[Assam] Brahmaputra islands to provide landfill

Tue Jun 17 21:50:25 PDT 2008

Dilip Da

I am at one with your opinion.Nothing can be better. But you asked about the downside. So, the skeptic in me wanted to know what has gone into that estimate, if they did not do their homework about the source and delivery of the land-fill before preparing it. This project is on the works for so many years; could not they have consulted the state government about the possibility while making the estimate itself? Even at the estimate level, all known factors are to be considered and it should not be on whimsy. If they are so callous, then they are not serious about the project's success or they have some other motives giving them the elbow room to indulge in another scam. That is what I thought.

Uttam Kumar Borthakur

--- On Wed, 18/6/08, Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Assam] Brahmaputra islands to provide landfill
To: uttamborthakur at yahoo.co.in, "A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world" <assam at assamnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, 18 June, 2008, 9:42 AM

Dear Uttam,
An estimate is an estimate. It is based on past experience and data. The real cost could be lower.
But that is not the issue here. If we can get free dredging of the Brahmaputra or a tributary, why not? That's what my question was about.
Dilip Deka

----- Original Message ----
From: uttam borthakur <uttamborthakur at yahoo.co.in>
To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world <assam at assamnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:20:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Brahmaputra islands to provide landfill

It is mentioned in the report that the cost of the landfill has been estimated at Rs250 crores. How have they estimated the cost when the source of landfill and the delivery system are yet to be finalised? You do not know whether you are buying from public or private source, you do not know whether you have to build a road or lay a pieline, you do not know whether the land will be free of cost or it will entail costs, and you have estimated the cost! That is, even if it costs you Rs.100 crores, you will spend Rs.250 crores, by means fair or foul. 

Uttam Kumar Borthakur

--- On Wed, 18/6/08, Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Assam] Brahmaputra islands to provide landfill
To: "ASSAMNET" <assam at assamnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, 18 June, 2008, 6:12 AM

It sounds like a good idea. Is there a downside to it?
Brahmaputra needs dredging and the plant site needs dirt - good match as I can
see it.
Dilip

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________________________________
Brahmaputra islands to provide landfill
By Ron Duarah
 DIBRUGARH, June 16 – The river Brahmaputra is being scouted as a possible
source for silt (fine grain sand) for use as landfill at the 3000 – bigha
site for the Assam Gas Cracker Project. Work on the project has just begun, and
engineers of BCPL (Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited) and EIL (Engineers
India Limited) have approached the Dibrugarh civil administration for possible
sites from where earth, silt and sand can be extracted to meet the landfill
requirement. 

Sources in BCPL and EIL said the requirement of landfill aggregate is huge, and
is initially pegged at a mind boggling 75 lakh cubic metres. The landfill works
alone are estimated to cost about Rs 250 crore. Such quantities of silt or
earth is unlikely to be available from a single site, except if the Brahmaputra
is exploited, said a BCPL official. Moreover, land filling on such a scale has
not been taken up before in eastern India for any purpose.

Last week, officials of the Dibrugarh administration and Forest department went
around several places in the vicinity of the gas cracker project site, scouting
for areas from where earth or silt could be excavated from. They have
pinpointed a couple of places, including the possibility of excavating sand
from the Buri Dehing river. However, the civil officials have also expressed
their concern at the possible transport bottleneck if these places are to be
used, as a major highway traffic jam could not be ruled out. Then there is the
potential of a public outcry against excavation of paddy fields. 

It is anticipated that once the landfill work commences, there would be about
400 ten-wheel trucks on the road, which would congest the already busy national
highway between Dibrugarh and Jorhat, and may also lead to major traffic snarls.

Another possibility the BCPL and EIL engineers are mulling is the induction of
slurry pumping systems, to pump silt straight from the river to the gas cracker
site. The system comprises laying of a pipeline, installation of slurry pumps
and booster pumps. The procedure would involve making a fine paste of silt and
water, and push it through a pipeline to pour the material at the required
site. This system, if put to use, would negate the use of a massive number of
dumper trucks, avoid the need to build a road, and also avoid any road
congestion by trucks carrying silt/earth. 

To avoid nightmarish conditions on the national highway and also to cause least
disturbance and annoyance to the civil population on the Moran – Dibrugarh
belt, BCPL has been informally advised by the Dibrugarh administration to
exploit the Brahmaputra for the landfill requirement. "Of course, this
would entail construction of an adequate service road from the river bank to
the gas cracker site, but is the best available option," remarked a senior
revenue official here. He said a couple of Brahmaputra islands (char, in local
parlance) could be scooped up to meet the land filling requirements of the gas
cracker project. The civil administration here is of the studied opinion that
such an exercise would be beneficial for Brahmaputra river navigation too,
provided the excavation of river silt is done from demarcated areas as mapped
by the Forest Department, in consultation with the Water Resources Department,
engineers of the Bogibeel Bridge Project and
the Inland Water Transport Department. 

Meanwhile, work on the rehabilitation of gas cracker – affected families
(those whose lands and homes have been acquired for setting up of the Rs 5,600
crore project) have begun in right earnest, and people are building their homes
in the designated areas, said a senior district administration official here. He
said the families are being provided financial and material assistance to build
their new homes by the government, and that the evacuated families are
cooperating with the administration, much to the relief of both BCPL and the
state government.
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