Barada Sarma
The important objective behind this article is to discuss the important issues of floods and various issues relating to the Brahmaputra river that will have major repercussions because of the decisions that are going to be made soon. We should realize that the problems of floods, landslides, interminable water-logging of the major city streets for lack of drainage facilities due to filling up of natural wetlands, and the accompanying death, destruction and misery are due to implementation of policies without any transparency and accountability.
In a recent write-up by former Chief Secretary of Assam HN Das published in the Mélange (the Sunday magazine of The Sentinel) on October 31, the total loss suffered by the State in the June-July floods in the State was to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore. Now this is a mammoth figure by all accounts. This should be enough to make us ponder as to how the Brahmaputra and its tributaries had been managed over the last 50 years and how effective flood control measures are necessary to reduce the damage and mitigate the sufferings of ordinary people in future.Structures in Seismic Zones:
The flood losses are distressing, but what is more distressing to me as a consulting engineer, a regulator and a policy-maker are some statements from a paragraph in the article referred to above. The paragraph reads, "In regard to the control of the Brahmaputra by constructing dams in the Himalayas, which is a comparatively young mountain range and extremely prone to seismic activity, I had opposed the proposal to build huge dams along with hydel power stations costing Rs 35,000 crore as proposed by the Brahmaputra Board. The recent fear of bursting of dams on the Tsangpo river (main branch of the Brahmaputra), about with China had issued a warning to India, should deter any attempt to implement the Board’s project. It should be borne in mind that the two largest earthquakes in human history, those of Guwahati-Shillong of June 12, 1897 and Arunachal (the NEFA) of August 15, 1950, occurred in this region. These weighted 8.7 and 8.6 respectively, on the Richter (si! c) scale! . Besides that the fear of environmental degradation by extra high voltage transmission lines of 800 or 1200 KV is also real (sic)."First, if dams, tall buildings, bridges, aqueducts, roads, highways, tunnels and other engineering structures were not built in highly seismic areas of the world, taking into consideration seismic forces that the structure would be subjected to in times of major earthquakes, man could not have made the progress he has made in the last century. Much research has been done in engineering schools and engineering laboratories around the world, including in India (Roorkee), in this field of engineering and research continues to be pursued in this area in many institutions for more knowledge.
We should be aware that Japan would not be able to have fresh drinking water for its citizens, being an ocean-locked nation except from desalination plants which are still very uneconomic, if Japan did not build large multipurpose dams with storage for water supply. Also, huge hydro-power capacity would be unavailable for Japan’s industries to make it the second most powerful nation in the world in economic terms, had she not built high, medium and small dams, all across Japan for this purpose. We know that Japan is located in a highly seismic zone and in fact has had major earthquakes all through its history. (I know, over the years, Japanese experts have come to India and the North-east to consult and advise on these issues.) On June 15, 1896, at 19.32 hour, an earthquake of magnitude 8.5 on the Richter scale occurred in Sanriku, Japan. This earthquake was stronger in magnitude than the Assam earthquake of June 12, 1897 at 11:06 hour which was reported as of magnitude 8! ! .3 on the Richter scale by the USGS. Mr Das reports the magnitude of this earthquake in his article as 8.7 which is different from the USGS record. Not that it matters much as to which is the more accurate source. We should realize that these earthquakes are of very large intensity.
The State of California, the seventh largest economy in the world, would not be such a powerful economic powerhouse had it not built one of the largest water management systems in the world. The dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, irrigation projects and diversion structures, hydropower plants etc. that transport water from water-rich northern California to water-short southern California have transformed agricultural practices and production in a big way in California. The growth of the multi-billion dollar agriculture industry, one of the largest in the world, would not have been possible without implementation of the California water plan. We know California is in a highly seismic zone and has had a number of major earthquakes in its history and also in recent times. As a matter of fact, the largest recorded earthquake in the history of the world occurred in a stretch from northern California to the Canadian border on January 26, 1700, Richter scale magnitude of which! ! was equal to or greater than 9.0 as per USGS data.High Voltage Transmission Grids
Second, high voltage transmission lines crisscross the United States for dependable supply of steady, high quality power to run the great US economic machinery via inter-State high voltage grids. While there has been some concern raised regarding health issues related to HV transmission systems, as far as I am aware, none of the studies that looked into this concern are conclusive as to health hazards to man. I myself was involved with some environmental issues related to noise pollution, higher risk of cancer etc. in connection with people living in close proximity to power plants and HV transmission lines in Austin while I was chairman of the Electric Utility Commission of the City of Austin. Reports presented to us on these issues gave me the impression that much of the health and environmental issues are hyped up with no factual basis. The Commission did, however, provide funding for some protection from noise pollution in the neighbourhood where one of Austin’s fossil-fuel power plants was located. None of the studies and research reported to us higher incidents of cancer of the residents near the power plant areas where HV transmission lines existed when compared to incidents of cancer in the general Austin population. There is no doubt in my mind that some environmental degradation always occurs with any and all development activities undertaken by man. But these effects can be minimized and should be the responsibility of the planners and designers, supported by laws, rules and regulations to do so. Environmental impact statements (EIS) should enumerate mitigation of impact of environmental degradation so that adequate consideration is given to these issues when projects and infrastructure are designed and built for improving the quality of life.Dam failures in China
Third, does Mr Das have information as to why the dams built by the Chinese on the Tsangpo failed recently which led to a warning to India of floods down the river? Were these failures (I am assuming multi-dam failures because Mr Das suggests so in his article) due to seismic activity (earthquake) or due to other reasons such as, greater than estimated precipitation for estimation of project design flood, inadequate spillway capacity, bad structural and foundation design, bad construction and/or bad operation and maintenance of the project facilities? In order to learn from experience of the Chinese, we should try to collect detailed information on these failures. I assume that the Government of India had requested pertinent information on the failures and disseminated the information to the concerned States. Of course, China also has a history of huge seismic activities and large earthquakes have been recorded in China over the years. But that has not deterred th! e Chinese from building large multi-purpose projects such as the Three Gorges River Dam with large flood control storage, hydropower storage and water supply storage. These projects are changing the face of China. During my visit to China in June 1996 as a member of the US Water Resources Management Specialists, I had the opportunity to see a number of multi-purpose and large infrastructure projects around Shanghai, Hang Zhou, and Beijing and talk to a number of bureaucrats, policy makers, regulators and engineers. The impression I got was that the Chinese were doing their job with serious commitment and passion with a vision for the future. No wonder, the Chinese are progressing by leaps and bounds in recent times by providing cheap hydro-power and cheap water for agriculture and industry all around the country. Real environmental concerns for the North-eastBut then why don’t we do something urgently, or may be, I should ask what can we do about incredible damage that has been done and continues to be perpetrated on the environment all around us by deforestation? Such deforestation in the upper Brahmaputra basin is one of the prime causes of increased sediment load in the river, reducing the channel capacity each year, which in turn, causes the annual floods that we witness. Alluvial fanning occurs year after year due to heavy siltation. The river changes its course, gobbling up towns and rural communities. Majuli appears to be in serious danger and urgent plans have been drawn up to save the large river island. Everything seems to have been done on an ad hoc basis, not with proper thoughtful planning. Even here in Guwahati, we have seen with our own eyes last week, the death and devastation that have been caused by unregulated human activities — buildings, roads and tree felling that precede them — in the hills around the c! ity. We see every day new multi-storeyed buildings being built without proper permits, violating existing zoning laws and without the infrastructure necessary to support activities of the people working and living in these buildings. We see interminable traffic congestion with inevitable air and noise pollution all around us without any enforcement to speak of. More importantly and tragically, I should say, we continue to see reports of wild elephants coming to our towns, villages and airports in search of food and causing havoc; reports of precious dwindling species like tigers and leopards coming to our villages looking for food and getting killed, not to speak of all the lost species of flora and fauna of the region that we are unaware of.
Effective Public Policy Matters in DemocracyFourth, I believe, we should not complain, but rather appreciate, successes of the current Minister of State for Water Resources, Mr Yadav, a politician from Bihar in managing the politics of the day and getting Rs 400 crore additionally for construction of houses for the flood-affected people of Bihar. Mr Das states and I quote: "For Bihar Union Government has made additional amount of Rs 400 crore available under the Indira Awas Yojana during the current year as an additionality to the Annual State Plan so that it can be utilized for construction of houses for the flood-affected people. Assam is yet to obtain such additional funds."
My question is how come when Ms Bijoya Chakraborty of Assam was the Minister of State for Water Resources during the tenure of the BJP Government, Assam was not able to get substantive funds to improve the State’s flood situation and do something about improving the city’s water infrastructure? Was it lack of vision, hard work and passion on our part or lack of political acumen on the part of the Minister or was it some other reason that we could not take advantage of Ms Chakraborty’s position. We, as a people, need to answer these questions to be better prepared to get our dues from the Centre by playing the politics of the day at this time. I believe the politicians are not helping the cause of Assam and its people by quarrelling on the basis of personal vendetta. Political parties should contest each other in elections with ideas and vision to solve our problems. They should be united in presenting the problems of the State to the Central Government with a unit! ed front after the elections for the welfare of the State. Just as China has continued to pursue development of water resources potential over the last 50 years for the economic good of its people, I believe India should continue to do the same in the North-east and around the country. There is a huge hydro-power potential in the North-east, more than anywhere else in the country, as nearly 30,000 MW of power is available in the Brahmaputra’s tributaries in the upper reaches of the river according to published reports. River-linking and transferring surplus water of the Brahmaputra will be a boon to water-deficient areas of the country. Availability of 30,000 MW of hydro-power will impact not only the future of the North-east but a large part of India outside the North-east. Power will be a major source of revenue for this region and a lot of economic activities will ensue and of course, opportunities for gainful employment, which are lacking in the region, will be created. In each of the hydro-power dams, big, medium and! small flood control storage must be provided for control of floods in Assam. This policy, along with the requisite financial commitment of the Government of India, strongly supported by the north-eastern States, including Assam, should be able to change the face of the North-east. No one should forget the commitment made by Pandit Nehru to large multi-purpose projects like Bhakra-Nangal, from which cheap hydro-power and steady supply of irrigation water changed the face of Punjab, Rajasthan and other States of North-east India. I remember Pandit Nehru referring to the Bhakra-Nangal dam as a temple of modern India when he inaugurated the project. What happened to those visionary ideas and their realization? (I just learnt from a meeting organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) I attended at the Brahmaputra Ashok on October 7, 2004 that 30 per cent of Bhakra power is provided free to the farmers of Punjab. While that is a great initiative, I have not been able ! to figure out why free power should be provided to rich Punjabi farmers). My thought right now, however, as I write this piece, is what a difference in availability of electric power in Punjab from what I have experienced in Guwahati with no electricity last week for days together. I heave learnt that the ASEB produces about 150 MW of power, buys 250 MW and Assam’s power consumption is about 500 MW after more than 50 years of independence. What a pitiful record!Finally, my hope, at this juncture of our history, is that we try to change our thinking as people and attempt to put our heads together, commit to come up with ideas, acceptable short and long-term plans and programmes for the next 50 years. Most importantly, we attempt to organize ourselves as a better society with a clear vision and work with a passion to manage and implement such agreed upon plans and programmes instead of the chaos and political mayhem we have created over the last quarter century. We should think in terms of conflict resolution rather than confrontation within ourselves and with our neighbours. For success in future, transparency and accountability are a must and we must adopt such policies which promote this and enforce them in right earnest. I hope we will take up the challenge and persevere to do better in the next 50 years compared to what we have done in the last 50.
The author is the retired president, GSG, Inc., Engineers, Planners & Regulatory Consultants, based at Austin, Texas, USA.)Faster than e-mail, more discreet than a phone call and best of all it's free - download MSN Messenger today!
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