“When Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi does the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Shri Ram Lalla’s idol at Ayodhya, he would be representing every citizen of our great Bharat”.

“Shri Ram embodies the spirit of India. The true spirit of India and Indianness is discipline, truth, honesty, ethics, moral values, acceptance and celebration of diversity, respect for elders, strong family bonds and all such fine human values“

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SHRI RAM MANDIR – Fulfilment of a divine dream
The Original Unedited Article by Shri Lal Krishan Advani

I am elated beyond words that we are on the verge of realising my most cherished dream of having a grand Shri Ram temple at Ramjanmabhoomi, the birthplace of Shri Ram. On 22nd January 2024, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will install the idol of Shri Ram at the beautiful temple in Ayodhya, and I feel blessed that I will witness this historic occasion in my lifetime.

I have always believed that ‘faith’ is the foundation on which rest both a meaningful life of a person and the whole society at large. Faith not only infuses energy and confidence into a person’s life, but also helps give it direction. For me and for crores of Indians, this faith has been our deep reverence for Shri Ram.

Shri Ram embodies the spirit of India. The true spirit of India and Indianness is discipline, truth, honesty, ethics, moral values, acceptance and celebration of diversity, respect for elders, strong family bonds and all such fine human values and Shri Ram is the epitome of all these impeccable human qualities. Hence the title ‘Maryada Purushottam’ (an exemplar among good human beings) by which he is known. He is an ideal for Indians’ aspiration to live a life of higher values.

Shri Ram was also an ideal king- the living embodiment of ‘Dharma’. Hence the concept of ‘Ram Rajya’, the epitome of good governance, was extolled as the ideal for India. Although Shri Ram is the holy religious figure worthy of worship for the Hindus, he is a pre-eminent symbol of India’s cultural heritage and national identity -which belong to all citizens alike.

The story of Shri Ram’s life, the Ramayana, is both a source and a carrier of the continuity of India’s cultural traditions and has greatly influenced the Indian mindset generation after generation, century after century. Therefore, for the last almost 500 years, the reconstruction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has been a deep desire for countless Indians.

The Ramjanmabhoomi movement for the reconstruction of the temple at the Janmasthan of Shri Ram in Ayodhya proved to be a major watershed in the history of post-1947 India. Its impact on our society and polity, and on our sense of national identity has been tremendous.

In my own political journey, I have always said that the Ayodhya Movement was the most decisive transformational event, which gave me an opportunity to discover India anew, and in the process, rediscover myself.

I feel humbled that destiny made me perform a pivotal duty in the form of the Shri Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990.

I believe that before any event finally occurs in reality, it takes shape and form in a person’s mind. At that time, I was feeling that a befitting temple for Shri Ram in Ayodhya would indeed be a certainty one day, and that it was only a matter of time.
A grand Mandir for Shri Ram at Ramjanmabhoomi had been a desire and mission for the Bharatiya Janata Party. When in the mid-1980s the Ayodhya issue rose to the centre-stage of national politics, I was reminded of the time how political stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and K M Munshi had, against all odds, effectively steered the reconstruction of another landmark temple in independent India- the Somnath Temple at Prabhas Patan on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat.

Somnath was both a witness to, and a target of, multiple foreign invasions during the medieval period. And reconstructing the Somnath temple was a proud testimony of India’s determination to erase the history of bigoted alien attacks and regain its lost cultural treasure.

Sadly, as in the case of Somnath, the temple at the birthplace of Shri Ram in Ayodhya had also become a target of attack by an invader, Babar, who founded the Mughal empire. In 1528, Babar ordered his commander Mir Baqi to erect a mosque at Ayodhya to make the spot a ‘place for descent of angels’- hence the name Babri Masjid.
It is widely believed, and later even confirmed by compelling archeological evidences that there was a pre-existing temple at Ayodhya which was demolished for establishing the mosque.

So in many ways, the Ayodhya movement was the continuation of the spirit of Somnath.
When the BJP decided in 1990 that I, as its President, should lead the Shri Ram Rath Yatra to mobilise people’s support for the Ayodhya movement, it took no time for me to choose Somnath as the starting venue of this historic journey.

On 12th September, 1990, I called a press conference at the party office at 11 Ashoka Road, New Delhi and announced my decision to undertake a 10,000-kilometre-long Rath Yatra, starting from Somnath on 25th September and reaching Ayodhya on 30th October to join the kar seva in Ayodhya, planned by the saints associated with the movement. 25th September was special to me as it is Deendayal Upadhyaya ji’s birth anniversary.
In my autobiography- “My Country My Life”, I have extensively talked about the Ayodhya Movement and the Shri Ram Rath Yatra that I undertook in 1990. On this momentous occasion today, I would like to recall some significant portions from it.
On the morning of 25th September 1990, I offered prayers at the jyotirlingam in Somnath temple. I was accompanied by the present Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi (who was then a promising leader of the BJP), Shri Pramod Mahajan, (who was the General Secretary of the party) other senior functionaries of the party in Gujarat, and members of my family. Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia and Shri Sikander Bakht, both Party Vice-Presidents then, had come to flag off the Rath.

Before the Rath was flagged off, we all paid floral tribute to the imposing statue of Sardar Patel just outside the temple. In my mind, I thanked and drew inspiration from all the great men who had toiled for the reconstruction of the temple. Amidst a large crowd that had gathered to greet and bless us, we climbed the Shri Ram Rath which had been decorated with marigold flowers. Then, to the accompaniment of the sound of the ceremonial conches and full-throated slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Saugandh Ram ki khate hain mandir wahin banayenge’ (In the name of Ram, we resolve: We shall build the temple there—at Ramjanmabhoomi—itself), the Rath rolled on. In subsequent days, these slogans became identified with my yatra and a song-“Ram Naam Mein Jaadoo Aisa, Ram Naam Man Bhaaye, Man Ki Ayodhya Tab Tak Sooni, Jab Tak Ram Na Aayein…” sung by late Smt. Lata Mangeshkar, India’s Nightingale, became the signature tune of the Rath Yatra wherever it went.

I was truly overwhelmed by the response to the yatra within the first few days of our journey in Gujarat. The Rath was received by tumultuous crowds everywhere—in villages, towns and even along roads where people from nearby hamlets would gather under trees eagerly waiting for the Rath to arrive. The response reached a crescendo in bigger towns and cities, where it would take hours for us to reach the venue of our meetings.

This response was as big, even bigger, in Maharashtra as well as in all the subsequent states that we travelled through. People everywhere greeted the Rath by erecting ceremonial arches and showering flowers. The most astonishing sight for me was the manner in which people, especially women, would come forward and perform aarti and throw coins, as if they were praying in a temple. What I soon realized, was, that for many people, I was secondary and incidental to the campaign. I was only a sarathi or a charioteer; the principal messenger of the Rath Yatra was the Rath itself. And it was worthy of worship as it was headed for Ayodhya for the sacred mission of construction of the Shri Ram Temple at his birthplace.

At this point, I would like to talk a bit about the ‘Rath’ that I travelled in. It was a actually a mini truck that was redesigned to take the shape of a Rath and was provided with basic amenities.

Travelling in a ‘Rath’ was indeed a novel experience for me, but it presented its own set of challenges. For one, it had a small room-cum–washroom at the rear of the vehicle, which could only be used when the vehicle was not in motion, otherwise it was very bumpy. So I recall standing most times on the platform of the moving vehicle, holding on to the front and side grip bars in order to maintain my balance. Of course, this also meant being constantly subject to heat and dust as the platform was open from three sides.

Also while in motion, it was impossible for me to sip water, juice or tea without spilling. So a special sipper bottle was arranged to overcome this issue. As for food, although arrangements were made that the dinner would come from some party worker’s home in whichever city we were to reach for night halt, invariably the last public meeting would only end up close to midnight. So I would usually have just a glass of milk with marmalade on toast.

Another problem we often faced was due to the height of the Rath. Although the party officials had circulated the information about the height of the vehicle to various destinations along the route of the yatra, as we moved through small towns and cities, one of the frequent hold ups used to be the overhead hanging electrical wires. So party workers then arranged for extra long wooden poles to get the wires out of the way and also started moving along with the Rath. Well, all these were really miniscule issues which form just a small part of the beautiful memory of my Shri Ram Rath Ratra.
The most touching moments of the yatra were witnessed in villages and remote hamlets where the piety on the faces of the village folk was of a purer and deeper kind than what I saw in cities. Many of them were either illiterate or nominally educated. They had not learnt about Shri Ram by reading; it was as if the knowledge flowed through them, passed on from one generation to the other, through folk tales or word of mouth, as usually happens in the Indian society.

At many places, I found an odd villager who would come quietly, without shouting any slogans, perform a puja before the Rath, greet me and walk away. I was truly humbled by experiences like these as it gave me a first-hand insight into how deep-rooted religiosity is in the lives of the Indian people. It was the Rath Yatra that made me realise that if I were to communicate the message of nationalism through the religious idiom, I would be able to transmit it more effectively and to a wider audience.

My speeches, delivered mostly from the specially designed raised platform on the vehicle were just about five minutes long, because I had to address nearly twenty to twenty-five such roadside receptions each day. In most towns and cities, I had to get down and address public meetings attended by tens of thousands of people.

I would explain the purpose of the yatra and the circumstances that compelled the BJP to actively participate in the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Although the people’s response to the Rath Yatra was mainly religious, the focus of my speeches was on nationalism, as I have always believed that the Shri Ram temple issue is intrinsically connected to our sense of Indianness.
A recurrent theme in my speeches was that the power of a positive approach to religious faith can contribute greatly to social transformation and nation-building. I stressed on the equal status that our Muslim brethren enjoyed in independent India as India chose to remain non-theocratic and secular. This, I added, was principally due to the age-old secular ethos of Hinduism. I also appealed to leaders of the Muslim community to respect the Hindu sentiments over Ayodhya.
My yatra was scheduled to enter Deoria in Uttar Pradesh on 24th October 1990. However, as I had anticipated, it was stopped at Samastipur in Bihar on 23rd October and I was arrested by the Janata Dal government in the state, then headed by Shri Laloo
Prasad Yadav. I was taken to an inspection bungalow of the irrigation department at a place called Massanjore near Dumka, on the Bihar-Bengal border.
This action invited angry and spontaneous protests all over the country.

This was a time when there were no mobile phones. The news of my arrest reached my daughter Pratibha, who was in Kolkatta then, in quite an interesting manner. She was looking to hire a cab on way back to her home when the taxi driver told her to hurry up. On her enquiring from him why he was saying so, the taxi driver told her that Advani “Baba” had been arrested and people were fearing a backlash in the form of riots in the city! Two days later, Pratibha spoke to Laloo Prasad Yadav ji, who facilitated her coming to meet me at Massanjore during my detention. I spent five weeks in detention before being released.

Thus ended my Shri Ram Rath Yatra, which was indeed an exhilarating episode in my political life. I felt happy that the Yatra helped in galvanising the aspirations, energies and passions of its countless participants.

A significant debate that started during the course of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was the difference between genuine secularism and pseudo-secularism. On the one hand, there was a groundswell of popular support for the movement. On the other hand, most political parties were shying away from supporting the movement as they feared losing Muslim votes. They succumbed to the lure of this vote-bank politics, and justified it in the name of secularism.

Thus, the Ayodhya issue, whose primary objective was the reconstruction of the Ramjanmabhoomi temple, also became a symbol of reclaiming the true meaning of secularism from the onslaught of pseudo-secularism.

It has been 33 long years since my Shri Ram Rath Yatra. A lot has happened since, including the legal battle which had implicated me and many of my colleagues from the VHP, RSS and the BJP.

However, after almost three decades, on September 30, 2020, the CBI’s special court acquitted me and others and released us from all charges.
It is pertinent to note that while on one hand the protracted legal battle was going on, on the other, not only I, but every karyakarta of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar continued working towards awakening the soul of Indians to realise this dream of restoring Ram Lalla at His rightful abode.

I am very happy that due to the decisive verdict of the Supreme Court in November 2019, the reconstruction of Shri Ram Mandir has happened in an environment of tranquility.

And now that the magnificent Shri Ram Temple is in its final stages of completion, I am filled with a sense of deep gratitude towards the present Government headed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, all organisations, particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party, the countless people associated with my yatra, saints, leaders, kar Sevaks and all the people from India and the world, who made valuable contributions and sacrifices in the Ayodhya movement over many decades.

There are two persons who I am missing immensely today. The first one is late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had been an integral part of my life- both political and personal, and with whom I shared an unbreakable and everlasting bond of mutual trust, affection and respect.

The second person is my late wife Kamla, who had been the mainstay of stability and a source of unparalleled strength to me, not only during the Shri Ram Rath Yatra, but throughout my long stint in public life.

In the run-up to the upcoming special occasion of 22nd January 2024, the atmosphere in the entire country has truly become ‘Ram-maya’. This is a moment of fulfilment for me, not just as a proud member of the RSS and the BJP, but as a proud citizen of our glorious motherland. My greetings to all my countrymen!

When Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi does the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Shri Ram Lalla’s idol at Ayodhya, he would be representing every citizen of our great Bharat. It is my belief and my hope that this temple will inspire all Indians to imbibe Shri Ram’s virtues. I also pray that our great country not only continues to accelerate on the path of becoming a global power, but also presents itself as a sterling example of dignity and decorum in all walks of life.

I bow at the lotus feet of Shri Ram. May He keep everyone blessed.
JAI SHRI RAM!

Watch a documentary on LK Advani’s “Fulfillment of a Divine Dream”

As I sit with the cool morning breezes wafting across from my organic, a little over grown and lush, full garden; I cannot help wonder why most people cannot and have not allowed greenery to fill their lives and spaces.

There is zero pollution in my home although I am situated next to and in a polluted area. My back lane has tall trees and a multitude of beautiful floral creepers whose aroma fills me when I open my windows. Everyone yes everyone can grow greens in gardens, terraces, pots, tubs and containers, recycled Pots, hanging baskets and now even hydroponics.

There are homes laden with green walls where owners have banished any negative air with plants as well as magically transformed their interiors, also terraces overflowing with vegetation and blocking off unseemly adjacent buildings and kitchen gardens, in soil or in pots or even wooden crates where families can joyfully harvest their vegetable and herb requirements.

Those with space do multi-cropping, fruiting trees, crops and afore mentioned herbs and vegetables. Many terraces are filled with cascading creepers as well as so many stunning indoor plants. These are not at all complicated to grow.

Just love and a little effort and the intent to transform your space health and life. Layering and also placing plants at various levels and creating green walls are really a very contemporary fashionable interior trends.

Either way its a win win. Just a beautiful tree surrounded by ground cover or trailing plants and florals can be a master centre-piece, or surrounded by pots or a raised bed to sit.

As a designer I view all from the aesthetic or beauty point of view. Yes practicalities go hand in hand. But its so easy to beautify and energize your environment. Its also important not to have only the passé notion of over cut manicured gardens.

Let plants proliferate. They sing their song . Make your compost, use cut grass and fallen dry and green leaves to fill your beds to act as mulch. Not only would it look like a natural forest bed but would work wonders for all plants as well as reduce tremendously the water needs.The future will require us all to rethink about what we grow and how we cultivate. I would love to see more perennial lush and natural gardens or terraces filled with plants flowers that fill all our lives.

Give your feedback or share your experiences in the comment box below

HETAL SHAH [Teacher]
ARVINDBHAI PATEL INSTITUTE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (APIED),
V.V.NAGER GUJARAT, INDIA

“When a building is being built there is an impatience to bring it into being. Not a blade of the grass can grow near this activity. Look at the building after it is built. each part that was built with so much anxiety, joy and willingness to proceed, tries to say when you are using the building, ”let me tell you about how I was made” nobody is listening because the building is now satisfying need. The desire in its making is not evident. as, time passes when it is ruin, the spirit of its making comes back, it welcomes the foliage that intervenes and conceals. Everyone who passes can hear the story it wants to tell about its making. It is no longer in servitude; the spirit is back.” – Louis kahn

I have witnessed the pre-birth stage of the building, taking shape in the earth’s womb. digging the earth for foundation, JCB machine moving inside the depth of the earth, carving moment by moment the void for giving immense strength to the structure; tying of the string and drawing of the guideline for foundation in the void seems to me a womb is thickening its lining to embed embryo. Those commotional preparations, assembling of huge machines and stacking of material are as if mother earth is strengthening her to hold baby inside. Slowly but steadily erecting foundation column look like anatomical blueprint. If a human skin and buildings design are stripped down, there would be the same overlapping layer of muscles and materials almost at the same place. Those rose up foundation columns’, taking firm grip in the soil seems like supporting spinal cords. then pits are filled up by mechanical arms, scattering soil over foundation columns are slowly-slowly depth vanishes, only steel bars are left on the re-leveled ground which looks like ”umbilical cord” connecting to the mother’s womb, ensuring fetus for support.

day by day going on construction, scaffolding with a central spines of columns, skeleton of beams, layer upon layer of material, like muscles hiding bony structure in human body, which forming solid flesh beneath the skin. Various structural joints allow this remarkable construction to move with great versatility. The building blocks and brickwork between columns and beams are likes a cartilage giving shape and support. The running grooves on the walls for concealed electrification are the nervous system and, wide and narrow plumbing pipelines are like digestive system of the building.

The complete silence hidden in the darkness that spreads through the height of the stair shaft connects the navel of the building to the depth of the foundation. That height can measure the scale of the depth within no time. It strengthens the experience of vertical dimension of the building, at the same time make us aware about immense depth of the earth. It levitates our dream and provides them flight.

The weary laborer who works in the bare footed in the scorching heat of the sun, their skilled\scaled hands rhythmically taking stones from the mutually piled rows and carrying loads on their heads seems a mother struggling hard to bring up her beloved child. At the end of hectic day when laborers sprinkle water to construction, thirsty walls are swigging, the patterns formed by it are like a joyful games of reflection on the surface. What a divine feeling to observe void taking shape! Architecture presents the drama of construction silenced into the matter, shape and light. When the clutter of construction work ceases and shouting of workers dies away, a building becomes a museum of waiting patience and silence!!

The absent minded gage doors and windows penetrates the surface of the physical image like wall and focus in infinity. Building starts breathing through the opening. What interests mean about its transparency is the idea of evaporation. Transparency is also TRANS-APPEARANCE. The building is now sensing the world. It makes the world aware about its being. The geometry of thoughts echoes the geometry of the room. Architecture is deeply engaged in the metaphysical question of the self and the world, inwardness and outwardness, time and duration, life and death. Why do abandoned houses always have the same hollow smell??? Is it because the particular smell is stimulated by emptiness observed by the eyes???

The body’s first line of defense against the possible damage is the skin, which provides a protective barrier between our environment and us. Now it is a time to surface out the building. The tactile sense connects us with the time and tradition; through impression of touch, we shake the hands of countless generation. A stone polished by its usage is pleasurable to touch, it expresses the slow process of the formation, it is time turned into shape. We trace the density and texture of the ground through our soles. One senses the slow breathing of the floor. Stokes writes, ” I should like to eat up this verona marble touch by touch”.

In our houses, we have nooks and corners in which we like to curl up comfortably. To curl up belongs to the phenomenology of the verb to inhabit and only those who have learnt to do so can inhabit with intensity and always in a daydream, the house is the mother womb or a large cradle. I remember even today nostalgic moments of my sweet childhood, when I licked the age of parapet on the terrace and felt a human touch by running finger on door handle of my room. I never have such sound sleep, which I got in childhood while listening music of torrential rain on the roof. I used to be lost in that music for limitless hours.

We have yet not designed the building to end all building; we haven’t yet created the city to end all cities or a thought to end all thoughts. So, as long as this utopia remains non-materialized there is hoping to go on. Architecture is always hiding behind drawstrings, behind words, behind percepts, behind habits, behind technical constraints. There is no way to perform Architecture in a book. Words and drawings can only produce paper space and not the experience of real space, where meaning is derived from the order of experience rather than the order of composition. Architecture cannot be taught, are learnt, it is a passion to be persuaded and achieve. It is the creativity which has brought man closer to the God, the ultimate creator (which is just an Imagination – Hoax)…!!

References

1. The eyes of the skin _ Book by Juhani Pallasmaa

2. The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom_Book by Juhani Pallasmaa

3. Complexity and contradiction in architecture_ book by Robert Venturi

4. Thinking architecture_ book by Peter Zumthor

5. Space as a Membrane _ Book by Siegfried ebeling

6. Atmospheres _ Book by Peter Zumthor

IMAGES COURTESY:
1. Ar. Umang Goswami, UA Design, Ahmedabad

2. Ar. Umang Goswami, UA Design, Ahmedabad

3. Dipen Gada, Dipen Gada & Associates, Baroda

4. Dipen Gada, Dipen Gada & Associates, Baroda

5. Pintrest

 

According to a Pakistani newspaper, though the most recent flooding is different in nature compared to the one in 2010 — the latter was a flash flood while the current is a riverine flood — in both cases, it can be argued that the damage caused by both disasters is the outcome of lessons not learnt in demography as well as unwillingness to carry out flood protection measures across Pakistan. A research carried out by this author in 2017, about 2010 floods in Pakistan, history has repeated itself because no corrective measures were taken. It was almost déjà vu in 2022 — and yet, no lessons had been learnt. After all, disaster management is more about preparedness than response.

In a case of The pot calling the kettle black, the planning minister Ahsan Iqbal is reported to have said Pakistan was feeling the effects of climate change caused by richer nations and their “irresponsible development”. While all natural disasters can be ascribed to climate change a study of the earlier research will reveal that the Pakistan government did precious little to prevent recurrence of events that could have reduced the impact of the calamity. For example almost all barrages in the country are silted up to the brim, where is the scope to cushion the floods. The government should be questioned and asked to give an account of desilting measures taken since 2010.

THE FACTS AS THEY STOOD IN 2010

The floods in Pakistan now show signs of abating but the havoc caused by them will continue to mount.  It is too early to measure even the immediate losses of lives or property, both private and public, although over 2000 persons are estimated to have died and 21 million become refugees in their own country.  Secondary damages to agricultural land and animal husbandry will take years to recoup.  At one point about one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area had goneunder water.  Floodwaters have destroyed crops :  an estimated 700,000 acres of cotton, 200,000 acres each of rice and sugar cane and 300,000 acres of wheat.  This will impact the agricultural economy which contributed 20.4% of Pakistan’s GDP last year.  The cascading effect into industry and trade is bound to add to economic woes.

Scientists have described this catastrophe as a once-in-a-century flood. Out of a Population of 168 million nearly 21 milion people have been affected by floods out of a total area of Pakistan of 796 095 square kilometers, the Flood-affected area is 160 000 square kilometers. In a country where already a large percentage of the population is living as refugees, an additional 1.85 million homes have been destroyed or damaged due to floods. Look at the fact sheet of the present disaster:

Pakistan Flood Losses (as on 6 September 2010) Source:  NDMA, PDMA
Province	Deaths	Injured	Houses Damaged	Population Affected
Balochistan	48	102	75,261	*672,171
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1,154	1,193	200,799	4,365,909
Punjab	110	350	500,000	8,200,000
Sindh	186	909	1,058,862	6,988,491
AJK	71	87	7,108	245,000
Gilgit Baltistan	183	60	2,830	81,605
Total	1,752	2,701	1,844,860	20,553,176
* Additional 600,000 IDPs from Sindh are living in Balochistan

The degree of severity to which people have been affected by the floods varies depending on their particular losses and damages. UN assessments have been launched in at least three provinces to identify severely affected families who require life-saving humanitarian assistance. The UN experts have identified 2.7 million people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5.3 million in Punjab and 4.4 million in Sindh that are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

Approximately 4 out of 5 people in the flood-affected areas depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Across the country, millions of people have lost their entire means to sustain themselves in the immediate and longer term, owing to the destruction/damage of standing crops and means of agricultural production.  One of the greatest challenges on the ground is helping farmers to recover their land in time for wheat planting beginning in September/October and to prevent further livestock losses. According to the FAO figures released on 3^rd September 2010, the scale of losses to the agriculture sector caused by the Pakistan floods is unprecedented and further unfolding:

•  The Agriculture Cluster rapid damage assessments, completed in half of all flood-affected districts, found that 1.3 million hectares of standing crops have been damaged
•  Countrywide damage to millions of hectares of cultivatable land, including standing crops (e.g. rice,maize, cotton, sugar cane, orchards and vegetables) appears likely
•  Loss of 0.5-0.6 million tonnes of wheat stock needed for the wheat planting season
•  Death of 1.2 million large and small animals, and 6 million poultry (Department of Livestock)

While the full extent of the damage still cannot be quantified and assessments are ongoing, the direct and future losses are likely to affect millions of people at household level, as well as impact national productive capacity for staple crops, such as wheat and rice. The FAO feels that response to needs in the agriculture sector cannot be underestimated nor delayed.

The political spillover is equally if not more worrisome.  Relief efforts have highlighted the inefficiencies and corruption endemic in the Pakistani administrative set-up, magnified as it is becoming in the eyes of the already disenchanted masses, especially the internally displaced. The fear is that    fundamentalist organizations will extend their grip over affected populations by filling in wide gaps in disaster relief left by Pakistan Government and international relief agencies.  All this adds fuel to the already political fire in a volatile and unpredictable Pakistan.

Even if Pakistan wades through the floods, what is there to prevent another water disaster in the future?  To answer this question, one must examine these floods in a broader framework.  Pakistani meteorological data points to unusually heavy rains in July – August in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces as the main cause of the floods.  Satellite pictures corroborate this.

Satellite Map shows the swelling Indus River at Sukkur Barrge Source NASA

 

According to a  WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) ] press release on Water Situation on 03 – 09 – 2010 the 24 hour Inflows / Outflows (in Cusecs) of the major Dams on the rivers in Pakistan were as follows:

Indus at Tarbela 203300 / 203300 Cusecs

Kabul at Nowshera 42000 / 42000 Cusecs

Indus at Chashma 249100 / 244100 Cusecs

Jhelum at Mangla 42800 / 42800 Cusecs

Chenab at Marala 87000 / 67400 Cusecs.

The above figures indicate that the Pakistani dams/barrages are virtually unable to retain any water, as can be seen above, almost all of the inflows are equal to the outflows. This is normally the case in monsoons for some dams but the figures are shocking because not a single dam except for Marala on the Chenab has been able to absorb some 20,000 cusecs of water.

Balochistan Times (August 21, 2009) reported that since the Chashma Barrage had been filled with water along with Tarbela Dam and Mangla Dam as a result of filling of these water reservoirs, IRSA had directed the provinces to use the released water as much as they needed without any restrictions. According to IRSA (Indus River System Authority)  officials, besides Mangla and Tarbela Dams the approximate inflow of water in the other rivers was 319500 cusecs and 4000 cusecs from river Kabul, all of which was being released as Tarbela and Mangla had filled completely. The CJ canal had been closed so that the Chashma Barrage could be destilled. The plus side for power starved Pakistan was that with the filling of dams with water, the power production had been increased, from which about 4000MW power was being generated from hydel power, which  reduced load shedding in the country..

The flood affected areas were mostly along the main Indus River and its western tributaries – Swat and Kabul; and less so from the eastern tributaries – Jhelum, Chenab and Sutlej.  This should not however obscure the overall picture.  More than 80% of the total water flows in the Indus river- system is accounted for by snowmelt and rainfall in the mountainous regions which are largely beyond its political control and belong to Afghanistan, India and China.  According to one estimate, the Kabul river accounts for 20 to 30 MAF of total annual flows, the main Indus 100 MAF and the Jhelum and Chenab 60, while the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej add another 40 MAF or so. Floods are a cumulative effect of all these flows.

Initially, storage dams like Mangla and Tarbela   were built to modulate irrigation and control floods. But some 7 MAF of their storage capacity has already been silted up. And Pakistan has been singularly unsuccessful in building additional storage capacity to compensate, let alone provide for enhanced irrigation and flood control needs.  A major project – the Kalabagh dam – has failed to get off the drawing boards for two decades because of internal bickering between its provinces.  The international segmentation of the Indus basin rivers complicates the problem still further, particularly in relation to the two principal upper riparians – India andAfghanistan – with which Pakistan has troubled relationships.

The 3,200 km long Indus, one of the mighty rivers of the Indian subcontinent,   flows down from the Himalayas of Tibet, towards north-west through India before turning sharply southwards through  Pakistan,  draining into the Arabian Sea. Some of its water comes from melting Himalayan glaciers, but the vast majority is contributed by the monsoon. The monsoon floods are triggered almost annually. Historical records indicate that during a warm period ending about 6,000 years ago, the Indus was a monster river, more powerful and more prone to flooding than today.  Then, 4,000 years ago, as the climate cooled, a large part of it simply dried up. Deserts appeared whether mighty torrents once flowed. The matter of public debate is whether, with global warming, will the river again turn monstrous. A matter which further compounds the problem is the fact that siltation reduces the rivers capacity to hold water. Even with the total quantum of precipitation being the same, the intensity of rainfall gets aggravated by global warming resulting in unmanageable discharges.  Pakistan, which spends more of its scarce financial resources in building defences against India, has been unable to enhance its Hydraulic infrastructure comprising  of dams and barrages. In fact, due to siltation its overall storage capacity has further reduced.

Pakistan is, thus at a fork in the road.  It can either continue confrontationist policies which underlie present arrangements (or lack thereof) and face similar or perhaps bigger flood disasters in future, if anticipated climate change effects do materialise. Or it can chose to cooperate with countries in the Indus basin with a view to building an integrated system of storage dams, flood control installations and power generation stations which will help to modulate flows and avert floods, thereby benefitting Pakistan’s agriculture particularly its struggling farmers. The attendant hydropower potential is also huge and can be tapped for the energy-hungry Pakistani economy, as well as cross-border sales to India.  The big question is whether the Pakistan’s rulers can change their confrontationist mindset to make this possible.  If there was no deficit of trust India could have stored water even in the eastern rivers of the Indus basin to be used as a kind of buffer during floods. But, for that an integrated basin management is required, because the mighty rivers, follow their own course, they do not recognize man made political boundaries.

A  preliminary report was published in Hindu Business Line on 19th October 2010. Business Line version was available on the net at the following URL:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/10/19/stories/2010101950330900.htm

Since it is a very old link it is probably no longer available but can be read on the link below

Pakistan floods reveal deep-rooted problems

 

Acronyms

NDMA National Disaster Management Authority

WAPDA Water and Power Development Authority

IRSA Indus River System Authority

OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

IDP Internally Displaced Person

MAF Million Acre Feet

Cusec Cubic Feet per Second

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Water-logging in the city a sight during every monsoon

This study of Delhi’s Drainage System was last published in 2017 and earlier in 2010. It gets revised after each major development. Why the need to revise it? Please read below.

A city like Delhi which draws its water from the river, follows a cycle similar to the Hydrological Cycle of Nature.  Water is supplied by the municipalities to the residents.  Some of the water is utilized for drinking purposes, some for watering the gardens and some for cleaning, washing and bathing and some for flushing the toilets.  The latter two ideally enter the sewage system.  The rain that falls over the city enters the storm water drains which empty into huge nullahs, which in turn empty into the river Yamuna.

This system can also enable rain water harvesting because the storm water drains can be utilized for water harvesting in an organized fashion.  But the storm water drainage system of Delhi is complex owing to a combination of natural and man made drainage systems – drainage basins which naturally drain, storm water drains along the roads and a new phenomenon of combined sewer cum storm water drains created as a bypass arrangement for blockage sewer lines.  It is this that has resulted in polluting the storm water drainage system.  As a result, the nullahs which used to run with rain water during monsoons now carry only sewage.

What was also being done, using Commonwealth Games as a shield, was to cover up the nullahs.  Now, this is really like putting dirt under the carpet.  This reminds me of a fable, in which, when a rabbit is confronted by pointing a gun at it, all it does is to cover its eyes with its ears.  The rabbit thus thinks that the threat no longer exists, but, it gets shot in any case! When you hide the threat you don’t necessarily solve the problem you only ignore it … until it becomes bigger.  Even if some sewage was reaching the nullahs, the rain water used to ensure that the viscous or solid waste content was appropriately diluted and thus the effluent reaching the river would not be as heavily polluted as it is today.

When residents cover or even fill up the storm water drains outside their houses to help park their cars or when the sweepers  also dump garbage into the open drains, it prevents rain water from reaching the nullahs and ultimately the river.  Blocking a drain should be treated as an offence, because it is equivalent to sabotaging a public utility on which tax payers money has been spent. Historically it is said that the drainage system of Old Delhi was largely developed by the Mughals whereas of New Delhi by the British. It used to work fine until it was vandalized by us humans.

This experiment was so successful that it was further extended and replicated in her entire constituency to Kailash Colony, East of Kailash etc. That’s saying a lot, considering that no earlier government had succeeded. Every year drains were desilted before monsoons. Gradually it became a losing game because desilting became less regular and also, as explained earlier, not feasible.

Shikha Rai re-dug and re-built the entire drainage system. It was specially tricky because the crossover bridges built by residents to enter their driveways, had to be cut and new crossover ramps were built by SDMC on each driveway of each house. The storm water drains were covered by porous RCC slabs, so that cars can be parked and rain water can flow into the drains and road muck was restrained. The effect was really dramatic. Every monsoon the streets, which were ankle or knee deep with water earlier, got drained away much faster.

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The Simplistic looking RCC Perforated Tiles Interspersed with removable lid for de-siltation

If that is the case, then why did one wait so long to report this. The reason is caution. Firstly I did not want to give a thumbs up without seeing the system work. Secondly one had to wait for the desilting to take place, to ascertain that the Porous tiles are removable and silt can be extracted. This exercise was done partially by SDMC at a few places and silt was removed a few days ago.

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De-silting of Drainage System in Greater Kailash 1 done by SDMC in October 2021

However, one would like to caution the authorities, that like all successful arrangements the system needs to be maintained regularly for it to work properly. Desilting must be done as an when required and the Porous tiles replaced whenever they break. Also it was observed that the drain holes in many of the tiles had got blocked with the silt and muck. The whole system will fail if these holes are not cleared periodically. The plus points are:

As a footnote, one would like to explain that this technical analysis should be treated just so – an evaluation based on observation over 4 years. It is important to acknowledge a successful initiative because while we point out flaws in public utilities, we will be failing in our duty if we don’t give the good news.

Another interesting phenomenon, prevalent not only in Delhi but in most cities, is, that garbage is always dumped near the river.  Therefore, when the rains come, that garbage too finds its way into the river.  Now the river in Delhi does not spring out at the city itself but comes down from the Himalayas collecting water and effluent along the way.  For the river to flow smoothly, the unobstructed route through which it flows ensures how much water can pass.  Silting of course reduces the depth and the width of the river. But the problem is compounded by man. The tragedy of Yamuna is that when the city was faced with constraints of space, the authorities that be, allowed construction in the river bed, thus reducing the cross section of the river and creating the situation for future disaster.

Earlier in the river bed, during the non monsoon period, agricultural farming used to take place. This was in no way harmful; because when the rivers ran full during the monsoons; it used to leave a coat of fertile silt on the farm beds and the greenery thus grown also acted as a lung for the city.  Now, the infrastructure developments on the river front, with Akshardham temple and games village coming up, will encourage others to encroach into the river and ultimately destroy the hydrological cycle of the city.

The matter is not closed, Jury is still out regarding the Sewage System and Garbage Handling. One would request the readers to read the earlier article in this journal to understand the issue. Please do so at the link below

Why is Delhi Water Logged It’s Drains and Sewers Clogged

Copyright Manohar Khushalani and OneVorld.org Oct 4, 2021

Bibliography:

• Irrigation Practice and Design, (Volumes I, II,III, IV & V) K.B. Khushalani & Manohar Khushalani Pub; Oxford & IBH (Sponsored by National Book Trust)
• Control of Urban Pollution Series:CUPS/ / 2003-2004, CPCB
• City Development Plan , Department of Urban Development, Govt. of Delhi / IL&FS/October 2006,
• Why is Delhi Water Logged It’s Drains and Sewers Clogged

Everyone is talking about oxygen concentrators now. Most of us had not heard of them before. Many know about distillers which extract water from air, yet very few realised that even oxygen can be extracted from air. So what is an Oxygen Concentrator and how do you choose the right one?

The most important is to understand that Covid patients require 90% Oxygen concentration at 1to 5Litre flow and above to 10L

Tips on Selecting the right oxygen concentrator.

The most important is to understand Covid patients require 90% Oxygen concentration at 1to 5Litre flow and above to 10L when they are suffering with acute respiratory discomfort.

90% oxygen concentration is the most important point here.

1. We can break down oxygen concentrator into small (5 to 10 kg) oxygen concentrator suitable for COPD patients, medium (15 to 19kg) and large (20kg and above) oxygen concentrators are suitable for critical care and for COVID patients.
2. Small oxygen concentrators can have options from 1 Litre to 9 Litre Flow but this does not mean you get 90% oxygen at higher flow like at 5 litre. On small oxygen concentrators 90% oxygen contration is achieved only at lower flows of 1litre to 2 litre. on higher flows the oxygen concentration drops to 30% as you increase the flow. Suitable for COPD patients but not for COVID patients.
3. Check the specs of the oxygen concentrator and if you see 90% – 30% or ( 1L/min , 2L/min) means 90% oxygen is available only at 1Litre flow or 2Litre flow respectively and on higher flows oxygen drops to 30%. The air we breathing is with 29% oxygen. So small (5kg to 10kg ) oxygen concentrator at higher flows gives output of 30% oxygen means its just blowing air.
4. weight is the best indicator to understand the oxygen production capacity.

A 5kg to 10kg oxygen concentrator means a small compressor which will only mange to give an output of 90% oxygen at 1 litre to max 2 Litre

A 15kg to 19kg Oxygen Concentrator will have a compressor that can easily give an output of 90% oxygen at flows from 1 Litre to 5 Litre Oxygen (Ideal for COVID patients and critical care patients)

A 20 kg and above oxygen concentrator will have a large compressor which can give an output of 90% oxygen from 1Litre to 10Litre flow. (Ideal for COVID patients and critical care patients and for dual patients to use same machine with accessories)

Please do not only see the output flow of an oxygen concentrator like 5litre, 10litre or so. the most important is to make sure you get 90% Oxygen at highest flow level.

For a small family with no senior citizens a 5 litre at 90% oxygen concentration should be good enough.

For 2 senior citizens or for a big family 10 litre at 90% oxygen concentration should be good enough as it can support 2 patients at once if the need arises. And can assist senior citizens during home critical care if the need arises.

Please do not get fooled and pay big money for small oxygen concentrator sold by highlighting 5 Litre and 8 Litre and do not give an output of 90% concentration of oxygen at higher flows which is the need of the hour.

Please read the specs well and if required please ask your supplier to show you the oxygen output on an oxygen analyzer at higher flow of 5 Litre or 10 Litre.

they are suffering with acute respiratory discomfort.

90% oxygen concentration is the most important point here.

1. We can break down oxygen concentrator into small (5 to 10 kg) oxygen concentrator suitable for COPD patients, medium (15 to 19kg) and large (20kg and above) oxygen concentrators are suitable for critical care and for COVID patients.
2. Small oxygen concentrators can have options from 1 Litre to 9 Litre Flow but this does not mean you get 90% oxygen at higher flow like at 5 litre. On small oxygen concentrators 90% oxygen contration is achieved only at lower flows of 1litre to 2 litre. on higher flows the oxygen concentration drops to 30% as you increase the flow. Suitable for COPD patients but not for COVID patients.
3. Check the specs of the oxygen concentrator and if you see 90% – 30% or ( 1L/min , 2L/min) means 90% oxygen is available only at 1Litre flow or 2Litre flow respectively and on higher flows oxygen drops to 30%. The air we breathing is with 29% oxygen. So small (5kg to 10kg ) oxygen concentrator at higher flows gives output of 30% oxygen means its just blowing air.
4. weight is the best indicator to understand the oxygen production capacity.

A 5kg to 10kg oxygen concentrator means a small compressor which will only manage to give an output of 90% oxygen at 1 litre to max 2 Litre

A 15kg to 19kg Oxygen Concentrator will have a compressor that can easily give an output of 90% oxygen at flows from 1 Litre to 5 Litre Oxygen (Ideal for COVID patients and critical care patients)

A 20 kg and above oxygen concentrator will have a large compressor which can give an output of 90% oxygen from 1Litre to 10Litre flow. (Ideal for COVID patients and critical care patients and for dual patients to use same machine with accessories)

Please do not only see the output flow of an oxygen concentrator like 5litre, 10litre or so. the most important is to make sure you get 90% Oxygen at highest flow level.

For a small family with no senior citizens a 5 litre at 90% oxygen concentration should be good enough.

For 2 senior citizens or for a big family 10 litre at 90% oxygen concentration should be good enough as it can support 2 patients at once if the need arises. And can assist senior citizens during home critical care if the need arises.

Please do not get fooled and pay big money for small oxygen concentrators sold by highlighting 5 Litre and 8 Litre and do not give an output of 90% concentration of oxygen at higher flows which is the need of the hour.

Please read the specs well and if required please ask your supplier to show you the oxygen output on an oxygen analyzer at higher flow of 5 Litre or 10 Litre.

Also most importantly consult a doctor before you invest your hard earned money in the device. Right now, because of a shortage of oxygen supplies, the concentrators are overpriced. As soon as supply meets demand, the price of concentrators will come down.

Shri Suresh Chandra, who headed Central Water Commission, from 31st January to 31st October, 2002, passed away on 25th April 2021.

S. Masood Husain, Ex Chairman, CWC, said, “Deeply saddened to know about the demise of Shri Suresh Chandra, former Chairman, CWC today. A very gentle, ever smiling and loving personality. I had a long and very warm and affectionate association with him. It is indeed a great loss to CWC family. Our heartfelt condolences. May Almighty rest his soul in peace and give courage and strength to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss.

CWES officer, Avinash Tyagi adds, “I am deeply saddened to know that Mr Suresh Chandra has left for his heavenly journey. All know about his work in CWC rising up to the coveted post of Chairman
But I am also witness to his technical capabilities that he showed at International level. He represented India and chaired the Special Working Group (if I remember the nomenclature correctly) of ISO on Sedimentation.

He also lead a team of international experts on compiling the Chapter on “Methods of Hydrological Measurements” of Guide to Hydrological Practices WMO no 168. His guidance was highly appreciated by the international group of experts”.

Mr. V. K. Malhotra, informed, that, he was a learned engineer and felt it is a great loss to this country and CWC.

Post Retirement, he was appointed as a Senior Consultant to Government of Goa on Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal. He was also a Consultant in the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal. He graduated as a Civil Engineer from Aligarh Muslim University in 1964

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Known to have an ever smiling countenance, Shri K.P.Singh, Former Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, passed away on 21st of April due to Covid. He leaves behind his son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

Shri K P Singh had also worked as Chief Engineer (North) in NWDA and was responsible for carrying out various studies of the link projects of National Perspective Plan.

Amongst numerous responsibilities held by him in his career, he was in the Resource Sub-Group-II – for Kosi-Ghaghra, Ghaghra-Yamuna, Gandak-Ganga, Sarda-Yamuna links originating from Nepal. Which had the following Terms of Reference:
 
To review Feasibility/other relevant Reports, identify main issues and suggest probable approach/solution in respect of following link projects:
 
Kosi – Ghaghara Link
Ghaghara-Yamuna Link
Gandak-Ganga Link
Sarda-Yamuna Link
 
To prepare technical notes as may be required by Interactive Group for discussions with concerned States in respect of above links

Shri Masood Hussain, former Chairman of Central Water Commission said: “Very sad to know about the demise of Shri K P Singh. I had the good fortune to have been associated with him when he worked as Consulatnt for some period in NWDA, when I headed it. He was an extremely nice and gentle person.
Our deep condolences.
May Almighty rest his soul in peace and give courage and strength to the bereaved family.

Mr. Avinash Tyagi, a Central Water Engg. Services officer, said “It’s a matter of deep grief that Shri Singh, has left us for the heavenly abode. He was one of the brilliant practical hydrologist in CWC. His knowledge of discharge measurements, River behaviour and sediment transport therein was outstanding. I had the good opportunity of working with him in Patna where he was EE in Discharge Measuring Division (belonging to erstwhile Ganga Basin W R Organization) and I was posted in Flood Forecasting Division. Later, the two were merged which gave us opportunity to technically interact very closely.

Tyagi adds, “Krishna Pal Singh was very soft spoken but administratively a very firm and upright officer. He had to deal with Labour strikes because of merger, which he dealt very firmly. His knowledge of scriptures was excellent. He could impromptu quote from Ramayan befitting his point of discussions”.

“His only son Shailesh who is working with an MNC recently completed his PhD from Norway.”

“His last posting was in Lucknow. The untimely demise of Shri Singh due to COVID is a personal loss to me and my family.”

“I pray to the Allmighty to accept Soul in HIS Lotus Feet”

A. S. Dhingra, CWES, adds, “Very sad to learn demise of Sh K P Singh. We worked together in SWARA in UP Irrigation dept. after our retirement.”

Life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” So said Shakespeare in Macbeth, a tragedy of epic proportion where the eponymous hero fell because of only one tragic flaw: “Vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself.”  Covid19 brought the “sound and fury, signifying nothing” part of Macbeth like a thunderbolt rolled onto an unsuspecting mankind. And Hamartia, or the tragic flaw, that Shakespeare’s tragic heroes had, has its echo in present times too. Covid19 lays bare our fault lines and exposes our flaws like never before. It has, in fact, come as a great teacher to mankind – perhaps because the ‘kind’ in “man” had shrunk to a miniscule level. It has given us a huge nudge to readjust our priorities that were slinking to abominable levels of putrid materialism.  Hmm…..looked closely, it also has been a period of wish-fulfillment, the collective wishes of entire mankind, or rather man-unkind, witnessing fruition of shared desires in a way unparalleled.

To further explain my points, let me take the first premise of collective wish fulfillment. Was the entire human race not clamoring for clearer skies, cleaner air and sparkling water? Millions of dollars were being spent on hosting international meets that often ended up revealing more dissensions than agreements. Each country blamed the other for being a greater polluter, never wanting to clean its own Augean stables. Year after year, there were foreboding studies that announced imminent doom of the planet if countries did not clean up the environmental mess. Countries met, they bickered and blamed each other, and dispersed.

“Monday morning blues” was the litany of all working people. I remember beginning to feel the blues just when Sunday dawned. Why can’t weekends be longer, was the refrain echoed in all corners of the world – languages varied, refrain the same.  “Let all days be Sunday,” said the mighty voice. And we all huddled home every day, day after day. Beautiful day-planners lying on the desk were an investment most futile!!

Don’t blame any virus or any government for the pandemic…..all wishes are coming true. Is it self-fulfilling prophesy, or mere Ignis Fatuus!  Is it a passing phase, or the new world order is here to stay. Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure. The virus is not atemporal. It may either gradually die a natural death after peaking, or human intervention will see it rendered less menacing. Whatever it may be, but it surely will have taught us the much-needed and long-forgotten basic lessons before it exits.

First and foremost, Covid19 has added the fundamental “Pause” button to human race – race, both as noun and verb – the former defining the species, and the latter their feverish scurrying forth. I feel it has made us stop as the traffic light gradually turns red, so that we have time to reflect until it turns green and hence signal us to recalibrate our speed and direction.  We were all racing from morning until night, 24X7, in pursuit of something that was always outside our grasp.  Were we not all running away from life, looking for a meaning in a place it did not exist.  And now, staying within the confines of our homes we are learning to live with ourselves. Most friends and family I have spoken to have expressed how little we actually need in life and yet we carry the heaviest baggage. Our priorities had gone misplaced and it is time to set them right.  

What is of utmost importance is human life. This lesson, unfortunately, a deadly virus had to come and teach us. It has showed us that we need to value people and use things when we had been doing the reverse – Valuing things and using people. Time for some reverse-engineering. Time to smell the coffee!

People in lock-downs, living away from families learnt the value of a family, and those locked with their families are learning to share, care, and the biggest of all, to let-go. Sharing limited home space has strained many a family, for the virus leaves no option of quietly slipping away from home in case of any friction.  And therein lies the lesson of developing tolerance. “Love me when I deserve the least because that is when I need the most,” my friend’s recalcitrant teenager told his mother. Mighty lesson that is! Equally relevant for the youngster and his mother.

“It would seem resourceful, perhaps wise, to use suffering as a vehicle of transformation that allows us to open ourselves with compassion to those who suffer as we do, or even more than we do”, said Matthieu Ricard in his book Happiness. Roman philosopher Seneca once said that “Suffering may hurt, but it is not an evil.” Schopenhauer, the German philosopher may have had similar belief when he said that suffering is the purifying process through which alone, in most cases, a person is consecrated.  Sure enough, no one wants suffering and all human endeavor is towards forswearing it. However, it can be argued that while suffering by its very nature is abhorrent but when unable to avoid, we can use it to learn and to change.

While we wait with bated breath for this Covid19 to pass, we can only forget the lessons it continues to teach us – both, at the physical level and at a deeper existential, philosophical level, at our own peril.  In the latter half of this century when it is well behind us, and human race has the wisdom of hindsight, Covid19 may seem to be the one game-changer humankind desperately needed for course correction.

I started writing this piece when we were, what is now known as the middle of Covid, or the first phas (It may be known differently sometime down the line) . As we are a cat’s whisker away from getting the vaccine, these disembodied times however seem  here to stay for a while. I’m quite inclined to close with Hafiz : “I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being!” So instead of taking a world trip, go inside yourself and find the true essence. Nice things, beautiful scenic places, gourmet food and all the pompous pursuits of men are a happy place to be in, but the joy they provide is never ever-lasting. It is transitory. The value of things is only the value we ascribe to them. As Vivekananda said: “Things are dead in themselves. We breathe life into them, and then we either run after them or run away from them.”

Covid-19 has provided a big insight into what really matters in the race we call Life. The Pause-button ought to make us reflect on where we were headed, and which direction we need to take. Almost a year into the pandemic, the self-importance of man dissolves in laughter. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard, but we can choose our hard wisely. Look to the light within, for the more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be.

Embankments:
They may be defined as earthen banks extending generally parallel to the river channel and designed to protect the area behind them from overflow by flood water. The choice, the location the alignment, the type, the shape, and the size of the embankment depend upon the flood, the protected area, the economics, and the after effect of such protective structures. There are three major types of Embankments:

Marginal Embankment: They are constructed along both sides of a river upstream of a barrage or weir at a short distance from the margin.
Approach Embankment: It is the embankment that is provided to approach the barrage or weir from the high river edges on the both sides.
Retired Embankment: They are constructed at a distance from the river edge behind the existing embankment as a second line of defense. When Retired Embankments are constructed along both sides on high ground, sufficiently away from the river bank, more or less straight and little away from river channel to minimize the risk, they are sometimes called Flood Embankments. This is a very effective system and a neat solution to Flood Control where conventional methods of providing closer embankments are not effective. The following is an excerpt from our Book,

Irrigation Practice & Design Vol I by K. B. Khushalani & Manohar Khushalani (Published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust)

12-6. System of Retiring Embankments. The retiring emban^kments are a via media between no embankments and very close embankments. They are constructed at a distance from the river.

The advantages of the retiring embankments are:

(i) They cause lesser interference with the natural operation of silt deposited by the river over the country and raising its level.

(ii) They enable the river flood to be spread over more area, thus creating an artificial storage. This storage is not the storage in the ordinary sense but storage due to the detention of Water for some period. This reservoir capacity enables the river to maintain a fair irrigating level for a longer time, and hence can be utilised in giving water to inundation canals.

(iii) By providing a wider waterway they enable the high flood water level to be lower than would be the case with closer banks and thus, they reduce chances of erosion of fertile land and throwing up of sterile sand banks.

 (iv) The banks being away from the river are not so frequently attacked as would be the banks near the river edge.

(v) The longer life thus bestowed on the embankments permits of their being constructed slowly and carefully and much in advance of time when they will be required to face the flood. Enough opportunity is thus given to these embankments for settlement and consolidation.

(vi) The longer life, on account of creating the sense of security, which is essential for progress and prosperity, provides greater permanence to the irrigation investments.

The disadvantages of the retiring embankments are:

(i) Increased cost, as they are to be sometimes constructed on lower ground. The cost is more in the beginning, but if frequent damages to the closer banks are taken into account the ultimate cost will be less.

(ii) They afford protection to lesser area than do the closer banks.

The area between the river and the embankments will grow some inundation crops after floods or even forests can be grown on them. Thus the loss can be reduced.

(iii) They require longer length of open canal heads which get silted. This is a serious objection and has to be tolerated in view of so many advantages and can be remedied by constructing an escape upstream of the head regulator to scour out the silt.

(iv) On account of their being constructed on lower grounds they are risky. The land generally slopes away from the river and as the banks are to be constructed further away their height will be great. A bank of higher height is naturally prone to be more dangerous than a bank of smaller height. Though this is true, water could be led in by the side of a bank for soaking: As the bank is on a lower ground this should be possible.

All the flood control methods are not to be considered as separate solutions of flood problems; often two or more of them would be necessary to tackle a particular stream. Where it is, found that combination is eventually the correct solution, the extent to which the various components should be used, can be determined by striking an economical mean

Retiring Embankment has been used in India For eg. Mr. M . Zonneveld, an expert from Holland after rigorous survey in Sundarban put forwarded the suggestion of building ‘retiring’ embankment at considerable distance from from the existing one¹. I quote “The embankment should be built as far away from the main river as possible to minimize the impact of the dashing waves. This proposal can be introduced in the Ghoramara Mouza under Sagar Island block now facing severe erosional threat where land is consistently being withered away by strong fluvial erosion”.

Retired Embankments have also been used extensively in Farakka Barrage² and in 1960 it was provided on the 220 Km Brahmaputra Right Bank Embankment (BRE)³,

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¹  https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/155888/18/18_concluding%20remarks.pdf

²  http://ir.nbu.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/831/13/13%20CHAPTER%206.pdf

³  https://ewsdata.rightsindevelopment.org/files/documents/34/WB-P149734_wP3HlM2.pdf