DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ON THE SOUTH GUJARAT

Dr. Lancy Lobo and Shashikant Kumar Abstract The development of the Gujarat has been regarded as one of the fastest in terms of industrialization in the country where state ranked first in terms of attracting industrial investment after year 2000. Prior to this the state had been attracting investment in the industries primarily, chemical, power and manufacturing cited in numerous industrial complexes. Of the total industrial investment attracted by the state nearly sixty percent are being located in the South Gujarat region along the Golden Corridors from Mehsana to Vapi belt. The nature and pace of development has various negative fall out in the South Gujarat region primary in terms of loss of agricultural lands, depletion of forest resources, displacement of people from the large dams and deprival of livelihood of the local population. The study conducted by the centre for culture and development on the development induced displacement in Gujarat (1947-2004) throws light on the impact of the water resources and industrial project on the people of south Gujarat. This paper presents some of the observations and outcome of the study. It further raises questions on the method and dynamics of development in the Gujarat state in India. Why state should encourage the development of mega industries at the cost of livelihood of millions of people? Whether the development would sustainable or would have negative fall out in the wake of loss of natural resources to the local tribal population? Introduction The present paper is based on the outcome of the two-year complete research on the complex and much discussed subject in the country about the Development Induced Displacement. The study was conducted for Gujarat is in continuation of the similar studies conducted in Orissa, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala. The DIDR studies were conducted with the aim to contribute towards an effort for constructing the database and impact of projects on the displaced and project affected persons/families. The study methodology was similar to other states which included investigating the quantity of land acquired, process of land acquisition, impact of the land acquisition on the displaced and deprived and resettlement and rehabilitation policy in the state and country. Findings of the study ..From the final report..

Development and Displacement in South Gujarat Massive dams across rivers are perhaps the most awesome features of engineering marveled by man, transforming rivers, creating vast reservoirs and canals to reach the rivers water to the dry areas. These transformations are not undertaken overnight it takes years of planning and persuasion on the part of the project authorities to initiate the project. South Gujarat seems to have borne the brunt of the development demands of the State. Being one of the rich forest and mineral reserves of the State, the region was exploited to provide the much-needed water for irrigation. Presently identified as a chemical zone, South Gujarat is also known for the cultivation of sugarcane for Gujarats sugar factories. The canal network in the region was mainly developed to facilitate sugarcane farming and horticulture. Developed after the 1980s, this region is home to the chemical and hazardous industrial estates of Gujarat. The golden corridors of the region, from Bharuch to Vapi, have been experiencing rapid industrial development. The region has the largest chemical estates in Ankleshwar, Vapi and Surat, in addition to the traditional diamond and textile industries in Surat. The textile trade in the region has received a serious setback, with states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra contributing a larger share to Indias textile trade post the 1990s. The development of the industries in South Gujarat is certainly not based on the regions skills and human resource availability, but largely due to the States incentives to industries, cheap labour and lax environmental policies. According to the study it is estimated that 9.2 lakh hectares of land acquired for the water resources and industrial development projects in the South Gujarat have affected an estimated 1.31lakh families, 7.2 lakh persons. Of the thin stretch of cultivable land available in the region, 1 lakh hectares were acquired for industries, accounting for 50 per cent of the total land acquired for industries in the State. An estimated 5.2 lakh hectares of land have been acquired for water resource projects, mainly for the dam and canal networks of three multipurpose and a dozen medium dams. Displacement by Water Resources project South Gujarat has been the largest contributor by creating more than 47 per cent of Gujarats irrigation potential. It contributes 47 per cent of the States irrigation potential and more than 55 per cent of the gross storage areas of the water resources. The region is a hot bed of controversies and concerns from the stakeholders interested in development displacement debate. It has three of the largest dams in the State, which include the Ukai, Damanganga and SSP The construction of the SSP dam in the Bharuch district added to an extant reservoir storage in the Karjan dam, helping to irrigate Central and South Gujarat. Saurashtra and Kachchh account for nearly 70 per cent of the States medium dams, but not more than 40 per cent of their irrigation potential can be harnessed due to lack of rains and the silting of the aged reservoirs.

The tribals suffer the loss of cultivable land and lose their close relationship with natural resources and environs. This region contributes to more than 50 per cent of the total water resource displacement in the State: water resource projects have taken more than 5.6 lakh hectares of land for the construction large and medium dams and canal networks. More than 40 per cent of the topography of the region is hilly and forest-based, where two major rivers, Tapi and Narmada, flow from the eastern hills to the coast. Bharuch, Narmada, Navsari, Valsad and Dangs are distinct physio-cultural entities where the State is engaged in developing the plains and coastal belts for commercial agriculture and industries. This region has 6 major and 13 medium dams, mainly on the rivers Tapi, Narmada and Damanganga. Gujarats green revolution was carried forward from the water-fed south regions of the State, mainly through irrigation channels, from the land acquired for dams. This amounted to 75,000 hectares during 1961-70, affecting nearly 4,000 families in the Panchmahal district. Most of the submergence during this period was of large forest tracts and the cultivable lands of the eastern tribal belts. The construction of the Ukai and Madhuban dam in south Gujarat was started during this period. These projects required the largest land acquisitions36,000 hectaresand affected 12,000 families in the Surat and Valsad districts. Thus, the credit of Gujarats green revolution goes to the resource rich regions. The developed central Gujarat region often reaped the benefits of water resource developments in the south Gujarat. The region has more than 40,000 families that have been displaced by water resource projects, and more than 1,15,000 families were affected by the same. The estimated population of the displaced in the region is around 2.2 lakhs and that of the affected is 5.98 lakhs. Rehabilitation and resettlement issues in South Gujarat Rehabilitation and resettlement is scattered in many villages owing to the location of land that is available. Downsizing their numbers at the new sites diminishes peoples power. This has happened in all the large multipurpose projects. The burden of the scattered sites is now transferred to the people as they were asked to choose land for cultivation. The Damanganga oustees were relocated at 15 different sites, even though they hailed from a few neighbouring villages. There seems to be a deliberate attempt against the rehabilitation of the oustees. The Ukai oustees were scattered in four different resettlement colonies, and were often allotted village areas on the fringe of the forest, with little revenue land. The conflict with settling the tribals on these sites is visible as the socio-cultural tie-ups between the old and new settlers are absent. The SSP oustees are relocated in more than 200 sites, spread across the State from Navsari to Sabarkantha, making a mockery of the rehabilitation concerns. The piecemeal approach in rebuilding the life of the displaced is reflected in the sites allotted, in Gujarat, to those displaced from MP. An independent study (Appu, 1995) of the SSP R & R programme found that Nigam (Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd) buys excess land from rich farmers for the R & R of the project affected people. In some cases, it paid between Rs.12,000-23,000/

acre, while paying Rs.2,800-8,000/ acre in the same area as compensation for the acquired land. The method of arriving at the land price is systematically biased. The Land Acquisition Act specifies that the price be worked out on the basis of the instances of the sale of land within a specified time span of the neighbourhood of the land to be acquired. It is well known that in order to avoid stamp duty, people deliberately report low selling prices. Moreover, in Gujarat there is an 8 km periphery rule under which even a registered farmer cannot buy land in areas more than 8 kms away from the place of his residence, making the land market imperfect. Tribals are not allowed to sell their lands to non-tribals, making the land market in tribal regions even more problematic. Poor compensation for land acquired in tribal areas does not allow farmers to purchase an equivalent amount of land. Deductions are made for money owed by the land owner (khatedar) to the government, and the rest is paid in instalments. In the case of most of the households that we investigated, the first instalment was paid after acquisition; the second, three months later; and the third, over a year after acquisition; thus, not providing the poor farmers any opportunity to purchase alternate lands in lieu of the lands lost. Thus, the fact remains that large and major irrigation projects displace people not only from their physical environs but also from their socio-economic bases and cultural milieu. They find it difficult to adjust to the new sites. The very process of perceived rehabilitation by State agencies creates a feeling of insecurity among the displaced, dismantles their social network and creates psychological stress, which no monetary compensation can completely alleviate. Land Acquisition by Mines Serious environmental damage and loss of the livelihood near the mining areas of Amod and Maljipura village of Jhagadia taluka of Bharuch district was reported by the media during the initial quarter of 2002. The conflict between the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) with the original settlers was also reported from the Panandhro Lignite Mines area in the Kachchh district. The state has acquired nearly 7000 hectare of land affecting more than 1200 families or 6500 persons. Some of the mining areas are leased from the Common Property Resources (CPR) and from the degraded forest/land areas by the government. The GMDC provided trucks to shift household belongings from old village to the new resettlement site. It was alleged by the oustees that during the displacement articles were like roof tiles, glass etc was damaged. In the new site, the oustees families had to face problems of food and water during the shifting. During the initial period the education of the children also suffered. Lack of fodder resulted in the loss of the cattle of the oustees. In absence of the state rehabilitation policy, the GMDC often makes adhoc arrangements on its own to rehabilitate the oustees. They had promised pucca houses, community facility and jobs to youth in the GMDC projects. The corporation formed a village committee to formulate the rehabilitation plan; these were people who were

already working in GMDC. The rest of the villagers were not aware of the process till they were shown new site. The village panchayats have agreed to shift at the new site with better facilities till 2001 they were not provided amenities on the site. The company provided some financial compensation for the job it could not offer to oustees. This was protested by the human rights organisations, Lok Adhikar Sangh based in Rajpipla. Transfer of Forest Land South Gujarat has also been seriously affected by the transfer of forestlands to development projects, including mining and the timber trade. A major cause of displacement of the tribals is the activities of the Forest Department; people are treated as encroachers in their own land and their presence within the forest is challenged. Of the 35,000 hectares of forest land transferred to the State, nearly 14,000 hectares have been transferred from the Surat, Bharuch and Valsad districts. Issues for Compensation The major litigation related to compensation by the affected persons or the farmers is related to the valuation of land and property. Often the method adopted by the government for valuation does not match with the value of land expected by the farmers or prevailing in the market. The last sale instance decides the sale value and not the utility, potentialities and deprival value of the farmers whose land has been acquired by the government. Government does not even consider its own Jantri while giving compensation but this was kept by the departments to raise additional revenue from the stamp duty by the state. The value of land depends on the utility and demand in the market, often the industries which are willing to pay the market price to farmers resort to the Land Acquisition Act since government can force the farmers to part with land under question. The government needs to have effective policy on compensation wherein the land for resettlement and rehabilitation would be scarce in future. Most of the projects might not be capable or willing to rehabilitate the project affected persons. For such the compensatory or mandatory rehabilitation by allowing them to pay costs to state or local body for development of oustees or affected recommended. Compensation may not be the only solution for the mass land acquisition under the state, but as per the provisions of the existing laws for the land acquisition for the projects are dealt accordingly. The monetary compensation is largely dependent on the valuation carried out by the state agencies. The state has to have alternate mechanism of valuation apart from the existing valuation method, as it cannot be termed as replacement value of the land. We would see in the compensation paid by the different agencies are dependent on the capacity, negotiating skill and urgency of the project. The farmers would be lucky to receive better monetary compensation incase of industrial project than the water resources project. But who is going to value the social cost which a farmer has to pay for the loss of the land.

Deprival, Land Alienation and Rehabilitation The caste-wise land alienation data for whole of Gujarat presented in study shows that among the sample households about 71 percent of the tribals are displaced and 76-85 percent of the dalits and backward castes. The other community are mostly projectaffected respondents located in the industrial belt or land acquired for the canal or roads. This is also true with the land acquisition data where large land acquisition has taken in the tribal dominated talukas of the state. The projects studied displaced 70 percent of the tribal respondents mostly in South Gujarat whereas it displaced 15-20 percent of the households in case of the dalits, backwards and others. The majority of respondents from the dalits, backwards castes and other castes are project affected persons. This is due to the facts that most of the dams resulting in the submergence of the villages are located in the tribal areas forcing them to be relocated at the new sites. The deprival of the resources and land is uniformly common across the caste/tribes amongst the displaced and project affected people. Table: Caste wise Land Alienation and Rehabilitation Status
Alienation Type Self Rehabilitated Rehabilitated R&R Type Not Applicable %Rehabilitated 50.37 13.33 11.02 7.487 24.73 Not Available 8 0 11 30 44

% Displaced

Tribals 814 576 70.76 229 Dalits 90 18 20.00 69 OBC 472 91 19.28 376 Others 561 79 14.08 476 Total 1937 764 14.08 1150 Note: Percentages from total Households

28.13 76.67 79.66 84.85 28.13

9 3 5 6 23

Future

% PAP

Caste

Total

PAP

DP

410 12 52 42 479

265 8 62 86 393

131 69 347 398 945

Source: Primary Survey, CCD, 2006

Most of the water resources projects investigated under the study are located in the Surat, Valsad and Narmada districts which have more than 60 percent of tribal population of the state. The other major dams studied, Dantiwada (Sabarkantha district) and Macchu Dam (Rajkot district) have displaced the OBC and others/general castes. Of the projects and households studied 50.3 percent have reportedly resettled are tribals. Out of the total households only 25 percent of samples were selected at the resettlement sites. These resettlement sites were of the Ukai, Madhuban and Dantiwada dam projects. Common Property Resources If we look at the deprival of land and Common Property Resources (ponds, wells & trees), most losses are suffered by the tribals while comparing with their economic status. The reason for this may be twofold: one, the average loss of the tribals were more since the quantum of the land acquired for the water resources like dams, canals and townships were more than those displaced by the industrial projects. The land lost by tribals and others were similar in areas but the present land holding by the others was

more than the tribals. The reason is not whether they got land or not but they were placed in such areas were neither they could utilize the land not were able to save enough to purchase land. The meagre compensation multiplied by the cost of living results in pauperisation of tribals, which is not so in case of the developed industrial regions. The result being in tribal areas the respondents were forced to work as labourers in either the fields or in the nearby villages and towns. The loss of animal population is high in the tribals belt of South Gujarat the life revolving around agriculture and husbandry was severely damaged by the projects. While looking at the Patta land holding (or title land owners) across all households more than 67 percent of the tribal households in South Gujarat reported decline, in the Central and North Gujarat it was 68 percent for dalits, 46.2 percent OBCs and 38 percent others. A little increase in land for the forest displaced was reported on patta land since most of them were earlier cultivating the forestland but were not allotted some revenue lands. Highest land alienation is recorded in the oustees of Saputara Hill and Water resources project. The land losers amongst the tribals and dalits were not able to regain the similar amount of land either by utilizing the compensation amount or through the land granted under the resettlement policy of the project. Impact on Livelihood The shortage of land, water and vegetations forces the displaced to abandon their livestock, which is often an additional source of income. More than 60 percent of the households reported decline in the number of cattle owned by them. The small animals like sheep/goats were value added properties which could not be owned in similar numbers at the new sites. The population of the herds were reduced by 80 percent at the new site, as we found amongst the Madhuban dam oustees, who used to rear animals, like milching cows/goats etc in the forests. The forests are now far or out of bounds at the new location resulting in lack of inclination to keep the cattle. Traditionally the tribes heavily depended upon their immediate surroundings which offered a variety of choices food in the form of foliage, seeds, fruits, tubers and roots, and in the form of animals and fish. Their survival depended on food gathering and collection from the forest, which was by and large bountiful although surplus dwindled with the change of season. This necessitated for a few groups to rhythmically migrate in search of forest resources and for others to cultivate with rudimentary practices, coarse variety food grains in the valley floors and hill slopes. They were organically linked to their milieu and lived in complete harmony with nature1. Gradual depletion of forests and consequential degradation of soil and water resources of the traditional tribal habitats is stripping off their life supporting capabilities. Interaction of the tribes with their milieu is increasingly being restricted to the utilization of land resources for crop cultivation, which fails to support majority of them for more than a few months in a year, due to physical as well as human constraints. The tribal areas of Gujarat present a typical example, wherein, under such circumstances, the

unorganised urban labour market provides an alternative avenue of employment and sustenance. Families, mostly young couples with or without small children, seasonally migrate to the cities of Ahmedabad, Anand, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Godhra, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara etc. and work as wage labourers mostly in the construction sector. Looking Ahead Habitability of the tribal areas is steadily decreasing. Measures of tribal area development in vogue seem to have been providing only a lip service to regenerate the life supporting capabilities of these areas. The tribal population today stands stands bereft of a resource base that could uphold its livelihood sustainably. Increasing industrialization of tribal areas and mining activities are a matter of concern for them. Industrial development in tribal regions generated employment but they have been discriminated against by non tribals. Major programmes for the benefit of tribals are dominated and executed by non-tribals. Such development cannot be sustainable even if it is not participatory and democratic. These lands may be acquired through the various legislations or purchased directly from the landowners, but the process brings hardships to the persons whose land is taken. Development of rural areas is undertaken by various programmes and schemes in the guise of State and national interests. The development presented here is related to large and small projects initiated in the least developed areas under the pretext of reducing poverty by utilizing natural resources. People are central to any development activity, Development should not only rely on econometric or techno centric models but by guided by people, their institutions and their knowledge, their forms of social organization to develop themselves for attaining the goal of a good society without tensions, strife and disruptions(Mehta, 1999). What could have been the socio-economic status if these displaced and deprived people would not have given the land or projects would not have acquired it? Most of the large-scale projects are beyond local or regional realm, they are just located there to exploit the resources or simple take advantage of its location. It seems there has been a neglect and lack of planning on the part of the state government to resettle and rehabilitate the displaced or project affected families. Of late facilities are being given at some sites after a generation of the displaced or dispossessed struggled to feed their families have passed away. Would they have asked for more from state? Ask your question to the promoters of the Vulturistic character of development we have followed in the state.
(The paper is based on the project completed by authors on Development Induced Displacement in Gujarat 1947-2004, Centre for Culture and development, Vadodara, 2007)