Garoghuli, a name derived from two words, “Garo” a north eastern mountain tribe, and “Ghuli” meaning ‘Valley’. As the name suggested, Garoghuli is located at a valley between the Lumpri and Shilarai moun tains, 15 km south west of Guwahati city in the state of Assam, India. Initially inhabited by just the Garo tribe it is now home for people of varying origins
like Bodo, Karbi, Rabham Tiwa, Boro and Assamese. Neighbored to two more villages further along the urbanized level, Garoghuli is considered to be a pe ripheral village experiencing a large amount of mi gration from the city center, urbanizing it at rapid rate and relocating the original habitants of the area.
Ahom Gaon
Gog Gaon
Garoghuli
The most prominent strength of a village over urban areas is the closely-knit com munity. Due to the lower populous and usually codependent relationship between the people of a village the community grows to know and understand each other more because of their common standings, which usually lacks in urban areas due to lack of time and vastly differing work environments. Similarly, to this, Garoghuli also has a strong inter knitted community of the residents.
The mountains covered with forest seems like to always give a peaceful breath taking view, be it covered with fog or even piercing the clouds. Even after residing in Garoghuli for decades the villagers seem to still gaze upon and adore the view every chance they get.
The tradition of using bamboo in various crafts in Assam can be traced back to when the Ahoms started to migrate here. Bamboo is such a versatile tree and a unique gift of nature that the use ranges from building pillars and even whole houses to even making small baskets or traps to catch and store fishes.
Utilizing the scenic beauty and the vernacular architecture of the site, a community run resort is made to run. The resort will completely be handled by the locals, provid ing them with not only an employment opportunity but also an opportunity to share their culture and knowledge of the mountains to any of the visitors in their own way. Having such a huge array of mountainous produce and the native’s skills entertaining the visitors and attracting more would be a piece of cake for the locals. Along with this it would also give rise to the concern of rapid urbanization, since it would be nec essary to now protect the village as the resorts thrive on this out of city experience.
Formulating an organized schedule and routes for the existing IPT vehicles operating in the area in an order which is caters the needs and benefits for both the operators and the user as well. This can be done via a community-based approach, taking in consideration the strongly knit sensible community of the village, the goal can be easily achieved. Meeting with the community leaders and the stakeholders to analyze the current pattern of demands and shortcomings of the existing unordered system. Finally by coming to a consensus with the stakeholders, formulate a schedule and put down stoppages in places with high demands.
Rivers are the lifeline for all life forms. All the civilizations are born, grew and developed on the banks of rivers. Adi ganga is one of the pa leodistributary channel of Bhagirathi Hoogh ly river across momentous since medieval to present day. The works of Bengali literature , described the Adi-Ganga course of the Bh agirathi as a principal navigation channel to the Bay of Bengal. It has been evidenced that
uncountable number of Hindu temples spe cially Kalighat and crematoriums are located along the bank of the channel and the water was used for different religious purpose. Pre viously the rain water of the Kolkata city dis charged through different small outlets into river Adi Ganga but now it has totally changed to sewage filled canal.
1991 2011 2001 2021
Distributary channel of Hooghly river flowed to the sea- connecting to the Sundarbans Adi Ganga functioned as important navigation route
Important landmarks (colonial and religious) along the banks of Adi Ganga Earlier pilgrims take a holly dip before worshiping Goddess Kali Once revitalized by William Tolly in 1775 for trade and commerce The addition of more bridges across Alipore and Tollygunge during 1820s Adi Ganga fell into pitfalls of Colonial Development
1690 1690 to 1947
Transformed into sewer due to lack of restoration and maintenance Metro route constructed on Adi Ganga in 2009
After 1947
Adi Ganga is considered as a sacred stream, originating from the Ganga, attracting pil grims from across the globe. As it’s a sacred stream various religious temples and Ghats on the banks have immerged, having their own aesthetical values. Due to these factors the presence of heritage and tourism places on both side of the canal has boomed.
Sewer drains discharge, untreated effluent from household and industries have long been directly drained directly to the Tolly Ca nal leading to the degradation of Adi Ganga impacts underwater life, ecosystem and also the local communities. Seemingly so the ca nal has neither been restored or maintained in this whole time period as well.
There is a major opportunity on promoting the tourism factor along the whole of Adi-Gan
ga by various measures. Sidewalks along the major parts of the Stream can be a starter for both promoting tourism and as well as cre ating a boundary for further encroachments. Restoring the religious and cultural values by revitalizing the community and the Ghats along the banks. And finally, a potential to re juvenate the canal itself, and make it resilient.
Due to the construction of the railway pil lars, the velocity and the flow of the canal has changed a lot. Along the same lines the rapid urbanization and encroachments have also been observed along the river polluting and shrinking it more than it already has. Heavy silt deposition can also be observed during tides and hence reduces the carrying capac ity of channel.
Sidewalk and NMT track along the canal to in crease the appeal of the site and its tourism activity along with betterment the lifestyle of the residents and the scenic beauty of the site.
In order to clean and maintain the canal, dredging and lining can be done occasional ly in order to remove silt and maintain the depth. Promoting multi-activity zones along the Ghats and boating facilities on the canal could increase the tourism factor of the area even more and also give a hand on commu nity building.
Biotopes to be implemented in order to puri fy the canal and promote underwater life. To provide a multifunctionality to these biotopes and making it a profitable model, Floating markets can be made by infusing two-three biotopes together.
Mawsynram in the eastern part of Meghalaya in the eastern region of west khasi hill can be defined as having clouds that bridge to heavens, fog that makes you realise of the 90’s movies, rain that comes and clears makes you love the weather. Located at height of 1500-2000m above sea level Mawsynram got the name from historic megaliths found in the region. Mawsynram is famous for highest 11872 mm rainfall during peak rainfall season and making it the highest rainfall region of India it also the wettest place of the earth. The temperature here varies from 15-22-degree Celsius.
Most shopkeepers are women. There is sluggishness in the village due to low activity. The villages are located at 1400m above sea level and are slightly lower topography as well as from one another. It is a 3hr ride from Guwahati and only bus and taxis work along this route. When arriv ing the fog could be the major challenge for tourist but is also the scene of awe as this heavy fog makes large boundaries of village restricted to small visible areas, one can only explore in Mawsynram
Mawsynram is one of the prime example of effective, cheap response to climate. As the houses have thatch roofs easily available in forest. The rain last from January to September and the construction work is done in this time period of September to December. the thatch itself isn’t able to fight the rain for year, the smoke from within the house acts as the coating for thatch. The government has started supplying thin tin film for people below poverty line.Having the highest rainfall, drainage of Mawsynram is also has highest natural water drainage capacity.
Published in NOSPlan 2019 magazine
Research Article & Poster Design
Dr. Sheuli Mitra
Associate Professor at School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
Dr. Kakoli Saha
Assistant Professor at School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
Anugrah Anilkumar Nagaich
Assistant Professor at Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology