International Journal for Scientific Research & Development

IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research & Development| Vol. 3, Issue 12, 2016 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613

Land Resource Management towards Sustainable Development in Kurseong Sub-division Rwitabrata Mallick Research Scholar School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University Abstract— Kurseong is a perfect place for people who want  Low grade schists and phylites to derive the pleasure of being in an alpine surrounding  More competent gneisses without worrying about higher altitudes and bone chilling  Sand stones cold weather. Kurseong has tremendous natural resources  Recent and sub-recent alluvium especially land resources. Proper resource management The soil of Kurseong is very fertile, but the main programme will help to achieve sustainable eco- problem with that area is extensive soil erosion due to heavy development of Kurseong sub-division. rainfall, steep slope along with rapid deforestation (Rao Key words: Kurseong, Land Use, Land Resources, 2003). The dominant soil types found in the region are- Sustainable Development  Deep well drained fine loamy soil occurring on steep side slope I. INTRODUCTION  Excessively drained, coarse loamy soil occurring on Land is made of soil and it can be defined as the complex steep slopes (dominant) mixture which consist weathered layer of the earth’s crust  Shallow, well drained, gravely loamy soil occurring on with living organism and products of their decay. This layer steep slopes lies on the rocky core of the earth. The soil is the base of the plant’s growth as well as animal along with water, air and III. RESULT & DISCUSSION sunlight. All animals, in turn depend on plants for food The land slides, which are very common in and around directly or indirectly and plants get raw materials like water Kurseong hill area cause increase in waste lands. The to make their food from the soil. So soil is the creator of all Gayabari I, Gayabari II, Gayabari III, Mahanadi are the the forest products, agricultural products, foods etc. as such most badly affected areas by the land slide problem. The soil and optimum land use pattern play a significant role in amount of land slide affected area is 900 acres agricultural the improvement of social and economical situation of a land and 350 acres homestead land in Kurseong block. region. The land use patterns in 14 Gram Panchayats under Kurseong Sub-division are given in Table 1. II. MATERIALS & METHODS Kurseong has a wide variety of rock type, which include- Sl Name of Agricultural Plantation Area Forest Area Habitation Area Total amount of No Panchayat Land (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) Land (ha) 1 Chimney Deorali 169.28 208.37 85.05 43.76 506.46 2 Mahanadi 519.721 434.10 196.923 72.26 1223.004 3 St Mary’s I 232.31 574.04 3257.33 736.2 4799.88 4 St Mary’s II 139.73 455.00 138.51 733.24 5 St Mary’s III 230.03 1743.3 1690.00 654.00 4317.33 6 Gayabari I 140.20 268.30 1.00 73.30 482.80 7 Gayabari II 4.70 144.50 58.00 - 207.20 8 Gayabari III 202.50 588.50 171.31 - 962.31 9 Shivakhola 559.13 523.34 449.02 500.59 2032.08 10 Sittong I 628.2 - - - 628.20 11 Sittong II 333.1 136.8 33.4 - 503.3 12 Sittong III 704.32 757.15 2359.00 875.93 4696.4 13 Pandu 1297.59 870.62 770.62 113.07 3051.90 14 Sukna 398.58 333.92 1587.85 44.08 2364.43

Total 5559.391 7037.94 10659.5 3251.7 26508.53 Table 1: Land use pattern in 14 gram panchayats under Kurseong sub-division

From the above table it is observed that St.Mary’s I has the 13 Pandu 3051.90 8097 0.376917 maximum amount of land area (4799.88 ha) in Kurseong. Each of the 14 panchayats has agricultural land, but 14 Sukna 2364.43 9161 0.258097 plantation land and forest land is not available in Sittong I Total 26508.53 183674 gram panchayat. Maximum agricultural land is available in Pandu gram panchayat (1297.59 ha). Sittong I, Sittong II Table 2- Total amount of land, total population and per and Mahanadi have quite large amount of agricultural land. capita land consumption of each panchayats of Kurseong St. Mary’s III has maximum plantation land (1743.3 ha) The main problem of Kurseong’s land use pattern is the soil followed by Pandu and Sittong III. St. Mary’s I has erosion. The main cause of soil erosion is the drainage maximum amount of forest land. Sittong III gram panchayat system, heavy rainfall during monsoon period, steep hill has maximum area under habitation. slope, faulty land use pattern, unplanned civil structure, Broadly speaking, maximum land area under deforestation etc. Kurseong is covered by forests land, followed by plantation Despite these natural phenomenons, manmade area, agricultural land and habitation area (Fig1). ecosystem of erosion plays a vital role in the hill area. On As maximum land is under forest cover it is quite the other hand, mode of agriculture, techniques of building significant that Kurseong hill area is rich in natural constructions etc. are also modified with time, which can be resources especially with flora and fauna. considered as indirect cause of soil erosion and landslides (Basu, 2000). As per capita land consumption is an important data for finding out the land available for development for diverse purposes (Chandra, 2004) that will uplift socio- economic status of the region vis-à-vis eco-tourism, it is separately depicted in Fig: 2.

Fig. 1: Pie Chart Representation of land Use Pattern in Kurseong Total amount of land, total population and per capita land consumption of each panchayats of Kurseong are given in Fig. 2: Per Capita total Land consumption of 14 gram the following Table (Table 2): Panchayats under Kurseong block Total Per capita Total With the increase of population and change in life Sl Name of amount land style, there has been increase in demand for food, timber Population and firewood. This has resulted in the increase in demand of No Panchayat of Land consumpt (number) more areas for agricultural practice, making shelters and (ha) ion (ha) more exploitation of forests. These are the direct causes for depletion in forest cover, soil erosion and landslides in the Chimney hill area (Basu, 2001). 1 506.46 2552 0.198456 Deorali The major plantation crop is tea. The western part of Kurseong block is occupied by tea gardens namely 2 Mahanadi 1223.004 4903 0.24944 Makaibari Tea Estate, Ambootia Tea Estate in Pandu Gram Panchayat. In the whole Kurseong block, a total amount of 3 St Mary’s I 4799.88 7362 0.65198 6473.36 ha of land are covered by plantation, in which 4 St Mary’s II 733.24 5053 0.14511 757.15 ha of land produce other type of plantation crops 5 St Mary’s III 4317.33 110009 except tea. Apart from tea, cinchona is also produced as a 0.039245 plan tation crop. In Sittong III gram panchayat, 50.83 ha of 6 Gayabari I 482.80 5186 0.093097 land are under orange plantation and around 81 ha of land are engaged in cinchona plantation. 7 Gayabari II 207.20 6648 0.031167 8 Gayabari III 962.31 5656 0.17014 IV. CONCLUSION 9 Shivakhola 2032.08 4076 0.498548 Land is one of the major natural resources of Kurseong hill area. This study shows that the people of this area suffer 10 Sittong I 628.20 2869 0.218961 from lower level of agricultural production due to heavy soil erosion and scarcity in agricultural land. Proper land use 11 Sittong II 503.3 4014 0.125386 planning and land capability analysis can lead to methodical 12 Sittong III 4696.4 8088 0.580663 and scientific land resource management. This will

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