Keshav Bhattarai, UCM geography professor, traveled to Nepal this summer on a Fulbright grant and helped his alma mater build mapping tools.
Bhattarai grew up in Kathmanda, the capital of Nepal, and graduated from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Geography contacted Bhattarai to help them develop geographic information and a remote sensing center with the Fulbright grant. He was in Nepal from June 21 through July 31.
He said the geographic information and remote sensing center are useful tools in mapping and predicting land use and changes. They are planning to create a digitized city and a remote sensing center to help the CDG research land-use dynamics and provide services in urban planning.
He said the CDG asked for him to help aid in urban planning for Nepal’s environmental issues.
Bhattaria said his ongoing research was about environmental issues, such as pollution in the Kathmandu Valley from heavy traffic.
“The Kathmandu Valley is becoming the second most polluted city in South Asia, after New Delhi,” Bhattarai said.
Bhattarai said over 9,000 people die in Nepal each year, mainly in Kathmandu Valley, due to environmental diseases.
He said the faculty at Tribhuvan University want to develop the remote sensing center to aid in the environmental issues.
“The university authorities were very positive on our proposal,” Bhattarai said.
He said he is helping to do systematic planning and promoting smart cities, making cities digitized.
A smart city would use real-time data to show where people are, where pollutants are concentrated, where track traffic jams occur and more.
The Tribhuvan University and the Central Department of Geography are involved with urban planning research to help Nepal’s government. He said the university asked him to join the CDG as a Fulbright specialist, focusing on smart city initiatives.
“To some extent, (the) geography faculty of CDG and I were successful, but disseminating the achievements and initiatives taken by CDG was not possible only through personal discussions,” he said. “Thus, I started writing articles in national newspapers.”
Bhattarai said he has also done TV interviews and has received positive feedback on social media.
“These became my favorite memories,” he said. “Many of the comments are about why I am not working in Nepal or when I would come back to Nepal and work in Nepal with new ideas.”
Anil Giri, assistant professor of agriculture, also grew up in Nepal and said the experience would help both Nepal and the U.S., especially UCM.
“As you know, Fulbright is a very highly regarded academic achievement,” Giri said. “For Nepal, they got an expert in the field with advanced training and knowledge. I am sure he has collaborated with several researchers from Nepal who will benefit from learning about new technology and exchange knowledge.”
Giri said the students who had Bhattarai’s classes learned new innovative theories and technologies.
“For UCM, our students get a networking opportunity,” Giri said. “In a global job market, his experiences will translate into those being incorporated in his classes so students who apply for jobs in global firms will have knowledge about developing countries and ways U.S. technologies can be used.”
Leigh Blunt, professor of safety sciences, said she has worked with Bhattarai for six years.
“He is a dedicated faculty member with a tremendous record of scholarly activity,” she said. “He has a strong passion for research and extensive knowledge about current and historical environmental and political issues in Nepal.”
Blunt said while Bhattarai was in Nepal, he taught graduate students and conducted a seminar for Ph.D students on rural development.
“His selection for the Fulbright Specialist Program is clear indication of his talent and of the impact of his research,” she said. “He has developed relationships that provide excellent opportunities for further collaborations that have the opportunity to benefit both Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu as well as UCM.”
Bhattarai said his 40 days in Nepal were busy but he made many great memories.
“I had opportunities meeting people of various backgrounds, my old friends and making new friends were the most favorite memories,” Bhattarai said.
Bhattarai said he hopes the apps he is planning on developing will help them with urban planning. He said he’s been developing the models which would become apps with students from the computer science department, with Computer Science Professor Mahmoud Yousef’s master’s students.
Bhattarai said some of the students are helping create the models as part of their class project.
He said the apps are mainly targeted to transportation modeling. They use GIS for land-use planning and urban vulnerability mapping.
He said currently there are two computer science students involved in the development of two different transportation models to be eventually developed into apps.
The goals of the apps are to suggest the replacement of hundreds of old and small busses, and replace them with large busses. He said this can minimize emissions while providing the effective service.
He said once they have students willing to develop the apps, they could help some of Nepal’s environmental issues.
“Once the apps become ready, I plan to share it with the urban planners of Nepal,” Bhattarai said.
