A: It is NOT so much about building dams as embankments. The idea proposed by Major Chandra is entirely based on building hundreds of miles of mega-embankments, on both sides of the Brahmaputra. He would create monster canals, impoundments, he calls Sagars, both sides of the Brahmaputra, ostensibly to prevent the tributaries from flooding the main river and its flood plains, which really is most of the Brahmaputra valley. His embankments are proposed to be 20 meters ( 66 ft) in height.
If we draw a cross section of a 66' tall embankment with a 20 meter ( again 66') top, it will be like a mesa that is 66' wide at the top and 330 ft. wide ( 110 yds) at the base at the very least ( with a 1:2 slope, which is much too steep-ideally it should be 1:3). These will run from the western to the eastern end of the Brahmaputra valley, two of them to the north and two to the south. I call them the Mother of All Embankments. Now compare these embankments to the new highway that has been under construction four at least the past 5 years, from near Jagiroad to near Na-Gaon. I am not sure if it is done, YET! Did you see the environmental catastrophe this project created? And it was barely 3 meters tall and perhaps no more than 15 meters wide at the top. The Chandra Sagar project will be a hundred folds larger, if not more. Oh, one more thing: Chandra knows he will have to build an impervious core to these embankments. Impervious core will be concrete. I am no civil engineer, but an educated guess will be that this impervious core, 66' tall will be at least 10' thick. Can you imagine the volume of concrete he will need to build these - nearly 500 mile long for each embankment, multiplied by two for the north and an equally long , nearly a thousand miles, for the south AT THE VERY LEAST. I say at the very least, because we have not considered the lengths of these embankments both sides of the tributaries also that the scheme will require as well. All these are in the realm of the possible. But at a cost. And what might the costs be? A: First we should look at WHY the Brahmaputra and the tributaries flood so much. A very short and simple answer is that the rivers have become very shallow from silting. So to be able to carry they volume of water they need to expand, widen, causing flooding. The PRIMARY cause of the worsening flooding is SILTING of the rivers. So, why are these rivers getting silted? Where is the silt coming from? A simple answer is that it comers from Arunachal to the north and from the other hIll areas from the south. WHY you may ask. Again to put it simply, because of unrelenting deforestation and land disturbance ( earthmoving) in these hilly areas. The population there are building roads, settlements, farming more and so forth. Now then, what do you think will Chandra's embankment building do to the silting problem of these rivers? Simply put, it will exacerbate the silting problem by several hundred folds, not to mention the dust and other pollution that will be the norm all over Assam for decades to come. Not that Chandra does not know of the silting problem. He does. And he tells us that the tributaries will have to be fitted with dams to prevent the silt from getting into the Brahmaputra and that they will have to be DREDGED! Wait just a minute! Dredging did he say? I heard it is NOT possible. Apparently Indian and Kharkhowa experts have decided that dredging is not feasible since there is no place to deposit the dredged silt. I am sure you heard it too, right here in Assamnet. WHAT GIVES? Does it NOT sound fishy to you? IF Chandra Sagars are contingent on de-silting of the tributaries, why not start doing that to the MOTHER river, the Brahmaputra, to begin with? That will obviate the need for building the Chandra Sagars with the mother-of all embankments, which will uproot thousands of natives from the valley and render vast areas of fertile arable land permanently inundated and keep it under water year round. But that is NOT ALL. There is much more to it that I will point out, should it be difficult for you and others to imagine! Chandra Sagars are borne out of a far more insidious and unspoken motive. Guess what? On Nov 2, 2012, at 9:19 PM, Alpana B. Sarangapani <absarangap...@hotmail.com> wrote: > If you did not like the RiverLinks project how would you like this project > which talks about building dams? > > Taking care of the flood problem which washes away all hopes for the > villagers/farmers every year, was the main reason that made me fall for it, > like many would! > > I won't deserve any praises since it isn't my project or anything, just was > not ready for the Guwal-gaali'. : ) > > Did not want to make mm-da mad either, as he also 'naakos kori disil > prothomotei' when he brought it up yesterday. > > > > > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > > > On Nov 2, 2012, at 2:17 PM, "Chan Mahanta" <cmaha...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> Aw come on A! Nobody is gonna bite you. What are you afraid of? Being right >> or wrong ? >> >> *I* promise NOT to make any snide or sarcastic comments if you are wrong. >> Instead I will try to explain why you may be wrong. >> On the other hand, if you make the right assessment, we will shower you with >> praise. Wouldn't that be nice? >> >> So, go ahead and do share your thoughts. We will all be the richer for it. >> Personally, I learn something everyday. Who knows, you >> may open my close mind! >> >> :-) >> >> >> >> >> On Nov 2, 2012, at 2:04 PM, "Alpana B. Sarangapani" >> <absarangap...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Yes, i saw that and read some of it. Thanks to Babul. >>> >>> To be honest, I am just too afraid to comment now. : ) >>> >>> >>> >>> On Nov 2, 2012, at 9:13 AM, "Chan Mahanta" <cmaha...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> So, Alpana, Babul has provided ALL the written material of the Oxom Xaagor >>>> scheme. The proposal describes all the benefits the scheme >>>> is expected to generate. The big idea is to block the tributaries from >>>> contributing flood water to the Brahmaputra. >>>> >>>> But that is not all! >>>> >>>> Major Chandra has also put together an exactly similar scheme to block ALL >>>> of the tributaries to the Ganga in Bihar as well, creating Bihar Sagars. >>>> >>>> >>>> Note also the one line item: >>>> 12. *NO INVOLVEMENT OF *any other state. >>>> >>>> I am sure you know why it is such a stand-out bit of info. He knows >>>> Assam's sensitivity about her waters being spirited away. >>>> >>>> How can one go wrong, right? >>>> >>>> ** Think about it, and see if there could be problems with the scheme. And >>>> if so what? >>>> >>>> c-da >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Nov 1, 2012, at 8:57 PM, "Alpana B. Sarangapani" >>>> <absarangap...@hotmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Thul-mulkoi - in text version, can it be explained, what is this Oxom >>>>> -Xaagor that Mukul-da and now you are talking about, C-da? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPad >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Nov 1, 2012, at 5:07 PM, "Chan Mahanta" <cmaha...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hello Assamnetters, >>>>>> >>>>>> Long time no talk. >>>>>> >>>>>> Decided to return to the ol' 'juhalor mel' by announcing my latest blog >>>>>> site. I hope this one will last a bit longer than the previous attempts. >>>>>> Posted a picture to: >>>>>> >>>>>> http://chanmanstl.tumblr.com >>>>>> >>>>>> It is from my recent 10 day rafting/ camping trip down the Colorado >>>>>> River deep in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was an awesome trip. >>>>>> I hope to share some images and hopefully with a little description in >>>>>> the coming weeks and months. It is a departure from my usual >>>>>> fare in assamnet. But this may be more palatable than the never ending >>>>>> debates of the past :-). >>>>>> >>>>>> Speaking of which, mm's note of this morning referring to Oxom Xagor is >>>>>> something that got me going a few days back. It is yet another >>>>>> one of those hare-brained proposals that ought to be nipped in the bud. >>>>>> I thought of posting it here, but since it requires graphic attachment, >>>>>> probably won't go thru this list. Maybe I will be able to post it thru >>>>>> some other forum. We will see. The author also prohibits publishing it >>>>>> without permission. I can imagine why :-). >>>>>> >>>>>> cm >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> assam mailing list >>>>>> assam@assamnet.org >>>>>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> assam mailing list >>>>> assam@assamnet.org >>>>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> assam mailing list >>>> assam@assamnet.org >>>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> assam mailing list >>> assam@assamnet.org >>> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> assam mailing list >> assam@assamnet.org >> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
