Mto ambao Seoul aliuficha kwa nusu karne

Katikati mwa Seoul kuna mto uliozikwa kwa nusu karne. Mto Cheonggyecheon hapo zamani ulipita wazi katikati ya jiji, lakini katika miaka iliyofuata vita ulichafuka na kuzungukwa na vibanda, hivyo mamlaka waliufunika kwa lami. Zege lilifunga maji hayo mbali, na kufikia miaka ya sabini ya karne iliyopita barabara kuu iliyoinuliwa ilivuma juu ya zege hilo. Mto huo uliendelea kuwepo tu kama uvumi chini ya msongamano wa magari.

At the heart of Seoul lies a river that spent half a century entombed. The Cheonggyecheon once ran openly through the city's core, but in the years following the war it grew polluted and hemmed in by shanties, so the authorities paved over it. Concrete sealed the water away, and by the nineteen seventies an elevated highway thundered above that concrete. The river persisted only as a rumour beneath the traffic.

Kisha, mwaka wa elfu mbili na tatu, Seoul alijaribu jambo lililoonekana karibu kupingana na akili: alianza kubomoa barabara kuu ili kuuchimbua mto tena. Wahandisi walibomoa barabara, wakarejesha karibu kilomita sita za mkondo huo, na kupamba kingo zake kwa njia za kutembea, mawe ya kukanyagia, na madaraja. Wenye mashaka waliishtaki jiji hilo kwa kuitolea muundombinu muhimu dhabihu kwa ajili ya mapambo. Mradi huo uliendelea hata hivyo, na mkondo huo ulifunuliwa tena mwaka wa elfu mbili na tano.

Then, in two thousand and three, Seoul attempted something that looked almost perverse: it began dismantling the highway to dig the river back out. Engineers tore up the roadway, restored nearly six kilometres of the stream, and lined its banks with walkways, stepping stones and bridges. Sceptics accused the city of sacrificing useful infrastructure for decoration. The project proceeded regardless, and the stream was unveiled again in two thousand and five.

Hata wenye matumaini hawakuwa tayari kwa kile kilichofuata. Samaki, ndege na wadudu walirejea kwenye maji ambayo hayakuwahi kuona mwanga wa jua kwa miaka hamsini. Joto la kiangazi kando ya mkondo huo lilirekodiwa kuwa nyuzi kadhaa baridi zaidi kuliko barabara zinazopita sambamba nayo, hali ya kiyoyozi cha asili kilichopenya katikati ya sehemu iliyojaa watu zaidi ya jiji hilo. Mamilioni sasa hutembea kando ya kingo zake kila mwaka, wengi wao wakiwa wadogo mno kuelewa kwamba kona yao pendwa ya Seoul hapo zamani ilikuwa chini ya barabara kuu.

Even the optimists were unprepared for what followed. Fish, birds and insects returned to water that had not glimpsed daylight in fifty years. Summer temperatures along the stream registered several degrees cooler than on the roads running parallel to it, a natural air conditioner threaded through the densest part of the city. Millions now walk its banks each year, many of them too young to grasp that their favourite corner of Seoul was once the underside of a motorway.