The patch between Bhopal and Betul and beyond – towards Nagpur – needs the development of a landscape by men and machines over the next one decade. Minimum Employment Guarantee Act can be timely utilized by a development administrator – retired or serving – with some defined goals to be designed and developed over a specified period of time.
In and around and up to a distance of some five kilometers in all the four directions of Itarsi Railway junction, a litter-free zone can be created – it should be free especially from poly-products like bags, cans, wrappers, napkins and containers, strewn all around giving a nasty and awkward look and posing a challenge to the administration – both Railway and Civil (state and local body). Are we short of funds or brain power or capacity to deliver? No! But yes we are short of men who could view and purview a strategy and execute it with a missionary zeal. Maintenance and development of the land adjoining the railway track is a subject which needs serious attention sooner or later. Such a scenery and its concomitant development alone can improve the image of “Incredible India” and boost the prospects of tourism in the country. In addition we the Indians traveling by train would feel that well, we are indeed civilized human beings knowing the value of land and the need to protect it for a better look and posterity.
Stretch of lands around the track near towns and cities all over the country are unashamedly encroached and degraded with litter and sewer for decades now. They too need to be looked into, schemes drawn and projects executed without any further delay and discord. Slums near the tracks can be surveyed, low-income earners identified and shifted to multi-storied flats built especially to shelter such house-holds in a systematic manner.
Value of land is known better in countries like Japan, Israel or in densely populated areas in our own towns and metros. It needs a man-power planning of the highest order and in deepest thoughts by well-intentioned Civil Engineers and Administrators. Piecemeal attempts in the form of land reclamation by soil conservation wings attached to Agriculture Departments/Ministries and individual land-holders are not found satisfactory and sufficient in their reach and quality. Crores of rupees had already been spent on such projects during the last several decades.
Planning at the national level as well as at the state levels would ensure its implementation by a team of experts, executives and engineers mandated but undisturbed for a fixed tenure or a fairly long time for the purpose. Planning Commission can initiate this idea and involve the concerned ministries to draw detailed proposals and projects, monitor the progress in project preparation, arrange necessary approvals and sanctions from the concerned departments with adequate financial outlays – both from budgetary sources and otherwise and ensure proper and timely implementation of those projects across the length and breadth of this nation. We, the people of India, know the speed and gravity with which our planners and the bureaucrats are able to pursue and get the goods delivered in the present milieu. Many a bureaucrat or technocrat posted in Ministries/Departments in Government of India or State Governments are hardly in a position to see the end-result of any scheme/projects he or she initiates in their career in many cases. So what we need is a different sort of team totally dedicated not on the basis of their Annual Confidential Rolls but on the basis of solid commitment to work enlisted through a detailed interview for a few days in a camp. Schemes of such a nature sans proper selection of a team do normally end up soon as a decorative showpiece.
Tropical Forests of Central India between Betul and Itarsi can be developed into a beautiful tourist paradise especially to those from Gulf countries, South Asia and South East Asia for their visit during December – March. Deep in the interior forest locations, structures such as tourists’ lodges, animal watch towers, log huts, drive-in paths can be developed so that tourists can visit, stay and enjoy the Satpura ranges for a definite number of days. Plantation around the tracks in other parts of Indian Sub-continent especially near the urban centers can be taken up by the plantation wing of the Project Authority. Selection of species, nurturing of the saplings and actual plantation work need a thorough estimate, survey and sanction followed by implementation. After all every penny spent on a project should not only serve a social and environmental purpose but also take care of economic utility/commercial interests as far as possible. The best example which comes to our mind immediately is the commercial ventures designed and developed along the Super Highway (Road ways) between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by the Malaysian Authorities.
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