Published on: 15 Jun 1992, 10:00 am
Where a community maps its resources
Economic growth is unsustainable unless the exploitation of natural resources is within the limit of the carrying capacity of life support systems. Achieving development that is sustainable and environment-friendly needs decentralised, micro- level approaches. This requires scientific data based on local resource endowments.
An integrated programme of panchayat level resource mapping was started for the first time in the country with the scientific evaluation of the terrain in Ulloor panchayat of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala in 1990. The endeavour involved the local community, training them in the art of resource mapping which involves a high level of scientific skills. The training module, developed by CESS, includes three days of theoretical deliberations followed by five days of field demonstration and mapping work.
Course material has been designed to include a brief exposition on the development crisis in Kerala, the need for micro-level surveys, and the relevance of resource maps and mapping procedures in detail. A comprehensive legend has to be worked out by the participants. Water-related data are gathered in a structured format. Plot-wise details covering land-use, settlement details and water availability and problems are recorded in a diary.
At least five persons from each ward of a panchayat participate in this work. After the theoretical deliberations, field demonstrations start. Scientific and technical personnel initiate the volunteers in the use of cadastral maps, as the local people can easily identify these plots. The experts are fully involved in the mapping exercise on the first day. They themselves map, write diaries and fill up the water chart. By the second half of the day, volunteers are asked to conduct the survey with the assistance of scientists.
Volunteers undertake the major work on the second day. Scientific staff oversee their work and provide assistance if required. Volunteers start mapping on their own from the third day. At the end of the day, the entire team discusses the survey to sort out problems.
An important component of the mapping programme is systematic campaigning. Preceding the mapping, volunteers participate in kala jathas (cultural programmes) and meetings and make door-to-door visits to spread the message of the programme and solicit local support. Intensive ward-wise discussions of land use problems are also undertaken.
The Ulloor Model, improved by the CESS, KSLUB and KSSP, has been extended by the Indian government's department of science and technology to 23 panchayats in Kerala. The project involves scientific terrain evaluation by earth scientists, the mapping of existing land and natural resources by local volunteers and the preparation of action plans for panchayat- level development based on these maps. The information and maps by digitisation, using the Geographical Information System (GIS) software, is then computerised.
In December 1990, the Kerala government brought all the panchayats in the state under the scheme, with CESS as the nodal agency and KSLUB as a collaborator. Already 30 panchayats have been scientifically evaluated and mapped by local villagers.
The total cost of developing resource atlases for the whole state was estimated to be Rs 2.8 crore, of which Rs 1.7 crore can be saved through the involvement of volunteers. The additional money is being provided by the government.
The traditional wisdom, values and ethics of the local people, combined with the scientific evaluation of resources, eliminates problems of centralised planning and focusses on grassroot realities. It is perhaps the only alternative to existing resource management models which have led to widespread environmental degradation.
In this Kerala town, ponds, farms and commons shaped its plans for the future
Residents of a small Kerala town rejected a state-led development blueprint they feared would destroy farms, water systems and livelihoods.
Instead of going to court, the municipality spent nearly three years creating a participatory “People’s Plan” with planners, volunteers and hundreds of residents.
The new master plan prioritises pedestrian mobility, climate resilience and the protection of historic water systems and urban commons.
On October 18, 2021, residents of Chittur-Thathamangalam, a small town in Kerala’s Palakkad district, received something the town had never had before in its 125-year history: a Master Plan.
The Draft Master Plan 2031, prepared by the state’s town planning department, outlined an ambitious vision for the town’s future. It proposed a wide range of infrastructure projects, including extensive road widening, four bypasses and ring roads, two lorry terminals, a new bus stand, and a terminal market, among 85 development initiatives intended to spur economic growth.
But when the town’s newly elected Left Democratic Front (LDF) municipal council and its roughly 32,000 residents examined the proposals closely, many were alarmed.
They concluded that, if actualised, the infrastructure projects proposed under the Draft Master Plan’s “pro-growth” paradigm could fundamentally reshape the character of their town. Local representatives argued that these proposals would wipe out nearly 80 per cent of the town’s retail economy, while also requiring the demolition of hundreds of homes, community buildings and acres of agricultural fields.
Residents warned that such development would inevitably lead to flooding, drought, unemployment, and displacement. They feared that any intervention altering their existing landscape—nearly half of which is under agriculture, mainly paddy, banana, and coconut cultivation, along with locally managed irrigation systems that shape water flows, ecology, and the commons—would jeopardise their future.
So instead of accepting the state’s blueprint, the town decided to challenge it. ........cont https://www.downtoearth.org.in/agriculture/in-this-kerala-town-ponds-farms-and-commons-shaped-its-plans-for-the-future
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