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The builder's path

Five steps from a problem to its solution.

For: Villagers along the Kulsi River on the Assam–Meghalaya border can't see what the proposed dam would mean for their own village.

“The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.”
Plato · Republic II, 369c (tr. B. Jowett)

Routes to a solution

Six ways to take this forward

Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Meghalaya.

  1. Step 1

    Find a lab or university incubator

    Researchers and students who can test it properly.

    • DST NIDHI ↗

      Department of Science and Technology support from idea to startup, through technology business incubators.

    • BIRAC ↗

      Grants and incubation for biotech and health innovation.

    • Startup India ↗

      The national startup programme: recognition, schemes and a directory of incubators.

    • Atal Innovation Mission ↗

      NITI Aayog's mission: Atal Incubation Centres and challenges for social problems.

  2. Step 2

    Win a research grant

    Funding for a rigorous trial or study.

    • DST NIDHI ↗

      Department of Science and Technology support from idea to startup, through technology business incubators.

    • BIRAC ↗

      Grants and incubation for biotech and health innovation.

    • Social Alpha ↗

      Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.

    • SINE, IIT Bombay ↗

      IIT Bombay's incubator for technology startups.

What this problem needs

Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.

  • Maps
  • Accessibility
  • Open data

Ideas to explore

  • Idea 1Village impact mapPlot the dam site, the reservoir at full level and the 46 villages from public elevation data, and let each village see whether it lies above, below or inside the affected area.
  • Idea 2Consent and consultation logList every approval the project needs (including the traditional chiefs' no-objection certificates) and show which have been sought, granted or refused.

Talk to first

  • Assam-Meghalaya Joint Protection Committee (AMJPC)

    Coordinates villagers' opposition on both sides of the border and named the 46 affected villages.

  • West Khasi Hills district administration ↗

    District on the Meghalaya side of the proposed dam.

  • Brahmaputra Board

    Prepared the project's detailed project report.

Starter prompt

Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.

Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India.

Problem: Villagers along the Kulsi River on the Assam–Meghalaya border can't see what the proposed dam would mean for their own village.
Who it hurts: Bodo, Garo, Khasi and Rabha villagers in West Khasi Hills (Meghalaya) and Kamrup (Assam) who live near the proposed Kulsi dam site.
The moment it hurts: Hearing that a 62-metre dam is planned upstream or downstream, without knowing whether their land, fields or homes fall in the area it would affect.
What people do today: Villagers rely on rallies, a joint protection committee and their traditional chiefs, while the project's details sit in a detailed project report costed at 2017 prices.
Why it is still unsolved: The project spans two States and a disputed boundary, its documents are technical and not shared village by village, and villagers want local communities and traditional institutions consulted before the project goes ahead.
What solved looks like: A public, plain-language page for the Kulsi project with a map of the dam site, the area it would submerge or irrigate and the 46 villages named as affected, the key figures from the project report, and a record of every consultation and consent required, in Khasi, Garo, Bodo, Assamese and English.
Where: West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India

First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions.
Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use.
Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
  1. Understand it

    Talk to the people who live it before you build.

    “Arise, awake; seek out the wise and learn.”

    उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत

    uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata

    Kaṭha Upaniṣad · 1.3.14
  2. Prototype with AI

    Get a working version in front of people fast.

    Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.

    “The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
    Ada Lovelace · Notes on Menabrea's Sketch of the Analytical Engine, Note A (1843)
  3. Find the data

    Open data that fits this problem.

    “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
    Richard Feynman · Cargo Cult Science, Caltech commencement address (1974)
  4. Build it

    Tools matched to what this problem needs.

    “Let a person lift themselves up by their own self.”

    उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं

    uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ

    Bhagavad Gītā · 6.5
  5. Launch and get support

    Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.

    “Speak the truth. Do what is right.”

    सत्यं वद। धर्मं चर।

    satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃ cara

    Taittirīya Upaniṣad · 1.11.1

Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.