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The
four ills of casteism, corruption,
criminalisation of politics and inequitable land
distribution have been repeated ad infinitum as
reasons for Bihar’s backwardness and accepted as
conventional wisdom. But is that the truth?
Let’s look at how Bihar fares in some key Centre
created infrastructure.
Bihar & Jharkhand and the new highways
Have a look at a map of the new highways being
built by NHAI:
http://www.nhai.org/nhdpmain_english.htm
Inevitably, a good portion of these passes
through Bihar and Jharkhand. The alignment will
not serve most Bihar and Jharkhand towns: Patna,
Ranchi, Gaya, Ara, Chhapra, Bhagalpur,
Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Dhanbad or Jamshedpur!
Muzaffarpur is the sole exception to prove the
rule. The up country cousins from "backward"
states are considered unfit to be served by such
modern wonders! Or maybe we should call them the
Bihar bypass!!!
Is this plain incompetence, deliberate mischief
or the inherited imperial mindset of Delhi
planners? Either way, the visible outcome is
that none has thought to make these locally
useful.
See the tortuous turns these highways take in
other states. Look at UP where most towns with a
population over 5 lakhs are connected. Being
land locked, Bihar can’t have ports. Highways
are the only means of transportation. If these
highways do not serve the population centres,
why build them?
Bihar became self sufficient in food in 2004 –
fabulous example of a green revolution without
Centre’s investment in irrigation or any others.
Bihar is expected to become food surplus in a
couple of years. Properly aligned roads are a
must to transport the produce to the markets for
adequate returns. But we wait to snatch defeat
from the jaws of victory to demoralise the
farmers!
Bridges over Ganga
Another example are the bridges over Ganga. The
river divides truncated Bihar into two roughly
equal halves and inadequate communication across
the river has hampered economic growth for
centuries. The length of Ganga in UP is 1170 km
and Bihar is 445 km. Bihar has more population
density along Ganga and therefore the bridges
would serve more people. Let’s ignore the
population and just go by the river length. UP
should have a maximum of three times the number
in Bihar. But what is the reality?
There are just three bridges in Bihar: at
Bhagalpur, Mokama and Patna. There is another
one at Buxar which starts in Bihar and ends in
UP. That makes it three and a half. And the
number in UP? Over fifteen! Delhi, divided by
Yamuna, has a mind-boggling 8 for a river length
of maybe 50 km!! Indeed some are born with a
silver spoon. This cannot but leave one numb at
the extent of discrimination.
Surprisingly, there has been no informed debate
about these at any level. A mention of these has
been conspicuous in any media: press or
television - by its absence. Let the readers
draw their own conclusions about the
underdevelopment of Bihar.
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Comments: |
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Very valid points by TVS. What most
Indians should appreciate is that
lack of infrastructure not only
hurts Bihar but also has a very
negative impact on India growth
rate. Having a state the size of
Germany on a sub-optimal growth
hurts our growth potential
especially if we want to
catch-up/beat China growth rates.
Even after the split of Jharkhand,
Bihar is the most potent supplier of
India's biggest asset that is human
capital and also agri-produce,
ethanol etc. Hope progressive
Indians from all states see sense
and raise their voice. - Atul
Kumar - Dec. 4, 2006 |
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