Natural resources and

their
Utilization
Forest :colonial policy
 Conservation of forest formed an integral part of Vedic tradition of India.
 Maurya kingdom-Chandra gupta –appointed officers to look after the forest.
 Forest policy of India changed over a period of time, arrival of British and
their perception about forest created enormous change in the forest cover,
forest resources and rights of tribals.
 Forest management and conservation can be broadly divided into two periods
i)colonial period ii) Post colonial period
 Forest policy includes variety of topics like timber supply, sale and
pricing ,forest taxation, international trade, forest management standards ,
deforestation, forest ownership , property rights and policy reforms.
Forest policy during colonial period
 During colonial rule , forest policy gave much importance to
exploitation of forest resources without concerning reservation.
 Huge quantity of natural resources were exploited in the name
development.
 Colonial British administration realised the international demand for
timber and potential monetary benefits from the forest, strict rules
were enforced by compulsion to bring all forests under the state
control.
 Over exploitation of forest resources during British administration
marked a new phase in the use of forest produce in India.
 They gave much importance to the forests than the dependent
people .
Forest policy
 According to the concept of "ecological imperialism”(Alfred Crossby)
the native ecosystems of the New World were destroyed by a
complex array of plants, animals, and diseases introduced by
European migrations and biological expansion.
 Gadgil and Guha (1992) predicted colonialism in India as an
ecological turning point based on this idea.
 According to them, colonialism's extraordinary interference in the
natural and social fabric of Indian society is comprised of three key
components:
 (a) a switch from production focused on survival to production
focused on commerce;
 (b) The dissolution of strong local communities and the institutions
that supported them, along with the rise of individualism in their
place; and
 C) development of markets as the focal points for coordinating access
to resources has led to the breakdown of a system of restrictions on
traditional resource use.
Forest acts and ecological warfare
 In the 19th century, extensive commercial logging got its start.
Compared to past rulers, European businessmen and the colonial
state had significantly higher expectations.
 For the Bombay marine, contractors cut down several teak woods on
the Western Ghats between 1800 and 1830.
 The growth of tea and coffee plantations in Assam and the Bengal
Hills after 1840 and the spread of coffee plantations in the South
further sped up the process.
 Due to demand from the shipbuilding, iron smelting, and other
sectors, the commercial need for timber was increasing by the year
1860.
 To suit the needs of the Royal Navy, ships were built in Surat and
along the Malabar Coast, and teak wood was exported. These
activities significantly accelerated the deforestation and denudation
process.
 Another significant factor in commercial logging after the 1850s was
the growth of railways.
Forest policy 1855
 Historically, modern Forest Policy in India began in 1855, when the first
Governor General Lord Dalhousie issued a memorandum entitled "Charter of
Indian Forest.
 Under the 1855 policy, the British government restricted the rights of the forest
dwellers over forest resources.
 In order to implement the 1855 policy, the British government set up an
administrative system, i.e., the Forest Department.
 for the first time. the systematic management of forest began in India with the
appointment of a trained German forester D.Brandis as the first Inspector
General of Forest in 1856.
 The very objective of the management of forests was to restrict the supplies of
timbers for various purposes and protect and treat it as a growing biological
entity.
 the Government abandoned the rights of the individuals on forest resources and
set an immediate task before the newly created Forest Department, such as (i)
exploration of resources, (ii) demarcation of reserves, (iii) protection of forests
from the fire, (iv) control on shifting cultivation and (v) assessment of growing
stock in valuable reserves by sample enumerations and prescription of yields
which could be sustained.
 The objective of the Government of India was to treat forest as a state property
Colonial British -Forest Acts
 The first Forest Act 1865, which was passed under the British rule for
the management and preservation of government forests, came into
force on 1st May, 1865.
 The primary objective of the Act was to empower the government to
declare any land which was covered with trees or brushwood as forest
by its notification.
 Under the Act, the Government was empowered to make rules relating
to the preservation of trees.
 Under this Act the government was also empowered the forest
administration to give punishment if anyone breaches the provisions of
the Act.
 However, the forest which had considered as common-property
resources, prior to Britisher’s came under the authority and control of
the government under the Act.
 The Indian Forest Act,1865 was declared the British Administration’s
monopoly over the forests of India.
Colonial British -Forest Acts
 Forest Act, 1878
 The Indian Forest Act, 1878, was the revised version of the Forest Act 1865. It was
more comprehensive than the earlier Act, 1865.
 Under this Act, forests were classified into three category, namely,
 i) Reserved, ii) Protected and iii) Village Forests.
 Through this Act the British Government further empowered itself and restricted
the forest dwellers to move inside the forest.
 The basic aim of the act was to remove local rights in the reserved forest and keep
them exclusively as Government reserves .
 Certain acts Iike, trespass or pasturing of cattle were prohibited in the reserved
forests.
 It was attempted to regulate the collection of forest produce by forest dwellers and
some activities declared as offence and imprisonment and fines were imposed.
 Protected forests were those forests areas where it was not possible to reduce local
use ,while village forests were to be assigned to fulfill subsistence needs.
 The village forests were to be created from parts of the reserve forests to meet the
needs of the local communities and were to be managed by these communities
under the supervision of the forest department
 Forest policy 1894
 The Forest Policy, 1894, was the first formal forest policy in India which gave
importance to commercial exploitation of forest products, state custodianship and
permanent cultivation.
 This policy consists of two major declaration :i) the conservation of forest is the
primary than the claims of forest preservation; ii) the public benefit was the sole object
of forest administration.
 However, it had clearly stated that the Government could impose restrictions on the
rights of the forest dwellers because the state was the sole administering authority
over forest.
 In this policy, the tribals and the rural landless could be easily deprived of their source
of livelihood.
 The major drawback of this policy was that the restriction of rights by the British
Government had negative impact on the forest dwellers.
 Due to this restriction, forest dwellers suffered from malnutrition, impoverishment and
indebtedness. Further, it led to the overexploitation of forests which remained
accessible to them after the Government closed all other forests.
 Only after such destruction of forest, the 1894 Forest Policy was changed, the British
Government realised that forests need to be used for economic purpose as well as for
the survival of forest dweller because no other sources were available for their income.
Indian Forest Act, 1927
 The Indian Forest Act, 1927, was new codified forest legislation on people's
rights over forest land and produce.
 The Act also strengthened the provisions of the Act of 1894.
 The main objective of this forest legislation was to increase the revenue for
the government.
 In this Act, the Government, instead of conserving the forest for the interest
of people, allowed the export of valuable timbers for remunerative purpose.
 Under this Act, tea, coffee, rubber and pine plantations were raised by
cutting down large natural forests in many hilly and mountainous regions of
the country in order to serve the interest of the Empire.
 Act impacted the life of forest dependent communities-extended the state’s
control over the forest and diminished the status of people’s rights to forest
use.
 The village communities were alienated from their age-old symbiotic
association with forests.
Colonial British -Forest Acts
 lnfact, the British forest policies were mainly aimed at supplying of
timber and other forest resources to their forest-based industries and
commercial exploitation of forests was encouraged at the cost of the
tribals in the name of national interest.
 There is no doubt that the various measures have taken place during
the British period restricted the rights of the forest-dwellers and the
tribals, extended administrative control over forests and resulted into
its increasing commercial exploitation.
COLONIAL FOREST POLICY and its impact on
indigenous communities
 colonial Forest Acts had a number of disastrous effects for the people who
relied on foraging for food and shifting cultivation.
 The Acts imposed an unnecessary division between forestry and agriculture.
 many of the customary rights held by rural and tribal people were abolished.
 Prohibitions on shifiting cultivation and grazing activities seriously harmed
the inhabitants' quality of life.
 State control replaced the local usage and control pattern.
 colonial officials forced many tribal populations to transition to settled
agriculture because they thought it had a higher potential for revenue
generation.
 Colonial state’s redefinition of property rights became a key factor in the
colonization of the land.
 The indigenous populations used a range of modes of resistance, including
as migration, violation of forest rules, legal assertion of their rights to open
fights or revolt, to express their complaints against the alliance between the
colonial state and money-lender-traders.
THE CRIMINAL TRIBES ACTS AND BRANDING OF
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
 The 'criminal tribe' ideology was created by the convergence of several different
ideological components.
 Cesare Lombroso's hereditary-based theory of crime, viewed criminals as belonging
to a distinct species with unique genetic and physical characteristics.
 The Criminal Tribes Act (1871) provided for registration of all or any member of such
tribes who were notified as ‘criminal tribes
 The British officials' portrayal of entire castes and communities as "criminal" was a
part of a larger discourse in which caste and community determined each member's
professional, social, and moral profile.
 The "criminal tribes" were simultaneously labelled as normal and abnormal. Over
150 tribes were designated as "criminal" under the Criminal Tribes Act (1871). The
majority of these belonged to socially and traditionally marginalised communities.
 A unique set of laws, regulations, and practises were established for dealing with
the "criminal classes" by the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. The right of appeal in a
regular court of law was denied to the members of certain castes and tribes.
 Post-independence, in 1947, the Bombay government set up a committee to look
into criminal tribes.’ After a long campaign, the number of tribes listed under the act
was reduced
Forest policy in independent India
 In the post-Independent India, the country came to face various
problems related to the forestry.
 Soon after Independence the Government took certain measures to
preserve forest resources.
 A new development took place in the area of forest management in
the post-independence phase.
 In the early 1950s, most of the states were enacted new legislations
affecting land tenure systems.
 Independent India formulated policies for forest conservation and
management with national interest intended to reduce the over
exploitation of forests.
 The major forest policies after independence includes –forest policy of
1952,National commission on Agriculture 1976, and Indian forest
policy of 1988.
Forest policy
 Indian Forest Policy, 1952:It was a simple extension of colonial forest policy.
However, it realized that the amount of forest needed to cover the land needed
to be increased to one-third of the overall area.
 Use of forest by adjoining village communities was relatively restricted at the
cost of national interests.
 The drawback of 1952 policy was that always had a commercial perspective,
where industrial demands were satisfied without any consideration for natural
regeneration or compensatory reforestation. The political environment used the
forest land carelessly to achieve their political objectives.
 In most parts of the country large section of ecologically sensitive areas were
destroyed to make way for big projects such as power, mining, irrigation and
industrial ventures and infrastructure like roads and railways
 National Commission on Agriculture 1976 –devoted part IX of its report to
forestry.
 The National Commission on Agriculture coined the phrase "social forestry" in
1976 when the Indian government sought to lessen pressure on forests by
planting trees on every vacant and fallow land.
Social forestry
 Social forestry is the management, preservation, and reforestation of forests with
the aim of promoting social, rural, and environmental development.
 It was designed to meet the primary needs of the tribal and rural population and
completely opposed for the industrial and revenue purpose.
 The fundamental principle of social forestry is effective management and
protection of the forest while the environment is being developed.
 The objective is to raise plantations by the people so that fulfill the demand for
timber , fodder , fuelwood
 The programmes, which were implemented across the nation, quickly changed the
country's overall forest cover.
 It was supposed to be a democratic method of preserving and using forests,
maximizing the use of the land for many purposes.
 The Indian government made an effort to enlarge forest areas that were adjacent
to populated regions and that had suffered degradation as a result of human
activity.
 In addition to being planted in and around agricultural fields, trees were also to be
planted along railway tracks, roadways, the banks of rivers and canals, village
common property, public waste land and panchayat land.
 One of the objectives was to make more fuel available in rural areas and to stop
soil erosion.
Social forestry schemes have the main objectives
to:

 improve the environment in order to ensure agriculture is protected

from harmful climatic factors
 Increase the supply of fuelwood for domestic use, small timber for
rural housing, fodder for livestock, and minor forest produce for local
industries,
 Increase the natural beauty of the landscape; create recreational
forests for the benefit of rural and urban populations,
 Provide jobs for unskilled workers,
 Effect land rehabilitation , and
 Raise the standard of living and quality of life of rural and urban
people.
Social forestry schemes can be categorized into
 Farm forestry ; Community forestry ;Extension forestry ; Agroforestry
 Farm forestry is the practise of growing trees for both commercial and non-commercial uses on
farmland. The majority of India's social forestry initiatives were centred on the custom of
growing trees on farmland, which was already prevalent in many regions. In addition to growing
trees for firewood, farmers frequently do so to shade their crops, act as windbreaks, conserve
soil, or reclaim unused land.
 In community forestry, the government donates seedlings and fertiliser to the locals, who are
then in charge of caring for and safeguarding the trees on their territory. This benefits the group
as a whole rather than the individual. On a vast scale, Eucalyptus trees that grow quickly have
been planted. While some communities sell the mature timber for a one-time capital
divestment, others manage these plantations prudently and sustainably for ongoing benefits.
 Extension forestry is the practise of expanding the limits of forests by planting trees along the
sides of highways, canals, and railroads as well as on wastelands. As a result, there are now
wooded areas on panchayat holdings, government wastelands, and village common lands.
 In agroforestry, cattle raising, orchard farming, agricultural crops like legumes, and silvicultural
practises are all mixed on the same plot of land. It is described as a sustainable land-use system
that uses management practises that take into account the social and cultural traits of the local
population as well as the economic and ecological condition of the area to combine food crops
with forest tree and livestock ranching on the same unit of land while maintaining or increasing
the total yield.
Forest policy
 Forest Conservation Act, 1980:
 seeks to balance the competing interests of development and environmental
conservation.
 aim to regulate the diversion of forestland for non-forestry purposes, ensure the
sustainable use of forest resources, and promote afforestation and reforestation
activities.
 The Forest Conservation Act 1980 has been amended several times over the years
to address various issues and make it more effective in conserving forests and
regulating the diversion of forestland for non-forestry purposes.
The National Forest policy 1988 focuses primarily on forest preservation,
conservation, and development. The key themes of the National Forest Policy
1988 were the preservation and restoration of ecological equilibrium, as well as the
protection of forests as national heritages containing numerous types of flora and
animals.
National Forest Policy 1988 – Achievements includes –
Significant increase in the forest and tree cover.
Participation of local communities in forest preservation, conservation, and
management through the Joint Forest Management Programme.
Joint Forest Management Policy (JFM)
 After a long history of forest policy, the policy planners and forest
administrators began to develop new strategies to reduce the conflict
between the state agencies and rural people.
 An attempt was made to facilitate the emergence of collaborative forest
management systems that responded to national needs and local
resources requirements.
 In this strategy, it came to widely recognise that the active involvement
of rural and tribal people living in and around forest was crucial for the
ultimate success of forest protection, regeneration and management
activities.
 In this perspective, the National Forest Policy, 1988, outlined the scope for
people's participation in forest management in one of its basic objectives.
 The policy highlighted on "creating a massive people movement with the
involvement of women for achieving these objectives and to minimise
pressure on existing forests''.
important features of JFM Programme:

1. Communities living in the villages are given the responsibility of
protecting, managing and conserving the forest area surrounding the
village. For doing the same they are required to form forest protection
and village protection committees, and societies for the conservation
and development of village forests etc.

 2. These bodies, organized by villagers, have an executive committee

to manage the daily functions.

 3. The key aim of this programme is in alignment with the authorized

Joint Forest Management Project, to protect forests from invasion,
grazing, stealing and burning, and also to improve forests.

 4. In return, members of these village communities are provided with

intermediate incentives such as non-timber forest resources.
The Salient features of the JFM model of
forestry programme:
 1. Access to forest lands and usufructory benefits therein will belong to nearby
villagers only if they form an association. Each member is then an equal-share
beneficiary.
 ii). Beneficiaries shall be entitled to usufructs like grasses, lops and tops of branches
and all non-timber forest produce. On the successful protection of forest, they are
also to be given a portion of the proceeds from the sale of trees when they mature.
 iii). Along with trees for fuel, fodder and timber, the association may plant fruit trees
as well as shrubs, legumes and grasses in the allotted forest patch.
 IV. Grazing in the forest allotted to the association is prohibited, as the beneficiaries
can cut and carry grass free to their cattle sheds.
 v. No ownership or lease rights over the forest land including assignment of the forest
land will accrue.
 vi. In case of failure to protect the area from grazing, encroachment etc. the
usufructory benefits may be withdrawn.
 Under the above provisions of the JFM, the programme outlined the vital role to the
forest department in implementing the programme effectively
Forest Rights Act: Brief history
 indigenous inhabitants coexisted with the forests during the 19th century, living as Jhum
cultivators, Hunter-Gatherers, Animal Herders, and Settled cultivators leading a sustainable
relationship with forest.
 The British usurped indigenous peoples' rights to their own forestlands and changed the
forests from being a common property resource, to being a state owned property.
 In India after independence, unsurveyed community lands were transferred to the Forest
Department declaring as reserved forests and there was no attempt was made to secure
forest rights of tribal communities.
 There was a drive to create national parks for tigers and other huge animals in the late 1960s.
This led to the enactment of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, under which national parks
and wildlife sanctuaries were established . The requirements of the local community have not
been considered resulting in the direct transfer of resources from the poor to the rich.
 In 1990s when the reason it was identified that the problem of non-recognition of tribal rights
on land and forests is the reason for tribal unrest, the issue of dispossession of tribal lands got
a fresh perspective.
 In Forest Conservation Act, 1980- when scrub forests, areas of worship, sacred groves and
small areas of Sal forests, which were categorized as common land, came under the control of
the Forest Department tribal communities of Central India, who were forest owners, now
became encroachers, and were often arrested and imprisoned for minor offences.
 in 1996, the Environment Ministry issued orders to remove ‘encroachers’ from forest land,
leading to large scale evictions of tribal people.
 ‘Campaign for Survival and Dignity’ in 2002- demand for the recognition of forest rights-the
Forest Rights Act was passed in 2006
Forest dwellers right
 The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)
Act, 2006 is a result of the protracted struggle by the marginal and tribal communities of
our country to assert their rights over the forestland over which they were traditionally
dependent.
 It was enacted to recognize the occupancy rights and use of forest produce as a source of
livelihood entitlements for forest dwelling tribes and other forest dwellers
 The act recognizes and details a total of 14 rights of Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes
(FDSTs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) on forest land and its resources, for
both individuals and communities, who have been occupying the forest land prior to
December 13, 2005.
 These rights include – the right to hold and live in forest land, the right to use minor forest
produce, and the right of conversion of Pattas or leases on forest land to titles and other
community Forest Rights
 Gram Sabhas have been given the responsibility over the process of verification of
individual and community claims to forest rights.
 The FRA establishes a three tier body system - Gram Sabhas at the village level, Sub-
Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) and District Level Committees (DLC) to receive and
verify claims on forest lands.
 The implementation of the Act in recognition of rights involves many departments, such as
revenue department, tribal welfare department & forest department, so it becomes more
difficult to have desired result in time.
Exploitation of natural resources
 Shifting cultivation: This practise is prevalent in tribal areas where forest lands are
cleared to grow subsistence crops. Shifting cultivation which is a practice of slash and burn
agriculture are posses to clear more than 5 lakh hectares of land annually..
 Commercial logging It is a important deforestation agent. It may not be the primary
cause but definitely it acts as secondary cause, because new logging lots permits shifting
cultivation and fuel wood gatherers access to new logged areas.
 Need for fuel wood: Increased population has lead to increasing demand for fuel wood
which is also acting as an important deforestation agent, particularly in dry forest.
 Expansion for agribusiness :With the addition of cash crops such as oil palm, rubber,
fruits and ornamental plants, there is stress to expand the area for agribusiness products
which results in deforestation.
 Development projects and growing need for food: The growing demand for
electricity, irrigation, construction, mining, etc. has lead to destruction of forest. Increased
population needs more food which has compelled for increasing area under agriculture
crops compelling for deforestation.
 Raw materials for industrial use: Forest provides raw material for industry and it has
exerted tremendous pressure on forest.
 Timber extraction: may lead to soil erosion especially on slopes.Loss of long term forest
productivity Species of plants and animals may be eliminated Exploitation of tribal people
by contractor
Exploitation of natural resources :Case studies
 1. Jhum cultivation

Jhum Agriculture or shifting agriculture has destroyed large number of hectare of forest tracts in
North-Eastern states and Orissa. Jhum agriculture is subsidence agriculture in which tract of
forest land is cleared by cutting trees and it is used for cultivation. After few years, when
productivity of the land decreases, cultivators abandon the land and clear next tract. As a result
of this practise, combined with increasing population there is rapid deforestation as more and
more cultivators clear forest to cultivate land. Also, with increase in population there is
cultivators are forced to return to previous tracts of land in relatively shorter durations, not
allowing the land to regain its productivity.
 2. Chipko movement

The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan is a social-ecological movement that practised the
Gandhian methods of satyagraha and non-violent resistance, through the act of hugging trees to
protect them from being felled. The modern Chipko movement started in the early 1970s in the
Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand,with growing awareness towards rapid deforestation. The
landmark event in this struggle took place on March 26, 1974, when a group of peasant women
in Reni village, Hemwalghati, in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, acted to prevent the cutting
of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system
of the state Forest Department. Their actions inspired hundreds of such actions at the grassroots
level throughout the region. By the 1980s the movement had spread throughout India and led to
formulation of people-sensitive forest policies, which put a stop to the open felling of trees in
regions as far reaching as Vindhyas and the Western Ghats
Exploitation of natural resources :Case studies

3. Western Himalayan region.

Over the last decade, there has been widespread destruction and
degradation of forest resources in Himalayas, especially western
Himalayas. This has resulted in various problems such as erosion of
top soil, irregular rainfall, changing weather patterns and floods.
Construction of roads on hilly slopes, have not only undermined their
stability, but also damaged protective vegetation and forest cover.
Tribes in these areas are increasingly facing shortage of firewood and
timber, due large scale tree cutting. Increased traffic volumes on
these roads leads to increased pollution in the area.

.
Natural resources and
utilisation :Water
 Water is essential for the existence of all forms of life.Sources of fresh water includes –Ground water
and surface water.
 The depletion of water resources is attributed to the following causes:
 1. High demand for water : Coupled with population explosion, the rapid industrialization and
technological development require large quantity of water for their maintenance.
 2. Poor storage facility and careless attitude towards conservation : Due to poor storage
facility and careless attitude, a lot of rain water is carried to the seas and oceans.
 3. Poor ground water resources : The ground water resources are declining due to overgrazing
and deforestation which cause soil erosion and make the soil unable to permit water infiltration.
 4. Over-exploitation of ground water : In order to meet the demand of increased population,
the ground water is withdrawn by suitable mechanism and it is overexploited.
 5. Bad water management : Due to bad water management and ignorance, a lot of water is lost.
 6. loss due to Evaporation :The water stored in large reservoirs undergo evaporation and due to
such process, a lot of water is lost.
 7. Loss by seepage : During the passage of water in long canals a part is lost due to seepage.
 8. Dumping of pollutants: The usability of the available water decreases with dumping of
different pollutants in water bodies.
 9. Siltation of bodies of water: The degradation of vegetational cover in the hills and catchment
areas, there is siltation of water bodies.
Unequal distribution of water
 unequal distribution of water on the planet drives a diversity in climate
and ecosystems (or biomes);
 water availability for human life, industry, and agriculture; and is
fundamentally and intimately tied to the history of politics, economics,
food production, population dynamics, and conflict.
 The distribution of water on the Earth’s surface is extremely uneven.
 Rivers are the major source of water in India. The utilizable annual
surface water in rivers of the country is 690 km 3. Human activities like
artificial dams, reservoirs are also included in the same category and
have capacity to increase utilization of the water.
 Ground water resource recharge from the precipitation mostly in the
monsoon season n India. Canal irrigation and other form of irrigation
systems also contribute to the recharging of the ground water. The
annual potential of natural groundwater recharge from rainfall in India
is about 342.43 km3, which is 8.56% of total annual rainfall of the
country.
Big dam debate
 the pros and cons of large dam construction: the beneficial effects are food security,
drinking water, and power generation, while the concerns are forced displacement,
insufficient compensation, and resettlement practice, severe environmental damage.
 there has been no post-facto evaluation of any big dam in India.
 if properly implemented, such a large project provides a unique opportunity to improve
the quality of life of millions of people, who in most cases live in disadvantageous
situations.
 Considering the number of litigations over the question of relief of relief and
rehabilitation of displaced people, the claim about proper implementation of the
project, does indeed seem to be a big if.
 The consequences of this massive engineering program have been devastating. The
world's large dams have wiped out species; flooded huge areas of wetlands, forests
and farmlands; and displaced tens of millions of people.
 The construction of Hirakud was marked by thirty thousand people, comprising of local
politicians, bureaucrats and the people who were going to get evicted from the dam
site taking to the street, in 1946. Hirakud was in this sense a forerunner of protests
against dams in other parts of the country.
Water privatization
 Water privatization involves transferring of water control and/or water management services to private
companies.The water management service may include collection, purification, distribution of water, and
waste water treatment in a community.
 Traditionally this service has been provided by the local governmental infrastructure such as the municipality
or local city council.
 water corporations, world bank and IMF has aggressively campaigned for water privatization as
commodification of water should allow market forces (supply and demand) to set the water tariff, which in
turn will reduce water consumption and promote water conservation.
 There are several models of water privatization that are currently in trend in different parts of the world.9
Depending on the degree of privatization, these models can be broadly categorized into
 i) Service Contracts – In this model, public authority retains overall responsibility for the operation and
maintenance of the system, and contracts out specific components. Service contracts last 1-3 years and
include services such as meter reading, billing and maintenance.
 Ii) (Design), Build, Operate, Own and Transfer or (D)BOOT – This model of privatization is usually used for
system infrastructure development e.g. water treatment plants that require significant finance. The private
operator is required to finance, construct, operate and maintain the facility for a specific period of time
(usually more than 20 years). At the end of the term, the infrastructure may be turned over to the
municipality or the contract is renewed. This model is more prevalent in developing countries. Examples of
(D)BOOT include Tiruppur Project in TN India and Cochabamba experience in Bolivia.
 Iii) Divestiture – In this model, the government or public authority awards full ownership and responsibility of
the water system including the water source to a private operator under a regulatory regime. This is also
done in the form of 10-20 year renewable contracts on the entire system. The government moves operation
to private hands thus improving efficiency. Competition is limited through the process of bids on the
divestiture. The private sector firm is then expected to takes the risks and recoup investment/profits. This
model cedes tremendous power over an essential resource to corporations.
Water privatization
 Water privatization has been recommended by the Indian
government’s national water policy to address the issue of water
scarcity. In its article 13 titled, “Private sector participation” the policy
says that “private sector participation should be encouraged in
planning, development and management of water resources projects
for diverse uses, wherever feasible”.
 This has placed water privatization at the forefront of developmental
policies implemented by several state governments.
 most of the privatization that has been done in India follows the
(D)BOOT model. The national water policy also encourages
interlinking of rivers to improve water availability in water scarce
areas.
Case studies of privatization of water in
India
 Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu: The New Tiruppur Area Development Corporation Ltd. (NTADCL) was set up
by the state government in 1995 to execute Rs. 13 billion (EUR 281 million) water supply project,
with financial support from USAID and the World Bank. NTADCL issued a 30-year BOOT contract
for the project to a consortium including Mahindra & Mahindra, United International, North West
Water, Larsen and Tubro and Bechtel, which would transfer water over a 55km long pipeline from
the river Bhavani and supply 185 million liters of water per day to nearly 1,000 textile units and
more than 1.6 million residents in Tiruppur and its surrounding area.16 According to the project
document, United Utilities and NTADCL will run the joint venture at a "fixed operation and
maintenance fee" that will be recovered entirely from Tiruppur municipality.
 Shivnath River, Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh State Industries Development Corporation
(CSIDC), which is in charge of industrial development in the state, commissioned the project to
meet the demand on water in the Borai Industrial area situated on the banks of the Shivnath - a
non-perennial river. As part of the project, a 23.6 km stretch of the river was ceded to Radius
Water through a 22-year renewable contract, under which the company had absolute monopoly
over the stretch of river water. The company built an integrated water supply system to control
the water flow automatically depending on the level of the Shivnath and set the water tariff at
substantially lower rates than that charged by the neighboring states of MP and
Maharashtra .Furthermore, Radius Water’s monopolistic deal with CSIDC and the water
resources department covered ground water as well in an 18 km-radius covering the Borai
industrial area. The company promptly prohibited fishing in the stretch of the river and also
charged local farmers for access to water from tubewells. Ultimately, bowing to pressure from
several NGOs and adverse media reports, the government had to scrap the deal
Arguments against privatization of
water
 1) Price hikes are unaffordable for the poor: Water privatization has invariably led to price hikes in
almost all the regions in the world where water has been privatized.
 2) Unsustainable water mining: Many potential risks emerge once a resource as fundamental to life as
water is privatized. Once water becomes a marketable commodity and a orporation is given sole
rights to a body of water, then it is within the corporation’s rights to mine as much water as it deems
fit.
 There were many incidents community complaints against indiscriminate mining of groundwater by
Coca Cola in the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, Athur village near Chennai and Plachimada in
Kerala.36 Residents from villages in the Palghat district in Kerala surrounding Coke’s Greenfield soft-
drink bottling factory in Plachimada say that Coke’s indiscriminate water mining has dried up many
wells and contaminated the rest. Coca Cola’s bottling plant was set up in 1999 in the middle of fertile
agricultural land, with proximity to a number of reservoirs and irrigation canals. Coke’s mining of more
than 1 million liters of ground water per day has parched the lands of some 2000 people within 1.2
miles of the factory. The company’s usage of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes has also
been questioned by local residents. Due to the indiscriminate mining, the ground water has become
contaminated with excessive calcium and magnesium from the dissolution of limestone that is
associated with the groundwater deposit. Nearly 100 people have reported recurring stomach aches,
which they relate to the brackish and milky white water that they are being forced to drink. Public
protest over the issue has only met with violent arrest by the police of local villagers (including women
and children) involved in peaceful picketing of the Coke factory.
 3) Creation of water monopolies: Privatization by definition eliminates public control of the resource in
question. Once a government agency hands over water systems to a private enterprise, it becomes
extremely difficult and prohibitively expensive to reverse the decision.
Arguments against water
privatization
 4) Water quality compromised: Corporations in search of profits can
compromise on water quality in order to reduce costs.
 5) Potential Export of Bulk Water: Fully aware of the $2 billion water
market in India, private companies are in a frenzy to access fresh water
sources that they can sell at huge profits. Bulk water exports will have
disastrous ecological and environmental consequences.
 6) Corruption and lack of transparency: Indian government agencies are
notorious for their lack of accountability and transparency in awarding
of service contracts to private corporations.
Alternate models
 In contrast to privatization, there are several community based small-scale water
management and distribution models, which offer cost benefits and long term
sustainability over the privatization models.
 Participatory and co-operative models deliver the impressive results by ensuring that
water utilities are accountable and responsive to the needs of the local communities.
 Furthermore, while these models address the same global issue of water scarcity, they
tackle it with local solutions tailored to their specific environments.
 Rain water Harvesting
 The harvesting of rainwater involves the collection of water from surfaces on which rain
falls, and subsequently storing this water for later use.
 Normally water is collected from the roofs of buildings and stored in rainwater tanks or
allowed to recharge ground water and thus providing a perennial source of water.
 In Indian scenario with its monsoons, the water harvesting experience is millennial and
born of local wisdom; scientific and still in use; participatory and the basis of people’s
movements; the focus of innovation in the present and the best way to a non-scarce
future
Draft forest bill 1980
 On the recommendation of NCA, main provision includes that forest includes any land containing
trees and shrubs, pasture lands and any land state Govt may by notification declare to be forest.
 Govt can declare any land which neither have trees nor shrubs as forest lands, forest produce is
defined as to include trees, leaves, flowers, latex and other produce all types of grass creepers
etc….
 Under this bill distinction was made between reserved, protected and village forests to ensure
the rights of people over forest produce.
 Prohibited people to access resources and forest officers were given powers to arrest and
seizure of property to offences committed with reference to forest
 Denied the rights of forest dwellers and recognised the state’s right over forest lands and forest
produce .
 Due to the criticism from social activist , environmentalists, legal and other professionals, a
committee was constituted under Prof.Roy Burman on Forest and tribals in India .
 Committee emphasised in its report “symbiotic relationship ” between forests and forest
dwellers.
 the Committee strongly recommended for full
 participation of the local inhabitants in the reforestation and afforestation programmes. the
 Committee suggested for the integration of rural development, afforestation and industrial
development in a way that will not marginalise the local community, later a new Forest Policy
1988 came into force