Initiating a structured discussion on the Ganga river basin-covering parts of Nepal, India, Tibet and Bangladesh- wherein approximately one in twelve people in the world live, considered submission of 400/500 words are invited from a holistic perspective to comprehend and articulate the crisis that has emerged from the current fragmented and fractured approach of the governments, academia, civil society and corporations of commerce and religion.
Being a moderated discussion, participants are expected to stay focused around the lead questions:
What is Ganga River Basin approach? Does it apply to only 79% of Ganga basin, which is in India? Will it include 13 % of Ganga basin that is in Nepal, 4 % in Bangaldesh and 4 % in Tibet? What is its relationship with the river systems and with the composite Ganga-Brahmputra-Meghna basin and its consequences?
How does it affect the policies of Industry, Power, Agriculture, Urban Development, Health and Environment by the central government, the governments of eleven states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal), the neighboring countries and industry bodies like CII/FICCI/ASSOCHEM/PHCCI?
What is the relevance of Ganga River basin approach when the river channel has been amputated from the flood plains besides the amputation of the river channel itself?
Will the Third Phase of Ganga Action Plan (GAP) or the proposed the Ganga River Basin Authority which is to consider its formation in a meeting likely to be held on January 15 and its proposed river basin approach affect the quality of surface water, ground water and the survival of natural flow of the rivers in the basin? (The GAP-I which was to be completed by March 1990 was extended till March, 2000 when it was declared complete but Phase I of the Plan is not yet fully complete and GAP-II which was to be completed in 2001 was extended till December 2008. This too remains incomplete)
What is the meaning of the official ceremonial and ornamental status being accorded to Ganga just prior to the upcoming parliamentary elections?
Which among the following are the biggest threats to Ganga basin?
a. National Interlinking of Rivers project of NDA & UPA,
b. UP’s Ganga Expressway project,
c. Uttarakhand’s Bhairon Ghati, Loharinag-Pala, Pala Maneri and Maneri Bhali hydro-projects
d. Some 191 heavily polluting industries in the Ganga basin states
e. West Bengal’s Farraka Barrage
f. Bihar’s Interlinking of Rivers project or Kosi High Dam
g. Pollution from “Religious” Activities
h. Corporate funding of political parties
i. Co-opted NGOs
What is required is not yet another Authority but genuine basin approach to overcome these threats.
Given the significance of the discussions, general submissions to the list will be held back (only most important submissions will get posted).
Please do share your suggestions: krishnagreen@gmail.com
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Ganga Expressway: A Road to Prosperity or Doom?
by VK Joshi
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
June 13, 2008
by VK Joshi
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
June 13, 2008
Wednesday 17 September 2008
कोसी को बांधा नहीं जा सकता
पिछले कई सालों से न सिर्फ केन्द्र सरकार ने बल्कि बिहार सरकार ने भी बाढ़ कार्यवाही योजना का गलत निर्धारण किया है। सन 1954 से जब नेपाल इस मामले में एक पक्ष बना है तबसे लगातार पूरी जिम्मेदारी नेपाल पर थोपना काफी आसान हो गया है। तथ्यान्वेषण दल को यह देखकर अचम्भा हुआ कि न तो केन्द्र सरकार और न ही बिहार सरकार ने यह आकलन करने के लिए कोई सर्वेक्षण किया है कि बाढ़ नियंत्रण उपायों का समाज के समाजिक आर्थिक परिस्थिति पर क्या प्रभाव पड़ा है। यही स्थिति नेपाल में भी है।
तथ्यान्वेषण दल का यह मानना है कि मौजूदा समस्या का मूल कारण तटबंध ही नहीं है। दल इस स्थिति के हल के लिए निश्चित नीति निर्णय चाहता है। हालांकि जिसे गैरकानूनी माना जाता है, लेकिन पानी में फंसे लोग अपने आस-पास जमा पानी को निकालने के लिए तटबंध को तोड़ने का सहारा लेते रहते हैं। इसके पक्ष में सामान्य सोच यह है कि तटबंधों को तोड़ने से कोई अनचाही परिस्थिति नहीं पैदा होती है।
भारत में तटबंधों को तोड़ने के प्रमाण भी हैं। दामोदर नदी में 1854 में बने 32 किमी लम्बे तटबंध को 1869 में ढहा दिया गया। ब्रिटिश सरकार को बहुत जल्दी यह महसूस हो गया कि इससे बाढ़ नियंत्रण नहीं होता, तटबंधों से उपजाऊ जमीने डूब में जा रही थीं, जिसके लिए उन्हें मुआवजा देने को बाध्य होना पड़ता था। ''तटबंध टुटने के कारण मुआवजा देने की सबसे पहली घटना 1896 की है जब पश्चिम बंगाल के बर्दवान जिले में किसानों को 60,000 रुपये मुआवजा दिया गया।''
हॉलैंड में राइन और मियूस नदी को बांधने में असफल रहने पर वहां के जलविज्ञानियों ने सुरक्षा का एक खास तरीका अपनाया है जिसे 'नदी के उन्मुक्त प्रवाह की जगह' कहा जाता है। इस नई आवधारणा न सिर्फ जानकारी युक्त चर्चा की जरूरत है बल्कि यह व्यापक राजनैतिक समर्थन पर आधारित है। ऐसे उपायों पर उत्तर बिहार के निवासियों से चर्चा करके निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचने की जरूरत है, लेकिन इसके लिए केन्द्र सरकार और बिहार सरकार के बीच आपसी सहमति की जरूरत है।
जब तक दोषी अधिकारियों एवं संस्थाओं को जवाबदेह नहीं बनाया जाएगा तब तक न सिर्फ वे पिछली गलतियां दोहराई जाएंगी बल्कि नई अवधारणाओं और रणनीतियों को लागू करना भी मुश्किल होगा। यह बात जल संसाधन से जुड़ी संस्थाओं के मूल, क्रियाकलाप, और कानूनों से साफ होती है। वे सभी बड़ी परियोजनाओं के नियोजन, डिजाइन और क्रियान्वयन के लिए ही बनी हैं। यह बात भी साफ है कि वे भागीदारी युक्त या पारदर्शी संस्थाओं के प्रति इच्छुक भी नहीं हैं। ये संस्थाएं पूरी नदी घाटी की आवश्यकताओं, संसाधनों और प्राथमिकताओं को शामिल करने में असफल रही हैं। इस तरह ''मौजूदा संस्थाओं को पूरी तरह नये सिरे से खंगालने (परिभाषित) की जरूरत है''.
ऐसे मामलों में किसी न्यायिक या प्रशासनिक जांच से आपराधिक जिम्मेदारी नहीं तय होती है, क्योंकि ऐसे आयोगों और समितियों के निष्कर्ष तो निश्चित ही होते हैं। यह तो किसी परिणाम पर न पहुंचने की नियमित प्रक्रिया है। हालांकि, न्यायमूर्ति राजेश बालिया आयोग के विचारार्थ विषय में कोसी उच्च स्तरीय समिति के बारे में स्पष्ट किया गया है, लेकिन उसकी विशेषताओं पर ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। लेकिन ऐसे आयोगों की सबसे बड़ी सीमा यह होती है कि ये समस्या के लिए जिम्मेदार मौजूदा संस्थाओं से न तो सवाल करती हैं और न तो कर सकती हैं। आयोगों द्वारा तैयार ऐसी सैकड़ों रिपोर्टों में धूल पड़ रही हैं और उन्हें दीमक चाट रहे हैं। इनमें से ज्यादातर का उपयोग चुनावों में प्रचार के लिए होता है। इस तरह, सबकी परिणति एक जैसी होती है।
आइए इस आपदा पर भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री, बिहार के प्रधानमंत्री और बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री के बयान पर एक नजर डालते हैं। कोसी क्षेत्र के कुशहा में तटबंध में कटाव आने के बाद बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री ने 19 अगस्त 2008 को भारत के विदेश मंत्री से निवेदन किया कि वे कोसी समझौते के अनुसार नेपाल में कटाव के मरम्मत के लिए नेपाल सरकार को कानून व्यवस्था सुनिश्चित करने के लिए सम्पर्क करें।
नेपाल के सुंसारी जिले के लौकाही पुलिस थाना में 16 अगस्त 2008 उन असामाजिक तत्वों के खिलाफ एक प्राथमिकी दर्ज कराई गई है जिनके द्वारा ऐसी परिस्थिति उत्पन्न की गई कि सभी इंजिनियरों को वहां से भाग जाना पड़ा।
20 अगस्त 2008 को नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री ने स्थिति का जायजा लेते हुए कहा कि, ''कोसी समझौता एक भयंकर ऐतिहासिक भूल थी'' और ''इसे लोग पीड़ित हैं''। समझौते की वजह से तटबंधों का निर्माण हुआ है और बड़े बाध का प्रस्ताव है। भारत के प्रधानमंत्री ने 28 अगस्त 2008 को बाढ़ग्रस्त इलाकों का हवाई सर्वेक्षण करने के बाद इस समस्या को ''राष्ट्रीय आपदा'' घोषित किया और राहत और पुनर्वास के लिए तत्काल 1000 करोड़ रुपये जारी करने की भी घोषणा की।
यह ध्यान देने योग्य है कि भारत सरकार ने 2004 में घोषित अपने राष्ट्रीय न्यूनतम सहमति कार्यक्रम के तहत उत्तरी बिहार के बाढ़ नियंत्रण, ड्रेनेज आदि योजनाओं को पूरा करने का संकल्प लिया था (जिसके लिए नेपाल सरकार की सहमति भी जरूरी है)। उस वादे को किए हुए चार साल हो गए लेकिन अब फिर अगस्त 2008 में उन्होंने कहा कि, ''नेपाल सरकार से समन्वय के लिए वे एक उच्च स्तरीय दल गठित करेंगे''। उन्होंने यह भी वादा किया कि तटबंध के मरम्मत, रखरखाव व सुरक्षा के लिए वे बिहार सरकार को आवश्यक तकनीकी सहायता भी उपलब्ध करएंगे। इस तरह की आश्वासन वाली बातें तो पिछले 60 सालों से की जा रहीं है। इससे पहले भारत सरकार ने नेपाल के जल संसाधन मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत जल आधारित आपदा निवारण विभाग के निवेदन पर 7 जुलाई 2008 को नदियों के तटबंध के मरम्मत व विकास के लिए अनुदान दिया था।
इन सबसे साफ है कि जमीनी स्तर पर जो भी बदलाव आए, ज्यादातर बाते वैसे ही रहती हैं। तटबंध के मरम्मत का कार्य जारी है और तात्कालिक हल के तौर पर उसके मार्च 2009 तक पूरा हो जाने की उम्मीद है। ऐसे समय में उत्तारी बिहार और नेपाल में कोसी के बाढ़ क्षेत्र का दौरा करके लौटे तथ्यान्वेषण दल की मांग है कि इस पूरी आपदा पर और खासकर उत्तरी बिहार में कोसी घाटी के ड्रेनेज (जलनिकासी) पर एक श्वेत पत्र जारी किया जाय। ताकि मौजूदा नीतियों के कारण बंद हुई ड्रेनेज समस्या को हल किया जा सके। इससे समस्या और बाढ़ प्रवण क्षत्र में बढ़ोतरी करने वाली तथाकथित विपरीत हल की परिस्थतियों का पता लगना चाहिए।
इस रिपोर्ट का कहना है कि बांध, तटबंध और उनकी मरम्मत जैसे बाढ़ नियंत्रण के उपायों से सिर्फ तात्कालिक राहत मिल सकती है। ऐसी परिस्थिति में नदी के बहाव क्षेत्र में बदलाव के कारकों का सूक्ष्म स्तर पर दीर्घकालीक और सावधानीपूर्वक अध्ययन की जरूरत है। यहां यह स्पष्ट करने की जरूरत है कि तटबंध के कटाव को बंद कर दने से ही समस्या का स्थायी हल नहीं हो जाएगा। परिवर्तनकारी जलविज्ञान को नजरअंदाज करने पर बांध और तटबंध की उम्र 25 साल होती है और बदलावों को ध्यान दते हुए तकनीकी सुधार करते हुए 37 साल होती है।
कोसी तटबंध में अब तक का यह आठवां कटाव है, जिसमें नेपाल के चार पंचायत, उत्तरी बिहार के 4 जिले सहरसा, सुपौल, मधेपुरा और अररिया इस बाढ़ से बुरी तरह प्रभावित हुए हैं। इनके अलावा 12 अन्य जिले पुर्णिया, खगड़िया, मुजफ्फरपुर, पश्चिमी चंपारण, सारण, शेखपुरा, वैशाली, बेगुसराय, पटना, और नालंदा भी इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। एक अनुमान के अनुसार करीब 35 लाख लोग इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। बिहार सरकार के रिपोर्टों के अनुसार पिछले साल 22 जिलों में 48 लाख लोगों को बाढ़ के कारण सहायता की जरूरत थी। इससे साफ है कि घटना के पैमाने का अनुमान न कर पाने से इतनी बड़ी आपदा आई। बाढ़ के पानी का सबसे पहला कार्य यह होता है कि अतिरिक्त पानी की निकासी करे। लेकिन इंजिनियरिंग हस्तक्षेप के करण ऐसा नहीं हो पाया।
नदियां तो बसाती हैं. उजाड़ने का धंधा उन्होंने कब से शुरू कर दिया? अगर यह सवाल आप पूछते हैं तो आपको थोड़ा इतिहास, भूगोल समझना होगा. उससे भी ज्यादा बिहार की राजनीति और अर्थशास्त्र समझना होगा. फिर आपकी समझ में आ जाएगा कि बसानेवाली नदी उजाड़ने का धंधा कैसे शुरू कर देती है.
बाढ़ से उबरने के नाम पर आजादी के बाद अब तक 1600 करोड़ रूपया खर्च किया जा चुका है. यह पैसा पानी में बह गया हो ऐसा नहीं है. इस पैसे ने यहां बाढ़ को बढ़ाया है. ठेकेदारों की एक चाक-चौबंद जमात पैदा की है. उन ठेकेदारों की पीठ पर राजनीतिक दलों और योजनाकारों की एक भारी-भरकम फौज पलती है. जो साल दर साल बाढ़ को बिहार की नियति बनाने का पक्का इंतजाम करती जाती है.
इन योजनाओं की ही प्रभुता है कि 1950 के दशक में जहां 25 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पानी में डूबी रहती थी वहीं अब 68.8 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पर स्थाई रूप से पानी का डेरा है. कोई भी पूछेगा कि यह कैसी योजना हुई कि दवा करते गये और मर्ज बढ़ता गया. ब्रह्मदेव चौधरी बाढ़ से भले ही तबाह हों फिर भी वे कोसी को नहीं कोसते. हमारे एक साथी ने उनसे पूछा कि अगर प्रधानमंत्री राहत योजना के तहत आपको पैसा मिले तो क्या आप बाढ़ से निपटने के लिए तटबंध बनाएंगे? ब्रह्मदेव ने समझा हम सरकार के नुमाइंदे हैं इसलिए हमें ही संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने कहा "जितना पैसा आप तटबंध बनाने के लिए देंगे उससे ज्यादा पैसा हम आपको देते हैं लेकिन यहां कोई तटबंध मत बनाईये."
बाढ़ से उबरने के लिए जिन तटबंधों को रास्ता समझा गया वही तटबंध अब बाढ़ और विस्थापन के कारण हो गये हैं.
तटबंध का यही वह रोग है जिसे इलाज समझ लिया गया है और हर साल सरकार इसे पवित्र कर्मकाण्ड मानकर पूरा करती है. बाढ़ से निपटने की सारी योजनाएं तटबंध बनाने के नाम पर आकर सिमट जाती हैं. जो कि बाढ़ को ही बढ़ाता है. अकेले कोसी में हर साल 5 लाख 50 हजार टन से ज्यादा गाद आती है. समय के साथ पानी तो बह जाता है लेकिन गाद पीछे छूट जाती है. यह गाद उन तटबंधों के कारण वहां स्थाई डेरा डाल देती है जिसे समाधान मानकर पेश किया गया था. अब साल दो साल में वह तटबंध ही बेकार हो जाता है इसलिए हमको फिर एक नया तटबंध बनाने की जरूरत पड़ती है. और इस तरह यह एक चक्र बन जाता है.
अकेले उत्तर बिहार में 8.36 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन सालभर पानी में डूबी है. यह कुल इलाके का 16 प्रतिशत बैठता है. लगभग 80 लाख लोग बाढ़ के सीधे प्रभाव में हैं. जाहिर सी बात है प्रभावित लोग या तो गरीब हैं या प्रभाव के कारण गरीब हो जाते हैं. ऐसे गरीब लोगों के लिए सरकार के पास कोई योजना हो ही नहीं सकती. अगर कोई योजना बने तो सबसे पहले तटबंधों पर पुनर्विचार हो. गरीबों के पास एक ही रास्ता बचता है कि वे जमीन छोड़ दें. और वे यही करते हैं. यहां से दूसरी राजनीति शुरू हो जाती है और प्राकृतिक आपदा और राजनीतिक मूर्खता के शिकार ये लोग अपने ही देश में दोयम दर्जे के नागरिक बना दिये जाते हैं. अब वापस वहां लौट नहीं सकते, शहर उन्हें अपमानित करता है. आप ही बताईये ऐसे विस्थापित लोग कहां जाएं?
अब तक न ऐसा कोई तटबंध बना है और न भविष्य में बनेगा जिसमें कटाव न आए। कोसी नदी के तटबंध में कटाव और पिछले नेपाली और भारत सरकार द्वारा बड़े बांध का प्रस्ताव के तर्क में इस बात पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया कि कोसी को बांधा नहीं जा सकता।
अपने विशिष्ट भौगोलिक परिस्थितियों और जटिल जलविज्ञान के विशेषताओं के कारण कोसी एक ऐसी नदी है जिसके बारे में अभी व्यापक रूप से समझा जाना बाकी है। यह सही समय है कि नीति निर्माता ''प्रकृति पर नियंत्रण'' करने के अपनी पुरानी अवधारणा का त्याग करें और यह माने कि हमें बाढ़ के साथ जीना सीखना होगा।
तथ्यान्वेषण दल का यह मानना है कि मौजूदा समस्या का मूल कारण तटबंध ही नहीं है। दल इस स्थिति के हल के लिए निश्चित नीति निर्णय चाहता है। हालांकि जिसे गैरकानूनी माना जाता है, लेकिन पानी में फंसे लोग अपने आस-पास जमा पानी को निकालने के लिए तटबंध को तोड़ने का सहारा लेते रहते हैं। इसके पक्ष में सामान्य सोच यह है कि तटबंधों को तोड़ने से कोई अनचाही परिस्थिति नहीं पैदा होती है।
भारत में तटबंधों को तोड़ने के प्रमाण भी हैं। दामोदर नदी में 1854 में बने 32 किमी लम्बे तटबंध को 1869 में ढहा दिया गया। ब्रिटिश सरकार को बहुत जल्दी यह महसूस हो गया कि इससे बाढ़ नियंत्रण नहीं होता, तटबंधों से उपजाऊ जमीने डूब में जा रही थीं, जिसके लिए उन्हें मुआवजा देने को बाध्य होना पड़ता था। ''तटबंध टुटने के कारण मुआवजा देने की सबसे पहली घटना 1896 की है जब पश्चिम बंगाल के बर्दवान जिले में किसानों को 60,000 रुपये मुआवजा दिया गया।''
हॉलैंड में राइन और मियूस नदी को बांधने में असफल रहने पर वहां के जलविज्ञानियों ने सुरक्षा का एक खास तरीका अपनाया है जिसे 'नदी के उन्मुक्त प्रवाह की जगह' कहा जाता है। इस नई आवधारणा न सिर्फ जानकारी युक्त चर्चा की जरूरत है बल्कि यह व्यापक राजनैतिक समर्थन पर आधारित है। ऐसे उपायों पर उत्तर बिहार के निवासियों से चर्चा करके निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचने की जरूरत है, लेकिन इसके लिए केन्द्र सरकार और बिहार सरकार के बीच आपसी सहमति की जरूरत है।
जब तक दोषी अधिकारियों एवं संस्थाओं को जवाबदेह नहीं बनाया जाएगा तब तक न सिर्फ वे पिछली गलतियां दोहराई जाएंगी बल्कि नई अवधारणाओं और रणनीतियों को लागू करना भी मुश्किल होगा। यह बात जल संसाधन से जुड़ी संस्थाओं के मूल, क्रियाकलाप, और कानूनों से साफ होती है। वे सभी बड़ी परियोजनाओं के नियोजन, डिजाइन और क्रियान्वयन के लिए ही बनी हैं। यह बात भी साफ है कि वे भागीदारी युक्त या पारदर्शी संस्थाओं के प्रति इच्छुक भी नहीं हैं। ये संस्थाएं पूरी नदी घाटी की आवश्यकताओं, संसाधनों और प्राथमिकताओं को शामिल करने में असफल रही हैं। इस तरह ''मौजूदा संस्थाओं को पूरी तरह नये सिरे से खंगालने (परिभाषित) की जरूरत है''.
ऐसे मामलों में किसी न्यायिक या प्रशासनिक जांच से आपराधिक जिम्मेदारी नहीं तय होती है, क्योंकि ऐसे आयोगों और समितियों के निष्कर्ष तो निश्चित ही होते हैं। यह तो किसी परिणाम पर न पहुंचने की नियमित प्रक्रिया है। हालांकि, न्यायमूर्ति राजेश बालिया आयोग के विचारार्थ विषय में कोसी उच्च स्तरीय समिति के बारे में स्पष्ट किया गया है, लेकिन उसकी विशेषताओं पर ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। लेकिन ऐसे आयोगों की सबसे बड़ी सीमा यह होती है कि ये समस्या के लिए जिम्मेदार मौजूदा संस्थाओं से न तो सवाल करती हैं और न तो कर सकती हैं। आयोगों द्वारा तैयार ऐसी सैकड़ों रिपोर्टों में धूल पड़ रही हैं और उन्हें दीमक चाट रहे हैं। इनमें से ज्यादातर का उपयोग चुनावों में प्रचार के लिए होता है। इस तरह, सबकी परिणति एक जैसी होती है।
आइए इस आपदा पर भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री, बिहार के प्रधानमंत्री और बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री के बयान पर एक नजर डालते हैं। कोसी क्षेत्र के कुशहा में तटबंध में कटाव आने के बाद बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री ने 19 अगस्त 2008 को भारत के विदेश मंत्री से निवेदन किया कि वे कोसी समझौते के अनुसार नेपाल में कटाव के मरम्मत के लिए नेपाल सरकार को कानून व्यवस्था सुनिश्चित करने के लिए सम्पर्क करें।
नेपाल के सुंसारी जिले के लौकाही पुलिस थाना में 16 अगस्त 2008 उन असामाजिक तत्वों के खिलाफ एक प्राथमिकी दर्ज कराई गई है जिनके द्वारा ऐसी परिस्थिति उत्पन्न की गई कि सभी इंजिनियरों को वहां से भाग जाना पड़ा।
20 अगस्त 2008 को नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री ने स्थिति का जायजा लेते हुए कहा कि, ''कोसी समझौता एक भयंकर ऐतिहासिक भूल थी'' और ''इसे लोग पीड़ित हैं''। समझौते की वजह से तटबंधों का निर्माण हुआ है और बड़े बाध का प्रस्ताव है। भारत के प्रधानमंत्री ने 28 अगस्त 2008 को बाढ़ग्रस्त इलाकों का हवाई सर्वेक्षण करने के बाद इस समस्या को ''राष्ट्रीय आपदा'' घोषित किया और राहत और पुनर्वास के लिए तत्काल 1000 करोड़ रुपये जारी करने की भी घोषणा की।
यह ध्यान देने योग्य है कि भारत सरकार ने 2004 में घोषित अपने राष्ट्रीय न्यूनतम सहमति कार्यक्रम के तहत उत्तरी बिहार के बाढ़ नियंत्रण, ड्रेनेज आदि योजनाओं को पूरा करने का संकल्प लिया था (जिसके लिए नेपाल सरकार की सहमति भी जरूरी है)। उस वादे को किए हुए चार साल हो गए लेकिन अब फिर अगस्त 2008 में उन्होंने कहा कि, ''नेपाल सरकार से समन्वय के लिए वे एक उच्च स्तरीय दल गठित करेंगे''। उन्होंने यह भी वादा किया कि तटबंध के मरम्मत, रखरखाव व सुरक्षा के लिए वे बिहार सरकार को आवश्यक तकनीकी सहायता भी उपलब्ध करएंगे। इस तरह की आश्वासन वाली बातें तो पिछले 60 सालों से की जा रहीं है। इससे पहले भारत सरकार ने नेपाल के जल संसाधन मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत जल आधारित आपदा निवारण विभाग के निवेदन पर 7 जुलाई 2008 को नदियों के तटबंध के मरम्मत व विकास के लिए अनुदान दिया था।
इन सबसे साफ है कि जमीनी स्तर पर जो भी बदलाव आए, ज्यादातर बाते वैसे ही रहती हैं। तटबंध के मरम्मत का कार्य जारी है और तात्कालिक हल के तौर पर उसके मार्च 2009 तक पूरा हो जाने की उम्मीद है। ऐसे समय में उत्तारी बिहार और नेपाल में कोसी के बाढ़ क्षेत्र का दौरा करके लौटे तथ्यान्वेषण दल की मांग है कि इस पूरी आपदा पर और खासकर उत्तरी बिहार में कोसी घाटी के ड्रेनेज (जलनिकासी) पर एक श्वेत पत्र जारी किया जाय। ताकि मौजूदा नीतियों के कारण बंद हुई ड्रेनेज समस्या को हल किया जा सके। इससे समस्या और बाढ़ प्रवण क्षत्र में बढ़ोतरी करने वाली तथाकथित विपरीत हल की परिस्थतियों का पता लगना चाहिए।
इस रिपोर्ट का कहना है कि बांध, तटबंध और उनकी मरम्मत जैसे बाढ़ नियंत्रण के उपायों से सिर्फ तात्कालिक राहत मिल सकती है। ऐसी परिस्थिति में नदी के बहाव क्षेत्र में बदलाव के कारकों का सूक्ष्म स्तर पर दीर्घकालीक और सावधानीपूर्वक अध्ययन की जरूरत है। यहां यह स्पष्ट करने की जरूरत है कि तटबंध के कटाव को बंद कर दने से ही समस्या का स्थायी हल नहीं हो जाएगा। परिवर्तनकारी जलविज्ञान को नजरअंदाज करने पर बांध और तटबंध की उम्र 25 साल होती है और बदलावों को ध्यान दते हुए तकनीकी सुधार करते हुए 37 साल होती है।
कोसी तटबंध में अब तक का यह आठवां कटाव है, जिसमें नेपाल के चार पंचायत, उत्तरी बिहार के 4 जिले सहरसा, सुपौल, मधेपुरा और अररिया इस बाढ़ से बुरी तरह प्रभावित हुए हैं। इनके अलावा 12 अन्य जिले पुर्णिया, खगड़िया, मुजफ्फरपुर, पश्चिमी चंपारण, सारण, शेखपुरा, वैशाली, बेगुसराय, पटना, और नालंदा भी इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। एक अनुमान के अनुसार करीब 35 लाख लोग इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। बिहार सरकार के रिपोर्टों के अनुसार पिछले साल 22 जिलों में 48 लाख लोगों को बाढ़ के कारण सहायता की जरूरत थी। इससे साफ है कि घटना के पैमाने का अनुमान न कर पाने से इतनी बड़ी आपदा आई। बाढ़ के पानी का सबसे पहला कार्य यह होता है कि अतिरिक्त पानी की निकासी करे। लेकिन इंजिनियरिंग हस्तक्षेप के करण ऐसा नहीं हो पाया।
नदियां तो बसाती हैं. उजाड़ने का धंधा उन्होंने कब से शुरू कर दिया? अगर यह सवाल आप पूछते हैं तो आपको थोड़ा इतिहास, भूगोल समझना होगा. उससे भी ज्यादा बिहार की राजनीति और अर्थशास्त्र समझना होगा. फिर आपकी समझ में आ जाएगा कि बसानेवाली नदी उजाड़ने का धंधा कैसे शुरू कर देती है.
बाढ़ से उबरने के नाम पर आजादी के बाद अब तक 1600 करोड़ रूपया खर्च किया जा चुका है. यह पैसा पानी में बह गया हो ऐसा नहीं है. इस पैसे ने यहां बाढ़ को बढ़ाया है. ठेकेदारों की एक चाक-चौबंद जमात पैदा की है. उन ठेकेदारों की पीठ पर राजनीतिक दलों और योजनाकारों की एक भारी-भरकम फौज पलती है. जो साल दर साल बाढ़ को बिहार की नियति बनाने का पक्का इंतजाम करती जाती है.
इन योजनाओं की ही प्रभुता है कि 1950 के दशक में जहां 25 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पानी में डूबी रहती थी वहीं अब 68.8 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पर स्थाई रूप से पानी का डेरा है. कोई भी पूछेगा कि यह कैसी योजना हुई कि दवा करते गये और मर्ज बढ़ता गया. ब्रह्मदेव चौधरी बाढ़ से भले ही तबाह हों फिर भी वे कोसी को नहीं कोसते. हमारे एक साथी ने उनसे पूछा कि अगर प्रधानमंत्री राहत योजना के तहत आपको पैसा मिले तो क्या आप बाढ़ से निपटने के लिए तटबंध बनाएंगे? ब्रह्मदेव ने समझा हम सरकार के नुमाइंदे हैं इसलिए हमें ही संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने कहा "जितना पैसा आप तटबंध बनाने के लिए देंगे उससे ज्यादा पैसा हम आपको देते हैं लेकिन यहां कोई तटबंध मत बनाईये."
बाढ़ से उबरने के लिए जिन तटबंधों को रास्ता समझा गया वही तटबंध अब बाढ़ और विस्थापन के कारण हो गये हैं.
तटबंध का यही वह रोग है जिसे इलाज समझ लिया गया है और हर साल सरकार इसे पवित्र कर्मकाण्ड मानकर पूरा करती है. बाढ़ से निपटने की सारी योजनाएं तटबंध बनाने के नाम पर आकर सिमट जाती हैं. जो कि बाढ़ को ही बढ़ाता है. अकेले कोसी में हर साल 5 लाख 50 हजार टन से ज्यादा गाद आती है. समय के साथ पानी तो बह जाता है लेकिन गाद पीछे छूट जाती है. यह गाद उन तटबंधों के कारण वहां स्थाई डेरा डाल देती है जिसे समाधान मानकर पेश किया गया था. अब साल दो साल में वह तटबंध ही बेकार हो जाता है इसलिए हमको फिर एक नया तटबंध बनाने की जरूरत पड़ती है. और इस तरह यह एक चक्र बन जाता है.
अकेले उत्तर बिहार में 8.36 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन सालभर पानी में डूबी है. यह कुल इलाके का 16 प्रतिशत बैठता है. लगभग 80 लाख लोग बाढ़ के सीधे प्रभाव में हैं. जाहिर सी बात है प्रभावित लोग या तो गरीब हैं या प्रभाव के कारण गरीब हो जाते हैं. ऐसे गरीब लोगों के लिए सरकार के पास कोई योजना हो ही नहीं सकती. अगर कोई योजना बने तो सबसे पहले तटबंधों पर पुनर्विचार हो. गरीबों के पास एक ही रास्ता बचता है कि वे जमीन छोड़ दें. और वे यही करते हैं. यहां से दूसरी राजनीति शुरू हो जाती है और प्राकृतिक आपदा और राजनीतिक मूर्खता के शिकार ये लोग अपने ही देश में दोयम दर्जे के नागरिक बना दिये जाते हैं. अब वापस वहां लौट नहीं सकते, शहर उन्हें अपमानित करता है. आप ही बताईये ऐसे विस्थापित लोग कहां जाएं?
अब तक न ऐसा कोई तटबंध बना है और न भविष्य में बनेगा जिसमें कटाव न आए। कोसी नदी के तटबंध में कटाव और पिछले नेपाली और भारत सरकार द्वारा बड़े बांध का प्रस्ताव के तर्क में इस बात पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया कि कोसी को बांधा नहीं जा सकता।
अपने विशिष्ट भौगोलिक परिस्थितियों और जटिल जलविज्ञान के विशेषताओं के कारण कोसी एक ऐसी नदी है जिसके बारे में अभी व्यापक रूप से समझा जाना बाकी है। यह सही समय है कि नीति निर्माता ''प्रकृति पर नियंत्रण'' करने के अपनी पुरानी अवधारणा का त्याग करें और यह माने कि हमें बाढ़ के साथ जीना सीखना होगा।
Tuesday 5 August 2008
Ganga expressway hits a roadblock
Govt. disapproves course of alignment of highway in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts
Next move depends on the suggestions of District Magistrates and other officials
LUCKNOW: The Greater Noida-Ballia Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh has hit a roadblock on the proposed course of alignment of the eight-lane access-controlled highway in three districts of the State. The Mayawati Government, however, is determined to remove the roadblocks to smoothen the process of completion of the Rs.30,000-crore project. To be constructed on an embankment on the left side of the Ganga, the 1047-km-long expressway will traverse through 16 districts.
With the course of alignment in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts proposed by the developer (JP Group) disapproved by the Government, the promoter is likely to be asked to reconsider the alignment proposal. The possibility of acquiring fertile agricultural land has led the Government to suggest a revision of the alignment proposed.
At an official presentation on the Ganga Expressway project in the presence of State Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta on July 17, the exact alignment of the road in the light of the proposed alignment was discussed threadbare. According to official sources, the views of the concerned district magistrates and the officials of Irrigation, PWD, Forest and Environment departments have been sought by the Government. “The Government will rely on the suggestions of the DMs and other officials before deciding on its next move,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
In Farrukhabad district, a 55-km stretch of the expressway was proposed to be built midway between the Ganga and its tributary, the Ramganga, but in the alignment proposal the road was shown on the banks of the Ganga, official sources said. An official said the opinion of the Farrukhabad District Magistrate and the Irrigation Department (Flood Control wing) has been sought by the Government.
In Shuklaganj town in Unnao district, the course of the highway needed to be shifted away from the course of the river on account of the settlements along its bank. The Unnao DM has been directed to submit his report on the proposal.
At the end point of the expressway in Ballia district, which is 10 km before Manjhi Ghat, the road will merge with National Highway No.19. According to official sources, in the alignment proposal, the expressway was shifted away from NH-19 into the fertile agricultural land. “Since land has to be acquired by the State Government in its role as a facilitator, acquisition of land in that particular stretch in Ballia would have been practically impossible,” added the official. He said the proposal has been shot down by the Government.
The Ganga Expressway project has been divided into four individual packages of road sections – Greater Noida to Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) abut 253 km, Fatehgarh to Dalmau in Rae Bareli district about 305 km, Dalmau to Aurai in Bhadohi district (about 210 km ) and Aurai to Ballia with a length of about 278 km. Construction work in all individual packages will run concurrently.
The course of alignment from Greater Noida to Narora in Bulandshahr district will be on normal embankment, three metres high. From Narora to Ballia it will be on a embankment , 7.5 metres high, which is proposed to be built along the left bank of the river. The starting point of the road project is in Greater Noida, 10 km from the Taj Expressway.
A service lane along the embankment is also proposed to be built on the left bank of the Ganga.
It will serve as a flood protection measure. About 27,000 hectares of land will be used in the construction of the expressway, of which 15,000 hectares will be used for road work and 12,000 hectares for planned development.
Underpasses for local population will also be built.
Atiq Khan, 29/07/2008
The Hindu
UP plans 5 more expressways to boost infrastructure
Lucknow, Jul 25 Though slightly late, the Uttar Pradesh government finally seems to have woken up to the fact that good road connectivity is the key to business linkages and a buoyant economy.
In order to realise that dream, as many as five more expressways are being planned, which will crisscross the state from all corners. These five will be in addition to the Taj expressway and the Ganga expressways, work on which has already begun.
Totaling around 2,500 km, these five expressways have been conceptualised along the major rivers that cut across the state—Yamuna, Betwa, Ghaghra, Ram Ganga and Hindan. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is authorised to explore the technical as well financial feasibility of these expressways.
The proposed expressways include, 250 km eight-lane Ghaziabad-Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway on river Hindan, 950-kms long Jhansi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Kushinagar expressway, 500-kms Agra-Kanpur expressway on river Yamuna, the 350-kms Bijnore-Moradabad-Fatehgarh expressway on river Ram Ganga and the Lucknow-Barabanki-Nanpara expressway near the Nepal border.
Speaking to FE, a senior official involved in planning the projects revealed that the concept report for the Ghaziabad- Dehradun-Haridwar expressway, which will be the first inter-state venture between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, is ready and the preliminary environment clearance on it received.
“Work for initializing this project is in an advanced stage and the government is all set to invite expressions of interest from consultants to prepare a detailed feasibility report on the project,” he said. It has been decided that while the Uttarakhand government would bear the cost of building the Saharanpur-Dehradun stretch of the expressway, Uttar Pradesh will build the stretch from Ghaziabad to Saharanpur.
The project is to be constructed on a build–operate and –transfer basis and would touch Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Kulesra (Saharanpur), which is on the UP-Uttarakhand border. From there, the expressway will be extended to Dehradun and Hardwar.
Meanwhile, the concept report for the Jhansi-Kushinagar mega expressway, which is being planned on Betwa and Ghaghra rivers at an have been submitted to the state cabinet for approval soon.
In the case of Bijnore-Fatehrarh expressway and the Lucknow-Nanpara expressway, the concept reports are under different stages of preparation, while the Agra-Kanpur project is still in a very nascent stage.
“The PWD is working on its concept and once they feel that the project is viable, they will get a consultant to prepare a report on it” said the official.
“As in the case of the Taj and Ganga Expressways, we plan to take the public-private-patnership route for these projects and would, therefore, not need the Centre for any assistance in funding them. We will raise resources for the projects by leveraging land,”he said.
When asked as to how much land the projects would require, the official said that work on calculating that and other details was on.
Deepa Jainai 26 July, 2008
The Financial Express
Ganga Expressway alignment plan submitted
The alignment for 1, 047 km Ganga Expressway has been completed on paper and submitted to the Uttar Pradesh government.
A presentation of this was made by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). During the presentation, which was attended by the chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta and had representatives from all important government departments , all implementation bottlenecks regarding the project were discussed in details. “A view was taken of all essential things in order to maintain the alignment,” said a source, adding that it was decided to break away from the alignment at certain places, due to difficulties in obtaining land, such as in protected forest areas.
Speaking to FE, an official of the government said that now that the on paper alignment for the project has been submitted to the state government, a final approval from the government is expected shortly. “Once the approval comes, we will start off with on ground physical survey”, said the official.
It may be mentioned that the Rs 40,000 crore, eight-laned Ganga Expressway project from Noida to Ballia, is a dream project of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and has been awarded to the Jaypee group.
According to sources in the company, now that the project report on the alignment of the expressway is ready, work on land acquisition will start soon. “Now that we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut across, we will start identifying the owners of the land and start acquiring it,” he confirmed.
Deepa Jainani, 16 July, 2008
Financial Express
Ramdev against Ganga Expressway project
Adopting a hard stand on UP governments ambitious Ganga Expressway project, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on 29th June, 2008 demanded a complete ban on all types of construction along the banks of the holy river.
The popular yoga teacher also threatened to launch a nation-wide campaign if the government goes ahead with the mega project.
The 1,000-km Noida-Ballia expressway has already drawn flak from several political parties including Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Ramdev also announced to launch a country wide campaign to protect the river and said he aims at keeping a healthy and clean India.
Campaigning under the aegis of ‘Ganga Racksha Manch’, Ramdev demanded the government to declare the Ganges as national heritage.
He also demanded setting up of a central high-powered ‘Ganga Protection Authority’ comprising scientist and experts along with social and religious representatives.
June 30, 2008
PTI
BJP slams Maya for ‘institutionalising’ corruption’
Lucknow, July 15 The state BJP slammed Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday for institutionalising corruption, saying that transfers and postings of the officers have acquired the “shape of an industry under the BSP rule”.
The two-day state BJP executive meet, which concluded at Vrindavan, adopted a resolution to highlight the “rampant corruption” in UP under the BSP rule.
Named ‘Clarion call for agitation against corruption’, the resolution alleged that Mayawati, in a span of five years, had amassed huge wealth running into hundreds of crores. Moving the resolution, state BJP vice-president Hridya Naryan Dikshit said Mayawati owed an explanation to the people regarding this. “Mayawati should also tell her Dalit supporters the formula of accumulating huge wealth in such a short duration,” he added.
The resolution alleged that the chief minister was hand-in-glove with the industrial group to whom she had given the contract of the Ganga Expressway project. While doing so, she had rejected the concerns voiced by the environmental groups and religious organisations, the resolution added. The BJP also charged that mafia was ruling the roost in the mining industry and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme had failed to benefit the rural poor.
Addressing the meeting, Arun Jaitely, the national general secretary in-charge of UP, attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleging that his office had been reduced to “Saude bazi ka adda” for settling disputes of corporates and horse trading for the July 22 trust vote.
The party has decided to hold nine rallies in the state starting in Ghaziabad from August 24. Party national president Rajnath Singh and the L K Advani will participate in this rally.
The second rally will be held at Varanasi on August 28, while the remaining seven will be held between September and October 15, said party state president Ramapati Tripathi.
16 July, 2008
Indian Express
Ganga Expressway: A Road to Prosperity or Doom?
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
by VK Joshi
June 13, 2008
Next move depends on the suggestions of District Magistrates and other officials
LUCKNOW: The Greater Noida-Ballia Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh has hit a roadblock on the proposed course of alignment of the eight-lane access-controlled highway in three districts of the State. The Mayawati Government, however, is determined to remove the roadblocks to smoothen the process of completion of the Rs.30,000-crore project. To be constructed on an embankment on the left side of the Ganga, the 1047-km-long expressway will traverse through 16 districts.
With the course of alignment in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts proposed by the developer (JP Group) disapproved by the Government, the promoter is likely to be asked to reconsider the alignment proposal. The possibility of acquiring fertile agricultural land has led the Government to suggest a revision of the alignment proposed.
At an official presentation on the Ganga Expressway project in the presence of State Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta on July 17, the exact alignment of the road in the light of the proposed alignment was discussed threadbare. According to official sources, the views of the concerned district magistrates and the officials of Irrigation, PWD, Forest and Environment departments have been sought by the Government. “The Government will rely on the suggestions of the DMs and other officials before deciding on its next move,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
In Farrukhabad district, a 55-km stretch of the expressway was proposed to be built midway between the Ganga and its tributary, the Ramganga, but in the alignment proposal the road was shown on the banks of the Ganga, official sources said. An official said the opinion of the Farrukhabad District Magistrate and the Irrigation Department (Flood Control wing) has been sought by the Government.
In Shuklaganj town in Unnao district, the course of the highway needed to be shifted away from the course of the river on account of the settlements along its bank. The Unnao DM has been directed to submit his report on the proposal.
At the end point of the expressway in Ballia district, which is 10 km before Manjhi Ghat, the road will merge with National Highway No.19. According to official sources, in the alignment proposal, the expressway was shifted away from NH-19 into the fertile agricultural land. “Since land has to be acquired by the State Government in its role as a facilitator, acquisition of land in that particular stretch in Ballia would have been practically impossible,” added the official. He said the proposal has been shot down by the Government.
The Ganga Expressway project has been divided into four individual packages of road sections – Greater Noida to Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) abut 253 km, Fatehgarh to Dalmau in Rae Bareli district about 305 km, Dalmau to Aurai in Bhadohi district (about 210 km ) and Aurai to Ballia with a length of about 278 km. Construction work in all individual packages will run concurrently.
The course of alignment from Greater Noida to Narora in Bulandshahr district will be on normal embankment, three metres high. From Narora to Ballia it will be on a embankment , 7.5 metres high, which is proposed to be built along the left bank of the river. The starting point of the road project is in Greater Noida, 10 km from the Taj Expressway.
A service lane along the embankment is also proposed to be built on the left bank of the Ganga.
It will serve as a flood protection measure. About 27,000 hectares of land will be used in the construction of the expressway, of which 15,000 hectares will be used for road work and 12,000 hectares for planned development.
Underpasses for local population will also be built.
Atiq Khan, 29/07/2008
The Hindu
UP plans 5 more expressways to boost infrastructure
Lucknow, Jul 25 Though slightly late, the Uttar Pradesh government finally seems to have woken up to the fact that good road connectivity is the key to business linkages and a buoyant economy.
In order to realise that dream, as many as five more expressways are being planned, which will crisscross the state from all corners. These five will be in addition to the Taj expressway and the Ganga expressways, work on which has already begun.
Totaling around 2,500 km, these five expressways have been conceptualised along the major rivers that cut across the state—Yamuna, Betwa, Ghaghra, Ram Ganga and Hindan. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is authorised to explore the technical as well financial feasibility of these expressways.
The proposed expressways include, 250 km eight-lane Ghaziabad-Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway on river Hindan, 950-kms long Jhansi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Kushinagar expressway, 500-kms Agra-Kanpur expressway on river Yamuna, the 350-kms Bijnore-Moradabad-Fatehgarh expressway on river Ram Ganga and the Lucknow-Barabanki-Nanpara expressway near the Nepal border.
Speaking to FE, a senior official involved in planning the projects revealed that the concept report for the Ghaziabad- Dehradun-Haridwar expressway, which will be the first inter-state venture between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, is ready and the preliminary environment clearance on it received.
“Work for initializing this project is in an advanced stage and the government is all set to invite expressions of interest from consultants to prepare a detailed feasibility report on the project,” he said. It has been decided that while the Uttarakhand government would bear the cost of building the Saharanpur-Dehradun stretch of the expressway, Uttar Pradesh will build the stretch from Ghaziabad to Saharanpur.
The project is to be constructed on a build–operate and –transfer basis and would touch Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Kulesra (Saharanpur), which is on the UP-Uttarakhand border. From there, the expressway will be extended to Dehradun and Hardwar.
Meanwhile, the concept report for the Jhansi-Kushinagar mega expressway, which is being planned on Betwa and Ghaghra rivers at an have been submitted to the state cabinet for approval soon.
In the case of Bijnore-Fatehrarh expressway and the Lucknow-Nanpara expressway, the concept reports are under different stages of preparation, while the Agra-Kanpur project is still in a very nascent stage.
“The PWD is working on its concept and once they feel that the project is viable, they will get a consultant to prepare a report on it” said the official.
“As in the case of the Taj and Ganga Expressways, we plan to take the public-private-patnership route for these projects and would, therefore, not need the Centre for any assistance in funding them. We will raise resources for the projects by leveraging land,”he said.
When asked as to how much land the projects would require, the official said that work on calculating that and other details was on.
Deepa Jainai 26 July, 2008
The Financial Express
Ganga Expressway alignment plan submitted
The alignment for 1, 047 km Ganga Expressway has been completed on paper and submitted to the Uttar Pradesh government.
A presentation of this was made by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). During the presentation, which was attended by the chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta and had representatives from all important government departments , all implementation bottlenecks regarding the project were discussed in details. “A view was taken of all essential things in order to maintain the alignment,” said a source, adding that it was decided to break away from the alignment at certain places, due to difficulties in obtaining land, such as in protected forest areas.
Speaking to FE, an official of the government said that now that the on paper alignment for the project has been submitted to the state government, a final approval from the government is expected shortly. “Once the approval comes, we will start off with on ground physical survey”, said the official.
It may be mentioned that the Rs 40,000 crore, eight-laned Ganga Expressway project from Noida to Ballia, is a dream project of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and has been awarded to the Jaypee group.
According to sources in the company, now that the project report on the alignment of the expressway is ready, work on land acquisition will start soon. “Now that we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut across, we will start identifying the owners of the land and start acquiring it,” he confirmed.
Deepa Jainani, 16 July, 2008
Financial Express
Ramdev against Ganga Expressway project
Adopting a hard stand on UP governments ambitious Ganga Expressway project, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on 29th June, 2008 demanded a complete ban on all types of construction along the banks of the holy river.
The popular yoga teacher also threatened to launch a nation-wide campaign if the government goes ahead with the mega project.
The 1,000-km Noida-Ballia expressway has already drawn flak from several political parties including Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Ramdev also announced to launch a country wide campaign to protect the river and said he aims at keeping a healthy and clean India.
Campaigning under the aegis of ‘Ganga Racksha Manch’, Ramdev demanded the government to declare the Ganges as national heritage.
He also demanded setting up of a central high-powered ‘Ganga Protection Authority’ comprising scientist and experts along with social and religious representatives.
June 30, 2008
PTI
BJP slams Maya for ‘institutionalising’ corruption’
Lucknow, July 15 The state BJP slammed Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday for institutionalising corruption, saying that transfers and postings of the officers have acquired the “shape of an industry under the BSP rule”.
The two-day state BJP executive meet, which concluded at Vrindavan, adopted a resolution to highlight the “rampant corruption” in UP under the BSP rule.
Named ‘Clarion call for agitation against corruption’, the resolution alleged that Mayawati, in a span of five years, had amassed huge wealth running into hundreds of crores. Moving the resolution, state BJP vice-president Hridya Naryan Dikshit said Mayawati owed an explanation to the people regarding this. “Mayawati should also tell her Dalit supporters the formula of accumulating huge wealth in such a short duration,” he added.
The resolution alleged that the chief minister was hand-in-glove with the industrial group to whom she had given the contract of the Ganga Expressway project. While doing so, she had rejected the concerns voiced by the environmental groups and religious organisations, the resolution added. The BJP also charged that mafia was ruling the roost in the mining industry and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme had failed to benefit the rural poor.
Addressing the meeting, Arun Jaitely, the national general secretary in-charge of UP, attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleging that his office had been reduced to “Saude bazi ka adda” for settling disputes of corporates and horse trading for the July 22 trust vote.
The party has decided to hold nine rallies in the state starting in Ghaziabad from August 24. Party national president Rajnath Singh and the L K Advani will participate in this rally.
The second rally will be held at Varanasi on August 28, while the remaining seven will be held between September and October 15, said party state president Ramapati Tripathi.
16 July, 2008
Indian Express
Ganga Expressway: A Road to Prosperity or Doom?
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
by VK Joshi
June 13, 2008
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Note:Ganga Expressway Project envisages controlling the flow of the Ganga. The project claims that among other benefits it would save lakhs of hectares of cultivable land through flood control embankments on the Ganga.
UP's and Bihar's flood affected regions of Ganga basin is currently grappling with the unacknowledged environmental disaster due to a land of embankments. This region is home to South Asia's biggest ecological crisis that policy makers, NGOs and media have failed to comprehend and diagnose.
Both Mayawati and Nitish Kumar have revealed themselves as lovers of this very embankment.
It not clear whether clearance has been obtained from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. Also it is not clear whether UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
Before proceeding with projects both UP and Bihar should come out with a white paper on the contribution of embankments.
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Ganga Express Way is a project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. According to
this, an eight-lane road is to be constructed along the left side of the River Ganga, between Noida and Ballia. This correspondence deals with a critical analysis of the project in amalgamation with environmental concerns.
This project will consume 1,047,000 × 8 × 7 sq. m fertile agricultural land of
doaab. This Indo-Gangetic Plain is well known for its fertility and productivity.
In the light of this, in no way does it appear justifiable to sacrifice such a
huge area and that too at a time when the world is facing problems feeding the exploding population.
Each year the Ganga brings billions of tonnes of fertile soil, which is deposited along the river basin. It is this soil which is responsible for high fertility of the area. Now, if a road is constructed along one side of the river, it will act as a dam
or barrier for the free flow of water. As a result, huge amount of mud will be
deposited on the riverbed, decreasing the cross-section area of the river.
During rainy season, when excess amount of water flows through the Ganga, the
water will find its way into cities, resulting in floods. After a few years,
when the river bed would be almost filled, Ganga may be forced to change its
path and pass through cities, i.e. perennial floods would become common.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is fertile because it receives fertile and fresh soil
each year and also the river regularly provides water for irrigation. After construction of the road, the high barrier will lead to two disadvantages. First, the off-side of the road will become waterless.
Since soil of the adjoining belt is sandy, in no way does it appear feasible to perform irrigation through other sources in such a soil.
In the years to come, this will lead to desertification. Secondly, construction
of the huge barrier would also require large amount of soil, as in normal
practice the soil would be dug from the nearby agricultural field1. This will
give rise to another problem. The low land generated in this way will collect
the rainwater on the off-side of the river, which will promote the development of sodic and saline soil.
Both the above processes will lead to progressive development of desert area. In
addition, the temporary lentic ecosystem would become a source of various
water-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria, encephalitis, etc.
The planners have proposed to develop an ‘investment region’, along the way,
under which 500 large and 7000 medium or small industries would be commissioned
in 10,000 acres of land adjoining to the Ganga Express Way2. Not only will the agricultural land reduce, but also all the industrial effluents and garbage would be directly dumped into the Ganga.
Path of rivers are wavy. This will also increase the cost of construction,
maintenance and fuel consumption in addition to the time required for the
journey and cost of transportation.
Finally, our emphasis should focus on sustainable development, rather than on
just development. India is an agriculture based country, and we should aim to
feed the ever-increasing population.
Industries can produce bread but not grains. As an alternate suggestion, it
would be advantageous to develop the Ganga Waterways. This will not only prevent the economic loss, but the water resources available to us are properly utilized. It would require less than 20% of the budget of the proposed plan towards development of the Ganga Waterways.
The voyage would be economical, pollution-free as well as long- lasting.
Dwivedi, A. K., Shashi and Singh, J.,
Current Science
UP's and Bihar's flood affected regions of Ganga basin is currently grappling with the unacknowledged environmental disaster due to a land of embankments. This region is home to South Asia's biggest ecological crisis that policy makers, NGOs and media have failed to comprehend and diagnose.
Both Mayawati and Nitish Kumar have revealed themselves as lovers of this very embankment.
It not clear whether clearance has been obtained from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. Also it is not clear whether UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
Before proceeding with projects both UP and Bihar should come out with a white paper on the contribution of embankments.
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Ganga Express Way is a project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. According to
this, an eight-lane road is to be constructed along the left side of the River Ganga, between Noida and Ballia. This correspondence deals with a critical analysis of the project in amalgamation with environmental concerns.
This project will consume 1,047,000 × 8 × 7 sq. m fertile agricultural land of
doaab. This Indo-Gangetic Plain is well known for its fertility and productivity.
In the light of this, in no way does it appear justifiable to sacrifice such a
huge area and that too at a time when the world is facing problems feeding the exploding population.
Each year the Ganga brings billions of tonnes of fertile soil, which is deposited along the river basin. It is this soil which is responsible for high fertility of the area. Now, if a road is constructed along one side of the river, it will act as a dam
or barrier for the free flow of water. As a result, huge amount of mud will be
deposited on the riverbed, decreasing the cross-section area of the river.
During rainy season, when excess amount of water flows through the Ganga, the
water will find its way into cities, resulting in floods. After a few years,
when the river bed would be almost filled, Ganga may be forced to change its
path and pass through cities, i.e. perennial floods would become common.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is fertile because it receives fertile and fresh soil
each year and also the river regularly provides water for irrigation. After construction of the road, the high barrier will lead to two disadvantages. First, the off-side of the road will become waterless.
Since soil of the adjoining belt is sandy, in no way does it appear feasible to perform irrigation through other sources in such a soil.
In the years to come, this will lead to desertification. Secondly, construction
of the huge barrier would also require large amount of soil, as in normal
practice the soil would be dug from the nearby agricultural field1. This will
give rise to another problem. The low land generated in this way will collect
the rainwater on the off-side of the river, which will promote the development of sodic and saline soil.
Both the above processes will lead to progressive development of desert area. In
addition, the temporary lentic ecosystem would become a source of various
water-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria, encephalitis, etc.
The planners have proposed to develop an ‘investment region’, along the way,
under which 500 large and 7000 medium or small industries would be commissioned
in 10,000 acres of land adjoining to the Ganga Express Way2. Not only will the agricultural land reduce, but also all the industrial effluents and garbage would be directly dumped into the Ganga.
Path of rivers are wavy. This will also increase the cost of construction,
maintenance and fuel consumption in addition to the time required for the
journey and cost of transportation.
Finally, our emphasis should focus on sustainable development, rather than on
just development. India is an agriculture based country, and we should aim to
feed the ever-increasing population.
Industries can produce bread but not grains. As an alternate suggestion, it
would be advantageous to develop the Ganga Waterways. This will not only prevent the economic loss, but the water resources available to us are properly utilized. It would require less than 20% of the budget of the proposed plan towards development of the Ganga Waterways.
The voyage would be economical, pollution-free as well as long- lasting.
Dwivedi, A. K., Shashi and Singh, J.,
Current Science
Monday 14 April 2008
Rs 40, 000 crore to bring Ballia closer to Delhi
In a political resolution adopted in Kanpur on 30th March, 2008 at the two-day meet of the Uttar Pradesh state executive, Indian National Congress said, “The Ganga Expressway is another scam in the making for the way contracts were awarded to a few select.” The project has been awarded to Mayawati’s favourite Jaya Prakash Associates (JPAL), which had submitted the lowest bid at Rs 29,355 crore. The project will reduce the distance between Delhi and Ballia by 10 hours.
The Expressway Project envisages controlling the flow of the Ganga but the state was yet to obtain clearance from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. The UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
The project claims that among other benefits it would save lakhs of hectares of cultivable land through flood control embankments on the Ganga.
Jaiprakash Associates has been awarded a contract by the Uttar Pradesh Development Authority to build a 1,047-km long expressway connecting Greater Noida to Ballia in the state. The company has deposited Rs 1,491 crore as a bank guarantee for the project. Jaypee Associates will execute the 1,047-km long Ganga Expressway project through its unit Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation Ltd.
The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority has cleared the decks and put the project on the fast track. The group has opened offices in all the 16 districts, through which the expressway would pass and a nodal officer appointed in them all. It may be mentioned that the Jaypee Group, one of the 5 bidders who had come forward for developing the Ganga Expressway, had asked for minimum development rights.
They had also asked for minimum land for development: 30,000 acre, out of which 20,000 acre have been identified in Patiali tehsil in Etah itself, while the remaining 10,000 acre of land parcels have been identified in Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Unnao, and Bulandshahr.
Opposition parties have threatened to launch a mass agitation if the interests of the farmers affected by the 1,000 kilometre Ballia to Noida Ganga Expressway Project were ignored by the State government in Uttar Pradesh. The rehabilitation package announced by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, on 15th January, 2008 while laying the foundation stone for the Project on her 52nd birthday, she attacked the Samajwadi Party for opposing the mega scheme.
The Congress party has described the package as inadequate and unclear. Although the private players were short listed for developing the project but neither the alignment nor the survey of the villages were undertaken by the State. The Detailed Project Report had also not been finalized as yet.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders were put under virtual house arrest. SP and BJP along with V.P. Singh’s Jan Morcha had planned a statewide protest against the launch of this Rs 40,000-crore project claiming it would lead to forcible acquisition of agricultural land and ruin the farmers. SP had warned that the Nandigram agitation would be nothing in comparison once the farmers took to the stree. BJP had given it a religious twist by calling it ‘Ram and Ganga bachao andolan’.
UP government claims that large-scale industrialisation will ultimately lead to the setting up of various technical and vocational training institutes which will include 35 industrial training institutes, 20 polytechnics, 10 engineering colleges, five medical colleges and several paramedical schools. These investment regions would transform the area and spawn direct and indirect employment for three lakh people in about 500 large and 7,000 medium and small-scale units. Nearly 500 large and small agro-based industries would be part of the investment regions which would directly benefit the farmers. Traditional industries at Bhadohi, Kannauj and Khurja would get a new lease of life while the expressway project is also expected to be helpful to the economic uplift of weavers and artisans. Besides, it would ensure the revival of ancient cities like Mirzapur and Bithoor.
UP government says, it will also allot free residential plots—150 sq min urban areas and 250 sq m in rural areas—to those whose land would be acquired. Besides, they would be entitled to a 15 per cent quota in the allotment of flats or plots in the proposed industrial pockets.
The Opposition is raising issues like displacement of farmers, fertile land being grabbed by builders and a handful of officials around the chief minister plundering the state’s resources. Government owns only 5 per cent of the land required for the project, so the maximum percentage would have to be acquired from farmers. The chief minister has clarified that builders would require only 30,000 acre of “infertile and wasteland” to set up “investment regions” along the expressway in lieu of huge capital investment.
Ravindra Singh, principal secretary, PWD, who is also the CEO of Uttar Pradesh Expressway Authority, the rehabilitation policy would be implemented by the builders before the project starts. “If it’s not implemented, then the builders would not get land,” he adds. The unique part of the policy is that the land owners would have the liberty to convert up to 10 per cent of their compensation towards their acquired land into shares of the companies involved in the construction of the project.
Samir Gaur, director of the newly formed Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation, said work has already begun on the technical and engineering front. "Our technical team is already working on finalising the design and the alignment of the project and will submit its project report soon. On the other hand, work on the land acquisition will start as soon as the alignment of the expressway is finalised. Once we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut through, we will start identifying the owners of the land and acquire it."
"Almost 80% of the land along the expressway's path is arid and barren, which is literally, of no use to the farmers. We do not think any farmer would not want to sell of wasteland and get a good compensation in lieu of it, as well as have development and its resultant fringe benefits at his doorstep," added Gaur optimistically.
Regarding the business plan of the company and as to how it is planning the financial closure of the project, which is to be submitted within nine months, Gaur said that this is not going to be an issue. "The important thing that banks see is whether the company is stable. While we have almost 48% equity within the group, around 35% is owned by the banks and FIIs. The valuation of the Taj Expressway project, in which ICICI Ventures is our lead bank, is in itself 25,000 crore. We do not foresee any problem in presenting our financial closure at the right time. Once we start land acquisition, banks will gain confidence in the project and come forward. There is no dearth of lenders these days if any project is viable," he stated.
When asked from which end would work on the expressway commence first, Gaur said, "We will begin work simultaneously from all the 16 districts. The target of completing work in 4 years is very tough and we cannot afford to begin work in phases. For us, it is a 24x7 work schedule, which only can help us in finishing off at the expected time."
Mayawati says, no toll would be realised from the expressway service road.
With the Ganga Expressway project touted to be the biggest investment in the road sector in the state so far, the industry is keeping a keen watch over Jaypee Group's planning and strategy, while sealing and executing the project, which would link the most backward and poverty-ridden area of Uttar Pradesh with the national capital.
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Jaypee deposits Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee
Expressway is expected to be completed in five years
Land acquisition to be completed in the next two years
Jaiprakash Associates on 24 March signed the concession agreement with UP authorities for the Rs 40,000-crore Ganga Expressway project and deposited Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee for this. Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation will implement the 1,047 km-long six lane access controlled Ganga Expressway, which will link Greater Noida with Ballia in eastern UP.
Jaiprakash Associates won the contract to build the Ganga expressway on the basis of its bid, which was the lowest at 14,000 hectares. The project, which was floated by UP chief minister Mayawati soon after returning to power last year, attracted bids from 19 bidders, including Reliance Energy, Unitech and Gammon. The winner is supposed to manage the construction cost through toll collection and the land given to it at a concessional rate by the government for private development.
Land acquisition for the project is likely to be completed in the next two years, following which the construction will start.
The expressway is expected to be completed in five years from now. Jaiprakash Associates will acquire land for development at six locations across the expressway: Secunderabad, Etah, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Varanasi.
Land acquisition to be completed in the next two years
Jaiprakash Associates on 24 March signed the concession agreement with UP authorities for the Rs 40,000-crore Ganga Expressway project and deposited Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee for this. Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation will implement the 1,047 km-long six lane access controlled Ganga Expressway, which will link Greater Noida with Ballia in eastern UP.
Jaiprakash Associates won the contract to build the Ganga expressway on the basis of its bid, which was the lowest at 14,000 hectares. The project, which was floated by UP chief minister Mayawati soon after returning to power last year, attracted bids from 19 bidders, including Reliance Energy, Unitech and Gammon. The winner is supposed to manage the construction cost through toll collection and the land given to it at a concessional rate by the government for private development.
Land acquisition for the project is likely to be completed in the next two years, following which the construction will start.
The expressway is expected to be completed in five years from now. Jaiprakash Associates will acquire land for development at six locations across the expressway: Secunderabad, Etah, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Varanasi.
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