Skip to main content

Indira Sagar Project (II) – the social aspect

Just 2-3 days after I had visited the Indira Sagar site that news started pouring in about it. Monsoon was at its onset and the dam waters were rising to their expected levels for the first time. The district of Harsud was the major target. Authorities had passed orders to vacate the area and even the electricity and telephone lines had been snapped off. But the commoners of the area were reluctant to leave their homeland; reasons like non-payment of relief amount, inadequate arrangements at new location and corruption were sighted. But finally the media’s loud protest and intervention pulled the CM to the site and relief operations were speeded up. Whether the CM’s visit did sort out all the issues is questionable but it at least got the work moving up fast. Media the fourth pillar of democracy finally did help the commoners get their say to the world.
Above all discussion brings one fact to the fore; all the mega projects aimed at mass development and national growth finally are not very happy experiences for the commoners who are affected by them at the ground level. This is as true of Dam projects or industries as it is of political moves. The rich and elite who decide to implement such policies and projects are hardly ever affected (negatively) by them. After this dam is built it will feed electricity to millions of urban homes in Bhopal and Indore –far away from Harsud etc. What do people of the affected area get from it. This electricity will lead to growth of industry in which these displaced people will be manual labour. Their conditions here will be even worse than what were in their small village.
But the rich and elite who will set-up these industries will increase their assets and become richer. Even if one small city had come under the influence of the dam the rich and elite in this area would have safely shifted to other cities; but the poor? They would be left to their fate on small governmental relief which cannot even buy them a decent home in a new village.
I am not a communist or a saint (not yet atleast), but I wonder whether this development is development at-all. What does a nation’s progress mean?
India-Pakistan two-nation-theory was a concept of conjured up by the elite like Jinnah. But what effect did it have on them? After the partition these people safely shifted to cities of their choice. It was the poor who did not have enough money to shift who were massacred and bore the brunt of partition. Do the elite have the right to come up with policies, projects and demands which they do not bore the brunt of?
Is it this future which the communists (Marxist and Leninist alike) fought for? Is it this for which Gandhi strived his whole life? Is it this for which Bhagat Singh gave his life? I wonder. I m seeking answers to all these questions because I myself am going to be part of the elitist (who might come up with more such projects). Would like comments ……

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How will travel industry transform post-Covid

Unlike philosophers, journalists and teenagers, the world of entrepreneurship does not permit the luxury of gazing into a crystal ball to predict the future. An entrepreneur’s world is instead made of MVPs (Minimum Viable Product), A/B Tests, launching products, features or services and gauging / measuring their reception in the market to arrive at verifiable truths which can drive the business forward. Which is why I have never written about my musings or hypothesis about travel industry – we usually either seek customer feedback or launch an MVPised version and gather market feedback. However, with Covid-19 travel bans across the globe, the industry is currently stuck – while a lot of industry reports and journalistic conjectures are out, there’s no definitive answer to the way forward. Besides there is no way to test your hypothesis since even the traveller does not know what they will do when skies open. So, I decided to don my blogger hat and take the luxury of crystal gazing

A Guide to Privacy on Social Media [apps]

The recent announcement by WhatsApp to update its privacy terms - and 'accept or leave the app' stance - led to an exodus of users from Whastapp to competing, privacy-conscious apps such as Telegram or Signal. A week after the exodus began, Whatsapp clarified its stance - and WhatsApp's CEO went about providing a long Twitter clarification . And then, many returned, many who considered moving stayed put on Whatsapp. This post is meant for those who are still sitting on the fence - it clarifies questions like: What is this all about? What do I do? Is Whatsapp safe? I've heard Telegram is Russian - so how is it safer than Whatsapp? I can't move because my business contacts are on Whastapp - how do I secure myself? PS: I've modeled this post based on several conversations I've had with friends and family on this subject, dealing with the chain of questions they ask, then objections they raise, then clarifications they seek - and finally the change resistance

Ekla Chalo re

Watched "Bose- The forgotten Hero" on Saturday. Gem of a movie and probably the best of Shyam Benegal. Subhash Chandra Bose has always been an inspiring character in the history for the youth. This post however is not about the movie, its about the lead song 'Tanha Rahee' which is based on the poem 'Ekla Chalo Re' by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. I had pasted the English translation of this poem on my blog earlier. http://the-complete-man.blogspot.com/2004/12/tsunami-times_30.html However, yesterday I found the original bengali text of the poem and found that the meaning in the above translation was not exact. So I have endeavourer (with the help of Shubham ) to re-translate it into English and Hindi by myself. Here is the output of my work: Bengali Jodi Tor Dak Soone Keu Na Asse Tobe Ekla Chalo re Ekla Chalo Ekla Chalo Ekla Chalore Jodi Keu Katha Na Kai Ore Ore O Abhaga Jodi Sabai Thake Mukh Firae Sabai Kare Bhay Tabe Paran Khule O Tui Mukh Fute Tor Maner Kath