[Assam] Building a prosperous Assam

Tue Apr 22 23:16:08 PDT 2008

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 <jaipurschool at yahoo.com>
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 <bgogoi at gmail.com> 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>
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>
>
> 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/
>
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-- 
Manoj Kumar Das
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New Delhi 17 India
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