By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
India will model a monumental reclamation plan after the Saemangeum project of coastal reclamation, the centerpiece of which is a 33-kilometer barrage in the West Sea bordering North Jeolla Province.
According to a recent India Times report, the state government of Gujarat announced that it will incorporate Korea's technical expertise in implementing the long-pending Kalpasar project, with its essence being the construction of a 34-kilometer dam across the Gulf of Khambat.
The project seeks to ease a shortage of electricity in Gujarat, while supplying water for irrigation in drought-prone areas and developing the ports along its coastline. Gujarat experiences drought once every three years, resulting in reduced agricultural productivity and impoverishment.
The state government will adopt the required technology from the Korea Rural Community Corp. (KRCC), which has been in charge of building the 33-kilometer dyke on the nation's southwestern coastline, the report said.
``This is a great opportunity to transmit our reclamation expertise. We would be happy to collaborate with India in the Kalpasar project,'' a KRCC official said.
First initiated in 1991, the Saemangeum project is expected to ultimately change the shape of Korea on the global map.
Areas lining the nation's southwestern coastline will be connected by the 33-kilometer barrier. The adjacent waters will be reclaimed for industrial, agricultural and tourism development as well as eradication of water shortage problems. The total area to be reclaimed is 160 times the size of Yeouido, according to government figures.
The KRCC and the state government of Gujarat first signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2007 to promote exchanges between reclamation experts from both sides. India also agreed to use Korea as reference in upgrading irrigation facilities in the western Indian state.
The Kalpasar reclamation has been dubbed by some as one of the most ambitious projects for modern India, and has caused much debate among political and environmental circles in Asia's second largest country.
However, momentum for the project began to pick up with a 2007 visit by a Gujarat delegation led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi. They visited the Saemangeum site and expressed their interest in Korean collaboration.
Additionally, Korea and Gujarat have been close partners in various areas of rural development. The state's chief minister and the Korean agriculture minister discussed technical cooperation to enhance agriculture productivity in Gujarat during the 2007 visit.