IAS Diaries Part 15 - Namami Brahmaputra

I still remember those days of UPSC preparation when I had just started up with my Geography portion for General Studies. We were doing rivers and when we came to the eastern frontiers, we encountered the mighty Brahmaputra. Merely reading the facts and figures detailing its gigantic spread gave me goose bump. How could a river be so broad? Why not call it a sea then, like the Caspian one? May be they are simply exaggerating. As I write this blog from my room in Circuit House Tezpur, I can see that vast expanse from where I am sitting, endless and eternal. They weren’t exaggerating, not at all.

After spending considerable time in the state you are bound to realize the immense River Tourism potential the place has which unfortunately remains untapped. We must build world-class River Cruise circuits, take up River front beautification projects in various districts and initiate steps to conserve our River Dolphins. It’s good to see that at least we are now talking about all these and the ideas are being deliberated in various circles. One such step in this direction was Namami Brahmaputra.

The conceptualization of Namami Brahmaputra is based on the idea of Namami Gange, an initiative widely known across the country. It was pertinent that a similar initiative must be taken up for celebrating the spirit of our lifeline Brahmaputra. Thus was conceived the idea of this river festival. It was then decided that the same would be celebrated in all the 21 districts through which the river Brahmaputra flows and the celebrations would be at the same time. And thereafter started a string of activities culminating to the festival which was celebrated from 31^st March’17 to 4^th April’17.

The planning of this event started several months ago at the time of our joining the districts. At that time it occurred to us why these deliberations are being made so early on as the event was scheduled only in March end. But after the organization of the event, everyone is on the same page that such mammoth events do require immense planning which must start way before the event. The entire event in all the districts was to be organized and planned by the respective Deputy Commissioner's Office. What followed was a marathon of Video Conferences, Committee meetings and Brain-storming sessions culminating to this grand event.

This river festival was to celebrate the spirit of Brahmaputra in various ways – cultural events, ethnic food, beach sports etc – basically everything somehow related to this lifeline of Assam. And ergo, it was an excellent opportunity to promote local tourism. We came up with a small booklet on Tezpur Tourism which had everything one would want to know and since distributing these booklets here in Tezpur would not have made any difference we decided to send and distribute all such materials to the tour operators in Guwahati. As when people plan to tour Assam, their entire itinerary revolves around the capital.

Tezpur lies on a tourist circuit which is very famous and includes places like Tawang and Bomdilla. But it is mostly used as a Transit location where people put camp to rest because the tourism potential of Tezpur is unexposed. There are several places in Tezpur itself to engage the tourist for two full days. On this note, we roped in some local entrepreneurs to arrange for one-day “Tezpur Tours”, something which is still continuing even after the festival. We all knew that we won’t be getting many tourists from outside in this first edition of this festival as it takes time for a new concept to evolve and spread its wings. Perhaps down the line we would see this river festival strengthen and become a rage like the Horn Bill festival.

One of the events on our list for the festival was the Marathon, well it was not the usual full length one, more of a fun-run thing. And I was glad that the entire responsibility was given to me courtesy my history. We decided to make it a grand event with cash prizes and to conduct it in a professional manner. The district sports office and all their staff played a vital role for the organization and successful culmination of the event. The endpoint of the race was decided as Jahaj Ghat which is the most famous ghat in Tezpur. The race started from the exterior of the city, breaching the interiors and finished in the heart of Brahmaputra thus paying a symbolic tribute

Due to the immense response received by the people of Tezpur, we had to restrict the entries to a certain number as we did not have the finances to handle such a large request. For the safe conduct of the race, a traffic plan was prepared in coordination with the traffic police personnel. To ensure proper medical aid, a team was identified to be stationed at the race locations in coordination with the Joint Director, Medical Services in the district. For the first time perhaps, I felt more joy in promoting the idea of running as I watched participants reach the finish line all proud and drained. And at the end, I realized that even organizing a marathon is as tiring and challenging as running one. Perhaps we burn even more calories in the former.

Another part where I was deeply involved was the overall organization of sports event during the festival. We thought that since it was a river festival it would make more sense to have beach football, beach vollyball and beach kabbaddi. And this eventually became the highlight of our festival. We received tremendous response and participation from several institutions which includes schools, colleges, Armed forces etc. And here also we had to restrict the number of entries as we neither had the time nor the resources to manage such large number of teams. The audience was also huge in number and all the games attracted huge crowds. We also played an exhibition football match- District Administration Vs Sports Association – wherein I tried to defend to my last breath but only to end up in a humiliating defeat. A great game it was.

And then there were the culturals every evening. One is amazed to see the cultural variety and talent that this place has. And more than that it is ingrained in all the people here. It is rather a inseparable part of their lives. The performance arenas were circled with stalls of ethnic food. It is in those times, when you are among people, music and good food, that you wonder, this is enough. We do not need anything more to be happy. Do hell with the rat race. This was only the first edition of the river festival and I hope that it evolves even stronger every coming year. And if you happen to plan a trip to Assam someday, just check when is the next edition of Namami Brahmaputra!

Co-existence

Far from the noise of the city, I was amidst this melodious silence of nature. I could see those mountains in Arunachal on one side and the lush green meadows of Assam on the other. Inside a house made of bamboo, the claustrophobia of bricks was absent. Confinement was not punishing for a change. Such surrealism.

There was a house on the backside where two ladies were engaged with the daily chores. Inside their house, I saw this huge natural bee hive. On being asked why they let it grow so big inside their house, they hit a very fundamental note. “They don't hurt us. Why should I take away their home? There are some snakes who live here too. We let them stay too. Isn't this the way it was meant to be, for us all, to co-exist?!”

IAS Diaries Part 11 - Tiger in the times of Flood

Assam is synonymous with floods when you are dealing with the administrative and governance related domain of disaster management. Flood is much more than just an occurrence. Here we do not refer to it as the rainy season or as the Monsoon, it’s the flood season. If you look at the local geography here, Assam is mostly the river basin of Brahmaputra and the zillion other tributaries and distributaries. Surrounded by mountains in the North, mountains in the East and the South too. It’s like the rain gods planned an ambush. When we reached our district in late June 2016, the first wave had already come. For the uninitiated, it’s not like the entire area is under water for several months continuously. There are waves and then the water subsides after 4-5 days. And then it happens again and again over a period of four to five months. After a few weeks of our arrival the 2^nd wave of flood came through and given the huge impact it made, the same response was to be provided in the relief work.

In some of the far-flunk areas of the district, the water had risen to dangerous levels. Taking cue from this, the relief work had already started. In the District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP), we find the mention of the vulnerable areas and the nearby areas where camps and distribution centers can be operated. The local people are made aware of the safe zones where they shall proceed during the floods. But there can be a catch in this as Brahmaputra and other rivers here change their course quite frequently which eventually would mean that the safe and high zones might change after a while. Ergo the need to update the aforementioned plan regularly and ergo the need for all the officials to be alert in these times.

The NDRF team had already been deployed in the most vulnerable areas of the district supported by the SDRF troops. In case the need is felt, the Army and the Air Force are also taken in the loop. Fortunately, Tezpur is the headquarters of various armed forces including Air Force, Army and several other Paramilitary forces. And if the need be, we will have plenty of backup to handle the situation accordingly. As the water levels started to rise, the Relief and Rehabilitation branch of the DC office kicked into action and they started a 24 X 7 running control room which monitored all the parameters. In case, some people needed to be rescued from certain locations, the NDRF/SDRF teams were directed to such places. It is interesting to note that, the local people are very familiar with the high grounds and they know exactly where to go when the waters start to rise. The long years have made them sort of an expert.

I got the opportunity to visit several flood affected areas in our district with the Deputy Commissioner. That is when I realized how important it was to actually go and visit such areas even when the extent is minimal. One visit by the executive head of the district meant a lot to the people and lifted their spirit and assured them that the needed arrangements would be made in a mission mode approach. We also visited some relief camps which were set up in worst affected areas. On the back end, it was also very interesting to learn how such large volume procurement is done at such a short notice. It is all about having a good plan and pre-disaster paper work. During the flood season they are alerted to keep suggestive stocks of food grains with them in case the need arises.

Apart from the food materials various other items needed for survival are also given. In case the relief camp has babies, baby food also needs to be given separately. The relief camp is supposed to have various facilities including a separate provision of toilet for women. All the requirements must be met to ensure no endemics are spread. And hence it is quintessential to understand that a comprehensive plan and logistics for all items must be worked out well before, especially when we know the annual occurrence of floods in the state. It was a proud feeling to see the administration at full throttle with everyone giving their best and working in synergy. That same synergy needs to be ensured in the pre-season as well meanwhile building embankments to ensure minimum damage.

While we were engaged with the relief work, we had a special visitor who came to Tezpur in the times of the flood. A full size Bengal Tiger was reported seen in the district on the outskirts but not very far from the headquarters. The Tiger apparently came from Kanziranga National Park which is fairly near to our District. Due to floods when 80% of the park was inundated, he\she might have escaped and got lost. The Tiger had already injured one man in the morning. Soon we all went to the field where the Forest officials were chalking down a plan to capture the Tiger.

At the spot, perhaps the whole town had gathered causing possibly a bigger problem than the animal itself. Most of our time and energy went into dispersing the crowd away at least at a safe distance.The tranquilizers were being readied but that area was surrounded by large water bodies and hence came the possibility of the Tiger drowning post the shot. So the team waited for the night to drive out the Tiger. And it was during this wait that several thoughts came to me. The whole man-animal conflict debate. Poor cat. In fact, I wrote a short story getting inspired, CLICK HERE TO READ, sorry for the spoilers though. The entire area was abandoned by application of CrPC 144 for every one’s safety. In the night operation, various techniques were used to frighten away the Tiger through the way it had come but only in vain. Finally it was captured in the morning and was to be later released in the Nameri National Park. Great work by the forest officials as always.

There was the Tiger, caged, confused and possibly angry. As I looked into those fierce eyes and as we bid adieu, to this tiger in the times of flood, I wondered who was really the intruder? 

The Forgotten Wheel

These days I don't get the same respect as in those golden days in the past. I was the only one then. But then came the motor and it changed the way the world moved on the roads. I am no competition to those macho bikes and those luxurious four wheels.

When the road is not broad enough, I am the one who is forced to get off. I am the one who is charge-sheeted for slowing down the traffic. I am the one labeled as the vehicle of the poor. No one cares about the fact that I don't pollute, that I ensure good health and that I don't take much space and maintenance. All this does not matter because I slow them down.

Who am I? I am that forgotten wheel who gave you those wonderful memories while you repeatedly attempted to hop on, while you failed and fell again and again until one day when you learned to fly. I do miss you, do you?

The Seed is Strong

Along the serene Hazara pond in Tezpur, we have this huge playground on one side and some government buildings on the other. In one such building, you have the Nehru Yuva Kendra. Though the building is old and dilapidated, the young volunteers make that fact almost irrelevant.

We had a good interactive session where several of them raised their concerns, desires and ambitions. But this one girl sitting in the front row, I knew she had something in mind but was hesitant. At last, she spoke,"I want to join the Army. But my folks tell me that's not for girls. I want to be independent, travel to places but they don't approve. I want to...".

She went on for quite a length and rightly so given the historic gender bias still oozing out from the uninitiated generations. I quoted Gandhiji as an answer to her passionate query and you exactly know which quote I am talking about. I am happy that even in the rural areas the young are raising these questions and defying the archaic biases. Surely we are moving towards a gender neutral world. The seed is strong.

The Land of Tea

Enthusiasm and energy are so infectious, I pondered, amidst conversation with the General Manager, District Industry & Commerce Center (DICC). People with such tremendous zeal are an asset which we rarely acknowledge. We were talking about the need for better branding of the local tea and the conspicuous absence of confidence. He was confident of the global image of Assam Tea but was puzzled by the parochial underestimations. And to assert his contention, he narrated a tale from his past. 

He once went to Germany with his senior colleagues for the promotion of Indian tea at some Industrial Conclave. After tasting the exquisite flavors on offer when a person asked where the tea was grown, he promptly replied "Assam", unable to camouflage his pride. His senior nudged him and whispered "Say, India. They won't be knowing Assam".

Perhaps the whispers were loud enough to qualify as voices and the German replied, "Of course I know Assam. The land of Tea!"