We
will talk about how the foundations of new India should be, Our foundations are
already very strong Let us talk about the foundation of India and the topic of
construction.
The
IITs are the first to cross our minds because the graduates of IITs are
working in companies from across the world. They're running the world. (Some of
them) are either the CEOs of the company or the owners of the companies.
Next,
let us talk about AIIMS, it is said to be the premier medical
institution in South Asia. Furthermore, there is Bhabha Atomic research
Centre, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, DRDO, ISRO.
What
do I say about ISRO, it keeps even the NASA amazed with its cost
efficiency And now even the success rate of ISRO has improved
drastically.
On
top of that, there are dams, power projects, etc, which Nehru had referred to as
the "New Temples of India" at one point of time, And it is not
like there are only old, established projects.
Even
if you consider the new projects, there
are several such projects which prove to be a boon for the citizens. Consider
it yourself, the gradually burgeoning metros in every city, India becoming a
world power in solar power, highest, longest rail bridges and tunnels which
require immense technical expertise Along with that, every day some new highway
or project or airport is getting inaugurated somewhere or the other.
All
these things are definitely evident by their foundations that are being placed
all around us, but it rarely happens
that one single project unites the entire country and makes the citizens feel a sense of pride.
We
will talk about a few such projects. Some new projects from across the world
that made the citizens in their respective countries proud and alongside that took the country on the
path of progress.
How
and what are these projects- Come, let us find out.
Finland
Oodi
Photo by Julius Jansson on Unsplash
Let
we begin with Finland Oodi not the Bengali version of Oodi Baba, The Finnish version, meaning ode Looks like the people in Finland still have
not caught on the WhatsApp fever. They still read books.
In
Finland, 68 million books were borrowed in the last year alone! Since
they read so much- On the anniversary of the 100th birthday of Finland, The
Finnish people deliberated about what special thing they could do for their
birthday.
So,
they gave approval to the Oodi library in Helsinki, which took 100
million Euros to build. It is not just a home for books. The building also
houses a cinema and a recording studio. It can be considered as a community center
where people can come read, relax, and indulge in conversations.
Generally,
when a monument is built, its tourist value remains limited It is always
claimed that so many people would come to see it, but there's very little positive
addition. But in the case of Oodi library, more than 4.5 lakh people
came to see the library in the first year itself.
The population
of Helsinki is around 6-6.5 lakhs. In a way, it could be said
that the entire city came to see the library. Three million visitors from
across the world came to see this library. So, first of all, it served as a
community center. It benefited the country economically as well, And the
progressive sense of the people also got enhanced. This is an example of a
positive architecture and a positive symbol.
These
Dubai people are bonkers They
insisted on making their homes right in the middle of the ocean. In terms of
civil engineering, it is nothing short than the 8th Wonder of the World. They
have intruded 5 kilometers into the Arabian Gulf and made an artificial,
manmade island that looks like a date palm tree, and that was filled with 7
million tons of rock blasted from the nearby Hajar Mountains.
So,
first of all, a rock bed was made. Then, it was given a shape upon which real estate was built, Satellite
imagery was used to give a shape to the plot/island. It took 6 years to complete this project at a cost of 12 billion
dollars.
So,
what did that lead to? What did invest in such a mega project result in? It
became a symbol of Dubai with the help of which they began attracting tourists
and advertising themselves.
Today,
there are top hotels, posh apartments, upmarket, global restaurants and beach
clubs there. The DJs play music at nights here too. So, overall, Palm
Jumeirah had a huge role to play in making Dubai a global tourist
destination.
ITER-
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
 |
| The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is under construction in southern France. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Flickr (CC BY 2.0) |
which
is being built at a cost of 20 billion dollars in France, And no, France is not the only one making it. It is being built
with an international collaboration between
China, European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the US.
So,
what is being done with these 20 billion dollars? They are basically
trying to recreate what happens in the sun and what produces sunlight and energy
in the sun.
When
we talk about nuclear energy right now, it relies on "Fusion" wherein
a heavy chemical element is split to produce lighter ones. Nuclear fusion is
its opposite, where lighter elements are combined to make a heavier element.
This
produces a lot of energy and that too, without much radiation!
So,
it is also considered safer. But it is a very complicated process because it
would require a recreation of the sun's gravitational forces for this. This is
why, it is a long-standing project and is an international collaboration, but
such mega projects are being carried out in the world.
People
are investing money in it and India is a party to this too. What will this lead
to tomorrow? Your petrol bills might come
down because when it does become possible, Imagine deriving power from
Hydrogen, and then we would have access
to limitless energy.
The
Belt and Road
 |
| U.S. GLOBAL INVESTORS |
The
Belt and Road initiative of China, which will take around 50 years
to conclude has a massive role to play in this occupation. In short, Belt
and Road initiative is being undertaken by China to recreate its
historical Silk Road, and not only by land but also by the sea this
time.
There
are talks of ultimately 65 countries becoming a part of it, which make 60%
of the world's population and 40% of the global GDP. There are 130
countries that have signed an understanding which will help China in spreading
its investments all over the world.
The
Belt and Road corridor will cost around 1 trillion dollars to make and
its estimated end date is around 2050. China is working on such long-term
plans.
We're
banning Chinese apps here and China meanwhile, is trying to take over the world.
This, very clearly, shows that the "construction philosophy" of China
is far too long term for us to see and make sense of right now.
SpaceX
I
would like to mention is not a construction project in a technical term. But ISRO
has become a world-class organization, despite the lack of so many things and
resources and manufactures world-class rockets.
But
there is one man and one company that has outshined the decades-long work of
both ISRO and NASA, by working at a faster pace than them. That
company, of course, is SpaceX and the man is Elon Musk.
This
company is less than 20 years old, but they started manufacturing
reusable rockets. The rocket that goes until the upper atmosphere, launches the
satellite and lands back on earth so that the rocket can be used again.
This
concept and visualization is somewhat like a science fiction And after that, Elon Musk got support
from the government as well. Elon Musk recently sent the NASA
astronauts to International Space Station in his own rocket, and then
they were retrieved, absolutely safe and sound.
This
shows that when the government recognizes a private individual and a private
company, and wants to work in collaboration with them. Then it becomes a matter
of pride for the country and the country progresses as well.
It
is extremely interesting that ISRO has now allowed private companies and
private participants to now go into space and has allowed them to work in the
space field So, it might be that the
next Elon Musk is from India!
So,
let us come back to earth from space and look at how the situations in India at
present are I'm talking about the pre-COVID scenario.
After
COVID, the entire world is a difficult place, Talking about the pre-COVID times, 400-500 of our mega infrastructure projects are running
delayed and there are cost overruns.
Considering
this 400-500 statistic, somewhere around 10 lakh crores have been
invested in them, and their cost overrun is around 40-50%, that is 5
lakh crores extra would be used up.
Our
money- The taxpayers' money is being invested in these projects. The problem
is that in India, we launch the projects very nicely, but are unable to fulfill
them.
Take
for instance-
The
Dholera project,
The
Bullet train project,
The
Navi Mumbai Airport.
These
are mega projects that have been launched but their completion is nowhere in
sight. Plus, their cost runs, in most of the cases, goes to them from our
pockets. In the end, if I talk about "construction", then a lot of
the middle-class people that are trying to pay EMIs in the midst of this COVID
crisis.
There
are 1.75 lakh houses in major towns that are yet not completed. No one
knows how many such under-construction houses there are if the smaller towns are
taken into consideration as well. Talking about "construction", the
country is in dire need of it.
The
country needs to lay down a new foundation which takes up these infrastructure
projects on a priority basis so that our homes are built on a priority basis
and after that, we may even send rockets into space like Elon Musk.
What
is the world-building, and what are the things that we should focus upon? There
is a need to lay down a new foundation and take up a new construction wherein
infrastructure projects and the housing projects are given priority?
Only
then, we would be able to say that India is treading on the path to
become a superpower nation. Irrespective of whether there is public
participation or private participation, we need to make this new start.
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