Ganga’s Lament

First, they came to build temples grand,

A modern dam in my valley's land.

Silent I stood, who'd question a shrine?

Lost my village underneath Govind Sagar's mighty sign.

Then they came for electric grid lines

Electric veins scarred my skies with silent pains.

Basic need, they said, for factories to thrive

My hills wept, but progress must survive.

Then they came for railway bridges, expressways sprawl,

Symbols of progress, they did install.

Gave my land for the path of Pragati,

Now my Joshimath is sinking, no one hears the plea.

They don't come anymore, the crisis untold,

Silent sinking, as the land folds.

No one left to speak for the fading dream,

Joshimath's lament, a silent scream.

No more they come, the crisis unfolds,

Silent sinking, as the land molds.

No voice remains for the fading dream,

Teesta's lament, a muted scream.

(PPD's interaction with ChatGPT sessions)

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF ACT EAST POLICY

Connectivity in India’s North-East Region

India’s North East Region has been branded as a paradise unexplored. The biggest challenge for the exploration of this paradise has been infrastructure and connectivity – be it for tourism or for the industry.  The strategic infrastructure development in North East has gained momentum in recent years.

Dhola-Sadiya Bridge or Bhupen Hazarika Setu

The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge or Bhupen Hazarika Setu, spanning 9.15 km over the Brahmaputra River, was opened on May 26, 2017, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the longest bridge in India and positions Assam as a hub for trade and connectivity with South East Asia. The bridge aims to boost connectivity, trade, and development in the North Eastern region.

Bogibeel Bridge

The Bogibeel Bridge, spanning 4.98 km, was inaugurated on December 25, 2018, by Prime Minister Modi. It is the longest road and rail bridge in India and the second-longest in Asia. The bridge enhances connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, connecting Dibrugarh and Silapathar.

The following map is a bird’s eye view of Brahmaputra Valley. On both sides of the river lies Assam state, and further to the northeast lies Arunachal Pradesh. The Brahmaputra has a very large river basin making it almost impossible to transport heavy loads across the river.

The points marked A (Goalpara), B (Guwahati), C (Tezpur), D (Dibrugarh), and E (Chapakhowa) are the points from which the river can be crossed using a permanent bridge.

It is only after 2014, that the bridges in points D and E have been made functional with the inauguration of the Bogibeel Bridge in Dibrugarh in 2018 and Bhupen Hazarika Bridge (Dhola-Sadiya Bridge) in Chapakhowa in 2017. Both are one of the longest bridges in the country.

The following is an illustration of what difference the bridges made in the life and livelihood of the people in the valley and also its strategic importance for the development of Arunachal Pradesh in general.

Itanagar to Dibrugarh

As per Google Maps, earlier it took almost 11 hours for a person to travel from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh to Dibrugarh, a big city in upper Assam that has an airport, railway connectivity and a university. This is because the traveller had to take a detour via Tezpur to reach from one place to another.

 

Today, the same distance can be covered easily in less than 5 hours via the newly built Bogibeel Bridge in Dibrugarh. The 450 KM journey has become a mere 187 KM long route now.

 

Roing to Tinsukia

Roing is one of the first towns in India situated in the Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. It has always been very remote. Before the inauguration of Bhupen Hazarika Setu in 2017, it took a person 18 hours to travel 800+ KM to reach Tinsukia, a small town in Assam.  

Today the same distance can be covered only in 2 hours reducing the distance to only 112 KM across the Brahmaputra.

 

Impact of the bridges

These bridges not only give impetus to the region but are also strategically important from the security perspective of India’s borderlands.

They are stimulating economic development in isolated districts of Assam—Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. The bridges are expected to benefit approximately 5 million people in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, particularly in the trade, agriculture, and tourism sectors.

They will also facilitate Assam's connectivity with China through Arunachal Pradesh.

(This post was first published on tripurainfo.com)

TRIPURA ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (TRTC): A liability or a potential asset?

Tripura Road Transport Corporation (A Government of Tripura Undertaking) has been established in the year 1969 under the Road Transport Corporation (RTC) Act, 1950.  The main objective of this Corporation is to provided / render an efficient, economical and well-coordinated transport facility to the people of Tripura within the State.

The above para is published in the welcome page of TRTC website. This is accompanied by a Mission & Vision page on the same website which talks about providing “world class bus service”, “innovation”, “sustainability”, “environmental consciousness”, “continuous learning” and other similar heavy words.

However, one fact that every person in Tripura will agree to, is that the TRTC is a perennial loss-making institution which has been of no substantial use to the people of Tripura. Rather it has contributed to the degradation of the environment by increasing the carbon footprints of Government of Tripura. A look at the website makes it clear that the TRTC runs only diesel-powered buses. Not a single electric or even CNG bus comprises its fleet of 23 buses.

It seems that alternative fuel has never been a priority of TRTC or even the Tripura Government.  ONGC has a big establishment in Tripura with multiple gas fields and exploration units. CNG has not been pushed beyond the state capital of Agartala in successive state budgets even though Tripura has been recognized as the largest producer of Natural Gas by the union minister Dharmendra Pradhan himself. 

In a time when Carbon credits are getting more relevant every year, the TRTC provides a lot of potential to revamp its image and functionality and become an asset of importance to the Government. This can be done by replacing the whole fleet with sustainable fuel powered passenger vehicles, preferably electric vehicles (EV). Electric buses have been functional in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai for a few years now.

TRTC has a lot of land area under its jurisdiction, which being government land can be monetized very easily. There is a TRTC bus depot in every sub-division of Tripura. This area may be developed on similar lines of “Railway stations as City Centers” initiative by the Ministry of Railways. All the bus depots may be turned into electric vehicle (EV) charging stations which can be used by the TRTC fleet as well as public by paying suitable rent / fees for charging.

This way, the main challenge of the organization i.e. fuel cost will be reduced drastically while earning carbon credits for itself. Further, the monetized charging stations will generate extra revenue. With that the fleet can be doubled and can be run in sync with the railways providing meaningful services to the people of Tripura while setting an example of transformation through adoption of new technology. 

(This post was first published on tripurainfo.com)