[Assam] Dry Spells in Assam-- Rain Water Harvesting

Sun Aug 20 18:07:03 PDT 2006

O'Deka:

Are you suggesting that the Kharkhowas are unable to do better than GoI ?

But it cannot be done by THOSE kharkhowas who emulate GoI.

That is the difference.

And how can it be changed?

It can be changed when Assam takes charge of its own affairs, and its able
stop aping the dysfunctional, desi model  of mis-governance

And when could that happen?

You take a wild guess and tell us. How about that?

O'm

At 5:49 PM -0700 8/20/06, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
>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 <barua25 at hotmail.com> 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: <mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>Himendra Thakur
>To: <mailto:barua25 at hotmail.com>Rajen & Ajanta Barua
>Cc: <mailto:assam at assamnet.org>assam at assamnet.org
>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" <<mailto:barua25 at hotmail.com>barua25 at hotmail.com>
>To: <<mailto:assamonline at yahoogroups.com>assamonline at yahoogroups.com>
>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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  Join/Unsubscribe -
>> 
>><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/join/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/join/
>>   
>>  Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>  <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>>      
>><http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/
>>
>>  <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>>      
>><mailto:assamonline-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com>assamonline-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com
>>
>>  <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>>      <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>>   
>>
>>
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>assam mailing list
>assam at assamnet.org
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>assam mailing list
>assam at assamnet.org
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.assamnet.org/pipermail/assam-assamnet.org/attachments/20060820/7d34b718/attachment.htm>