Gustakhi Maaf Haryana-Pawan Kumar Bansal
Forgotten Heroes of Bhakra Dam.
The great builder of the first modern temple of free India (Bhakra Dam)Slocum-Memorial should be constructed to honour him at Dam though his photo is displayed in the Nehru Centre of the Dam.
C.B.Sheoran,in his book “Dynamic Story of the Bhakra “ has rightly paid tribute to Slocum,USA based Engineer who was engaged by Government of India in his own terms for supervising the construction of Bhakra Dam .” Gustakhi Maaf Haryana” supports this demand as it will motivate today’s generation of Engineers who have become greedy barring few exceptions.Jawahar Lal Nehru,then PM used to held Slocum in such esteem that once during the visit of site he himself prepared tea for him.
And shockingly BJP leaders bark that Nehru and Congress did nothing for the development of the country.Living luxurious life at USA he stayed at site for about a decade.Such was his emotional attachment to the site that despite suffering from two heart attacks that despite requests from GOI and Punjab Government to bring heart specialists from Delhi or USA he remained satisfied with whatever medical treatment was available at Nangal hospital.Probably he wanted to die in the Lap of Bhakra, so he did not deliberately Leave the place.
Had he wanted,he could get the best of treatment anywhere in the world.Writes Sheoran that his wife reached Nangal from the USA at 8.00 am on 11 November 1961 and Slocum breathed his last on the same day at 11.50 am while feebly sipping orange juice and lying in her Lap.The great builder of the first modern temple of India was no more and a pall of gloom descended and all the residents of the colony came to pay their homage to the Legendary builder who now Lives in anecdotes.His body was flown to USA and he left the world at the age of 74 ,a few months before the expiry of his ten years contract, a year before the dam attained its full height in October 1962.Sheoran further writes that the Indian nation cannot easily pay off the debt that it owes to Slocum adding that generations will,no doubt,remember him as the harbinger of an evolutionary and revolutionary period in the history of dam construction in India which was constructed by the Engineers of the department. Slocum,a short-statured man with bright,Penetrating and Luminous eyes;was a colourful personality in the dam construction world.
He was a voracious reader of technical books and construction magazines . He was inquisitive about everything around him.He used to telI Indian Engineers,”Education alone will not pave the road to success.look at the problem,understand it and then take prompt action with dogged perseverance and tenacity which shall take you to the top “He found the connection of the Bhakra the most difficult in his career but faced every problem with courage md determination,inspiring hundreds of engineers and was the only person who successfully cut the red tape in India.Though he Iived alone at Nangal,he would never go to the club or any other social gatherings. He stayed here despite the fact that his stomach was very sensitive to Indian food and would only eat tinned food procured from the American Embassy at New Delhi and instead of drinking water at the job site would prefer chew a few white tablets that were supposed to quench thirst .
But when his opinion of blasting the hill to choke the right diversion tunnel after the hoist chamber collapse was not accepted,he was shocked and started feeling that Indian engineers were not paying him the same attention they used to pay earlier.He felt that his suggestions were not being respected and his indispensability on job had become questionable.
Shockingly this demoralised and despirited him,thus hastening his dear.RK Garg retired Engineer in Chief Haryana shared an interesting incident about Slocum,s style of functioning.”Once he sent telegram to the PM,Jawahar Lal Nehru requesting for sending some camels which were needed for the site.Nehru could not understand as what the camels will do at site.In fact he was perturbed over the Railways in arranging bogies for carrying construction materials to site.
He told Nehru that he would prefer to carry the materials on camels back.Needless to say that Railway bosses were given dressing down and directed to ensure as much bogies as Slocum demands.” Still its not late and GOI and Punjab,Haryana and Himachal Pradesh Governments can pay tributes. Tailpiece.Unsolicited advice to Modi that he should ensure that postal stamp is released in memory of Slocum as Construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya is welcome but tribute must be paid to the real Hero of modern temple of the country.
Hope that my advice will be taken in right spirit and Modi will rancour no annoyance with me .January 7, 2024 , Bansal author of three best selling books on politics ,culture and governance of Haryana including “Tips for investigative journalism “ can be contacted at Pawanbansal2@gmail.com,
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