tribal research

7/24/2019 Tribal Research

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Article published in the BULLETIN of Assam Institute of Research for

Tribals and Scheduled Caste, Guahati, !olume ", No# $!I %&&'#

(e)elopment *ro+ects Threat to Tribal Li)elihood Case Stud-

Gita Bharali

Displacement of people from traditional habitats causes much trauma to the affected

persons. Compulsory acquisition of land for construction of dams and roads, quarrying andmining operations, industries and reservation of forests for National Parks and environment

protection forces people to leave their traditional abodes and land their main sustenance.

Thus, development proects have often become a maor threat to the people !hom theydeprive of their traditional livelihood !ithout alternatives. Tribals are the !orst sufferers

since most development proects such as dams and industries are located in inaccessible

tribal areas. Nearly "#$%# million people have been displaced by development proects in&ndia as a !hole and tribals constitute at least '#( percent of them. Cash payment does not

really compensate the tribals for the difficulties they e)perience in their lifestyle and ethos.

Displacement can lead to violation of the *ifth +chedule as it deprives them of control and

o!nership of natural resources and land essential for their !ay of life. The present paper !illtry to see the impact of such development on the traditional livelihood of the people thus

affected and specially the tribals. +pecial focus !ill be on the proposed Pagladia dam in the

Nalbari district of som that !ill displace around -#",### people, #( of them tribals.

(isplacement and (epri)ation

gro!ing number of environmentalists and social activists have misgivings aboutdevelopment proects such as dams, industries, mines, rail!ays and roads !hich impact

people/s livelihood in different !ays. +ome of them are displaced 0DP1 a!ay from their

homes. +ome others lose most of their land and other sustenance but are not physicallydisplaced and are called proect$affected persons 0PP1. 2ost proects count among the

DPs3PP only those !ho are deprived of their individual land. 2ost of those !ho are

deprived of their community property resources 0CP4s1 or other livelihood such as serviceproviders depending on the village as a community are rarely counted among them

0Dhagam!ar -56 -71. Tribal livelihood is predominantly CP4s.

+tudies sho! that bet!een -'8 and 7### such proects have caused some "# to %#million DP3PP 0*ernandes 7##'6 --71. +tudies also sho! that most of the DP3PP are

from assetless rural poor classes. ccording to one estimate "".-%( of them are tribals

0!!!.tribal.nic.in1 but some others keep it at '#( 0*ernandes and 9harali 7##%6 51. This isalso true in case of most of the proects. *or the :irakud dam and the 4ourkela +teel plant in

;rissa about 7,7","85 acres of mostly tribal land !as acquired 09aboo -7, +rinivasan

-#6 -astern +ocial 4esearch Centre, --# ?harghuli 4oad,=u!ahati 85-##', ssam and a PhD scholar Dibrugarh @niversity, ssam. Telephone6 #


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and sif -86 --71 !hile the +tate has a tribal population of 77.-( 04egistrar =eneral and

Census Commissioner 7##-6 Census CD1. &n ndhra Pradesh )tent and Nature/ sho!s that official

sources give us a total of only '." lakhs DP3PP in som !hile !e came to a total of more

than - lakhs from -' lakhs acres of land. ;ut of -' lakhs acres of land more than -# lakhsare CP4s. ssam government recogniFes only that it has acquired


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The impact of such development proects on the tribals is not limited to the economic

field but impinges on the social and cultural aspects. The tribals !ho live in a different type

of society are forced to interact !ith another culture and society to !hich they cannot al!aysadopt themselves. Ge have found that 8-.'astern +tates !here the

tribes live under four types of administration. Nagaland and 2iForam run their civil affairs

according to their customary la! the former under rticle


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massive dams are being planned in the region. ;n -' th2arch 7##7 the then 2inister for

Po!er e)plained the sanction granted to -< of them and the fact that


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the area but # percent of them are tribal. This area is a stronghold of the ll 9odo +tudents

ssociation 09+@1 and comes under the 9oroland Territorial Council 09TC1.

9ased on an investigation conducted by the Central Gorks and Planning Commission

during -%5$8-, the Planning Commission sanctioned it as a *lood Control Proect for 4s

-7.5 crores at -8-$87 prices. &n -5'$5" it !as taken over by the 9rahmaputra 9oard.&rrigation !as added to it and its cost !as raised to 4s 758.5 crores at -55$5 prices. The

Technical dvisory Committee on &rrigation, *lood Control and 2ulti purpose proects of the

2inistry of Gater 4esource Development 02;G41 studied it in -# and recommended theaddition of :ydropo!er generation and conunctive use of surface and ground !ater to

ensure the optimum development of the ground !ater resources. *inally, in ugust -", the

Technical dvisory Committee of the 2;G4 on 2ultipurpose 4iver Proects cleared it from

the techno$economic angle.

Clearance of the 2inistry of >nvironment and *orests !as obtained after getting a No

obection Certificate from the =overnment of som and after raising its estimated cost to 4s

"'#. crores at - prices. The Public &nvestment 9oard of the Central =overnmentsanctioned it at 4s. "7%.%7 crores in 2arch 7###. The @nion Cabinet Committee on

>conomic ffairs approved it in November 7### at a cost of 4s. "'7. crores forimplementation by the 9rahmaputra 9oard. Thus originally conceived as a flood control proect,it has no! become a multipurpose one. &t claims that it !ill save about '#,### ha from floods anderosion covering -# villages in the Nalbari district. &t also proposes to irrigate "',-%# hectares of

land in -'" villages and produce < 2G of electricityand is scheduled to be completed in 7##8.9ut !ork has not yet started because of opposition from the people.

*eople/s Li)elihood before (isplacement

The main li)elihood of the people to be affected b- the dam is natural resource0

based, a.riculture on the one hand and C*Rs on the other# The tribals in particular are

C*R dependants and are s1illed a.riculturists# The- use traditional a-s of irri.ation

from the hill streams# Some records sho that the- pa- a ater cess to the Bhutan

officials, mostl- in 1ind for drain. ater from the streams 2Ro- "334 %&5# Their

culti)ation is traditional and the- belie)e that use of an- manure e6cept codun. and

burnt eeds can destro- the fertilit- of their land# The- also do multiple croppin. and

use man- traditional methods to impro)e land fertilit- 2Brahma "33% 740785# So most

of them are self0sufficient in a.riculture and collect their other necessities from the

C*Rs# The- continue to depend on a.riculture ith minor de)iation# Some of them also

ha)e non0a.ricultural alternati)es#

Another source of li)elihood is animal husbandr-# The- ha)e a natural

propensit- to rear animals li1e pi.s, .oats, cos etc# (urin. our field )isit e sa that

e)er- famil- has cos and bulloc1s# The latter are used for plou.hin.# 9ishin. is

another source of income, mainl- practised b- omen ho .et much of their sustenance

from the ri)er# The- .o to the local hats2mar1ets5 to sell their home.ron )e.etables

and other produce 2Sen Choudhuri %&&7 :;5# The- also collect food and medicines from

the forest#


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Asom# Apart from the income the- .et from them, these occupations also .i)e omen

some economic autonom- and a fairl- hi.h social status#


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9ederation 2ABE95# Because of the these protests, Chief ?inister Tarun Go.oi has

reuested the Central Go)ernment to conduct a fresh sur)e- of the dam to alla- the

mis.i)in.s of the tribal people# If the findin.s re)eal that it ill do more harm than

.ood then some alternate scheme can ala-s be or1ed out# oe)er, the people are

afraid of the future role of the BTC as ell as the State thou.h the former has

supported them before the constitutional reco.nition of the BTC#

Conclusion

The anal-sis .i)en in this paper shos that thou.h de)elopment pro+ects are

important for the pro.ress of the nation the- tend to become a ma+or threat to the

traditional li)elihood of the people affected b- them# It is true more of the C*R

dependants than of the others# That cannot be accepted if de)elopment is understood as

a method of brin.in. about chan.es for the better# In realit- man- of them seem to

destro- the economic base of the people# So there is a feelin. that the de)elopment

minorit- impo)erishes the ma+orit-# Case studied from all o)er India as ell as the

*a.ladia dam shos this realit-# The- also create di)ision instead of enhancin. unit-#ence it is difficult to call it .enuine de)elopment# It is, therefore, essential to search for

non0displacin. and least displacin. alternati)es#

References

Baboo, Bal.o)inda# Technology and Social Transformation: The Case of Hirakud Multi

Purpose Dam Pro!ect in "rissa# Ne (elhi Concept *ublishin. Compan-#

Barooah, euti# %&&%# D*ropert- and . =anguly Thukral 0eds1 $e%elopment, $isplacement and

Rehabilitation& 'ssues for a (ational $ebate)Ne! Delhi6 &ndian +ocial &nstitute, pp. -8-$-5'.

*ernandes, Galter. 7##'. K4ehabilitation Policy for the DisplacedL in *conomic and

"olitical +eely, Iol


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*ernandes, Galter and 2ohammed sif. -8. $e%elopment-'nduced $isplacement in

rissa 19.1 to 199.& A $atabase on 'ts */tent and (ature. Ne! Delhi6 &ndian +ocial&nstitute.

*ernandes, Galter, Nafisa =oga D/+ouFa, rundhati 4oy Choudhury and 2ohammed sif.07##-1.$e%elopment-'nduced $isplacement 'n Andhra "radesh 19.1- 199.& A 0uantitati%e

and 0ualitati%e Study f 'ts */tent And (ature. Ne! Delhi and =u!ahati6 &ndian +ocial

&nstitute and North >astern +ocial 4esearch Centre.

*ernandes, Galter, 2elville Pereira and IiFalenu ?hatso 7##". #ustomary La in (orth

*ast 'ndia& 'mpact on +omen. =u!ahati6 North >astern social 4esearch Centre.

:ussain, 2onirul 7##7. +tate Development and Population Displacement in North >ast

&ndia/ in C M Thomas 0ed.1$imensions of $isplaced "eople in (orth *ast 'ndia . Ne! Delhi,

4egency Publications, Pp 757$75.

2enon, 2anu 7##


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