Forest and Common Land Acquisition
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SPWD’s Mission “To prevent arrest and reverse degradation of life support systems, particularly land and water Forest and Common Land Acquisition so as to expand livelihood opportunities in a sustainable and equitable manner Estimated Forecast and through people’s participation” Lessons of Case Studies from 6 States December, 2012 Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development SPWD SPWD 14-A Vishnu Digambar Marg, Near ITO, New Delhi - 110 002 Telefax: 011-23236440, 23236387, 23235994, 23215428 Society for Promotion of Rights and Resources email: [email protected] , website: www.spwd.org Wastelands Development Initiative The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is a global coalition of international, regional, and community organizations advancing forest tenure, policy, and market reforms. RRI leverages the strategic collaboration and investment of its Partners and Collaborators around the world by working together on research, advocacy, and convening strategic actors to catalyze change on the ground. RRI is coordinated by the Rights and Resources Group, a non -profit organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.rightsandresources.org. The Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD) has been working closely on issues related to natural resources, ecology and livelihoods and its implications for governance. Working primarily in the action research mode, the Society currently has worked in 16 of 21 agro -ecological regions of the country covering 22 States. SPWD believes in partnerships on one hand and science people interface on the other as the means to provide the wherewithal for local communities to develop context specific solutions to the issues in front of them. To learn more, please visit www.spwd.org. Supporting organisation list 1. Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 2. Hanuman Van Vikas Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 3. Prayatna Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 4. Timabtu Colloctive / Kalpavalli Cooperative Society, Anantpur AP 5. Samaj Pragati Samuday, Bellary (Karnataka) 6. Environics Trust, Delhi 7. Prayog Samaj Sevi Sansthan, Raipur,(Chhattisgarh) Advisory Committee 1. V.B. Eswaran Chairman 2. Samar Singh 3. Nitin Desai 4. Madhu Sarin 5. Ravi Rebapragadda 6. Richard Mahapatra 7. Viren Lobo Convenor The views presented here are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the agencies that have generously supported this work, or all of the Partners of the Coalition. Cite as: SPWD, 2012. Forest and Common Land Acquisition: Estimated Forecast and Lessons of Case Studies from 6 States. New Delhi: SPWD. Washington, DC: Rights and Resources Initiative. Contents S.No. Topic Page No. 1 Summary 1 - 2 2 Estimation of Land Requirement for Emergent Sectors 3 - 5 3 Growth in Jaisamand Catchment: A disconnect between ecology and 7-13 ‘development’ 4 Biofuel: A Case study of Rajasthan and Chhattisgar 15 - 22 5 Kalpavalli: Windmills -- a Breath of Life or a Kiss of Death? 23 - 32 6 Impact of mining on people and environment in Sandur, Bellary 33 - 43 7 Chhattisgarh- Land Grab Special Reference to Forest & Commons 45 - 55 8 Western Ghats – Environmental and Forest Rights Concerns 57 - 69 9 Polavaram Dam: Displacement, Environmental Impacts and Forest 71 - 81 Rights The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is a global coalition of international, regional, and community organizations advancing forest tenure, policy, and market reforms. RRI leverages the strategic collaboration and investment of its Partners and Collaborators around the world by working together on research, advocacy, and convening strategic actors to catalyze change on the ground. RRI is coordinated by the Rights and Resources Group, a non -profit organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.rightsandresources.org. The Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD) has been working closely on issues related to natural resources, ecology and livelihoods and its implications for governance. Working primarily in the action research mode, the Society currently has worked in 16 of 21 agro -ecological regions of the country covering 22 States. SPWD believes in partnerships on one hand and science people interface on the other as the means to provide the wherewithal for local communities to develop context specific solutions to the issues in front of them. To learn more, please visit www.spwd.org. Supporting organisation list 1. Jagran Jan Vikas Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 2. Hanuman Van Vikas Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 3. Prayatna Samiti, Udaipur (Raj) 4. Timabtu Colloctive / Kalpavalli Cooperative Society, Anantpur AP 5. Samaj Pragati Samuday, Bellary (Karnataka) 6. Environics Trust, Delhi 7. Prayog Samaj Sevi Sansthan, Raipur,(Chhattisgarh) Advisory Committee 1. V.B. Eswaran Chairman 2. Samar Singh 3. Nitin Desai 4. Madhu Sarin 5. Ravi Rebapragadda 6. Richard Mahapatra 7. Viren Lobo Convenor The views presented here are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the agencies that have generously supported this work, or all of the Partners of the Coalition. Cite as: SPWD, 2012. Forest and Common Land Acquisition: Estimated Forecast and Lessons of Case Studies from 6 States. New Delhi: SPWD. Washington, DC: Rights and Resources Initiative. Summary Land grabbing has today become a major issue across India and a central political faultline in Indian politics. Protests, resistance and conflicts have been growing as a result of attempts by people to assert their legal and customary rights in the face of state and corporate attempts to take over land. Much of this has been framed as a struggle against land acquisition, but the issues involved go beyond acquisition of private land for particular projects. Therefore, there is a need to develop a frame of understanding that sees land takeovers as a systematic process embedded in India’s current socio- political environment. There are several developments that are accelerating land acquisition process in the country- 1. The biofuel sector is witnessing unprecedented expansion, 2. Forestry plantations are getting a tremendous boost from the heavy outlay through Green India Mission, 3. Booming commodity trade is leading to a heavy demand for forested ancestral tribal land by extractive industries, 4. Demand for land from the infrastructure sector is dramatically growing, 5. Demand from the conservation lobby for carving out larger forest areas for critical tiger and wildlife habitats is gaining momentum. All these sectors are vying for forest and other common lands the Forest Rights Act and strong community based institutional development that is mandated by PESA. The true extent of land being acquired by these sectors, the number of affected people, and how this is happening is not clearly known. The objectives of this study are- 1. To estimate the extent of land that has already been acquired; 2. To forecast the land needs by various sectors on the basis of current trends of growth and their planned expansion; 3. To estimate of numbers of people affected by such acquisitions; 4. To develop a clear understanding of the modus operandi of land acquisition particularly in view of the provisions of FRA and PESA; 5. To develop of policy options for various sectors that are more just and equitable. While the studies try to examine the question of land acquisition on forest and common lands, the inter–relationship with the life-support systems have also been looked at. The study is divided into two basic components:- 1. The first deals with the estimation of the extent of land required in the next fifteen years. This is estimated at 11.5 million hectares. This figure is a conservative estimate as it does not take into account “collateral damage” to adjacent lands. 2. The seven case studies covering six states namely Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa provide insights into the nature of issues involved in selected sectors. The sectoral and spatial coverage provides insight into the state-level policies and practices on one hand and specific impacts on the land and life-support systems on the other. v The case studies of Jaisamand catchment area deal with land acquisition for various development programmes on the life support system of local communities. Industrial development, mining, infrastructure and urban development in upper, middle and lower part of the catchment areas have been examined. v The biofuel and windmill studies cover the impact of green/clean development on the life support system of the local community. The issues related to dry-land region and the complex life support system which are very little understood come out sharply. The case studies of Bellary in Karnataka and the issues related to land acquisition in Chhattisgarh indicate that the “development” envisaged by the respective state Government has limited 1 v relevance to the local population. On the other hand the damage to the environment severely impacts the life support system of the local community. In Chhattisgarh, the issues related to PESA in FRA also have been looked at. v The case studies of the Western Ghats and Polavaram bring into sharp focus the relevance of the forest to the local community and the issues related to non-implementation of FRA in these regions. The studies bring out strongly the need to meaningfully engage with the local communities so as to understand the complexities of the life-support systems that will be impacted. FRA, PESA and the Biodiversity Act provide mechanisms to ensure that the interests of the local communities