlement is in branching form with
narrow curvilinear road, it will be beneficial by creating another access
form Manjushree Park.
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b. In terms of the expansion of the settlement there is only possible

through west direction as it is less sloppy.

Quionaire:
Name:
Sex:
Age:
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Q: Are you the permanent residence of this place?

A:
Q: How many members are there in your family?
A:
Q: Is your family educated?
A:
Q: How old is this settlement? How many household units are there?
A:
Q: What is the income source of your family?
A:
Q: Is there any significant importance of this place, what is your opinion?
A:
Q: What are the infrastructures that are included in your settlement? Are they
sufficient? If not whats the problem?
A:
Q: Is there any open space in your locality?
A:
Q: What about the road extension?
A:
Q: Are all the building easily accessible by fire brigade?
A:
Q: Regarding the Health and Education , Are the institution sufficient to provide their
services?
A:
Q: Although the settlement is situated on the high hills, is there any threat related to
natural disaster?
A:
Q: Regarding the security is there any governmental/ local intuition that safeguards
your locality as well as cultural monuments?
A:
Q: Is there any Government plan and policy for the upliftment of this old settlement?
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A:
Q: What are the damages caused by recent (12th April, 2015) Earthquake? Is there any
impact done by the earthquake on settlement? Can it be rebuild on the same stage?
A:

Reference:

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