Hi Umesh I think the question is directed to me... This is a grandiose idea- I know and will involve billions of greenbacks..Stereo typed Indian planners will never think that big and for Assam, they will never. I am seeding these ideas for the future generations, who will be bold and more resourceful.
*And whats the problem if we have a first in India.*.:) And can you think any other landmass in the world which is an untapped bridge between two great economic blocks. cheers!! -manojda On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 11:34 AM, umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Pardon me if it seems rustic but I have never heard of dredging rivers in > India -having lived in Delhi and having worked for national newsmedia. > And Delhi based govt will not take up anything which seems > out-of-the-world. so before someone puts forward this proposal show where > else in India (preferably -compared to somewhere in Amazon river) dredging > etc has been done -as proposed. > > Umesh > > bg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: *EDITORIAL* > ------------------------------ > *Building a prosperous Assam > — Manoj Kumar Das* * > A* blame game been going on for quite sometime now. People at the State > blame the Centre for the underdevelopment in Assam, while Delhi's view is > that the State doesn't have the capacity to absorb the funds and > capability > for translation into development. The time has come to think big and > prepare > a basket of Detailed project Reports keeping an overall vision plan in the > perspective to fulfil Assam's destiny as the most prosperous land bridge > between two great economic blocks. The following projects can be taken up > for implementation in the next couple of decades: > > An important project will be dredging of the river Brahmaputra and its > tributaries. A look at the satellite maps of the Brahmaputra Valley will > reveal how land is being held by the river and its tributaries. We need > not > grudge though, for this soil had been reclaimed by the river system from > the > Himalayas during the past 200 million years through erosion. It can now be > freed for developmental purpose. On a rough estimate, some 1.5 million > hectares can be unlocked if we dig, dredge and train the rivers. The > reclaimed soil can be dumped in a North-South direction in mounds to get > the > maximum surface area. These 1.5 million hectares of reclaimed land can be > used to rehabilitate the misplaced people from flood prone areas. > > The project will necessitate displacement and relocation of the riverine > people. They can be offered job and entrepreneurial opportunities. Canals > will ne available for cheap water transport, irrigation, and running of > the > river plants. Water is already a scare resource and Brahmaputra drains out > the largest amount of fresh in India into the Bay Bengal every year. We > have > one of the four largest metropolises in the world in the country and this > offers a huge market for fresh water. > > We can build a huge water pipeline, similar to the oil pipeline, the > intake > of this pipeline can be on the river bed. There is no need to have high > dam > for this. Technology is available to pump out water like oil with a series > of pumping stations. Power will come from the running of the river plants > or > some other source,. In a few year the North East will be a power surplus > region. > > The Brahmnaputra expressways will come in the post river-training stage. > The > is to build two paralled expressways from Dhubri to Sadiya along the > dredged > river, and also, series of roads along other major rivers and provide a > faster alternative route for transit, trade and commerce linking the Far > East and Bangladesh. The expressways will have dozens of greenfield > planned > cities, motels, recreation facilities, fisheries, water sports facilities, > parks and gardens, bio diversity parks, exhibition centers, marts, malls, > haats, craft centres, organic farms cruise ports, jetties, floating > hospitals, maritime training colleges, floating hotels, golf course etc > and > will provide empolyment to thousands. > > Construction up of an 'aerotropolis' in upper Assam, not far from > Dibrugarh, > is another measure. This will be a refueling, resting and recreation stop > for long distance fliers from the Pacific Rim to South Africa and West > Asia. > As of now, there is no such place. Stopovers at Bangkok, Singapore, KL are > too near, Mumbai-Delhi is dull and Dubai is too dry and far. The > aerotropolis will have world class recreation hubs, educational hub, > shopping malls, sports facilities and a satellite IT hub to tap the IT > potential of the NE Region. > > It's time of talk of a mega city, where about 15 million people could > live. > This city have an area of influence of over 1,500 km. In South East Asia, > Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Kunming have their spheres > of > prosperity. To the West are Dhaka, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, > Hyderabad, Teheran etc. Guwahati is ideally located to yield such a sphere > of influence, and release the pressure on land by urbanising the region. > It > will be an epicentre of consumption, manufacturing, trade and commerce. > The > great river is ideally located to support such a mega city. At least three > eight-lane bridges across the river, roads, drainage, water, sewage, > sanitation, power, education, recreation, entertainment and health > facilities need to be created. The city will have to outrow its current > topographical limitations and metamorphose itself into a great city. It an > expand to North Guwahati in the North and Sonapur area in the South and > engulf areas up to Nagarbera in the West and to Chandrapur in the East. > The > State must open up age old links by building an all-weather, four-lane > express way through the Stillwell Road from Ledo to Mytkyina in Myanmar to > link up with Route No. 9 of the Trans Highway, which links the ASEAN and > Chinese road network. During our visit to China in 1999 we traveled on the > expressway built by the Chinese on the alignment of the old Burma Road up > to > Lashio, inside Myanmar. In my estimate a missing link of only 225 km of > road > needs to be built through the Hukong Valley in Myanmar. It will make Assam > the hub of the two great economic powerhouses of the 21st century and > remove > the region's economic isolation from the world. It will also unleash the > great economic potential of Myanmar. The problems of insurgency will be > solved only through the engagement of the youth in gainful activities. > This > highway will bring in prosperity and tourism from the prosperous ASEAN and > the Pacific Rim. > > Assam government has sufficient cash reserves. It can kick start the > process > by forming an Assam Infrastructure Development Authority, where it will > put > the initial capital of US $1 billion. It is hoped that the Centre will not > back out from providing additional equity if such a grandiose plan is > formulated. This initial equity can be leveraged for bigger funds. > > The projects will require billions of dollars and the mantra for > implementation will be PPP. Money is in huge supply if we know the tenets > of > mesmerizing the private individual investors. Anil Ambani's recent IPO was > over subscribed at about $ 280 bn. We need to know how to tap it with a > great business plan, Concepts sell more than products these days. > > http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=apr2308\edit2<http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=apr2308%5Cedit2> > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > > Umesh Sharma > > Washington D.C. > > 1-202-215-4328 [Cell] > > Ed.M. - International Education Policy > Harvard Graduate School of Education, > Harvard University, > Class of 2005 > > http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info) > > http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info) > > > > > www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used ) > http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/ > > > > http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! For Good. Give and get cool things for free, reduce waste and help > our planet. Plus find hidden Yahoo! treasure > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > -- Manoj Kumar Das C 172 GF, Sarvodaya Enclave New Delhi 17 India 0091 9312650558 (HP) 9910972654 _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
