August / September musings. 2022

Creativity is an offshoot of boldness, positivity and evolved cignitive ability. xx xx xxx xxxx Increasing telltale instances of deifying human perversity are disturbing. xxx xxx xxx Responsibility before India's governing apparatus to transform India to a $five trillion economy by 2024-25 is surely an important one. Equally or, even more impoertant, is to turn pages of history and learn how certain social aberrartions and criminal activities like human sacrifice, Sati tradition and widespread activities of Thugs were handled by administrators of yore and the country got rid of them. A polity where criminal justice administration continues to be archaic, where corruption has been raging like wild-fire, where gender, caste and religion based crimes continue , rate of economic growth is bound to be slower than the desired pace. No convincing picture is yet emerging that these areas are being addressed adequately. Perhaps, the situation in these areas are getting murkier. xxx xxx xxx xxx Political Leadership cozying up to top capitalists is more likely to follow growth model of theoretical economists leaving India’s millions of poor people behind. Measly cash transfers to millions could demonstrate a robust UPI backbone, hardly lead to their economic uplift. xxx xxx xxx I would love to view Odisha’s Millet Mission as much more than an ornamental showpiece. If it wasn’t so, off take of ₹1 rice by now w’d have reduced. The Mission should surface on the food plate of the tribal households beyond upperclass household gossip lounge in Bhubaneswar. xxx xxx xxx Why and how is it that only " once upon a time" was a prince chivalrous; a king,both wise and just; a damsel, in distress, was always rescued without being harmed and why did high flying Swans talk amongst them of virtuous men living incognito on land they flew over ? Why not now?

MITIGATING TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN BHUBANESWAR

Traffic congestion has been a global urban phenomenon and with more vehicles hitting the city roads each year, the problem is more likely to get worse. It could have been otherwise if the mitigating measures were not prohibitively costly and were amenable to quick urban engineering solutions. The problem therefore would most likely linger on. While urban transport mix in developed countries is relatively simple, India’s urban transport scenario continues to be much more complex, particularly in smaller cities. A city like Bhubaneswar, for example, has to address the demands on the city Roads of a large number of users. Many of them view the openness of the Roads suitable to transact business and for social get together; while animals prefer to use the Roads for rest and leisurely walk. Cattle love ruminating on city roads. How much time does a Driver spend in a year waiting for traffic? In a city like Moscow, reportedly a Driver spent 210 hours a year. In a city like Bangalore my guess is it could be about one and half times more. Being a much smaller city, Bhubaneswar has been facing the problem of slow traffic and traffic hold ups for quite some time. While some experts would pitch for more roads, more flyovers and even new alternative like a mass rapid transit system like heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground for solution, these are not feasible within a short time. There is the issue of availability of resources as well. Mass rapid transit system may not even be financially viable. We, therefore, need to adopt more pragmatic and feasible alternatives. Road blocks need to be addressed. There are too many of them. Street hawking has assumed menacing proportions. Much of the road space has been used for shopping and ancillary activities. Consequently, many existing Roads now offer much less space for traffic to move. As a first step, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation needs to make certain important Roads free from roadside shopping cabins and carts. The decision needs to be rigorously enforced and violations must attract heavy penalty. The city government must ensure a zero tolerance arrangement for stray cattle. Offending animals are to be presumed to be without owners and need to be swiftly confiscated, taken to Government Farm and sold off in public auction. There are too many lanes meeting Main Roads. These intersections need rationalization immediately and many could be closed. This exercise would facilitate smooth flow of traffic to some extent. Number of Bikes has increased exponentially. They too contribute to slowing down of traffic as most Bikers seem to love their freedom and meander merrily on Roads. Many prefer to wait on the left side of the road detaining the left bound traffic and as soon as the traffic light turns green, these swiftly turn right and speed away. This type of acrobatics must stop. There is urgency in having dedicated Bike tracks and transgressions from the tracks must be penalized. Some road cuts for convenience of a vehicle to take a “U” turn seem to act as bottlenecks and need to be widened to facilitate turning of vehicles without impacting the traffic flow. Existing practice of seamless conversion of roadside buildings to commercial establishments is another area that has accentuated traffic congestion. These establishments attract a large number of vehicles which are parked on the Roads and obstruct traffic. A well planned relocation drive must be initiated so that commercial establishments get located in a more orderly manner in designated zones, keeping arterial Roads free for traffic to move faster. Like stray animals, zero tolerance must be towards unauthorized parking of vehicles on Roads. These measures are feasible and would make the Capital City more liveable and look cleaner, and healthier. The city would look much more attractive for tourists and investors. We must resist the temptation of making the entire city a disorganized Bazaar notwithstanding the opportunities of unjust enrichment such a messy arrangement offers. **********

FLOOD IN THE MAHANADI

Mahanadi delta is presently flooded. The devastating flood has brought in human suffering on a massive scale. Apart from loss of human lives, the fury of flood has caused widespread damage. As I write today ( September 23, 2008) about the flood, the worst seems to be over and the inflow at the head of the delta had reduced in the morning to only 7.83 lakh cusecs. Inflow of the Mahanadi at the head of the delta at 8.70 lakh cusecs is considered as no distress flood as the river embankments downstream can carry this volume of water. The flood this year was severe because the inflow at the head of the Delta this year has reached a level of 15.81 lakh cusecs. In 1982, we had a flood of about this magnitude when the inflow at the head of the Delta was slightly higher, at 15.87 lakh cusecs. Management of the Hirakud reservoir during the current flood appears to have been satisfactory. What added to this year’s problem was the contribution of the Tel River (downstream of Hirakud) of 13 lakh cusecs. The existing infrastructure for flood moderation of the Mahanadi is the Hirakud Reservoir which has a modest live storage capacity of 3.9 million acre feet against the flood volume of 20 million acre feet of a typical flood in the Mahanadi. Therefore the huge population in the delta of the river continues to be vulnerable to the ravages of flood even after fifty years of the creation of the Hirakud reservoir. In 1964, under the able guidance of Dr AN Khosla, the Governor of the state, the first competent project proposal was designed for flood control, irrigation and power generation with a Dam at Tikerpara. The Project envisaged full utilization of available water of the river. The proposed Reservoir would have led to submersion of 1200 villages, three towns and extensive forest resource. Even though foundation stone for the project was laid by the Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, the project had to be abandoned mainly due to the inevitable massive submersion of human habitations. The extent of submersion could have been reduced by lowering the height of the dam. This would have reduced the hydro power generating capacity of 2000 MW substantially. Thereafter, another project was designed in 1985 to have a Dam at Manibhadra. This proposal had kept in tact the flood control and irrigation component of the Tikerpara Project but was to have a power generation capacity of only 960 MW. There would have been submersion of 273 villages, two towns and much less forest area. Foundation stone for the Project had been laid by the Chief Minister but the project could not take off due to resistance of the people who were to be affected. A satisfactory engineering solution to the flood-problem in the delta had not been found till 1999. Could there be a design that would not lead to submergence of any town, not lead to submergence of any village permanently and would not lead to submergence of forests? Fortunately for us such a blueprint has been prepared by a team of dedicated engineers led by an Engineer of outstanding merit and vision, Shri Pravat Kumar Misra, a former Engineer-in Chief of Government of Orissa. The plan envisages a 724 meter long barrage from Puta Hill to Ranitala Hill; a 2400 meter long dam --20 meter high (average height)-- from Manibhadra hill to Subalaya hill and 2200 meter long dykes joining Subalaya hill with Puta hill and Ranital hill with Mitcalfpur hill; right head regulator to provide irrigation to the right side of the Subalaya barrage and protective embankment rings around 73 villages with road connections to higher levels ( Rs 640 crore). At a later phase there would be provision for power generation of 210 MW during monsoon but power generation of 14 MW during non monsoon period by making use of the release of power house release from the Hirakud dam( Rs630 crore). In the intermediate phase, the project would get the irrigation component to ensure irrigation to 140,000 hectares with provision for contributing about 1400 cusecs to the Rushikulya basin (Rs450 crore). All the three phases would cost about Rs 1720 crore only. This estimate may have to be revised now; but the figures have been mentioned to highlight the economic way by which the entire flood problem could be tackled permanently. The proposed Subalaya barrage is designed to reduce the maximum flood peak of 17.4 lakh cusecs on the basis of 100 years probability to only 8.7 lakh cusecs at the head of the Mahanadi delta. This would be possible through dynamic storage from the conservation level of 54.9 meter to the maximum level of 77 meters and back again to the conservation level within a period of six days and six hours (in case of a 100 year probability based maximum flood). In this situation, 73 villages would remain below the flood level for a maximum period of a little over six days. It may be mentioned here that Cuttack city remains below the high flood level for considerably longer periods almost every year behind the protective earthen embankments. Let us appreciate the gravity of the flood in the delta by looking at one part of the Mahanadi delta. This part is influenced by the Kuakhai River. This river divides into three rivers, namely, Bhargavi, Daya and Kushabhadra. These three rivers influence a very large area. The maximum combined carrying capacity of the three rivers is one lakh cusecs. When there is a normal flood peak of 9.60 lakh cusecs in the undivided Mahanadi at the head of the delta, the Kuakhai, as per given geometry, takes a share of 1.30 lakh cusecs which is 30 % in excess of the carrying capacity. This additional quantity spills through escape structures provided for the purpose. As a result, flood water flows into unprotected area resulting in water logging, crop damage and rendering large area unfit for cultivation. With Subalaya barrage in place, there would be a completely different situation. The three branches of the Kuakhai would get a maximum flood peak of much less than a lakh cusecs. Lateral spill of flood water would be a thing of the past. Further, passage of flood within the natural river channels for long periods of time would improve the hydraulic efficiency of the channels which would be helpful in removing the river mouth congestion. Mahanadi delta is the largest river delta in peninsular India and is home to about a third of the state’s population. Every year crores of rupees are spent on flood protection. After every major flood government spends a big sum of money on relief and rehabilitation. Should such ad hoc response be accepted as the most humane way of tackling the flood issue in the Mahanadi delta or the government should perform its obligatory responsibility of distress removal? It is ironic that the state government keeps demanding from the centre a huge amount of money for relief and rehabilitation when the state reels under the fury of flood and would not take up the Subalaya project which would bring permanent remedy. I am indeed thankful to Shri Pravat Kumar Misra, former Engineer-in-Chief of Government of Orissa for his help in preparing this article. ******************************