Regional development and Planning

Question 1

Lakshadweep reform issue: draft acts involved?

Answer 1

a draft legislation introduced by the administrator that will have a wide ranging impact on the islands

• The Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, 2021;
• The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (PASA
• The Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021
• Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021.
  obj: develop Lakshadweep like neighbouring Maldives, “a renowned international tourist destination”.

Question 2

Lakshdweeo reform issue: issues

Answer 2

The proposals include provisions like

1. ban cow and buffalo slaughter and prohibits sale, transport and storage of beef products. This is protested as it infringes on their cultural and eating habits
2. Under the Draft Panchayat Regulation 2021, the Administration aims to bar people with more than two children from becoming a member of the gram panchayat. For those who already have more than two children, the regulation does not disqualify them provided they do not have further children. residents argue that Lakshdweep’s TFR is 1.4 acc to NFHS-5.
3. Currently, prohibition is in place on all inhabited islands, with liquor served only at resorts on the uninhabited Bangaram island. Administration has decided to allow liquor to be served at resorts that served only tourists, on inhabited islands.
4. draft LDAR seeks to oversee development of towns on the islands, with sweeping changes in the way land can be acquired and utilised. It talks of declaration of ‘planning areas’ and constitution of ‘planning and development authorities’ for preparing a land use map and register for large projects.
   
   • Residents have protested against the way it was prepared and pushed through without consultation. They fear large infrastructure and tourism projects can destabilise the ecology, and that the notification gives powers to the Administration to remove small landholdings of ST residents.
5. Anti Goonda regulation: provides for powers to detain a person for up to one year to prevent him from “acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”. It allows for detention for anti-social activities from six months to a year without legal representation. residents say that Lakshdweep has one of the lowest crime rates in India and such a stringent act is not needed

Question 3

Lakshdweep reform issue: LD does not need ‘Maldives model’ of development?

Answer 3

• deliberation of Island dev agency (IDA) , wanted that LD, with its land ownership constitutionally protected, be opened to international tourism to bring prosperity to the islanders.
• Specifically rejecting the Maldives model, the plan for Lakshadweep required that the industry had to be people-centric and enrich the fragile coral ecology.
• LD not as backward as made out to be:
  
  • has RW harvesting facilities, in every home
  • solar power covers 10% of lighting needs
  • All islands have been connected by helicopter service since 1986, and high-speed passenger boats were purchased in the 1990s by an international tender
  • islands boast total literacy. Minicoy had among the country’s first Navodaya Vidyalayas.
  • although the poverty line in terms of GDP is only slightly higher than the World Bank’s poverty threshold, Lakshadweep today has no poor people; they have a high calorific consumption from plentiful foods harvested from the lagoons and islands.
• Maldives is hardly a suitable model. Water bungalows — an expensive concept and also hazardous to the coral favoured by the NITI Aayog, would collapse in Lakshadweep’s turbulent monsoon.

Question 4

Multipurpose Projects: purposes served?

Answer 4

1. Flood control
2. Irrigation
3. HE
4. Navigation
5. Fishing
6. Tourism

Question 5

Multipurpose Projects: Bhakra Nangal Project: intro?

Answer 5

1. largest and most important
2. joint venture of PJ, Haryana and RJ
3. comprises of
   
   1. two dams at Bhakra and Nangal
   2. Nangal Hydel Channel
   3. Power houses with combined installed capacity of 1200MW
   4. Electric Transmission lines
   5. Bhakra canal system for irrigation

Question 6

Multipurpose Projects: Bhakra Nangal Project: Bhakra dam?

Answer 6

is located in HP

one of the highest straight gravity dams in the world

on Satluj river at the site of Bhakra gorge near Rupnagar (Ropar)

the reservoir created is anmed Gobindsagar lake

Question 7

Multipurpose Projects: Bhakra Nangal Project: Nangal dam?

Answer 7

liesin PJ but its lake lies across the border betn HP and PJ

constructed 13 km downstream of Bhakra dam

created as an auxiliary dam which serves as balancing reservoir for taking up daily fluctuations from bhakra dam

Question 8

Multipurpose Projects: Bhakra Nangal Project: power houses and canal system?

Answer 8

Power houses at Ganguwal and Kotla and Rupnagar as well as at Bhakra dam itself

canal system: main canal is 175 km long but the length of the canal system and that of distributaries is 1100 and 3300 km respectively

Question 9

Multipurpose Projects: DVC: intro?

Answer 9

1. About damodar River
   
   1. tributary of Hugli
   2. across two states only- JH and WB
   3. known as Deonadi in upper reaches
   4. takes a southerly turn from Bardhman town and joins the river Hugli abt 50km upstream from Kolkata
   5. imp tributaries: Bokaro, Barakar, Konar
2. Physical setting:
   
   1. Damodar valley runs through middle of Chhotanagpur plateau i.e. betn plateaus of Chhotanagpur and Hazaribagh in North and Ranchi in south
   2. it is a rift valley
   3. sudden descents and break points (points where tributaries meet the main river) have made the whole topography of undulating nature, providing suitable sites for power houses
3. Climate:
   
   1. annual rf of 125 cm
   2. in the path of tropical cyclones as well and often face stormy rainfall
4. Sorrow of Bengal
   
   1. Erratic and Heavy downpour
   2. load of debris due to abundance of weathered rocks in the hot and humid climate
   3. deforestation in the upper hills
   4. As soon as the drainage converges and crosses through a narrow bottleneck amidst the rocks at Asansol and emerges on the plains near Bardhman, the heavy amt of sediments choking its peak flow is burst open and plains below Bardhman are submerged under flood waters
5. DVC established in 1948.

Question 10

Multipurpose Projects: DVC: 4 dams?

Answer 10

1. Tilaiya dam:
   
   1. on Barakar river
2. Konar dam
   
   1. on KOnar river in Hazaribagh district, JH
   2. supplies HE to Bokaro steel plant
3. Maithon dam
   
   1. on Barakar river, a little upstream from the confluence point of Barakar and Damodar
4. Panchet Hill dam: on Damodar river

Additionally Durgapur Barrage is constructed for storage of irrigation water from these 4 dams. The irrigation water is used to irrigate 4 L Ha of land using a network of canals.

Question 11

Multipurpose Projects: DVC: benefits?

Answer 11

1. flood control
2. irrigation facilities
3. installed capacity of 260 MW
4. check on soil erosion
5. additional land reclamation for agriculture
6. navigation in Damodar river and its tributaries
7. promotio of public health through control on malaria and other diseases as a result of proper drainage of water
8. encouragement to fishing
9. tourism
10. broad industrial base to the area

Question 12

Hirakud Project?

Answer 12

1. 14 km upstream off the city of Sambhalpur
2. Along with two other dams on Mahanadi- at Tikrapara and Naraj- the three dams provide irrigation to 1 mn Ha of land in Sambalpur, Bolangir, Puri and Cuttack districts and generate 350 MW HE
3. the region served is rich in minerals

Question 13

Kosi project?

Answer 13

1. agreement was signed with Nepal in 1954 and work started in 1955
2. entire plan has been executed by India but benefits are shared with Nepal
3. 3 components
   
   1. a barrage near Hanumannagar in Nepal called Kosi barrage or Bhimnagar barrage
      
      1. straddles INdo-Nepal border
   2. Flood embankments on both sides
      
      1. Nearly 300 km long embankments
      2. provided protection to more than 15000 Ha of downstream land from recurrent floods
   3. irrigation canals: takes off from the Kosi barrage
      
      1. eastern Kosi canal: provides perennial irrigation to Purnea and Saharsa districts and further to Munger district
      2. Western Kosi canal: irrigates Darbhanga district and Satpari district in Nepal
4. Electricity generated is shared 50:50 betn India and Nepal