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9
INTRODUCTION

RURAL ENVIRONMENT
Runa Sarkar and Bhaskar Chakrabarti

Rural environment represents the framework of regulations, institutions, and practices in villages defining parameters for the sustainable use of environmental resources while ensuring security of livelihood and a reasonable quality of life. While the scope of environmental infrastructure is often narrowed down to the provision of suitable water supply, sewerage, and sanitation systems (Hahn, 2000 and Nunan and Satterthwaite, 2001), it has within its purview (a) acquisition, protection, and maintenance of open spaces, (b) clean up and restoration of degraded lands, (c) integration of existing wildlife or habitat resources, (d) sustainable approaches to controlling flooding and drainage, (e) developing river corridors and coastal areas, and (f ) forest management. Rejuvenation of natural resources through activation of watersheds, renewal of wastelands along with enhancement of farm productivity, is a component of environmental infrastructure that is attaining increasing importance as expanding anthropogenic activity stresses natural resources beyond their natural regeneration capability. The issues related to clean water supply, sanitation, and treatment of waste water have already been dealt with in Chapter 8. We focus here on natural resources, common properties, and rejuvenation of rural environment. Here we take stock of the rural environment and propose institutional mechanisms to keep the juggernaut of socioeconomic development rolling without impediments. We present a snapshot of the current rural environment demonstrating the phenomena through which irreversible degradation of the environment has resulted. We examine the veracity of the widely held position that poor social and economic conditions of villagers compel them to overly exploit the environment, leading to a vicious circle of degradation of natural resources perpetuating poverty. Possible policy and

technological solutions to pre-empt environmental degradation, restore, and rejuvenate the degraded environment are discussed further on in the chapter.

STATUS OF THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT

The ecosystem within which all rural activities are conducted encompasses the air we breathe, the waterbodies surrounding us, and the land we walk on. Unfettered human activity can compromise the ability of the environment to support our kind, a condition usually referred to as environmental degradation and detrimental to our future. India supports approximately 16 per cent of the world population and 20 per cent of its livestock on 2.5 per cent of its geographical area, making its environment a highly stressed and vulnerable system. The pressure on land has led to soil erosion, waterlogging, salinity, nutrient depletion, lowering of the groundwater table, and soil pollutionlargely a consequence of thoughtless human intervention. The extent of land degradation, the loss in capacity of our major water reservoirs and the decline in water level in wells in the past few years is alarming (Tables A9.1, A9.2, and A9.3). Soil erosion from overgrazing, and intensive cultivation and soil degradation from excessive use of agricultural chemicals, have wide-ranging implications. Agricultural activities that cause land degradation include shifting cultivation without adequate fallow periods, absence of soil conservation measures, cultivation of fragile lands, unbalanced fertilizer use, faulty planning or management of irrigation. Improper agricultural practices are usually observed under constraints of saturation of good lands and population pressure leading to cultivation of too shallow or too steep soils and ploughing of fallow land before it has recovered its fertility. Overgrazing and over-extraction of green fodder lead to forest degradation through decreased vegetative regeneration,

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compaction of soil, and reduced infiltration and vulnerability to erosion. Annual environmental costs for India in 1995 were estimated at US$ 9.7 billion, of which surface water pollution, land degradation and deforestation contributed 84 per cent (Maria, 2003). Deforestation with shifting agriculture, over-exploitation for fuel wood and timber collection, and mining activities are also causes of serious concern. Deforestation causes degradation when the land is steeply sloping, or has shallow or easily erode-able soils, and when clearance is not followed by good management. Over-cutting of vegetation to obtain timber, fuel wood and other products is frequent in semi-arid environments, where fuel wood shortages are severe. Overgrazing causes a decrease in vegetation cover which is a primary cause of erosion. According to the data provided by the National Remote Sensing Agency and Forest Survey of India based on satellite imagery, 80 Mha of 142 Mha of land under cultivation is substantially degraded and about 40 Mha of 75 Mha of land under the forest department has a canopy density cover less than 40 per cent (Gadgil, 1993). Perhaps the most widely recognized environmental problem is the pollution of water resources by industrial discharge, household waste, sewage, and agricultural chemicals. Water scarcity induced by mounting population density and growing economic activity in the face of fixed resources, depleting water tables, and silting of reservoirs has led to rapid decline in the quality of life in rural India. Existing irrigated areas are displaying serious water-stressed situations, as both reservoirs and groundwater sources continue to get depleted. Consequently, the agricultural output from irrigated areas also seems to be more vulnerable to weather shocks than earlier. The problem is compounded by the fact that provision of cheap power encourages farmers to use excessive water. While this problem is widely acknowledged, a holistic policy framework to address the problem effectively is missing. Indias biodiversity is gradually narrowing. Maintaining viable populations of specieswhether plant or animalis crucial in biodiversity conservation requiring the protection of important ecosystems, habitats, and the ecological processes of which they are a part. The loss of biodiversity in shrinking forests as well as in threatened marine and wetland ecosystems has strong adverse impacts in store (Box 9.1).

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global hectares1 per capita per year, which can be used to shape environmental policies. Because of the complexities involved in determining an eco-footprint, very little analysis has been undertaken at the rural scale globally (Ryan, 2004), although country eco-footprints are estimated and published annually by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF, 2004). The global ecofootprint, based on 2001 data was 13.5 billion global hectares, which exceeds the global bio-capacity by 21 per cent, or 0.4 global hectares per person. Although Indias eco-footprint over the last forty years is almost constant at around 1 global hectare per person (compared to the global average of 1.8), available bio-capacity per person has fallen as its population has almost doubled. The consumption patterns of the large middle class, residing mainly in urban areas will shape its eco-footprint in the years to come and it is here that the rural areas have a role to play in holding the footprint down to reasonable levels by engaging in sustainable farming practices. It must also be noted that the footprint is a very human-centric concept, talking about hectares of land to be set aside for humans without any consideration for other species.

Impact on Human Health

Globally, among the biggest dangers from farming is the continuous exposure to and the unsafe use of chemicals necessary for agriculture. In India, however, the danger to human health from such environment and pollution related causes are not given their due importance as accidents from farm machinery, with a fatality rate of 22 per 100,000 farmers (Srinivas, 2006). Fatality apart, chronic exposure to air and waterborne chemicals can have adverse health effects, which sometimes, can be difficult to measure because of problems in isolating individual chemical effects. While certain cause and effect relationships are not easy to identify, cumulative effects are likely to be most critical. Cancer risk could be high from nitrate, metals, as well as pesticides; other problems like adverse hormonal functions, liver damage could also take place, as summarized in Table 9.1. Moreover, toxic chemicals and pesticides in air, water, and earth enter body tissues and breast milk, through which they are passed on to infants. For example, the impact of spraying endrin and endosulfan on cashew plantations in the 1970s to combat pests in the Kasargod district of Kerala has been so persistent that in one village alone, 156 cases of health disorders were recorded from 123 households between 1990 and 2001. These included 49 cancer cases and 23 mental retardation cases among several others. Moreover, endosulfan residues, several times the minimum permissible limit, were found in water, milk, vegetable, and
global hectare is a hectare whose biological productivity equals the global average.
1A

Ecological Footprint
Ecological footprint analysis is an accounting tool that estimates the resource consumption and waste assimilation requirement of a defined human population or economy, in terms of a corresponding land area (Rees and Wackernagel, 1996 and Pandey et al. 2006). Such an analysis encompasses many human needs and aggregates them into a single figure, expressed in

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Box 9.1 The State of Keralas Environment

The Kerala model of development has achieved remarkable milestones in the fields of health, literacy, housing, and so on, and earned worldwide praise for the quality of life of its people. The state is now poised for a quantum leap with greater involvement of the common people through what is now called as the peoples campaign. It has identified sectors such as tourism, aquaculture, power production, and software production as priority areas for peoples participation. Kerala has long been described as Gods Own Country in tourism circles. However, the state of Keralas forests and rivers is alarming. The total forest area of the state has come down from 11,241.97 ha in 1994 to 11,236.06 ha in 1996: this means 6 ha of forest has vanished in two years. The forest cover in the Periyar catchment area alone is reported to have dwindled by two-thirds over the last hundred years. Deforestation and encroachment by settlers, with large-scale illegal felling of trees by private estate owners and others, have received frequent media attention but hardly enough policy attention. Soil erosion has resulted along with change in climate patterns, as well as movements of wild animals, leading to increasing conflict between man and animal, and disappearance of rare and endangered flora and fauna. Destruction of the forest and tree cover in Nelliampathy hills have resulted in growing incidence of poaching. Ground-clearing for plantations have led to the destruction of rare and endangered orchid species. Keralas rivers are assailed by pollution, sedimentation, sand mining, and constriction of flows. Garbage and animal wastes from slaughterhouses as well as sewage water are released directly into rivers. A recent survey of twelve major rivers of the state, including the Periyar, the Bharathapuzha, the Pamba, the Chaliyar, and the Valapattanam, highlighted presence of high levels of coliform bacteria. The problem was reported to be the most serious in the Pamba with pilgrims causing most of the damage. Soil erosion, caused by deforestation and various agricultural, mining, and construction activity, has led to large-scale siltation of the waterbodies. The problem is particularly acute in the case of reservoirs. It has reduced their water-holding capacity and affected the utility of the dams. Siltation at the mouths of rivers causes, besides navigation bottlenecks, flooding and damage to the environment. Siltation in the Vembanad Lake seems to have reached a critical stage. It threatens to turn the lake into a marsh in a matter of years. The damage to the ecology of the lake caused by siltation and water pollution is appalling. Sand mining, though advocated by some as a solution to the siltation problem, is in fact a threat to the ecology of the river systems. Apart from causing bank erosion, flooding, salt water incursion, and pollution, it is also causing drought in the valleys. A combination of these factors has adversely affected the water ecology of the state, exposing fish to diseases, mass mortality, and loss of habitat. The indigenous fishery for mahaseer, the major game fish of the state, is reportedly dying out. Damming and channelisation activities are virtually killing the rivers of Kerala. The Periyar has been dammed at fourteen sites impacting its water flow such that in several places the river has become virtually invisible. The fate of the Bharathapuzha is even worse, with a larger number of dams cutting its tributaries. The river is dry in the lower reaches in summer, making it an easy prey to sand mining.
Source: Korakandy, R. (2000). State of the Environment in Kerala: What Price the Development Model, Economic and Political Weekly, June 2000.

Table 9.1 Impact of Agro-Chemicals on Human Health Maximum Contamination Levels 10mg/NO3-N Health Effects Established Methaglominemia Potential Nitrate conversion to nitrite and N-Nitroso compounds affecting thyroid, endocrine functions cancer risk cancer risk

Agro-chemicals Nitrate

Metals (Cd, As, Cr, Zn, Cu) Pesticides (chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT, organophosphate like Malathion, Carbamata like Carbaryl) Source: Schreier, et al. (2002).

0.01 to 0.05 mg/L

Impaired kidney functions, skin disorder, tumour Affects nervous system and reproduction, affects enzymes and muscles

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fish, putting the village communities at risk even three decades after spraying of the pesticides (Rajendran, 2002).

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CAUSES OF DEGRADATION
The rural environment has been straining to cope with anthropogenic demands on its services, both as a source and a sink, for the last few decades. As seen from some of the parameters reported in Tables A9.1 through A9.3 in the Annexe, it has been obviously falling behind in the race. On one hand, as human productive capacity has gone up, whether due to the green revolution or rapid industrialization, so has its ability to generate waste. On the other, there is a growing demand on natures ability to provide life support as the population keeps growing and livelihood opportunities decline. We could look at this double squeeze on nature in the context of water resources. Water applied to the field in irrigation either seeps through to underground aquifers, or reappears as return flow and finds its way back to the surface (regeneration); seepages from canals recharge groundwater aquifers; industrial use of water results in effluents; domestic and municipal uses become sewage; and whatever water evaporates comes back to earth as rain or snow. As seepages include pesticides, effluents include pollutants and untreated sewage, they find way into waterbodies, which in turn leads to declining biodiversity. Excessive pressure on the environment leads to drought-proneness in certain areas owing to declining water table levels and flood-proneness in others owing to silting of reservoirs and loss of forest cover. A much generalized cause of environmental degradation is the failure of the governments to formulate appropriate policies to ensure sustainable land and water use. Such policy failures include price distortions through governmentcontrolled prices, subsidies or taxes which give incorrect price signals, faulty delineation of property rights regimes and other legal structures, government projects which directly cause environmental damage, and weak public institutions. Furthermore, state appropriation of property rights has undermined traditional (often communal) property regimes, as in the case of our forest policy, and has in several cases led to de facto open access and resource degradation. Some specific causes for environmental degradation are discussed next.

waste is collected and dumped beyond urban boundaries. While smoky fuels have been replaced by electricity leading to radical increases in fuel efficiency as well as declines in respiratory hazards posed, it cannot be denied that this has shifted the location of environmental stress away from the city to its fringes without any policy counter-measures to relieve this stress. The strain on the environment is manifested directly in water quality, which in turn affects the soil quality and has serious impact on crop yield as well as human health. Gastro-enteritis and diarrhoea are common occurrences in villages located in periurban fringes owing to the poor quality of drinking water. To understand the impact of industrial pollution on the rural environment, a detailed study was carried out in a village in the Patancheru region of Andhra Pradesh. The activities of the Patancheru industrial cluster have led to pollution of all fifteen irrigation tanks in the area, with five of them being completely destroyed. Farm lands have been rendered unproductive and the water unfit for drinking. The inhabitants of the hinterland are compelled to use this contaminated water owing to the paucity of water supplied. They suffer from skin infections, joint pains, and fever. Even the fish population in the nearby Manjira river has dwindled as a result of the polluted streams flowing into it (Behera and Reddy, 2002).

Rural Anthropogenic Activity

The agricultural sector accounts for over 85 per cent of the total water consumption in the country. Subsidized or free supply of power and water has resulted in over-exploitation and inefficient use. Wastage in irrigation occurs to the extent of 45 per cent by seepage through unlined channels and about 15 per cent due to excess application. Losses in storage are estimated at 15 per cent (MoWR, 1999). Inefficient use of canal water and groundwater accompanied by neglect of drainage has resulted in waterlogging and salinity. The share of groundwater in the net irrigated area has increased from a third in 19656 to half at present to either supplement surface deliveries of water, or to provide irrigation water when limited or no surface water supplies are available. Groundwater authorities attempt to regulate groundwater withdrawals through licensing, but do not define any limits for withdrawals. Moreover, inadequacy of resources with the monitoring agencies leads to weak enforcement. Over-extraction exceeds recharge in areas where groundwater is used for agricultural purposes. This has led to progressive lowering of the water table affecting the economy of water (Table A9.3). Groundwater overdraft, leading to a long-term decline in water levels, has adverse consequences associated with it. These are land subsidence, deterioration of water quality in aquifers, and ingress of saline water in coastal aquifers. Salinity is likely to render more land unfit for biomass production, especially in the semi-arid and

Urban Spillovers and Industrial Pollution

Rapid industrialization and unplanned urban growth have resulted in heavy discharges of toxic chemical effluents and untreated municipal wastes to various water sources including streams, rivers, and tanks causing serious damage to water quality and contamination of groundwater. As human waste is flushed away into sewers and released in waterways, solid

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the future of the green revolution. Productivity of rice and wheat which occupy almost 70 per cent of the states gross cropped area has reached a plateau. Problems like declining water tables, waterlogging, and salinity have reached serious proportions. The water table in central Punjab is depleting at the rate of 0.23 cm per annum. In some parts, the water table has risen by four to five meters between 1984 and 1994 leading to problems of salinity and water logging. Widespread deficiency of micronutrients has appeared in the soil and there is an increase in weed infestation, pest, and disease outbreak. Burning of combined harvested rice straw is resulting in serious environmental pollution (Chand 1999). Household activities such as unhygienic sanitation practices lead to the contamination of waterbodies and the spread of disease. Similarly, the use of biomass fuel for cooking and heating can give rise to indoor air pollution that threatens health, especially that of women and young children, who spend disproportionately more time indoors than men. The need for fuel wood leads to the felling of trees beyond their natural regeneration rate. Over time, this leads to deforestation accompanied by a loss of vegetative cover. The fertile topsoil which is held together by the vegetation now starts eroding and lack of trees also result in a gradual lowering of the water table. Given the rate of population growth, the capacity of agriculture to absorb increased working population is limited. Thus, unless there is a substantial increase in off-farm jobs and opportunities, the pressure on natural resources as a means of sustenance will keep increasing. Over fishing and overgrazing beyond the natural regeneration rate of water bodies and grasslands are all manifestations of the extreme dependence of rural population on natural resources for survival. Moreover, with the outward migration of agriculture, there is pressure on grazing lands, leading to a competition between crops and livestock.

arid regions of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. Here, rainfall and available water are insufficient to leach salts from the soil. Application of chemical fertilizers, which has recorded an increase of 80 per cent between 1984 and 1996, has added to the salinity problem (Maria, 2003). This has led to increased pH level of the water and poor drainage. Excess salts can also lead to oxygen depletion in due course of time. Unbalanced and excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in intensive agricultural practices has led to the degradation of soils and water. In fact, the use of pesticides has risen by 240 per cent between 1971 and 1995 (Maria, 2003). Fertilizers and pesticides cause acidification and eutrophication of water. Leaching of chemicals (particularly nitrates) from fertilizers results in eutrophication precipitating excessive algal growth, which kills fish. While eutrophication is one extreme, several rural regions have a net negative balance of nutrients and suffer from a gradual depletion in the level of organic matter, a trend that is likely to continue. Application of sodium and potassium based fertilizers leads to deficiencies of macro and micro intensity, reduced biomass production and increased suspended sediments, which, in turn, adversely impact stream flow. Maintaining the nutrient balance and preventing nutrient deficiencies is a major concern given that the increasing demand for food production will have to be met through higher intensity of cropping. Acidification, usually by oxidation, also affects the aquatic biota, pH and water quality. It also increases surface run-off. Soil erosion has led to loss of topsoil and terrain deformation. Moreover, siltation, an off-site effect of erosion, is reducing the reservoir storage capacity by 12 per cent annually. Exposed soil surfaces are susceptible to erosion during rain storms. Loss of soil particles and organic matter not only leads to oxygen depletion, but affects turbidity by suspended sediments on water, and influences stream channel morphology. In addition, credit constraints have often led to an underinvestment in suitable agricultural technology and land conservation, which in the long term has resulted in falling yields from declining land fertility. Subsistence pressures lead to an outward migration to marginal areas when no land is available. The major consequences of such area expansion of agricultural production are deforestation, loss of biodiversity, encroachment into wildlife parks, reduction of grazing lands for livestock, and soil erosion with on and offsite effects. Cropping may expand onto lands which are fragile and incapable of sustaining production even with conservation efforts. This may be the case on steep slopes with shallow soil, as in the hilly regions of the north east, which would explain the high extent of degradation in this region. The impressive growth rates achieved in agricultural production in Punjab due to the green revolution are well known. However, recent reports reveal disturbing trends about

Vanishing Common Property Regimes

The breakdown of common property regimes due to policy failures and social and political conflicts, in combination with rapid population growth, has increased the pressure, particularly on forest resources and grazing lands. This has resulted in expansion of cropping areas and increased stocking of livestock, mostly in highly fragile or marginal lands (Box 9.2). As more users increase the ambiguity in the custody of the common property, it is overexploited and in the long run becomes completely degraded and unfit for use. With the 1980 Forest Conservation Act, tribal populations living in the forests for centuries were suddenly devoid of all use rights. With vast tracts of forest areas being declared national parks and sanctuaries, the tribals have no option but to break the law to earn basic subsistence. Unfortunately, government response to such encroachment has been strict policing rather than leading to

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Box 9.2 Government Failure in Managing the Ghasnies of Himachal Pradesh

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The Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh lies in the outer western Himalayan Range. Mixed-farming is the main occupation in the mid-hills and people combine private resources, state-owned, and commonly-owned resources in their day-to-day functioning. Until 1974, grazing lands or ghasnies, part of the forest surrounding villages, river beds, irrigation channels (collectively called shamlats) and common paths belonged to the Panchayats and were used for the common purpose of the village. On account of grass resource seasonality, customary rule imposed on graziers restricted access to grasslands for a period of time. The rule in practice was to prohibit access to the grasslands during the rainy season until it could be collectively harvested in September. Regulatory in nature, these informal restrictions were monitored and enforced by mutual agreement among the user group. The size of the herd allowed to graze the commons in summer was not a binding criterion. However, households were entitled to graze as many animals in summer as they were able to feed in winter period (when extra source of fodder is not available). This rule aimed at preventing commercial rearing which could take place during the grazing season. Working within the limits of its labour force, a single household was entitled to remove as much as it could from the common pool resource as long as these benefits were not cash or market-oriented. In this way, there were social boundaries on households usage of the ghasnies. Due to increased concern over the environment in the 1970s, the State Government enacted legislation through which common land ownership by the Panchayat was transferred to the state unless the land was subjected to partition between individual co-sharers before the Act commenced. This led to powerful farmers securing individual access to and benefits from the commons before nationalization. This change in access to the village commons had several negative outcomes. Large tracts of the newly private pastures were increasingly converted into cultivated lands. Agripastoralists excluded from wild privatisation were forced to graze their cattle in the forest with intensified green lopping on selected tree species such as Ban and Moru, which have now almost disappeared from the region. Forest lands, which are de jure public lands, are now used as open to all. The remaining parts of the shamlat are vested with the state which has bifurcated its use into grazing lands and allotable pool land for cultivation to land-less labourers. Productivity of these lands are abysmally low. Finally, encroachments and further political regularization have been important factors responsible for both the shrinkage of grazing lands and consequent intensive use of forest for lopping and grazing. This example illustrates how inappropriate policy can have adverse ecological effects. The de facto partition of common grazing lands has resulted in a reduced commons area, which led to overgrazing and gradual destruction of forest lands. Moreover, control by the state has resulted in numerous possibilities for the individual to escape both legal as well as customary systems of sanctions which makes the rules-in-use unviable. Under these circumstances, collective action can emerge as an efficient alternative to privatization and nationalization.
Source: Bon (2000).

deterioration of forest land rather than involving the tribals in forest management. Joint Forest Management, the process of involving tribals in maintaining forests, is still limited to small pockets of the country and there is a dire need to expand such programmes.

Poverty and Environment

Natural resources are the most significant source of rural livelihoods in the country. Not surprisingly, some of the poorest regions in the country are also places where agriculture is least developed and land and water resources are poorly managed. Conventional thinking on environment blamed the poor for over-exploitation of natural resources, as poverty and environment were considered linked in a downward spiral in which poor people, forced to overuse environmental resources for their daily survival, are further impoverished by the degradation of these resources. Population growth and economic change (which often bypasses the poor, or reduces their access to natural resources) are also seen to contribute to this process.

It was, therefore, believed that poverty needs to be eradicated in developing countries before they can turn their attention to environmental protection. However, the perception of the vicious circle as characterising the environmental degradation and poverty in developing countries is somewhat simplistic and misleading. For example, if one looks at history, there was not much environmental degradation even when poverty levels were much higher. Now that poverty levels are declining significantly, it does not seem plausible to attribute environmental degradation to poverty. Evidently, other factors such as property rights, access to resources, use of traditional wisdom, and misappropriation of environmental resources in the name of development play a more important role. As the poor are dependent on nature for their livelihood, they are very vulnerable to natural calamities, environmental degradation and ecological disasters (which are often man-made, like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and pollution caused in the river Yamuna by industries and upstream rich farmers). There are cases of destructive development which aggravate poverty and contribute to environmental degradation at the same time.

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the decisions of the management from the very initial stage will development activities stand a long-term chance of success. The draft Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill 2005 would be a step in the right direction if it were to be passed as an Act.

Thus, there is enough empirical evidence now to establish that environmental conservation must go hand in hand with economic development because any economic development which destroys the environment will create more poverty, unemployment, and disease. However, it is disturbing that neither concern for establishing equity nor the desire to preserve the environment underlies the recent interest in sustainable development among the most developed countries. Rather, the primary concern continues to lie in sustaining their consumption levels and in maintaining the conditions necessary for economic growth (Guha, 1998). In contrast, the environmental priorities of developing countries are underpinned by grim and undeniable human realities. In many rural areas in India, environmental issues are issues of life and death. The protests of the people in these areas are responses to social injustice and signal the rising political and ethical consciousness in rural India. In fact, if poverty is indeed the major cause of environmental degradation, the poor actually have a good reason to support conservation movements.

MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENT

Policy Changes
Environmental concern in India is inextricably linked with peoples lives and well-being. Several parameters currently exceed threshold limits of tolerance to the extent that some environmental problems pose real and immediate threats to health and livelihood. Given that the most serious environmental issues in rural areas emanate from improper agricultural practices, it is essential to integrate agricultural and environmental policies. Specific policies targetting environmental conservation milestones should be built into sectoral and macroeconomic policy targets. Unless the environmental checks and safeguards are institutionalized with the provision of other rural infrastructure such as roads and communication, the socio-economic condition of rural people cannot improve in a sustainable way. While poor environment undermines development, inadequate development results in a dearth of financial resources which can be devoted to environmental protection. The policy approach to agriculture, particularly in the 1990s, has been to secure increased production through subsidies in power, water, and fertilizer, and by increasing the minimum support price. The creation of new capital assets in irrigation, power, and rural infrastructure has not received priority. The fertilizer subsidy is, in fact, meant to cover the high cost of the fertiliser industry. Excessive use of subsidized fertilizer has created an imbalance between Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium in the soil while excessive use of watergiven the free availability of powerhas resulted in water logging in many areas. Under-pricing of power and irrigation, rather than bringing in improvements in rural income distribution, has led to inefficient utilization, with negative environmental externalities. The subsidies have grown over the years and are now financially unsustainable. With deteriorating state finances, subsidies have crowded-out public agricultural investment in roads, irrigation, and expenditure on technological upgrading. The equity, efficiency, and sustainability of subsidized power and fertilizers are, therefore, questionable.

Unplanned Development Projects

The environmental impact of unplanned development projects which includes construction of dams, taking over of huge tracts of land for mining, or converting natural forests to forest farms for wood pulp generation, vary in intensity but have some common and inescapable consequences. When implemented without proper cost-benefit analyses these projects result in millions of oustees, violent disturbance of pristine areas, varying degrees of submergence of land including forest land, adverse impact on flora and fauna leading to a reduction in bio-diversity, and severe impact on the fish population in rivers. Stilling of flowing waters leads to temperature stratification, variations in nutrient content and dissolved oxygen, rendering the water inhospitable to aquatic life. Building dams, in particular, results in drastic changes in the downstream river regime, including reduced flows affecting aquatic life and riparian communities, reduced capacity for self-regeneration, increased pollution levels, reduced recharge of groundwater aquifers, and adverse impact on estuarine conditions. Acquiring land for development projects is not a new phenomenon and resettlement is usually limited to giving cash in exchange. The displaced are then left to go ahead with their own rehabilitation plans. These people live at the mercy of nature and disease. Their appalling living conditions, housing, health, and nutrition are an insult to the notion of equity. There need to be proper models of analysis that focus on mitigating risks and formulating alternative strategies. There should be greater participation of local people in the decisionmaking process. Only when people have the power to influence

Awareness and Attitudes

Although Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) is now a prescribed requirement for all projects, in reality they are

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often inadequate and unreliably conducted studies, making their cost-benefit analysis a suspect. Even the statutory requirement of a public hearing in relation to the environmental clearance of a project is yet to become a well-established procedure. Awareness and advocacy among the local people is important as they are direct stakeholders in the implementation process of these projects, and community capacity-building is necessary to ensure that these people can seek legal recourse, if required. The answer, however, does not lie in large, centralized, topdown, technology-driven projects: local, decentralized, community-based, people-centred alternatives are available. Problems of scarcity of water, depleted aquifers, declining groundwater tables, and drought proneness have been successfully tackled by water harvesting endeavours in Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra, Sukhomajri in Haryana, and Alwar in Rajasthan. These are not small instances to be dismissed as one-off phenomenon but examples of significant and sustained success achieved in terms of increased water availability and rise in groundwater table. If these examples could be replicated across India, they could act as key drivers in the process of environmental restoration (Box 9.3). Larger projects, also, cannot be ignored, as there are circumstances where benefits from micro-level endeavours may not be enough. The possibility of integrating a large project with smaller surface and underground storages within the sub-basin or watershed must be considered. A negotiated participatory approach should be adopted in ensuring success of any public intervention, involving

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communities and land users in creating and maintaining environmental infrastructure. This will leverage local experience and knowledge and ensure maximum involvement. Decentralization in one form or another has been the primary vehicle for bringing democracy at the local level to facilitate local control. This implies either redistribution of authority from the central government to field delegation (de-concentration), the transfer of specific decision-making and management authority to semi-independent units (delegation), the transfer of authority to nongovernmental sectors (privatization), or strengthening and transfer of power to local governments (devolution). However, there are practical difficulties associated with each of these measures. To manage forest resources for example, community biodiversity registers must be developed before issues of ownership of resources and equitable sharing of benefits are sorted out. Moreover, clear and unambiguous guidelines (to pre-empt any possibility of rent seeking) for managing bio-prospecting agreements need to be drawn up keeping in mind the interests of the locals who derive their livelihood from the forest. Local communities can be involved in forest conservation by employing them as wildlife guards and forest watchers and by using them as trainers to build anti-poaching awareness among their localities. Indigenous skills can be utilized by employing locals for collecting snake venom and capturing and training wild elephants who devastate standing crops. (The role of decentralization in better environment management is discussed in greater detail in the section on decentralization.)

Box 9.3 Water Harvesting in Alwar: Revival of the Tradition of Johad A Johad is a dug-out pond, created at a place chosen with native wisdom, informed by remembered patterns of water flow during the rains to harness the rainwater run-off with high embankments on three sides. The height of the embankment depends on the volume of run-off from the catchments. The water storage area varies from 2 hectares to a maximum of 100 hectares. The water collected in a Johad during monsoon penetrates into the sub-soil and recharges the groundwater, improving soil moisture in vast areas mostly downstream. Apart from arresting and storing rainwater, it stops soil erosion, mitigates flood, and ensures water availability in wells for several successive drought years. The groundwater can be drawn from traditional open wells, built and maintained by the villagers themselves. The water from the Johad is also directly used for irrigation, watering of domestic animals and other household purposes. During the dry season, when the water gradually recedes in the Johad, the land inside the Johad becomes available for cultivation. This land, by receiving good silt and moisture, allows crops to grow without irrigation. Johad is built using simple technology and local materials. In the Alwar district of Rajasthan it took three years to build the first Johad. In the fourth year, Tarun Bharat Sangh, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) actively helping villagers, had built fifty Johads. As on date, 9000 such structures exist catering to water needs of more than 1000 villages. This area which was classified as dark zone in 1995 was reclassified as white zone in 2005. As water availability improved, agriculture became productive and cattle rearing started in earnest, resulting in increased production of milk. Studies have shown that an investment of Rs 100 per capita on Johad raises village domestic production by Rs 400 per capita per annum.
Source: www.tarunbharatsangh.org/publications/johad_undp

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Table 9.2 Growth of Employment in Rural Enterprises Annual growth rate in non-farm rural employment 5.37 3.65 6.62 4.50 3.24 1.75 3.11 9.68 2.73 7.64 3.44 4.78 7.93 1.74 4.95 4.46 6.48 8.40 6.05 3.02 7.34 4.15 8.39 9.96 9.85 7.07 7.72 4.77 -6.16 15.57 8.65 13.64 -0.91 1.80 3.37 5.53 Annual growth rate of rural workforce 3.05 3.07 2.08 1.79 3.82 2.99 1.27 8.80 2.54 7.65 0.66 2.69 4.21 1.69 3.29 3.24 5.05 4.96 1.95 2.54 5.19 3.44 6.41 5.43 5.84 4.98 7.06 1.70 -3.90 12.11 7.56 15.32 -2.26 3.53 3.83 3.33

Non-farm Employment
In addition to policy changes to improve agricultural processes, expansion of the non-farm sector is essential for development. If rural non-farm and urban informal sectors grow at an adequately high rate to absorb the surplus labour and surplus food then the scenario is a positive one. If however, they grow at a lower rate, the terms of trade can turn against agriculture leading to depression of agricultural incomes. Rural enterprises sector can, in this context, become both an engine of growth as well as a major contributor to the reduction of rural poverty. The potential for labour absorption is high in agro-based industries, small- and medium-scale industries, and the rural services sector. Most of these activities are highly labourintensive and provide employment opportunities for the semiand unskilled rural labour and semi-skilled urban labour force. When non-farm activities provide stable sources of income to small farmers, they can afford to opt for high-value crops with higher associated risks. Income diversification of farm households and the insurance role of non-farm activities would strengthen the viability of a small farm economy. Thus the income of farmers can be magnified by multiple linkages with the non-farm sector. These are production linkages, both backward, via the demand of farmers for inputs such as ploughs, engines and tools, and forward, via the processing needs of agricultural goods through spinning, milling, canning, and so on. Consumption linkages are established with higher agricultural income feeding into an increased demand for goods and services produced in nearby villages and towns. Improving rural connectivity also has an impact on creating employment opportunities. It is fairly common to see tea stalls, bicycle, and tractor repair shops and other establishments clustered around bus stands. Such options can ensure to an extent that rural populace does not need to exploit natural resources for subsistence, contributing to a healthier rural environment (Lanjouw and Shariff, 2002). The annual growth of non-farm rural employment for 2005 exceeded the average annual growth rate of workforce at 2 per cent per annum (Table 9.2). The average annual growth in employment for the years 19982005 was 2.5 per cent compared to the rate of 1.7 per cent between 1990 and 1998 (Economic Times, 7.6.2006). While this is heartening, it is important to continue with the thrust on rural employment, through the wide spectrum of employment programmes devised by the central government. In addition, there is a need to increase the value added component of non-farm rural enterprises so as to improve their profits and make them sustainable. Contract farming facilitates the integration of small farms with agro-processing companies, which extend technical expertise and financial support to the farmers to grow highvalue crops. Historically, contract farming has been a standard

State/Union Territories

Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttaranchal West Bengal Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Pondicherry India

Source: Fifth Economic Census of 2005.

practice in the Indian sugar industry and could be extended to other product groups to trigger the development of agroprocessing industries and generate employment for surplus rural workforce. Further, commercialization of agriculture could catalyse growth rates for the sector in a way that agricultural development could diversify into dairying, animal husbandry, fisheries, floriculture, horticulture and other areas. This would spur the growth of agro-processing industries in rural areas to meet domestic as well as export demand (Radhakrishna,

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2002). The tremendous potential of the khadi and village industries to generate employment in rural areas to ease the increasing pressure on the land could be exploited by developing forward looking plans and overhauling the marketing and distribution networks. The lacunae are in the formulation and implementation of the market development plans. The government or NGOs could play a more proactive role rather than just engage in procurement and selling through Khadi and Gram Udyog network. It is essential to make khadi and village industries sustainable and economically viable. In this context, the focus of the policy should shift from providing subsidies to market development. Provision of market infrastructure services can create incentives for production of high quality marketable goods along with the branding of products.

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Decentralization
The notion implicit in the decentralization process is that effective management of local resources requires effective participation of individual users at the community level. Peoples participation in the decision-making process is an important component of decentralization. The objective of the devolution of power is to involve the target groups of state developmental efforts in a very real sense in the formulation and management of developmental projects and programmes. The local people is a heterogeneous group defining the primary consumer set for local services. This group is the key stakeholder in the success or failure of grassroot programmes as well as civic and administrative systems in place at the local level. Panchayats, as the form of local government, have existed as a traditional village institution for centuries. In 1992, the 73rd Amendment to the Indian constitution identified areas where these grassroots level selfgovernments could be granted administrative power in 27 areas including agriculture, irrigation, and management of drinking water. This policy shift towards decentralization promises important social change in rural India, providing as it does a three-tier system of Panchayats: at the village level, the district level, and an intermediate level between the two, called the Block Panchayat. The devolution of power to the Panchayat in the management of natural resources, such as water, is a shift from the centralized and state-driven natural resource management regimes of the past towards decentralized and mainly communitybased management (Box 9.2). Instead of controlling resources from outside, decentralization could enhance participation in the form of devolution of decision-making power to formal institutions, such as, local governments that possess meaningful autonomy and the capacity to mobilize and spend resources. In particular, if there is a traditional institution of decision-making, then it can be easier and more expedient to use this as a participatory channel

rather than creating new committees or institutions. The whole process, in an ideal situation, enables the local people to debate, negotiate, and have control over the resource. If this really happens, then with time, local governance can become an educative process where the participants learn about democratic norms and practices. Because of the dominant role of natural resources in local livelihoods, it is true that people need to have an effective voice in decisions over the natural resources they depend on (Ribot, 2002). The proponents of decentralization argue that the establishment of local (formal) institutions has the capability to improve peoples management and use of common property resources, thereby improving the resource base on which poor people are often disproportionately dependent (Johnson, 2001). It is hoped that through these institutions, participation can better target benefits to the poor through the identification of key stakeholders who are most affected, and can imply an on-going information exchange and discussion through consciousness-raising by shared understanding of problems and a vision for the future that leads to commitment and ownership by the community, as shown in Figure 9.1. The governance structure, it is hoped, will change as a result of decentralization from centralized to localized, with the people at the centre. Ideally, the higher authorities will not manage natural resources, but through a participatory process, the local people will manage them, thus resulting in a change in the pattern from a command and control, to a responsive and accountable operative system, as shown in Figure 9.2. The new people-centred bottom-up paradigm in development thinking has created the overly optimistic view that decentralization will produce just and equitable outcomes for all, and that engaging the people will also act as a check on state power, thus helping to democratize local governance. The new paradigm stresses the involvement of local people in contrast to the top-down paradigm, and tends to dominate management of natural resources at the local level. Chambers (1992) argues that the emergent paradigm for humans living on and with the earth brings together decentralization, democracy, and diversity. What is local, and what is different, is valued. In this paradigm, the trends towards centralization, authoritarianism, and homogenization are reversed. Reductionism, linear thinking, and standard solutions give way to an inclusive holism, open systems thinking, and diverse options and actions. The importance of traditional ways of combating with problems could be important too: here, informal institutions could be involved. For instance, whenever villagers in Karnatakas Bijapur district sense a drought is imminent, they prepare for war with nature. Harbingers travel from place to place and try to bring rain through magic (Vasavi, 1999). Rainmaking may not work but the participants at least endeavour to do something in a situation that would otherwise

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Legitimacy Local Resources Local Needs

Local Government

Local People

Services Accountability Leadership

Fig. 9.1 The ideal situation: Towards a Good Governance for Natural Resource Management Source: Johnson and Minis, 1996.

Centralized Centre Manages Bureaucratic Command and Control Exclusive

Localized Centre Suggests Participatory Responsive and Participatory Inclusive

Fig. 9.2 Possible changes in Natural Resource Governance because of Decentralization Source: Shah (1997).

leave them dispirited and helpless. The accompanying sense of accomplishment enables the locals to cope with drought; it is preferable to sitting idle and wringing ones hands. Besides the above changes in policy orientation, there is also a need to revamp the existing institutional set-up responsible for rural environment. The current policy environment suffers from lack of coordination and communication between different departments and agencies, the activities of which impinge on natural resources. There is a need to incorporate biodiversity, forestry, and land-use considerations in development planning itself. A multi-level stakeholder approach for the planning process is essential to obtain socially balanced results in which both the economic and ecological objectives are given due weight. At the district level, a coordination committee headed by the district collector, involving the forest department and other relevant agencies including the District Rural Development Agency could be created to oversee the impact of different projects on natural resources. Similarly, to ensure that all development activities and actions relating to the

utilization, production, or management of natural resources are evaluated before implementation, it may be necessary to create an environmental cell in all the departments with expertise in the management of air, water, land, and biodiversity in the face of developmental compulsions. Isolated planning and implementation of surface water and groundwater development programmes discourage unitary analysis of water and its use as a single resource, resulting in duplication and ambiguity of functions. Central and state groundwater boards have their own separate observation wells for monitoring water tables, but do not share the data among themselves, and doubt each others databases. At the same time while the Central Pollution Control Board and the state pollution control boards focus on pollution from industrial and domestic sources, agricultural pollution is overlooked. Institutional transformation towards granting operational autonomy in the irrigation sector is called for in conjunction with the establishment of a multidisciplinary environmental unit to encourage the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, for irrigation, which would ensure better drainage in canal command area, thereby checking waterlogging and salinity. Similarly, the utilization of treated wastewater from domestic and industrial sources for irrigation could be promoted. Water management should also be closely synthesized with land management to tackle degeneration of ecosystems regulated by groundwater and surface water. This should be a crucial aspect of institutional reform along with three other major issues: planning and operation of large surface systems, watershed management, and regulation of groundwater. Indeed, groundwater is one of the countrys most valuable natural resources. Despite the urgency to rapidly develop new water supplies, little attention has been paid to or investment made in the preservation of the long term sustainability of groundwater. Water being a state subject, states are empowered to enact laws or frame policies, but only few have set-up organizations for planning water use and allocation of water for various purposes. The National Water Policy (2002) had recommended the creation of multidisciplinary units in different states for water management and proposed participation of beneficiaries in water management and water price rationalization among others. However, water management is yet to take off in many states. A major drawback of environmental institutions is that they are slow to incorporate appropriate policies amid a dynamic situation of technological and social change. Environmental policy-making and administrative and implementation mechanisms are subject to the inertia of the historical status quo of special interests (Vaidyanathan, 1999).

Improving Managerial Efficiency

While policy and institutions can enable environmental restoration, solutions are often found in technological

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breakthroughs or suitable managerial interventions. In the following sections, we highlight some of these solutions towards monitoring environmental degradation, managing natural resources, enhancing agricultural growth, and specifically rejuvenating the rural environment. It must be noted that while these have been organized as separate sections for the sake of readability, the solutions are interrelated and cannot be implemented in isolation from each other.

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Monitoring
There is a rising concern to examine and monitor the changing health status of soil, land, and water in the rural hinterland. To start with, it is necessary to take stock of the current environmental situation by studying data on the properties of the land, different types of land-use options and their effect on the resilience of ecosystems. Technology transfer options have to be assessed in the context of training farmers, especially the small and marginal. Projected increase in cropping intensity and consequent nutrient depletion demands the establishment of a monitoring mechanism for soil nutrients. Land capability classification to ensure efficient resource allocation entails completion of land and soil surveys and the development of an inventory of land resources on the basis of land-use classification. The main objective of collecting land use statistics in India has been to facilitate agricultural accounting. However, the rise in human and livestock population and development of modern agriculture have led to degradation of land, which, if unchecked, may result in irreversible damage. It is important, therefore, that a systematic database be built to assess changes in land use and the type and extent of environmental damage to land resource in each use. Land use database has to be significantly expanded from revenue and agricultural production assessment to assess and monitor the changes in the ecology and the environment. Data on barren and uncultivated land, already collected by the village Patwari, need to be aggregated as non-agricultural uses have increased substantially and the data would enable environment monitoring and decentralized planning at the district and block level. Soil quality data relating to topsoil erosion, salinity, drainage and waterlogging can be routinely monitored and remediation action initiated wherever needed.

programme and the remaining used for commercial timber production. In fact, nearly 10 Mha is already under the JFM leaving only a remaining 5 Mha to be covered. Of the degraded land earmarked for commercial timber production, 4.2 Mha of scrub (less than 10 per cent cover) can be brought under plantations and 4 Mha currently under cultivable waste and permanent fallow could be used for raising trees. This would imply an increase to about 83.4 Mha under tree cover by 2020. Plantation forestry requires the participation of communities, NGOs, and the private and corporate sectors. There is a need to increase the area under agroforestry and farm forestry on agricultural lands by planting trees along farm boundaries and in homesteads in a manner that does not affect crop production adversely. Strategies for promoting agroforestry should focus on removing legal barriers, bringing about market reforms, fostering farmerindustry linkages, and enhancing the overall profitability of farm forestry. In addition to managing forest resources, there is a need to manage the requirement of fodder for farm animals and land devoted to pastures. Limiting livestock population through selective breeding and pasture and fodder management could mitigate the pressure on land and forests. Moreover, specific forage resources could be created for livestock so that they do not compete for productive agricultural land. A detailed assessment of fodder requirement at the national and regional levels could be carried out on the basis of which regional allocation for production of fodder can be undertaken. Encouraging stallfeeding to control grazing, providing incentives to farmers to include green fodder in crop rotation, and using crop residue as fodder are alternatives that may be considered. Fodder could also be grown on land under agroforestry and JFM. Reduced demands on forests for grazing in the long term coupled with wood-demand optimization and strategic forest management will mitigate the pressure on forest resources. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on the countrys biodiversity.

Agriculture
Farming systems vary with agro-ecological conditions and no single technical fix will work as a magical cure for improving farm productivity. In some regions, solutions for increasing yields may involve a shortening of fallow periods and extension of cropping periods while in others where soil fertility and/ or access to purchased inputs is good, solutions such as annual cropping or multi-cropping without fallow would work. Again, farming systems based on tree crops, such as tea and coffee, are suitable for some regions only and should be encouraged accordingly. Further, the degree of market integration, choice of crops and cropping systems, use of conservation technologies, and use of purchased inputs and their effects on the farming system, are all important in determining the sustainability of particular farming systems.

Natural Resource Management

Combating pressure on forests would require demand-side management with respect to wood and fodder and supplyside management with respect to enhancing wood yield in forests and increasing the supply of fodder. Open forests representing 26 Mha are already degraded (FSI, 1998). According to Pachauri and Mehrotra (2002), 15 Mha of this can be managed under the joint forest management (JFM)

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adaptation, and pursuing sustainable agricultural practices so that salinity is mitigated over time. The prevention approach involves retaining native vegetation on the land as far as possible to avoid the risk of salinity. Thus, the migration of farmers outwards to marginal areas must be discouraged to retain natural vegetation which can be used for managed grazing of livestock. The recovery approach brings saline land back to full production under its former land use, although this can entail high costs based on currently available solutions. Containment strategies focus on vegetation management so as to reduce the rate of increase in water tables and avoid the spread of salinity. Adaptation refers to changing the land use pattern itself because the soil is saline. This is a good option when there are no cost effective measures for soil recovery and alternate land use such as growing feed for livestock is more profitable than growing crops in the degraded land. Deciding on the right approach to tackle salinity is a measured step combining the interests of ecological balance with socioeconomic needs of the farmer (Lewis, Lott and Prinsley, 2003). Social forestry has been the most cost effective method to tackle salinity so far. Trees are planted to reduce groundwater recharge, to intercept and use groundwater before it reaches a discharge site, and/or to increase the rate of discharge at a saline site. These approaches work best when they are designed to suit the hydro geological characteristics of the system causing the salinity. Trees have a higher potential to reduce recharge (compared to that under annual crops and pastures) and to intercept and use groundwater. Strategies that could maximise the reduction in recharge or use of groundwater for a given area of farm forestry include planting on high recharge zones; planting to use groundwater, for example, having tree belts across hill slopes, break-of-slope plantations, and plantations bordering saline water discharge zones. Trees near annual crops and pastures may be able to reduce the percolation and recharge below the nearby annual plants if they draw water from a zone wider than the tree canopies. This is usually done by planting rows of trees across paddocks, leaving alleys for conventional farming. Also, trees planted on sites where large soil water stores have developed below annual crops and pastures may be able to access this water with their deep roots and prevent it from becoming recharge; this is referred to as phase farming. Trees can also use surface water flowing onto their site if it infiltrates and is stored below ground within reach of their roots (Lewis, Lott and Prinsley, 2003).

Revamping Agricultural Extension

Revival of agricultural dynamism calls for corrective steps to deal with the near collapse of the extension systems in most states and the decline in agricultural research universities. Lab[oratory]-to-land concept should be encouraged and put to practice by providing land-users multidisciplinary technical information and viable land-use options and alternatives identified for various agro-ecological and socio-economic units. Crop combinations and rotations suitable for different agro-ecological regions (as suggested by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research) need to be advocated for better land management. There is a need to stay abreast with evolving resource conservation technologies and practices and on analysing the conditions and principles of sustainable land use. Efficient use of marginal lands needs to be encouraged and areas of untapped potential developed to ensure optimal utilization. For agricultural diversification to be a major element in the agricultural growth strategy, action on several fronts is called for. Ideally, there should be a shift of land from cereals to non-cereals (increasing both farm incomes and employment) combined with an increase in productivity in cereals to ensure that per capita availability of cereals does not decline. Improvement in fertilizer application efficiency, integrated with the use of bio fertilizers, to check the degradation of existing resources due to contamination with nitrates could be brought about through on-site farmer training programmes. Success in providing extension services so that breakthroughs in research can be implemented by the farmers entails implementation of extensive irrigation reforms (Chapter 7).

Biotechnology
While the possibilities of application of biotechnology to improve the rural environment are limitless, we focus on two specific applications: the improvement of genetic stock of farm animals and forests. Other applications of biotechnology in food and non food-crops like tomatoes and cotton are well known. They have been ascribed more than their fair share of controversy with respect to environmental impact, and these issues are not discussed here.

REJUVENATING THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT

Salinity
Soil salinity has been emerging as a critical problem in both productive and non-productive rural land. While social forestry is a popular means of tackling salinity in non-productive land, salinity management plans in catchments, pastures, and farm areas include a combination of prevention, recovery, containment,

Rainwater harvesting
There are many arid zones and drought-prone areas in the country in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Droughts are a recurring feature in these areas, causing untold misery to human beings and livestock, often resulting in large-scale migration. There needs

Rural Environment
to be a series of area-specific answers by way of local conservation and augmentation to the maximum extent possible to droughtproof these areas. Rainwater harvesting as a method of utilizing rain water for domestic and agricultural use is already widely used throughout India and the world. It is a method which has been used since ancient times and is increasingly being accepted as a practical method of providing potable water. It has wide application also in peri-urban areas where the reliability and quality of piped water is increasingly in question. With most parts of the country subject to a large variation in rainfall leading to spatial and seasonal variation in water supply, rain water harvesting is an ideal tool to take care of local water needs as well as restore the ecological balance of regions through groundwater recharge. Success stories of rain water harvesting abound in villages in different parts of India, a compendium of which can be found at a website for rain water harvesting maintained by the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE, 2006).

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to people who have a common material interest to participate in management of the resource has been found to be both ecologically and economically efficient. Water user organizations, for example, are becoming increasingly popular in India, and are more efficient than the government machinery for managing water resources. However, the application of informal CPR management has, in many ways, been unduly restrictive. It has been focusing on micro-enterprises in management of forest patches at the village level, rather than looking at higher-level forest management and economic processes. The emphasis has been on the bare bones of participatory developmentnew rules, one-off participatory planning events, village committees rather than broader and longer term processes such as the management of trade-offs among diverse objectives, and the need for scaled-up participation. Production of trees, tree products, and fodder has been emphasized upon while broader ecological processes and debates about alternative uses and competing rights and responsibilities have been overlooked.

Common Property Management

Common properties are best managed by social institutional arrangements that enforce a structure of management. Fundamental to understanding the complexities involved with management of a common property resource is the way the government (or the people themselves) form(s) institutions around the resource. The institutions which control decisionmaking regarding natural resources play an important role in providing access for all. Small group size, well defined boundaries on resources and user groups, and ease of monitoring and enforcement are essential conditions for the success of these institutions in sustaining common property resources and gaining the compliance of generation after generation of appropriators to the rules in use (Box 9.2). While informal CPR management arrangements, being socially embedded, have the potential to solve problems of access, they need to work within the framework of formal organizations. Formal rules could determine the organizational structure and function of a particular informal institution managing a natural resource, and rules and sanctions, while informal arrangements can ensure involvement of locals and sustainability of conservation efforts through cooperative agreements. These organizations are in a better position to analyse the processes involved in conscious inclusion (or exclusion) of certain people in the use of a natural resource. Of the three solutions that exist to resolve this problem of tragedy of the commons, namely centralized management of the resource, privatization of the resource, and local control of the resource, local control is preferred because it is more inclusive than the other options. Making local user groups control the common property resource by giving opportunity

Information Systems and Accountability

Information Technology and techniques that are freely available, can minimise errors and provide accurate and reliable periodically updated data. Two related issues are the cost and the system of storing information. Currently, land use data is generated, updated, and maintained by the Patwari at the village level. At each level of aggregation of different types of data, various departments are involved. The information is generated as a by-product of administration and hence, has a low marginal cost. Storage of information is not an issue. However, dissemination of the data should be made as simple as possible so that all departments have access to all the information, which can be viewed holistically before undertaking projects that could impact the environment.

Remediation of Wasteland
Remediation refers to conversion of wasteland which has sustained environmental degradation into land suitable for habitation or cultivation. Approximately 20 per cent of the geographical area of India is now under the wasteland category. Growing demand for fuel, fodder, wood, and food has extensively depleted or eliminated protective plant cover and exposed surface soils to processes of degradation, resulting in partial to complete loss of soil and productivity. As a result the production of vegetation for food and other uses has extended to areas under great ecological stress and with less favourable environment (Box 9.4). Several approaches to land remediation have been successfully implemented. For lands that have not sustained too much damage, measures such as building suitable rain

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Box 9.4 Management of the Sundarbans

The Sundarbans, home to the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger, cover about 1 million hectares of land and water across Bangladesh and West Bengal, comprising one of the three most extensive mangrove forests in the world. They are the nursery for many coastal and oceanic species of fish. Bio-diversity in the region includes 36 mangrove species, turtles, terrapins, river dolphins, estuarine crocodiles, and several species of birds, many of which are migratory. The Sundarbans are also among the most backward regions in West Bengal. This region is home to about 4 million people, of whom 56 per cent are landless. Literacy rate here is below 35 per cent, and most communities do not have access to electricity or safe drinking water, and agricultural productivity is lower than the state average. Inadequate infrastructure, poor communication facilities, lack of access to clean drinking water and health and education services, and a fragile and limited natural resource base have contributed to a low level of development and high poverty incidence in the region. A diminishing natural resource base is threatening the ecological integrity of the Sundarbans and the livelihood of the inhabitants. 90 per cent of the locals, who depend on agriculture, draw heavily on forest resources to meet their subsistence needs. Thousands of women and children collect wild tiger prawn spawn for sale to shrimp farms, leading to a decline in tiger prawn spawn and concurrent decrease in other fish species. The frequent breaches in the embankments along the riverbanks built to prevent inundation by tidal waters allow saline waters to inundate agricultural lands, destroy crops, and render the soil infertile. The vulnerability of the region to periodic cyclones forces the local communities to turn to the forest to meet their food and shelter needs. This has resulted in over extraction of wood and non-wood products such as palm leaves, honey, and fuel wood. Low material and technological inputs are constraining agriculture, crab farming, bee keeping, and honey production. Several initiatives were taken in the past few decades to enhance conservation and development in the area. In 1973, 2585 square kilometres of mangrove forest was declared as a Project Tiger Area. In 1976, three wildlife sanctuaries were created, and in 1984, most of the core of the Project Tiger area was converted into the Sundarbans National Park. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) was established in 1989 over a larger area. These initiatives are backed by an enabling policy and regulatory framework, which provides for community involvement in mangrove forest protection and management, and for regulating fisheries. However, effective enforcement of rules and regulations suffers from lack of inter-agency coordination and insufficient enforcement capacity. The extreme poverty in the area led the state government to form the Sundarbans Development Board (SDB) in 1973. The Sundarbans Affairs Department (SAD) was created in 1994 to give further impetus to socio-economic development in the area, and SDB is now under this department. During 19811990, SDB implemented a US$ 9 million integrated rural development project funded jointly by the International Fund for Agriculture and Development and the state government. In 2000, SDBs US$ 4 million development budget focused on civil works and infrastructure development, afforestation, agriculture, fisheries, and small-enterprise development. The Forest Department (FD) implements central and state-sponsored schemes focusing on mangrove forest rehabilitation, fuel wood and fodder development, and community development. Other state departments including irrigation, public works, public health engineering, and several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focus on socio-economic development, mangrove forest restoration, and wildlife conservation. The United Nations Development Programme and World Wide Fund for Nature have proposed initiatives to focus on reproductive health and population issues related to Sundarbans conservation; fostering stronger cross-border cooperation, and collaboration between conservation managers in India and Bangladesh; and tiger conservation.
Source: ADB (2001), Technical Assistance to India for Conservation and Livelihoods Improvement in the Indian Sunderbans, TAR: IND 34272.

water harvesting structures, planting appropriate vegetation and trenching of soil help in improving land productivity. The age old practice of leaving lands fallow for some seasons is also a means of improving productivity of the soil. Jatropha, a valuable crop, owing to its capability in producing bio diesel, is an option which can be chosen to alleviate soil degradation, desertification, and deforestation. The concept of substituting bio-diesel produced from plantations on eroded soils for conventional diesel fuel is gaining acceptance in India. In recent months, the centre and several state governments have expressed their support for bringing marginal lands, which cannot be used for food production, under cultivation for this purpose.

Yet another alternative is the use of mycorrhizal fungi for soil remediation. These fungi are likely to be most beneficial in diverse nutrient deficient ecosystems where the proportion of plants able to form Mycorrizhas is high. Benefits from use of the fungi include better plant growth by increasing nutrient uptake, efficient recycling of nutrients, and stabilization of the soil in the long term. Rehabilitation trials are on with Mycorrhizal inoculations for a timeframe of eight years at the field station at Gualpahari (Haryana), to yield significant improvement in biomass and nutritional status, while eliminating use of chemical fertilizer completely (Adholeya et al. 1997). Another outlook on reclamation is to use fly ash as a special kind of soil. However, the ash characteristics,

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particularly, its heavy metal composition, warrants the selection of plant species best suited for reclamation.

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WAY FORWARD
The degradation of our rural environment is palpable, albeit gradual. Even though governments acknowledge the gravity of environmental concerns, they have tended to divorce economic growth targets from environmental impact assessment. There is a need to change the policy focus which, so far, has been on a curative (if such a thing is possible) approach to environmental problems and hazards, to a preventive approach. Such an approach would include some of the following measures. For better water management infrastructure there has to be a comprehensive policy integrating water planning with overall economic and social planning. The pursuit of particular goals in water development should also aim at strengthening the objectives in the management of other resources. This implies developing multipurpose projects with possibilities of adding hydroelectric power production and development of irrigation. Second, the economic value of water must be recognized. Water should be a priced commodity. Third, local people need to be consulted on goals and strategies in water planning. This is important for rural areas and participation must take place from the first stages of decision-making. Fourth, impact assessment should be a must for any water development programme. This can bring to attention the threats to water quality as also to human welfare and social stability. This will also help unite the science of environmental analysis with the politics of resource management. In particular, we need to pay attention to the regeneration and revival of old irrigation systems and projects. In the dry land areas of the country, appropriate watershed development is critical. We need to bring wastelands and degraded lands into productive use, either under crops or under agro-forestry, and to improve credit flows to our farmers through innovative methods. Technological interventions are essential to improve

agricultural productivity and to widen the range of products. Institutional structures governing rural activities also need to be reformed and strengthened. It is necessary to evolve a new approach to agricultural policy based on a careful assessment of current constraints and possibilities. Both land and water are crucial constraints for expanding production in agriculture. The extent of forest cover has declined alarmingly. Thus, there is little possibility of increase in the cultivated area in the country, and indeed perhaps an eventual decline as urban demand and environmental imperatives lead to conversion of some agricultural land. There is, therefore, no alternative but to focus on raising the productivity of our land in a sustainable manner. For this there is a need to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies. Over the years India has developed an extensive system of agricultural research centres and extension services. However, their efficacy is in question. Strengthening the agricultural research and development system and a significant improvement in the sophistication of the technology dissemination methodologies are essential to achieving rapid and sustained growth in agricultural productivity. An increased focus on subsistence crops and technologies in rainfed/dry land areas would be appropriate in this regard. Every effort needs to be made to bring presently uncultivated land into productive use, whether in agriculture or in forestry. For this, it will be essential to evolve a comprehensive land-use policy which will lay out the contours of the ownership and institutional framework that will encourage the productive utilization of such land. Potential policy options for agricultural watersheds would include controlling sources, and thereby minimizing nutrient and waste input, while processing and moving surplus manure to nutrient-poor areas. Regulation of animal stock densities has to be ensured. On-farm nutrient budgets could be promoted by public institutions and community involvement. Finally, educating the people is important, and has to be done with the involvement of various stakeholders.

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ANNEXE
Table A9.1 State-wise Estimates of Wastelands in India (20022003), (lakh hectare) Forest Degraded Area 37.34 7.95 15.62 6.83 0.74 5.34 10.34 20.43 2.26 71.95 28.41 14.24 11.03 8.78 32.27 0.79 19.33 1.50 10.09 8.65 14.26 3.59 358.89 27.15 Saline and Alkaline Lands 2.40 0.04 12.14 5.26 4.04 0.16 2.42 5.34 4.04 6.88 7.28 0.04 12.95 8.50 71.65 0.16 Non-Forest Degraded Area Wind Water Eroded Eroded Area Area Total 7.04 15.99 106.23 129.26 74.42 9.35 38.92 52.35 2.76 14.24 5.31 67.18 10.37 127.05 110.26 0.14 8.15 5.08 27.53 4.63 66.59 1.31 33.88 1.08 53.40 13.27 736.00 8.73 76.82 9.35 38.96 71.53 24.04 14.24 5.31 71.22 10.53 129.47 115.60 0.14 8.15 5.08 31.57 11.51 180.10 1.31 33.92 1.08 66.35 21.77 936.91 8.89

State/UTs Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Total Union Territories

Source: Statistical Abstract of India, 2003, CSO, Government of India.

Rural Environment
Table A9.2 Decline in Capacity of Important Reservoirs in India Live Capacity at FRL (Billion Cubic Meter) 8.288 6.841 2.300 1.994 0.621 3.046 0.767 6.615 0.735 1.472 0.300 0.188 0.502 0.399 6.229 6.157 0.821 0.471 0.184 0.176 0.142 1.163 3.276 1.018 1.460 0.447 0.173 6.827 1.944 3.180 2.171 Capacity as % of Live Capacity at FRL As on 31 As on 31 As on 31 Mar 2003 May 2004 May 2005 13 6 -22 -7 21 29 31 37 0 40 18 22 6 1 11 24 36 100 5 40 7 5 13 14 16 NA NA -2 26 18 3 6 5 -25 -8 13 61 89 24.00 1 57 2 20.00 41 1 3 9 33 54.0 30 28.0 -3 3.0 1 19 19 17 21 -2 28 5 -4 12 12 -26 -4 10 46 72 11 0 54 2 3 11 2 16 26 29 38 10 28 1 0 1 13 12 8 21 3 10 7 31

243

Reservoir/States Andhra Pradesh Srisailam Nagarjuna Sriramsagar Somasila Lower Manair Chhattisgarh Minimata Bango Mahanadi Gujarat Ukai Sabarmati (Dharoj) Kadana Shetruji Bhadar Damanganga Dantiwada Himachal Pradesh Gobind Sagar (Bhakra) Pong Dam Jharkhand Tenughat Maithon Panchet Hill Konar Tilaiya Karnataka Krishnaraja Sagara Tungabbhadra Idamalayaar Idukki Kakki Periyar Madhya Pradesh Gandhi Sagar Tawa Bargi Maharashtra Jayakwadi (Paithon)

Catchment Area (Km2) 206242 215185 91750 NA 4667 6730 3670 1813 5540 62225 25520 4317 2406 2862 56860 12560 4481 6294 10966 997 984 2175 1412 381 649 NA NA 23140 5983 14556 21750

(contd)

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Table A9.2. (continued) Live Capacity at FRL (Billion Cubic Meter) 2.652 1.517 0.965 0.609 0.809 0.524 0.056 0.331 0.255 5.378 2.676 0.558 3.432 0.893 0.935 1.456 2.344 1.711 0.132 1.436 0.792 2.647 0.172 0.380 0.095 0.143 0.312 0.707 5.649 2.196 0.48 0.914 Capacity as % of Live Capacity at FRL As on 31 As on 31 As on 31 Mar 2003 May 2004 May 2005 45 -15 54 16 40 13 9 49 51 37 1 8 55 1 19 NA NA 7 17 39 5 4 22 14 3 -3 30 55 28 14 35 27 20 -48 12 4 2 11 13 28 17 6 13 53 11 36 23 18 NA 30 5 6 20 8 4 6 6 15 29 72 7 2 5 7 23 -8 -1 11 -6 22 14 30 5 10 3 7 6 5 14 8 NA 25 25 65 28 21 6 8 9 6 41 72 6 5 13 0

Reservoir/States Koyana Bhima(Uijani) Isapur Mula Yeldari Girna Khadakvasla UpperVaiterna UpperTapi Orissa Hirakud Balimela Salanadi Rengali Machkund (Jalaput) Upper Kolab Upper Indravati Punjab/Thein Rajasthan Mahi BajajSagar Jhakam RanaPratap Sagar Tamil Nadu Lower Bhawani Mettur (Stanley) Vaigai Parambikulam Aliyar Sholayar Tripura/Gumti Uttar Pradesh Matatilla Rihand Uttaranchal/Ramganga West Bengal Mayurakshi Kangsabati

Catchment Area (Km2) 892 14856 NA 2274 7330 1826 502 161 NA 83400 4910 NA NA 1955 1630 NA NA 6149 1010 24864 4200 42215 2253 231 197 120 NA 13333 20720 3134 1847 3584

Source: MOA (2006). Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2006, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.

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Table A9.3 Selected State-wise Number of Wells Showing Decline in Water Level and their Percentage in India from May 2000 to May 2003 No. of Observation Wells 871 201 268 9 56 618 326 50 93 905 561 748 788 875 268 993 712 1028 377 Per cent of wells showing decline Decline Decline Decline 02 m 24 m >4m 42.25 38.81 49.25 22.22 26.79 32.85 33.74 54.00 49.46 31.60 38.50 38.10 33.50 50.86 32.46 15.91 26.69 55.74 31.83 19.29 5.97 12.31 11.11 30.36 13.92 24.85 16.00 11.83 15.80 3.39 19.39 17.64 14.63 26.87 11.68 19.52 10.70 6.63 19.86 4.48 14.93 22.22 16.07 23.95 15.03 16.00 7.53 26.19 1.78 21.12 23.60 4.80 20.15 37.87 32.02 13.62 6.63 No. of Observation Wells Showing decline 709 99 205 5 41 437 240 43 64 666 245 588 589 615 213 650 557 823 170

State Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Delhi Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal

Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2227, dated 24.8.2004, from www.indiastat.com

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