By Ekraj Chaudhary, Manager, Radio Gurubaba 89.7
Every year, as monsoon clouds gather over western Nepal, the Babai River begins to rise. For many lowland villages in Bardiya, this once meant fear and uncertainty. Today, the response is different: it is calm, organized, and deeply rooted in community action.
This resilience reflects the revival of centuries-old Tharu Indigenous Traditional Knowledge. With support from the Indigenous Community Media Fund, Radio Gurbaba documented and shared these Indigenous practices with the wider communities. This initiative showed that effective early warning and disaster prevention systems are not always based on modern technology.
Barghar, also known as the Matawan, or Bhalmansa custom, is a traditional form of self-governance among the Tharu People that continues to play an important role in community life and resilience. Beyond its ceremonial role, the Barghar functions as a democratic and practical governance system, especially during natural disasters.
Under the Barghar system, the village leader works with a team of community members, each of whom has specific responsibilities. The Chowkidar (village watchman) communicates warnings and signals, the Aghwa helps organize physical construction work, and the Pan Gurwa contributes knowledge related to water management. Each year, Tharu villages hold a Gram Sabha, also called Bakheri, or Khojnibojni, where community members gather to plan for the coming months.
In disaster preparedness, this system promotes a strong sense of collective responsibility. Community members repair and strengthen their flood defenses before the monsoon season. They inspect embankments every year before the rains, repairing damaged sections or building new ones when needed. Although the government has also built infrastructure, community members recognize that such structures can collapse if they are not maintained regularly. For this reason, villagers work together under the leadership of the Barghar to build and maintain organic embankments.
When formal engineering infrastructure fails, the community turns to nature-based solutions instead of waiting for delayed government support. Villagers build organic embankments using local materials and collective labor. Previously they used tree leaves collected from the forest, but now they plant bamboo in the community forest, driving bamboo stakes into the ground, filling sacks with soil, and constructing embankments. These community-led efforts have helped control shifting riverbanks in areas where concrete structures have eroded.
The Tharu People use geography and kinship as a lifeline. The Babai River begins upstream in the Dang Valley before flowing down into the plains of Bardiya. Over generations, Tharu communities have learned how long it takes floodwaters to travel from Dang to Bardiya. When the river begins to rise in Dang, people there call their relatives in Bardiya to warn them, as the floodwaters usually take about three hours to arrive.
This three hour warning gives the Chowkidar enough time to act. The Chowkidar alerts the community by walking through the village and shouting warnings, or by using public address systems. This early warning allows villagers to evacuate in an organized way before the floodwaters reach them.
Architecture of Survival
The homes and villages of Tharu People are carefully designed for environmental safety. Their way of life reflects a deep understanding of nature, from the layout of villages to the way grain is stored. As Radio Gurbaba’s focus groups highlighted, Tharu villages and houses are usually built along a north-south axis, reflecting the geography of the Tharuhat region.
This design supports both drainage and storm protection; since water flows from north to south, the layout helps rainwater drain more easily during heavy downpours. It also protects houses from strong winds that often blow from the west. Because the rectangular mud houses face north-south, their stronger side walls help block the wind and reduce the risk of roofs being blown away.
The internal layout of the house also follows this environmental logic. The sacred Dehurar and the eldest son’s room are placed in the north, followed by the kitchen, dining area, and daughters’ rooms. The main living space is at the center, while the cattle shed is placed at the southern end, where it can absorb more heat.
Tharu communities protect their food supply through the Dehri, a large traditional storage vessel made from raw clay, rice husks, and lentil husks. In flood-prone areas, the legs of the Dehri are built higher than usual, often made of wood or brick. This keeps stored grain safe even when floodwater enters the house.
From Indigenous Customs to Policy
For decades, adaptation practices of Indigenous Peoples were largely left out of mainstream municipal planning. Radio Gurbaba helped change this by documenting and sharing Tharu Traditional Knowledge through 18 radio episodes and several digital video reels.
The initiative brought Indigenous Traditional Knowledge into public discussion and local government spaces. It directly involved 80 participants, including 20 women and 60 men, helping to ensure that the stories and practices were represented authentically.
In addition to disaster preparedness, this work has also influenced local policy. Local governments have begun formally recognizing Tharu self-governance systems as part of disaster preparedness and response. Badhaiyatal rural municipality and Bansgadhi municipality have both recognized these systems, distributing identity cards to Barghars and allocating municipal programs and funds to preserve Tharu culture while supporting local livelihoods.
By bringing Indigenous wisdom into public awareness, Bardiya has shown how Indigenous Traditional Knowledge can strengthen climate change adaptation. The experience demonstrates that preparing for future disasters also requires listening to the knowledge keepers of the past.
In 2025, Radio Gurubaba, received a grant from Cultural Survival’s Indigenous Community Fund, which provides opportunities for journalism, broadcasting, audio editing, technical skills, and more for community media from Indigenous communities around the world. In 2025 CS awarded a total of $502,000 to 63 Indigenous communication projects that will benefit Indigenous Peoples in 29 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, United States of America, Philippines, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Honduras, Mali, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Chile, Canada, Panama, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Nicaragua, and Tanzania.
