@prashanthamine
Mumbai: Be it domestic politics, international politics or in matters of key infrastructure projects we in India have displayed a remarkable often suicidal penchant for hurting our own long term and strategic interests. We have not been able to rise above our petty regional and domestic political considerations and adopt a “bipartisan approach” when it comes to foreign policy and infrastructure projects. The result is that we often tend to throw the baby along with the bath water and the bath tub, without realising what untold damage we have done unto ourselves.
According to the leaked Intelligence Bureau (IB) report of 2014 on some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) funded by donors in US, UK, Germany and Netherlands have been using people to create an environment whereby mega infrastructure projects like Vedanta, Narmada Sagar, uranium mines, extractive industries and others in state’s like Odisha, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and the North-East. The IB had in its report had forecasted a negative impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is assessed to be at 2 to 3 percent per annum.
Already the hackles have been raised over the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) decision to declare 600 to 808 acre Aarey Milk Colony land as ‘forest land”, one of worlds unique first of its kind forest in any city. It makes one wonder as to what is to become of the adjacent Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali. The government has decided to shift the already much completed Metro 3 carshed out of Aarey Milk Colony site to a marshy land in Kanjurmarg in North-Eastern suburban Mumbai.
Some of the 162 world’s most famous nature parks within metropolitan city limits include – Chugach State Park, Alaska, USA, 495,199.2 acres; Tabletop National Park, Cape Town, South Africa, 54,610.3 acres; Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad, Pakistan, 42,961.7 acres; Pedra Branca State Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 30,626.2 acres and MacDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale, USA, 30,394.0 acres.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali is categorized as level II national park is 21,498.2 acres (87 Sq Kms) and does not figure in the International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The 808 acres of Aarey Milk Colony land comes to about just 3.26986 Sq Kms.
It has become a penchant for any new government to stall major projects, especially infrastructure projects. Projects like the Bandra-Worli Sea Link or the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro line which should have been completed in three to four years, have taken almost a decade to complete. Or the Gosekhurd Dam in Bhandara district which has been under construction since 1984. Or the 4 year delay in completion of the Jog flyover at Andheri East on the Western Express Highway is another example of how protracted legal battles can affect the project.
Delays in execution of projects due to protracted political and legal battles, foreign funded agitations have only resulted in project getting delayed, cost escalations and ultimately the people paying for it.
We are yet to realise the importance of “bipartisanship” when it comes to infrastructure projects or foreign policy matters. A classic example of how at times our falsely idealistic, misplaced priorities in foreign policy matters is that we have never been able to exploit the dark underbellies of hostile and rogue nations like Pakistan or China.
Taiwan is not just known Foxconn Technology Group from Taipei, it is also known for its Semiconductor industry. More importantly it is not just known for its Software companies, but also computer chip making Hardware industries as well. It is way ahead of China which is why the latter still tries to threaten Taiwan with illegal occupation. Our policy makers have been hesitant in exploiting the dark underbelly or weaknesses of mainland China when it comes to issues like Tibet, Uyghurs, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Unfortunately we have leaders who have no qualms in seeking support from our arch enemies in settling our internal issues.
But given our penchant for politicizing infrastructure projects, or subverting our own national interests when it comes to foreign policy matters, it has often cost us dearly and set back our development by decades.
Take for example, the narrative that is now doing the rounds of corridors of power is that software giants are locating themselves in southern states of India, film cities in other parts of the country, international financial center in Gujarat; and what we have got in Maharashtra is Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Bharat Diamond Bourse and Vada Paav stalls.
Certainly, there needs to be a bipartisan approach to critical infrastructure needs of the country. Once the project has cleared the necessary administrative, environmental and judicial scrutiny, reevaluation should only be restricted to only any oversight or any charges of corruption. The way we have been falling prey to dubious externally funded agitations, stalling our own future development based on malicious data is why it takes decades to complete one project. Our policies have often sent wrong misleading signals to the outside world.
