Bridge ends century-long wait

Kavalam Sasikumar reports on a cross-river link that has finally put an isolated Kerala village on the map

Can the opening of a new bridge draw a crowd of 50,000 people? The inauguration of the Mayannur bridge at Ottappalam of Palakkad district in Kerala just did. The chief minister, the state Assembly speaker and political leaders of all hues wondered as to why people turned up in such large numbers when attendance at political rallies has steadily declined in the politically sensitive state. Old people reached the venue to watch the programme, women came with their babies in tow. It was special, a day they have waited decades for.

The bridge on Bharathappuzha river, the longest in Kerala, bridges not only the two banks but connects the people living on the two sides. On one side of the river lies Ottappalam, a developed township. On the other, in Thrissur district, lies the village of Mayannur. The people of Mayannur struggled to reach Ottappalam for treatment, education, commerce, employment and other activities. They had to spend money and time by travelling more than 32 km by road to reach Ottappalam or had to swim across the river. During the monsoon, the river overflowed its banks and it was not even easy for the boats. Most would swim across the river. Students and working people were forced to carry an extra dress along with their lunch boxes. Those, who did not, spent their day in wet clothes. During the summers, they struggled to walk on the red hot sand bed. Now that the bridge is there, Ottappalam is a 15-minute walk.

The struggle for this bridge is a saga in itself. It dates back to the days of the rule of the provincial prince of Kochi and the Britishers. One side of the river was under the rule of Raja of Kochi and the other part, Malabar, was under the British rule. The Raja of Kochi planned to build a wooden bridge here but later abandoned the project. Then, during the freedom movement, Mahatma Gandhi visited Ottappalam which boosted the freedom movement in the state. Gandhi too had raised the demand for a bridge here. There is a Gandhi Ashram in the village Mayannur in memory of his visit.

But the recorded initiative for a bridge here starts in 1920s and it took shape in 1957 just after the formation of the state of Kerala and the first democratically elected state government. That year, the first official meeting to discuss the idea of a bridge took place. The then foreign affairs secretary, K.P.S. Menon, who was leading a retired life in his native Ottappalam at that time, was the first chairman of the committee set up for construction of a causeway across the river. But nothing happened. People, supported by political parties and social organisations, made a human chain to press home their demand. After long procrastination, in 1996-1997, the state budget allocated Rs 20 lakh for the construction of a causeway. But again, it was delayed which came as a blessing in disguise. The plan for a causeway was revisited and the state government approved the plan for a bridge. The foundation stone was laid on November 18, 1999. Work started in 2000. But the pace was abysmal and work was interrupted when Indian Railways refused to give permission for a long time. And so people continued to swim across the river. Continued struggle and strikes drew the attention of authorities. Anyhow, 11 long years after construction had begun, the 1253-metre bridge was finally ready for use.

The positive outcome was the collective effort of all political parties who, for once, rose above partisan politics. The CPI(M) MLA took initiative, the state BJP leader who was minister for state for railways at the Centre during the NDA tenure helped to get the sanction, the present Congress-led Union government and ministers from the state pitched in too. And the inauguration ceremony showed that different political parties could share the dias for a good cause.

The present state government of chief minister V.S Achuthanandan has constructed 20 bridges within the last 56 months. But the Mayannur bridge inauguration was really a grand affair. There were eight cultural processions from various points on both sides of the river. Thousands of people, cultural programmes, bands and caparisoned elephants marked the opening. Students, teachers, government officials mingled with each other. School children expressed their feelings in the form of a one-km-long canvas painting. It took four hours for the Kerala State Transport vehicle to mark the first official journey over the bridge. One of the tableaux in the rally echoed the overall mood. It represented the story of sethubandhanam in Ramayana.

The bridge will not lead to economic development of the region but it will have social implications too. Though Ottappalam and Mayannur are nearby, because of the lack of a connection, people objected to get into marital relations with people from the other bank. Mayannur will become a township soon, Ottappalam will get a boost in terms of trade and travel. The Ottappalam railway station will get a facelift and new development activities are already in the pipeline.

With tears running down her wrinkled skin, Matha, who is over 105 years old, tells TSI, “Now I am ready to say goodbye to my life. It was my dream to see a bridge across the river. I still remember those days as a young girl when I would cross the river full of water while carrying a load of firewood and provisions on my head.”

Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan stressed on the need of saving our rivers. The Bharathappuzha is a prime example of how illegal sand mining can kill a river. Today there are only small puddles of water here and there in place of the once mighty river. In fact they look like the tearful eyes of a dying river.
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Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee travels to Haripur, west bengal where a proposed nuclear power plant sparked off protests.

It inspired the people of singur and nandigram. The project has not been shelved and people are keeping a vigil.

Sushanta Bhunia of Haripur may be aged but his spirit is unwavering as he narrates the tale of the people of Haripur, a conglomeration of 19 odd villages in Contai of East Midnapore, resisting the Centre and the state government's attempts to set up a nuclear power plant. “Dr S. K. Jain, chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI), had come to inspect the area but had to retreat as early as on November 17, 2006. He returned the next day under heavy police protection. Around 18 police vans carried armed policemen but we matched them with thousands of villagers. Then, Jain tried to sneak in riding pillion on a motorbike. We recognised him and stopped him. Since then, no government official has dared to visit Haripur in connection with setting up of a nuclear power plant.”

In fact, Haripur showed the path to Nandigram. Three months before roads of Nandigram were dug up, Haripur erected a barricade at Junput Bazar, the main entry point to the area. Villagers converged behind the barricades to prevent ‘anyone unwanted’. Even the police and the district administration were not allowed. The message was loud and clear: “This land belongs to us, not to the government”. Supporters of the ruling Left Front’s partner West Bengal Socialist Party (WBSP) united together with Trinamool Congress, Congress and Paschmbanga Khet Majur Samity and Matsyajibi Unnayan Samity (unit of National Fishworkers’ Forum). Although Jain, chairman of the site selection panel for N-Plant, could not even enter Haripur, forget inspecting the proposed site, he nonetheless informed chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on November 19, 2006, that ''Haripur has a good potential for setting up a Nuclear Plant''.

Bhunia, over 70 years old, says, “The plant’s core area would eat up 15 villages in a 1.6 km radius. More than 20,000 people would be deprived of their land and income. Apart from that, 75,000 recorded fishermen, whose only source of income is fishing and related activities, will be forced out of their livelihood.” The proposed N-Plant has annoyed even school children like Anu Samanta. “There are three high schools and 14 primary schools and about eight child education centres in this area. Where will we go? Is it that the government does not want us to be educated,” are her words.

A 25-km-long sea dyke was built during British period to protect this area from sea waves and hurricanes. A few prominent sea beach resorts like Digha, Shankarpur and Mandarmani exist in the vicinity. Shankarpur is also an important fishing harbour. Most of the three million people living in the entire region are dependent on the sea for their livelihood which will be affected if a nuclear project came up. The Haripur area is also rich in agriculture Rishikesh Giri, another resident, says, “Haripur produces rice twice a year, including that of the Dhudheswar (a high quality fine rice) variety. Apart from that, we produce wheat, mustard, tomato, eggplant, sesame, green chilli and various kinds of vegetables. We don’t need artificial irrigation. We have our ponds which store rain water and serves our fields throughout the year. Of course, the ponds give us sweetwater fish too.” The per acre yield of rice here is 2,400 kg, much higher than the national average. The hay serves as animal fodder, firewood and roofing material. Giri, whose landholding is modest, has three sons and a daughter who is married. One son is a farmer, another one is an employee of Reliance Industries while the remaining one is a Vaishnavite sanyasi.

Local state Assembly legislator Dibyendu Adhikari admits, “Haripur and the adjoining area is the main source of vegetable supply for the Contai sub-division.” Haripur is dotted with betel vines, coconut trees and banana trees. One cannot count the number of betel vines here. “It may be 7,000 or more. We supply betel leaves to the whole of India,” Ananta Bera, a farmer proudly claims.

Sukumar Bhunia, block Panchayat chief and head of the Committee against Nuclear Reactor to save rights to Land and Livelihood, recalls the legacy of struggle here, “People of Midnapore marched to Haripur at the call of Mahatma Gandhi during Salt Satyagraha.” Even today, about 1,000 villagers live of salt processing.

Prabhuram Dalal is the chief of the fishermen's body here. According to him, there are 42 jetties in the first circle of 1.6 km. Each boat employs around 18 people. The Haripur jetty alone has 95 hand-pulled and 50 mechanised boats. More than 2,750 fishing huts dot the coastal line of Haripur and the adjoining 19 villages. Prabhuram is candid: “If the nuclear power plant is built, about 1.5 crore fishermen, from Kakdwip in West Bengal to Paradip in Orissa, will be directly affected.”

Energy scientist Professor Sujoy Basu, ex-chief of School of Energy Studies, Jadavpur University, corroborates Prabhuram’s anxiety. Scientists of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata are anxious too. Basu says: “It seems we have not taken any lesson from past disasters. Haripur is at the confluence of a river. During high tide, sea water rushes up the rivers and even reaches Farakka in Maldah. If the plant is built, sea water will carry nuclear waste up to that distance. Now, can you imagine the situation?”

The nuclear plant, if it comes up, will displace more than a million people. According to the blueprint, a 1.6-km-radius area forms the core area where none are allowed to settle. Then, there will be an ‘inner ring’ of 3 km radius as a buffer zone. This is specially meant for forestation. The ‘outer ring’ will be of a five km radius, where only 5 to 10 per cent of the present population would be allowed to settle. If the line is drawn, the distance intrudes into Contai (Kanthi) town and the populated areas of Henria, Egra and Nandigram blocks come into this ring.

But what gives Haripur the courage to defy the Indian State? They have even demonstrated outside the Russian Consulate in Kolkata. Sushanta Bhunia says, “The Russian authorities listened to us and then said, ‘We came here as your government has asked us. You please talk to your government'.” He continues, “Medinipur is the land of revolutionaries. We have sacrificed our lives but have never lowered our head in front of oppressors. We are their sons and daughters. We will not leave our land may what come.”

Nandigram let out the same warning in 2007. Subhendu Adhikari, MP from East Midnapore and leader of the Nandigram movement, admits: “Haripur taught me how to fight for the cause of the people. It helped me to stand beside the people of Nandigram. So, Haripur is the mother of the struggles in Singur and Nandigram.” Hrisikesh Giri goes on: “During the Freedom movement, Gandhi and the revolutionaries taught us one thing. There will be no let up in our movement till the proposed
bill is scrapped. Till then, we do not want any development work. We don’t want relief and ration. Land is our mother. If our land is lost, we will die.The government has to understand that this land is ours.”

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Faced with bureaucratic ineptitude, Manipur has been in the grip of a severe power crisis for many years.

But recent moves have raised hopes of better days for the state

Manipur's 'powerless' electricity department is at the receiving end of a renewed burst of judicial and civil society activism aimed at bringing light back into the lives of people of the north-eastern state. But the power crisis that the state has been facing for several years is far from nearing its end.

Acting on a PIL filed by three persons against erratic power supply in Manipur, the Imphal bench of Guwahati High Court recently issued a notice to the commissioner (power), government of Manipur, and the chief engineer of the state electricity department seeking an explanation for the continuing failure to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers who pay their bills regularly.

The court notice, issued by a division bench comprising Justice BK Sharma and Asok Potsangbam, is returnable within four weeks.

The petitioners had contended that bonafide consumers in the state get only about three to four hours of electricity in a day while people in neighbouring states like Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram had round-the-clock power supply.

The PIL pointed out that against the peak hour requirement of 170/180 MW, the state purchases only about 90 MW from power stations like NEEPCO and NHPC. Of this, nearly 80 per cent is lost every month on account of unbridled power theft and constant tripping.

The PIL also stated that the Manipur electricity department spends Rs 11.5 crore every month to purchase power. However, it manages to collect only Rs 1.5 crore from consumers due to systemic failure and widespread corruption.

Although Manipur has immense hydro power potential and can generate up to 2000 MW if it gets its act together, the state's power distribution authorities are unable to meet the domestic requirement of its 1,74,127 consumers.

The Manipur electricity department utilises only about 5 per cent of the potential available in the state. If power theft, which is a cognisable and non-bailable offence under the Electricity Act of 2003, were brought down to 40 per cent, not only would Manipur be able to meet its domestic demand but it would also have surplus power to sell to other states. It would be a win-win situation for Manipur, but as things stand at present the emergence of that happy scenario can only be a distant dream.

The state purchased 438 MW from NEEPCO and NHPC (central undertaking) in 2005-06. The gap between demand and supply has remained constant in spite of the so-called attempts of its nearly 4000-strong staff to enforce compliance with rules and regulations. In 2003-04, the gap was the highest with 48 per cent followed by 39 per cent in 2005-06.

The level of power consumption in Manipur is fairly low. The per capita power consumption is only 146 KWH. The all-India average is 354 KWH. The figure is much higher for Daman and Diu (2335 KWH), Goa (724 KWH), Pondicherry (867 KWH) and Delhi (577 KWH).

The state electricity department has over the years failed to take appropriate action against power pilferers and electricity bill defaulters. It has instead been subsidising the defaulters and penalising regular payees by subjecting both to equal access and equal darkness. This, the petition asserted, clearly implies an absence of an effective regulatory mechanism and absolute lack of governance.

Arguing that failure to provide reliable and uninterrupted electric supply to citizens is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the PIL prayed that the authorities be directed to meet the demand of all bonafide consumers of Manipur within a specific period of time. It also sought an appropriate judicial direction for providing electric power for at least eight hours a day to people of the state during the interim.

The day after the PIL was filed, the electricity department, for the first time in its history, launched a massive drive against power theft and non-payment of electricity bills. Under the Electricity Act, 2003 (amended in 2007), a number of citizens have already been booked for power theft and outstanding bills.

As a penal measure, many supply lines have been disconnected. The state electricity department collected large sums in the first few days of the drive. The department has also decided to fix power metres for all consumers to ensure commensurate billing although the initiative has come a bit too late.

Corruption within the electricity department is a major cause of Manipur’s power crisis. In many cases, power is pilfered with the connivance of electricity department officials. There have been instances where employees of the state electricity department have written off dues by fudging electricity consumption records. No-objection certificates are easy to come by if a consumer is willing to grease the palm of officials concerned.

In many houses both in the valley and the hill district, meter boxes have not been installed. So the power tariff is calculated on a completely ad hoc basis, leaving room for manipulation and official corruption. The general public is fully aware that it is not only the common people who default in paying their power bills but also several government departments (Rs 22 crore). What action will be taken against such departments is the natural question that exercises the minds of common citizens. But no answers are available.

At the time of writing this report, the power tariff collection drive was still continuing in the state, mostly in the valley areas. Altogether 20 power pilferers, including two women, were arrested. The anti-power theft drive was spearheaded by N. Sarat, chief engineer of the state electricity department.

Sarat, however, insisted that the drive against unauthorised connections was launched as per an announcement made earlier and had nothing to do with the court's directive. The chief engineer explained that the Electricity Act could not be affectively implemented all these years due to the delay in appointment of judicial officers – judges as wells as assistant public prosecutors. “The necessary appointments have now been made and hence the crackdown,” he said.

While the drive is in full swing in the valley, the hill district of the state by and large remains outside its purview. The entire hill district has electricity today, but residents do not have land in their own names. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act 1960 has not yet been implemented in these hill villages. So it is difficult for the electricity department to raise bills and collect electricity tariff from the villagers in these areas. “This will drive a further wedge between the people of the valley and residents of the hill district,” says Sukham Nanda, a consumer.

Under the provisions of the Electricity Act, a special court has been set up to try cases of power theft and tariff default. But many questions remain unanswered. Will the government departments, too, be brought to book for power tariff arrears?

Those in the know argue that the way forward for the electricity department is to introduce new technologies like underground cables and air pocket sealed cables in order to stop illegal tapping. Introduction of a prepaid billing system for electricity consumers has also been suggested. “All these measures would help end the power crisis in Manipur," a lecturer of environmental science at Maharaj Bodhchandra College, Imphal told TSI.

During the hearing of the PIL, Justice Potsangbam had observed that Nagaland gets uninterrupted power supply although it does not produce any electricity of its own. On the other hand, Manipur, which is a state that generates its own electricity, is unable provide uninterrupted power to its people. Behind that irony is a story of years of ineptitude.

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Bitter reality check for US, Israel

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Freedom lies behind a door, closed shut It can only be knocked down with a bleeding fist- Egyptian Poet Ahmad Shawqi (1869-1932)

After seeing US and Israel dithering over the mass uprising in Egypt, one can't help but recall the days leading to the Iranian Revolution. The cables sent by the American and other western Embassies in Tehran to their respective capitals in those days make a humorous read. Phrases like “Epitome of stability”, “Island of Stability”, “Rock solid support”, etc kept the intelligence bosses napping as Ayatollah Khomeini pulled the rug beneath the despot.

Similarly, the comments coming from intelligence bosses at Washington and Tel Aviv prior to the Egyptian uprising were peppered with similar phrases. Noted Israeli analyst Gideon Levy recounts how Israeli intelligence officers, along with their alleged best brain on Egypt, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, were briefing the country's top bosses that “Egypt was still in our hand” and how "everything is under control". They were under the impression that Cairo was not Tunis and that Mubarak was too strong to be unseated. To give credibility to his report, Ben-Eliezer also maintained that he was in regular touch with his Egyptian counterparts and they were assured that everything was under control.

The stark similarity clearly indicates how less Israeli and western agencies have learnt about the way people act and react.

“We have become tangential in the region. I'll say that US policy in the Middle East is not on purpose evil. The targets are novel. But the problem is, like an old man, the US' complete reference system is dispiritedly obsolete and no longer holds any meaning,” said Robert Grenier, a CIA veteran in the region with over three decades of experience, to TSI.

On the other hand, when Mubarak appointed intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his deputy, he was essentially playing his last ace in the kitty. Suleiman suits well to both Israelis and Americans. Any kindergarten student can tell that Suleiman, for all practical purposes, had no hold on the Egyptian streets. So why was he chosen? Well, highly placed sources close to this correspondent believe that he was zeroed in on because nobody in Egypt — not even Mubarak himself — knows the men in olive green fatigues better than him. Suleiman, as it turns out, has spent his career keeping officers in line, and on their toe. And if sources are to be believed, the guy knows the profile and history of every single officer in the Egyptian Army by heart and can predict their loyalty or the lack of it by mere sniffing. Naturally, he is going to be Washington's Man Friday in Cairo. And the first job he is expected to do is to make the security apparatus, which has evaporated since last Friday evening, fall in line.

In fact, the most interesting role in this entire episode has been played by the Egyptian Army and even the police. Hosni Mubarak was a man in uniform till he decided to enjoy further largesses. However, even after taking on the mantle of a dictator, he always made sure that his officers got duly rewarded in cash and kind. However, as is the way of the world, there exists no gratitude in politics.

Another veteran CIA man of the region Robert Baer tells TSI, “The forces, as well as the police, has realised that this a mass protest where people from all classes and religions are participating. It is not like the past when they were asked to run through a rag-tag group of agitators or fundamentalists. They thus realised that it will be insane and harmful to their health if they are perceived to be siding with a regime that itself does not know whether it will see the next sunrise or not.”

Somewhere in between, Western capitals are desperately praying that the uprising will choose Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as its leader. In fact, they are doing more than merely praying. One needs to just monitor the shifting (and often conflicting) positions and tone taken by CNN and BBC in the past week to understand this larger game. The only problem is that ElBaradei holds far less sway over the Egyptian population than the Western powers have over him.

Theoretically, it is possible that in any interim government dominated by the men in olive green, ElBaradei will act as a straw man. Generals know that he does not have a support base worth a dime and such men are risk free. But his role will finish then and there. Because after the interim government is set up, the elections will come and as much as you might like him, ElBaradei is bound to cut a sorry figure there.

“The likely winner of truly free polls would be the Muslim Brotherhood. They are not as radical as the Islamists. But the first thing they have promised to do if they win power is to hold a referendum on Egypt's diplomatic relations with Israel. And most Egyptians would vote to cancel it,” says Gwynne Dyer, an Arab world watcher based in London whose focus is the modus operandi of the Brotherhood.

Under the circumstances, there is also a space for the rise of the secular Left in the region, the death of which brought radical Islam to the forefront. One can be sure that Leftist voices in the region would be gearing up to act as a balancing force. After all, Mao himself said, “There is great chaos under heaven – the situation is excellent.”

As for the Americans and Israelis, they must understand that it is not enough to have a smattering of embassies in line and intelligence bosses in the pocket to be accepted in West Asia. It is also essential that one invests in goodwill.

In the context, I can not resist the temptation to use the social media joke started by the celebrated Arab-American writer and a friend of mine, Ismail Khalidi. He tweeted, #US and #Israel change relationship status with #Egypt to “It's complicated” on Facebook. #Lebanon, #Syria & #Palestine 'Like' this.

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