Singing Contest by Women Groups on the theme of making Disaster Resilient Future Rapti City

The women groups from the Rapti Valley (Deukhuri) participated in a Singing Contest organized in Rapti while marking TEEJ festival. TEEJ is a popular festival of Nepali Hindu women celebrated with joy and hope. TEEJ Singing is one of the main components of this celebration. The contest was focused on the theme of making planned, inclusive, equitable and resilient future Rapti City where women groups could express their wishes, aspirations and ideas for making disaster resilient Rapti city. The event was organized in Rapti on September 17, 2023 with the support from Tomorrow’s Cities project.

Chairperson Prakash Bista from Rapti Rural Municipality, in his opening remarks, welcomed all the participants and highlighted the importance of the theme selected for the day. “We are now in the planning phase to develop our new city considering aspects of planned urban development and ensuring new city that is disaster resilient too”, Mr. Bista remarked.

The event was attended by Vice Chairperson from Rapti, Ward Chair from Shitaganga and also representatives from PIDA and Tomorrow’s Cities project.

The TEEJ Singing Contest was jointly organized by Rapti Rural Municipality, Provincial Infrastructure Development Authority (PIDA), Lumbini Province and National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal (NSET) in coordination with Gadhawa Rural Municipality, Shitaganga Municipality and Tomorrow’s Cities, International & Nepal Partners.

There were total 5 teams from different wards of Rapti and Shitaganda Municipalities contesting:

•  Janamukhi Women Group, Shitaganga -8 led by Ms. Khimsara Ale.
•  Women Group, Shitaganga -9 led by Ms. Bimala Pariyar.
•  Women Group, Rapti -4 led by Ms. Juna KC.
•  Deukhuri Today led by Ms. Srijana Thapa.
•  Langhali Yough Club, Shitaganga -8 led by Ms. Dhurmati Gharti.

The contestants focused on how we could build Tomorrow’s Rapti City resilient towards Multi-Hazard Risks and make a planned, safer, inclusive, equitable and prosperous city to live in.

A team led by Ms. Khimsara Ale from Shitaganga-8 voiced for securing enough open spaces while planning new Rapti city. They have asked to prioritize building better education and health facilities and also stressed creating job opportunities. The contestants stressed on earthquake resistant construction of housing and other infrastructures which are also resilient other hazards like floods and landlsides. They shared on how terrible it was to face floods, landlsides, fire in the localities in the past also facing global epidemics, the COVID-19. They aspired to have future Rapti city safe from all types of disaster risks.

The judge panel was composed of social activist, school teacher and DRR practitioner that decided winners of the Contest.

• The First Prize with Cash Amount NPR5000 to Team from Janamukhi Women Group.
• The Second Prize with Cash Amount NPR4000 to Team from Deukhuri Today.
• The Third Prize with Cash Amount NPR3000 goes to Team from Langhali Youth Club.

Vice Chairperson Ms. Kamalapati Chaudhary from Rapti Rural Municipaliuty awarded the winners with Certificate and Cash prize. She expressed her happiness to join such an event with social message and also congratulated the winners and participating teams.

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