[Assam] Guwahati

Thu Jan 20 08:25:12 PST 2011

C'da,

>perpetuated by the Center and there is no escape from it, unless and until,
>one or more states break away from this broken system and re-construct
their own.

Interesting. There is an article by Patricia Mukhim in the AT today, "Peace
Talks - where they lead?" (
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/showpage.asp?id=jan2011,6,420,111,996,897).

She spells it out quite clearly how both Meghalaya & Nagaland have become
much worse off (than within Assam or National standards) after seeking
separation in the name of development and 'caring for the people'.

If these states, sanctioned, supported and blessed by Delhi have not been
able to do well (and there are others), what can one expect from pioneers
trying to reconstruct their own states/system?

Over the years we have all seen leaders of varied groups claiming to lead
their flock out of the 'wilderness', promising the very heavens, xunor Asom,
etc. The interests of such leaders was basically to amass huge amounts of
wealth,& power for themselves. Problems like bad governance at the Center or
state, or of ethnic identities were just used to justify their cause.

We can all blame the Center & it's governance, in the end, it is the corrupt
individual, and really gullible sections of people.

A good example these days is Bihar & Nitish Kumar. We all thought Bihar was
history. But it seems to be rebounding back with a vengeance - and this in
spite of a bad Central governance. Unfortunately, in Assam, there probably
isn't any known power block that is not corrupt. Corruption seems to have
spread and affected all facets of common life.

--Ram

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well said. All of it is true.
>
> But the question remains: Are these things hitherto unknown requirements or
> parameters or conditions?
>
> Not so.
>
> So where does the problem lie?
>
> I would submit it is in the dysfunctional nature of governance, local,
> state and national.
>
> I know, I will be challenged for lumping national here with state and local
> governance.
> That is because the entire system of dysfunctional Indian governance is
> conceived
> and perpetuated by the Center and there is no escape from it, unless and
> until,
> one or more states break away from this broken system and re-construct
> their own.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 20, 2011, at 1:41 AM, Amitabh Kakoty wrote:
>
> > A major share of Guwahati's chaos is due to:
> >
> > 1. Ill-conceived development regulations / byelaws; specifically the
> norms
> > for mimimum road width and regulations related to sub-division of plots
> are
> > poorly conceived. There is no hierarchical road system in the city - you
> > have few arterials (e.g. GS, Zoo Rds), then you have 3/4 mt wide lanes in
> > most areas extended for several kilometres without a higher-order road
> > (Everyone knows it but plz check Google Maps to understand how severe the
> > problem is). These lanes do not facilitate sufficient width for
> installing
> > basic urban infrastructure. Land in new areas in the city are now being
> > sub-divided with such lanes - Xoruxojai, Uttor Guwahati, Jalukbari, ....
> /
> > For reference: Minimum Road width in Bahrain - 12.5mtrs for newly
> developed
> > areas - or else you are not going to get a planning permission /
> development
> > permission approved.
> >
> > People should have understood that with better infrastructure / larger
> > roads, in an attractive city such as Guwahati (regionally attractive,
> higher
> > in demand) land and property values would have been higher at the same
> time
> > ascertaining a better quality of life.
> >
> > 2. Poorly designed drainage system (not comprehensive, not intelligent)
> > disrespecting natural gradiants and existing water bodies. -------
> Otherwise
> > Guwahati could have been a unique city with lakes (a lake/bil, almost in
> > every corner), wide canals (connecting these lakes - facilitating
> fishing,
> > transportation, storm water balance and off course tourism) and existing
> > rivulets, green hills (with large extended parks) and the scenic
> > Brahmaputra....!!
> >
> > 3. If we can not afford to build world class urban roads now, if we can
> not
> > afford other infrastructures, but with better management, by just
> protecting
> > suitable Right of Ways for roads, proper widths for canals and areas
> under
> > natural water bodies under an efficient plan, we could have saved this
> > two-thousand years old city. You dont need large resources for adopting
> > better planning and urban management procedures for a city.
> >
> > 4. Higher density or intensive activities (say a transport node -
> station, a
> > capital complex, or a market) in a city can not be made responsible for
> all
> > these chaos; the underlying urban planning and management procedures are
> to
> > be blamed - or else as everyone agrees, chaos will only spread out to
> other
> > peaceful areas with these activities. We should try learning from city's
> > abroad how they are efficiently managing high-density developments - e.g.
> > Hong Kong, Singapore.....
> >
> > 5. At the same time Malaysian cities and towns provide great examples -
> how
> > they are ensuring world class (KL) to 'good' infrastructure in their
> urban
> > areas of various sizes and classes with efficient management - every
> small
> > town specifically in the peninsular Malaysia has basic minimum 'good'
> > infrastructure (check road widths - say in Alor Setar in google earth)
> > and clean urban environment - interestingly at the same time cost of
> living
> > is lower (check real estate prices) while income and quality of life is
> > higher (plz visit or browse)!!
> >
> > Regards
> > Amitabh
> > Bahrain
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 7:14 AM, Alpana B. Sarangapani <
> > absarangapani at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> I agree there, C'da. At least some businesses would have been opened and
> >> some economic activities would have been there which might have
> generated
> >> some employment, along with shifting of the chaos.
> >>
> >> On our way to Titabar, on this visit, we saw there is no development at
> all
> >> on a long way before and after we reached Chandrapur.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: cmahanta at gmail.com
> >>> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:46:03 -0600
> >>> To: assam at assamnet.org
> >>> Subject: Re: [Assam] Guwahati
> >>>
> >>> *** The chaos would have been created elsewhere A, namely Chandrapur
> :-).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Jan 18, 2011, at 9:43 PM, Alpana B. Sarangapani wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> I found out this time that some in Assam feel that if the capital was
> >> shifted to Chandrapur as originally it was planned, Guwahati would not
> have
> >> faced this chaotic situation. Would it have been better?
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
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