Re: [Assam] MC Mahanta's bamboo-reinforcement

mc mahant Mon, 21 Aug 2006 10:52:23 -0700

<B: Rainwater stored on roof-tops being infested by algae due to the heat.>

For those who are unfamiliar with algae, it is a plant organism

and needs light to survive and multiply. Water tanks are usually dark

( at least the kind I have seen) and thus would not allow algae growth.

Where is our resident scientist, Tilok Hatimuria, when we need him most

A little arithmetic is called for.Say you have a roof area= 100 sq mtr. and annual normal rainfall =2m.You catch every drop and store.

So to store 200 cu.mtr water in a 2.5 mtr deep underground tank below your house, you need Rs 5 Lakhs etra over just the house cost.

You have a 10 member family -need 2 cu mtr water daily. So your annualHarvest of Stale rainwater goes for 100 days! And for 265 days you buy-because you did not dig your ring-well for Rs 10,000/-. At Gau today,Bhar water [EMAIL PROTECTED] 20/-. Bhar= 30 litres. Hence you buy water--costing dailyRs 1200/-

So much for today.

From: Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Assam] MC Mahanta's bamboo-reinforcement
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 09:23:02 -0500

Himendra Thakur charging others of personal attacks is a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black.

No one in Assam net ( other than a couple of 'seraa-paagols' who are obviously not quite together ) has indulged in personal attacks of the kind that Himendra Thakur has been engaging in. And that while sermonizing Assam Netters on vedic virtues and spouting love for all humanity ( except them Muslims of course). Talk about 'bhondo toposyi'! Talk about hypocrisy!!

Engineers are expected to be rational people, not to be taken by 'fake-science'

or old wives' tales. And here we are, HT, from the cutting-edge of engineering excellence from Boston, telling us things like:

        A: Rasendra Barua's 'mercury' valve holding the water back from

        leaking right out of Xiboxagor pukhuri into the artesian wells

        that supposedly feeds it!

        No doubt it has not been verified yet, not because the 'rox' --mercury

        detection is not yet possible --but obviously because it is more

        likely the 'rox' that replaces the ability to reason.

        High science it surely must be; in the great traditions of the earth

        being held aloft in the firmament by 'gojendra', standing on the back

        of a 'kaaso'. The fertile minded cartoonist who authors the

        BC comic strip in which the apteryx with a lazy tongue rides the turtle

        could not use the imagery more effectively.

        B: Rainwater stored on roof-tops being infested by algae due to the

        heat.

        For those who are unfamiliar with algae, it is a plant organism

        and needs light to survive and multiply. Water tanks are usually dark

        ( at least the kind I have seen) and thus would not allow algae growth.

        Where is our resident scientist, Tilok Hatimuria, when we need him most.

        C: Engineers are also the kinds of people who, when shown info.

        that they may not be familiar with, learn to change their minds.

        HT implied ( if not told) us once that bamboo and cement do not

        bond. In response I posted the website of US Naval Engineering which

        explains and provides extensive examples of how bamboo and cement

        do bond and can be used effectively for certain applications.

        Obviously this cutting-edge engineer's edge has become dull from

        dealing with too much adha-khunda bidya, to have asserted, once

        again:"--considering the lack of bond between bamboo & concrete",

        unless it was never too sharp to begin with.

        D: Engineers could be expected to verify their source of info.,

        before charging others with engineering wrong-doing. It could

        be expected from anyone playing with a full deck, even barely-together

        that is. But HT displays, with nary a concern, how his political

        agenda robbed him of this fundamental 'kando-gyan' ( common sense); when

        he accuses Mukul Mahanta of using bamboo-reinforcing in his

        experimental structures.

        For those who are curious about where this old-wives' tale might have

        arisen from, I may be able to provide a clue: Mukul Mahanta

        uses mats of bamboo 'gaadhoi' ( split bamboo) in a roll, as a slip-form

        to cast hollow concrete wall, floor and roof slabs. It as an effective

        method -- in a resource poor environment. It provides manual labor for

        unskilled workers. Bamboo 'gadhoi' rolls can be used over and over

        again --- note SUSTAINABILITY -- after pulling it out of the hardened

        slabs.

        But 'adha-khunda' ( half-baked), nit-wit wannabe-engineers, like HT

        probably assumed that rolls of 'gadhoi' were the re-inforcement for

        these hollow concrete slabs.

It could all be hilarious, if not so very sad. What a sordid spectacle HT makes of himself.

cm



At 11:57 PM -0400 8/20/06, Himendra Thakur wrote:

Dear friends,

Every time anything is discussed in the assam.net, Mr. Mukul Chandra Mahanta has got to come up with his divisive comments. Now he has written The Ahom King's Bamun advisers led them into a pile of non-Engineering. The process continues. Xagors at Rangpur are no good for man or beast. Engineering would have led them to use slave lbour to dig perennial Irrigation Canals to serve Zerenga/Jokaisuk- fed by meandering Dikhow's/Namdang's waters. Imagine what they could have done to North-bank river valleys.

When I mentioned about Rasendra Barua in my letter, I did not even imagine that someone would turn this into The Ahom King's Bamun advisers. Rasendra Barua family was involved only in installing the nag in a Sagar which were called Rahdhala Pukhuri. They were not The Ahom King's Bamun advisers who led them into a pile of non-Engineering.

Historically, the Chief Engineer of the Ahom Kingdom had a title Changrung Phukan. It was a very high post in Ahom hierarchy. Complete records of all the works of Changrung Phukan were maintained in Changrung Phukanar Buranji.

Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta is apparently unaware of the Changrung Phukan and the Changrung Phukanar Buranji, otherwise he would have mentioned it. In his bliss of ignorance, he keeps of jabbering History is Bunk Khasi Christian Bamun Adviser and all other ethnic slurs and personal attacks, which are very harmful for the unity of Asomiya people today.

Now, Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta is advising his own engineering with alternatives such as Engineering would have led them to use slave lbour to dig perennial Irrigation Canals to serve Zerenga/Jokaisuk- fed by meandering Dikhow's/Namdang's waters. Imagine what they could have done to North-bank river valleys. Well, it is no use blaming the Changrung Phukan for not seeing these alternatives. These alternatives were not considered by the British & Asomiya Engineers who manned Assam PWD for the last 150 years. Maybe the suggestions of Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta are not good alternatives.

As for the engineering expertise of Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta, who is a trained Electrical Engineer (and NOT a civil/structural/hydraulic engineer), it is reported that Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta used bamboo reinforcement (without considering the lack of bond between bamboo & concrete) in the prefabricated reinforced buildings that he manufactured and marketed with good profit. It is also reported that a number of his prefabricated buildings collapsed.

Before considering some Non-Electrical-Engineering advice from Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta, the assam-net has a right to know the whole truth about his bamboo-reinforcement. Instead of sprouting ethnic slurs and personal attacks, and instead of giving engineering advise on a topic he does not know, Mr. Mukal Chandra Mahanta should make a complete report under oath in the net about how many of his prefabricated buildings collapsed and how many people died or got injured.

With the best wishes,

Himendra Barthakur

----- Original Message -----

From: mc mahant

To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Cc: [email protected]

Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 9:28 PM

Subject: Re: [Assam] Dry Spells in Assam-- Rain Water Harvesting

Dilip,

I share the agony of missing the substance of the 600 year of Ahom(our very own) Buranji.

You raised thi question many a time.

I made enquiries at knowledgeable circles . Every time I drew a blank.OXX know nothing of Xahitya!

Lately the alibi going the rounds is that the Brits had the Tai-Bhaxa Buranjis destroyed and got the process of Oxomiya- Bhaxa- Xaasipaat- Buranji writing started. Forget about dailyweather Data listings therein .

The whole is a mess. Let's hope they wrote in Tai-Bhaxa Buranjis --NON-Bunk stuff. Let's hope.

The Ahom King's Bamun advisers led them into a pile of non-Engineering. The process continues.Xagors at Rangpur are no good for man or beast. Engineering would have led them to use slave lbour to dig perennial Irrigation Canals to serve Zerenga/Jokaisuk- fed by meandering Dikhow's/Namdang's waters. Imagine what they could have done to North-bank river valleys.

Oxom has all the waters needed for 12 month-a -year lush agriculture. It's only Engineering which can save us from disaster and take us to a position of a hard- working people purveying healthy foods to the hungry world.

Think!

mm

From:  Dilip/Dil Deka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:  Rajen & Ajanta Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,Himendra Thakur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

CC:  [email protected]
Subject:  Re: [Assam] Dry Spells in Assam-- Rain Water Harvesting
Date:  Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:49:52 -0700 (PDT)

Barua,

How about the famous "Ahom Buranjis"? I heard throughout my high school days that writing down everything as history was a trait with the Ahom rulers  that no one else in India could compare to. Can someone open the Buranjis stored in Xibaxagor, Jorhat and Golaghat and tell us how weather treated Assam from the 1200's to 1826, before the British took over?

600 years of data would be a lot more comprehensive than the 60 years of data that government of India metereological department (IMD) is keeping. Don't you think so?

I am being facetious but why do we blame GOI always for everything that is missing, including things before 1947? If we the Assamese think of ourselves as superior to the other Indians, why don't we start pioneering in areas that other Indians have not thought about? Oh, I get it. We will start it once Assam is a sovereign state and we will not share our secrets with the

lousy Indians.

Dilip Deka

Rajen & Ajanta Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:



Himenda:

I think you are missing the perspective of the issue.

We are talking about what Assamese are doing now.

Is there anybody in Guwahati NOW who keeps records of Guwahati weather on a daily basis?

Are we concerned at all about our present condition including the weather?

Simply hoping for things to happen out of the blue does not work and will not work even when one does not debunk history.

Thanks

Rajen

----- Original Message -----

From: Himendra Thakur

To: Rajen & Ajanta Barua

Cc: [email protected]

Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 9:14 AM

Subject: Dry Spells in Assam-- Rain Water Harvesting

Dear Rajen and Ajanta,

Dry spells in the weather of Assam were not uncommon historically. The situation was addressed by our Swargadeva Kings by excavating large tanks named as "sagar" (meaning a sea), like Jaysagar, Shivasagar, etc. These "sagar"s were revered, dedicated in the name of gods and respected dignitaries. Joysagar was named after Queen Mother Jaymati by her son Swargadev Rudrasingha. These artificial lakes were maintained with utmost care and respect.

Considering that the water level of the artificial lake in Shivasagar is several feet above the water level of the surrounding paddy fields, it appears the tank is fed by some artesian well. In the historical records, there is reference to "naga"

(meaning a serpent) at the centre bottom of the tank. The family of Rasendra Barua was expert in installing the "naga" --- which could have been some kind of an inverted filter that also served as a valve to control the upward flow of water from the artesian well --- where they probably used mercury to hold down the filter sand. Mercury was a mysterious liquid in those days, called "rasa" --- generating the name "Rasendra Barua". The technique was so strictly guarded as a "family secret" by the family of Rasendra Barua that now nobody knows about it ! I have several cousins in the dynasty of Rasendra Barua and they know nothing about the technique !! But, we still have crystal clear water in Joysagar, Sivasagar --- thanks to our bygone Swargadevs and Rasendra Barua dynasty.

We must not give up hope. Young engineers of Assam today

can invent & devise a "Rainwater Harvesting System" and save the excess water of the rainy days for the dry spells. They must be carefull not to store water in overhead tanks exposed to sunlight which will cause growth of algaes and ruin the system, like what happened in Hawaii islands at one time. Overhead storage has the great advantage of distribution without pumping. However, location of overhead water thanks on flat-roof of buildings today will be a terrible earthquake hazard because these buildings were not designed for that kind of oscillating top-load. All these points must be considered while designing a "Rainwater Harvesting System".

Dry spells of Assam were so common that history ran into mythology. One instance is the symbolical story of Kamala Kunwari where the princess (kunwari) sacrificed her life to please the Jalkunwari (water goddess) so that the

"sagar" (tank) would be filled up with water. Seven decades ago, my father, the late Kumudeswar Barthakur of Shivasagar Vishnu Doul (temple), made a Senola Gramphone record to tell the story of Kamala Kunwari where my older sisters, Saujanyamayi & Hiranyamayi, sang the songs. This gramphone record was very popular in Assam in the late 30s & early 40s in the last century.

Your querry about the "records of weather in Assam for last 200 ywears" may not be available, but we do have the records of intelligent leadership of Swargadevs, technique of Rashendra Barua family --- we must never say "history is bunk" --- we must go ahead to the future with hope, glory, self-confidence, inventions, intelligent planning, self-sacrifice and a strong determination.

With love to everybody,

Himendra

----- Original Message -----

From: "Rajen & Ajanta Barua" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 12:10 AM

Subject: Re: [asom] Assam witnesses hottest summer in 132 years

> I wonder where we can get the records of weather in Assam for last 200 ywears?
>
> Rajen Barua
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Re: [Assam] MC Mahanta's bamboo-reinforcement

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