Boom Boom India.. ?

butterball

I think many will find this extremely interesting..

I know I did.

PeakXV

Great Article - the numbers quite staggering!

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

cyberhippie

Yep nice article, containing lots of my problems and fears with the New India!!

I've seen the TV advertisng canpaign for this Aamby Valley, a host of glittering Stars like Raul Dravid, Michael Johnson etc. Extolling the virues of the place, no mention of that 8 feet wall though!!

phantom

Hmmm... nice article, but as usual, apart from mentioning the burgeoning middle class in a few scattered places, gives only one point of view of the development and libralization of india. There are many facets of india's growth and how it is pecolating down to the lowest strata of society, albeit in a very slow pace. But the benefits are going there. The picture is not that sad. A lot needs to be done. But we will get there . For sure !!!!!

Digital Drifter

ahh, yes, promoted by the Sahara group.

Interesting, the scale, staggering, the cost.

& I expect a lot of people to actually defend this.


But you know what.

The poor know where the rich live. All in one place, a ghetto.

& as they say in the Air Force, a target rich environment.

So Aamby valley will be a reminder of their folly.

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gautam_n_

lol Sounds like an eccentric and expensive prison without being punished.

abracax

May be a good idea if it helps the rich to forget there are poor people, and vice versa. Ironically, the only farmers & villagers who seem to be doing OK in India are those whose lands are being swallowed up by expanding cities. I met a guy near Bangalore whose family had been scratching out a hand-to-mouth existence for generations, and then when the new airport site was chosen nearby he was able to sell his land for a small fortune, which will probably keep him in booze for the rest of his life.

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SHIMLA

An iron curtain of the 21 st century !

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aask

The Gaurdian have no problem to lie. I'm kinda used to their biased reports that it really doesn't matter what they print.
"11,000/- acres of prime forest is slowly being converted into a city.."
The rest of the article is not so important or consequential in any case.

What is a prime forest land?
By the law of the land all of India is a forest land. Yes, including the IGI Airport and the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Parliament house and every thing else in India.
Refer to the social forestry law defining what is a forest land in India.

Now; if it is "protected reserves" or as The Guardian calls it, "Prime Forest land", it should be under the domain of the respective State forest department. Any construction have to first get approved there and then wait for approval from the Central Environment Ministry.

I haven't yet heard even a squeal from the likes of Medha Patkar or Maneka Gandhi.
For people who are not familiar : Projects of National Interest including hydel plants, Naval and Air force stations were either scrapped or re-located to protect the forests. Housing Projects will not and cannot be constructed in reserve-forest land.

The Silent Valley hydel project was scrapped in the early 80's in the same Sahyadri range(albeit, 800 kms south), so was the Pooyamkutty hydel project in the 90's, both of them critical hydel power projects in Kerala.
Still don't believe??
Bring the richest guy in India and get him to do some poaching (let alone construct) in some of those "prime forest' land and lets see what happens?

By the way regarding Guardian: Somebody still take them seriously???

cyberhippie

Fair point Aask I didn't see a lot of trees in the TV ad!!

phantom

I too think of that article only as a way to sensationalize things. There are a lot of other projects in Greater Noida and Gurgaon, which are selling the apartments at the same rates and with the same facilities as the amby valley. And they are all sold out even before a single pamphlet is out in the market.
In fact last year, I was talking to a real estate agent and he told me that the A-category (1.5 crore +) is the first one to be sold out in a mixed housing scheme, followed by B (80 lakhs to 1.5 crores) followed by C (40 lakhs to 80 lakhs).
Delhi is full of neo rich people and so are the adjoining states of punjab, UP, Haryana. And the nos. are growing every day. Dont know when these prices will stabilize

cyberhippie

I think the article makes some fair points using the Aamby project as a comparison.
The reality is that New India isn't touching everyone that an undenieable fact, just step out side and look around you, it's not that hard to spot, that abject poverty is everywhere!!

I'm prepared to wait and see how things develop it is after all early on in the game, the millions of poor might not be so patient!!
The last goverment learnt that lesson the hard way!!

Digital Drifter

& I'm sure you know, that the GOI has the power to dereserve a "protected" reserve in the name of "greater common good"?


Irrelevant to the discussion whether they agree or not. Like the rest of the people they can pick and choose their battles/

Quite and there are enough counter projects which were done in forest or protected areas

Narmada dam
Karwar naval base
sethu samudram project

Here's a 2002 quote for 1980
http://164.100.24.167/rsdebate/synop.../s09122002.htm

Yes, there has been cases where people have won out. How does this refute the amby valley project?


ummm...nothing happens. & does it explain our disappearing tiger and wildlife population. I mean, we have the laws but the tigers have still disappeared, so if a common poacher can get away.....

heh, indeedy. Otherwise they'd gone out of circulation, no?

aask

No offense my freind.
Why do you need to pick a fight. This will stray off topic, apologies in advance to the partcipants of this thread.

Those who want to continue to debate on legal or historical aspects of forests in India please PM me rather than screw up this thread.

My issue is with The Guardian not with any projects or its opponents.
Lets make it short. If Ambey valley is being built on reserve forest land I will come to Bangalore with this computer and eat it.(now don't start with how I will pass the customs with a pc or how this thing will digest; it just will).

Guardian is lying to emphasise its political bias.
De-reserving forests will take constitustional amendment.
The projects you mentioned did not consume reserve forests, except Narmada. The naval academy went from Ezhimala to Karwar for reasons of protecting forests (though it was a lie).
I'm personally associated with NBA since its founding in Jan-1988. In fact the first critique on the SSP was simultaneously published and protests organised in Trivandrum and New Delhi later that year. (taht's before Ms Patkar got into the heat of things,btw, she's just been admitted into the Ram Manohar Lohia- The Guardian can celeberate!).

Just in case you are not aware of The politics of Guardian, let me enlighten you that they are against all developmental projects(Narmada included).
They are also the foremost advocates of separating Kashmir from India.

Guardian is dreaming of re-establishing a socialist world order.
They are the most left-leaning of all mainstream ENGLISH print media.
Hence they do circulate, but, really, not seriously.

crvlvr

Rather than point to some possible bias in the news story and hijack, the thread couldn't we just discuss the more important points.. I, for one, had never heard of this project. thanks to the OP for bringinng it to light.. I did some googling and found some more interesting info:

project home page
For sale! Rs 15 cr villas at Amby Valley
High court stays Sahara's Amby Valley Project