Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Angkor in quicksand

The fast and huge growth in tourist numbers is putting environmental pressure on one of the world's premier heritage sites of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Photo / Reuters

Wednesday March 19, 2008
The New Zealand Herald

At first glance, it is business as usual at the great sandstone temple of Angkor Wat. Through a drape of evening haze, the ancient Cambodian superstructure sees another batch of tourists process across its moat and marvel at its grandeur.

Local teenagers waggle cool drinks in the faces of passers-by and auto-rickshaw or "tuk-tuk" drivers loudly vie for business. It looks like what it is - a boom town.

But the modern commercial success of the complex, on the site of the ancient city of Angkor, may, literally, be on shaky ground.

Heritage experts carrying out restoration work at the temple say a plethora of new hotels, cashing in on the country's near-exponential rise in tourist numbers, is sapping gallons of water from beneath nearby urban areas. They say this could upset the delicate foundations on which Angkor Wat sits and may lead to parts of it taking an unheavenly tumble to earth.

Philippe Delanghe, the culture programme specialist at Unesco's Phnom Penh office, said this week: "There is an important balance between the sand and water on which the temple is built. And if that balance is taken away then we might have trouble with collapse.

"The growth in the number of hotels means more holes are being drilled for water. And this has profound consequences for this mix.

"We saw something similar with the weakening of the stability of ruins in Indonesia two years ago, and there is the possibility that we will see something like this here."

Locally, it is easy to see why such comments go down badly. The temple, which appears on the national flag, is the jewel in Cambodia's heritage crown. Not only is it in the best condition of any such structure at the Angkor site, it has been tightly linked with Cambodia's history for nearly a millennium.

It is thought to have been built as a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II (who died in 1152) to honour Vishnu, the Hindu deity with whom he identified.

The sandstone blocks from which it was constructed were quarried more than 30 miles away and floated down the Siem Reap river. Recent research suggests that Angkor was an urban settlement covering some 700 square miles, comparable in size to Greater London, and therefore the world's largest medieval city.

In 1993, when Angkor was first added to Unesco's World Heritage List, the Khmer Rouge (a leftover from the Vietnam War) were still active in certain areas. Some 7600 people visited the temple complex that year. Since then, however, Cambodia has become "safe" and package tours have landed in fleets. In 2007, about two million tourists visited Cambodia, with half stopping at Angkor Wat.

With tourist traffic continuing to increase by about 20 per cent year on year, some three million people are expected to visit the country in 2010.

PRECIOUS PAST
  • Angkor appears on Cambodia's national flag.
  • It is thought to have been built as a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II (who died in 1152) to honour Vishnu, the Hindu deity with whom he identified.
  • The sand stone blocks from which it was constructed were quarried more than 30 miles away and floated down the Siem Reap river.
  • Recent research suggests that Angkor was an urban settlement covering some 700 square miles.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't forget sustainability. please help preserve khmer world heritage arts and architecture.

Anonymous said...

i'm wondering does siem reap have a water treatment facility? i think, given this report, siem reap ought to change its way of obtaining water for general use. get the west or japan to help with transporting water from the tonle sap lake for city's usage. this is way ground water can be limitted to only a handful. this is a potential profit for company who can provide water for siem reap. an investment idea?

Anonymous said...

Hmm ... I find that hard to believe. I mean the temple have survived many monsoons for centuries and can't withstand a little water from nearby hotel. However, to avoid the risk we just have to free up some area around the temple, and that should solve the problem if any.

Anonymous said...

Those people should realise that their hotels are worth only if the Angkor Wat still standing, so they should pay attention to this. Look after Cambodia national heritage then it will look after your hotels. Otherwise the hotels are for ghost to stay.

Anonymous said...

yes, it could be a problem, but when detected early can be solved meaningfully. with this in mind, yes, cambodia has to think about the long-term consequences of over used groundwater. stop to think! yes, use water from the tonle sap lake. i say this, because just look around the world, a major city like siem reap (of course, siem reap is getting bigger everyday in both population and infrastructure like buildings, etc.) ought to think about a sustainable water usage for the city. doesn't mean growth has to stop, however, look for other possible solutions as well would help cambodia tremendously.

Anonymous said...

If Angkor Wat sink only HUN SEN government will take the full blame. I will be enough reason to bring down his party because of their procastination.

Anonymous said...

Agree, but you must let us rule until the temple sink then. I mean without any national election in between, fair?

Anonymous said...

Not for long..you freaking Viet/yuon's valet @8:43AM!

Anonymous said...

From hydrologist point of view to solve the problem facing Angkor Wat is to pump the water from outside source and ban all digging for water!

I believe put the banning with 10 miles radius of Angkor Wat would help because there plenty of lakes and rivers that can still supply enough for the population!

Anonymous said...

Possible mate, but we want second and third opinions because people are too panicking over every little crap that associated with the temple.

And FYI, there are a lot construction companies in Cambodia who always wanted to create jobs for themselves. I think this is nothing more than another one of their scams.

Anonymous said...

regardless, it is still a good thing to be mindful of our national heritage for cambodia and the entire world civilization as well. and, yes, i hope the city planner will look at other sources for water, not just from digging wells or what have you! if so lack of concepts or ideas, i encourage city planner to seek out technical assistance from the more delevopped western countries like the USA, the EU, Australia, and Japan as these countries have a great system in their countries to supply water to their cities in their countries. they stop being dependent on wells for their cities' water supply a long time ago, so i think cambodia should ask for their technical support in this water management system for siem reap and other cities all across cambodia. thank you

Anonymous said...

No way, we can't work with corrupted construction company from US, EU, ...
We will be drowned in debt that can't be paid back. Those thiefs and robbers charge $millions/km for road. You know that?