Research Proposal:The dilemma of development and displacement in Polavaram project Ref.No.SSTCRC2495
1. Introduction
Indira Sagar or Polavaram is an interstate project on river Godavari and it recommended by Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) in 1980. As a part of the award, the states of Andhra Pradesh (AP), Madhya Pradesh present Chhattisgarh and Odisha executed an agreement on 02-04-1980 to permit Andhra Pradesh to construct a project at Polavaram. It is a multi‐purpose irrigation project. It was an idea of 1948 by the British engineer Sir Arthur Cotton. It materialised only in 2005 with the name of ‘Jalayagnam’. The project would create an impact due to flood by reservoir in all the above-mentioned states and people has to get evacuated from their ancestral homes. Hence their lifes and livelihoods are at high risk of impoverishment. Based on the past experiences with resettlement and rehabilitation programmes, it is clear that the displaced will be left with few choices, because the disappearance of land, minor forest produce, tubers, leaves, conventional medicinal plants and communal resources that support the population of humans and animals puts these people’s main means of livelihood under danger even outside the submersion zones. It has been visible factor that wherever and whenever the developmental activities are carried out in such places the first targets are tribes. The tribes of Andhra Pradesh have been the disproportionate victims of displacement due to developmental projects like industrial parks, construction of dams, and mining activities. Hence, many tribal communities in undivided Andhra Pradesh and Malkangiri of Odisha are uprooted from their ancestral homes.
According to government estimates, the number of families would be flood by reservoir is 27,798 with a population of1,17,034 spread over 276 agency villages. About 75,000 acres of cultivable land, about 20,000 acres of fallow land and some thousand acres of forest land will get submerged. Among the households, 13401 (48 per cent) belongs to tribals including Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), followed by 6077 (22 per cent) belongs to Backward Caste, 4246 (15 per cent) belongs to Scheduled Caste and 4074 (15 per cent) belongs Upper caste.
However, these figures were contradicted by the activists and they confirmed that it even crosses more than323 villages. The other sources indicate that between 200,000 and 400,000 residents are likely to get evacuated and most of them are Adivasi community which is an alarming aspect. For every five evacuees, three belongs to Adivasi’s who have been residing in these forests from their forefather’s and their livelihood also depends on these forests. If the project is realised in Polavaram, it would certainly get vitiated their rights and livelihood on forests.
2. Objectives
· To study the nature and magnitude of the socio-economic impoverishment experienced by the tribals due to displacement in the project area
· To what extent the forest dependent families lost their livelihood due to involuntary displacement
· To critically examine the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package proposed by the government and the role of Gram Sabha for the displaced families in the project area
· To analyze the effectiveness of compensation like land for land, homestead for homestead and house for house and other aspects like school building, road, drinking water, electricity and hospital etc., to the displaced families in the project area
· To study the role and functionality of the PESA act in addressing the grievances like acquiring and allotting land plots and compensation to the tribals in the schedule area like Polavaram
· To suggest suitable measures for the better implementation of R&R package for displaced families
3. Cooperation required
This study needs both money and material to assess the polavaram project.
4. Outputs
The project report can be published as Book and it can submit as policy document for the government.