A PERSPECTIVE ON

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A PERSPECTIVE ON NATURAL
RESOURCES, THEIR PROBLEMS
POLICIES IN INDIA
KETAN TATU
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INDIA- PHYSICAL ASPECTS

• Located in South Asia (20º 00 N, 77º 00 E ).
• Mainly lies between the Tropic of Cancer
• and the Equator.
• Shares boundaries with China, Pakistan, Myanmar
  (Burma), Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• Total area - 3,287,590 km².
• Total land area- 90 of the total area.
• Coastline 7,000 km Climate varies from
  tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north.

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INDIA- PHYSICAL ASPECTS (Cont.)

• Three main geological regions
• 1. Indo - Gangetic Plain
• 2. The Himalayas
• 3. The Peninsula

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BIO- GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS

• 1. Trans Himalayan
• 2. Himalaya (North-western Western)
• 3. Arid (Desert and saline-flats)
• 4. Semi- Arid
• 5. Malabar (Tropical forests and Western Ghats)
• 6. Deccan Peninsula
• 7. Gangetic Plain
• 8 North-east India
• 9. Islands
• 10. Coast

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS

• India is one of the largest democratic countries.
• 7th largest country and has ancient civilization.
• There are 18 scheduled regional languages in
  India.
• India is a billionaire Total population -
  1,027,015,247.
• Population density in most areas- 790 people/ sq.
  mile
• Although India occupies only 2.4 of the world's
  land area, it supports over 15 of the world's
  population, 2nd most populated.

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• Annual population growth rate 1.2
• How many births per day?

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DESPITE POPULATION PRESSURE.

• One of the fastest economic growth rates in the
  world since the 1980s and a robust IT industry
  that is projected to earn about US 50 billion
  by 2008.
• Population below poverty line in rural areas
  decreased from 37.3 in 1993 to 18.6 in 2001.
• Birth rate is decreased from 49(1901-05) to
  25(2001-2005) annually.
• Literacy rate increased to about 65 from less
  than 50 in 1970s.
• One of the largest education systems in the
  world.

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POPULATION Vs. NATURAL RESORCES

• High population is a major hurdle for natural
  resource management.
• In opinion of some environmentalists, Indias
  population has exceeded the threshold limits of
  its life support systems.
• The relationship between population and life
  support systems is disturbed.
• Resource management programs, however innovative,
  are not likely to yield the desired results.

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RURAL POPULATION-LARGEST CONSUMER OF RESOURCES

• 75 of Indias population in villages (n
  600,000).
• Directly depends on locally available natural
  resources for
• - fuel wood
• - firewood
• - fodder
• - other needs for livelihood.
• Thus, a large section of the countrys population
  has been using the resources every day in a
  diffused/decentralized manner for basic needs of
  living- difficult to regulate.

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TRIBAL PEOPLE

• Rural areas have large number of tribal people.
• Majority are poor, traditional, and less
  educated.
• 54 million tribal people depend on natural
  resources for.
• Subsistence agriculture,
• Fuel-wood harvest,
• Fodder collection,
• Medicinal plant collection
• Hunting for livelihood.

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ECOSYSTEM PEOPLE
Fodder collection
Fire/fuel wood collection
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NATURAL RESOURCES ISSUES- OVERALL SCENARIO

• Health and integrity of Indias natural
  resources are being affected due to
• -Population
• -Poverty
• -Politics
• -Progress

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NATURAL RESOURCES OF CONCERN

• Some important Natural Resources of India are
• Water (Surface and Ground)
• Land
• Vegetation (Flora)
• Wildlife (Fauna)
• Ecosystems endowing Natural Resources
• Wetlands (Lentic and Lotic)
• Forests
• Grasslands
• Deserts
• Agro-ecosystems

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WATER RESOURCES- SURFACE

• Total surface water bodies cover area of about
• 7 m. ha.
• Surface water resource is mainly stored in rivers
  . Tanks/Ponds - not much in use.
• Surface water potential 1869.35 cubic km
• 12 rivers are classified as major rivers whose
  total catchment area is 252.8 mha.
• Their waters are tapped through dams canals
  about 4000 large dams.
• Irrigation-Highest priority.

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SURFACE WATER ALLOCATION
Figure 1.
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GROUND WATER RESOURCE

• Groundwater resource is stored either in the hard
  rock (S. India) or alluvial aquifer (N. India).
• Ground water potential till 1997- 98 46.5 m ha.
  
• 50 of Indias irrigated areas depend on
  groundwater resource. Also a major source for
  domestic demands.
• Its tapped through millions of wells
• -10225151 dug wells and 5.1m tube-wells.
• In western, northwestern and peninsular India,
  tens of thousands of irrigation wells added every
  year.
• Groundwater withdrawal exceeds annual recharge in
  vast areas leading to over-development.

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GROUND WATER PROBLEMS

• Groundwater resource faces
• Depletion due to overdraft- decline in water
  table.
• Water-logging and salinization caused by
  insufficient drainage.
• Pollution, due to intensive agricultural,
  industrial and other human activity.

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GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION-A COMPARISON
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VILLAGE WOMEN AT A WELL
GROUNDWATER FOR DRINKING.
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WATER RESOURCES- CURRENT STATE

• Indias finite water resources are stressed and
  depleting, while demand from various sectors
  ranging from agriculture to industry are growing
  rapidly.
• Water is rapidly becoming a scarce resource in
  India, yet continues to be managed inefficiently.

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WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE
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NOT A DROP TO DRINK
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INEFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCE
Effluents from a factory being released into an
Indian river
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NATIONAL WATER POLICY(1987, 2000)

• It states that water is a scarce and precious
  national resource to be planned, developed,
  conserved and managed in an integrated and
  sustainable manner, keeping in view the
  socio-economic aspects/needs.
• The policy also states that the water resources
  availability must be augmented by maximizing
  retention, eliminating pollution minimizing
  losses.
• For this, measures like modernization and
  rehabilitation of existing systems (e.g. tanks)
  are suggested.

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NATIONAL WATER POLICY (Cont.)

• Under this policy, development and water
  allocation priorities are broadly decided as
  follows
•   Irrigation and Drinking water,  
  Hydro-power and Industries,   Ecology,
•   Navigation and other uses.

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EXAMINING THE POLICY

• In regions with a high population density,
  intensive tube well-irrigated agriculture and
  insufficient surface water, many consequences of
  groundwater over-development are surfacing
  despite this policy. Examples-?
• Depletion due to overdraft, water-logging,
  salinization (caused by insufficient drainage),
  and pollution due to agricultural, industrial,
  and domestic activities still continue.
• When there is competition for water, poor people
  often lose out to those who can afford more
  powerful machinery for extracting water. Thus,
  the policy does not remove inequality.

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EXAMINING WATER POLICY(CONT.)

• Water seems to be everybodys commodity, but
  nobodys responsibility.
• Several Governmental Ministries deal with water
  resources with their respective goals.
• E.g. MoRD, MoWR, MoA, MNCE, MoEF.
• -They often have inter-conflicting goals with
  respect to a single water source.
• Despite the National Water Policy the community
  has limited voice in management of this
  resource.

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WATER POLICY PROBLEMS IN NUTSHELL

• Water-related policies in India still face
• following problems
• - Groundwater is still not considered as a
• Common Pool Resource
• - Uncontrolled use of bore well technology and
  in
• turn, over-development is still going on,
• - Pollution of freshwater resources still
  wide-
• spread,
• - Denial of control over water resources to
• local communities.

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LAND CURRENT STATE

• Vast area of land is degraded.
• Out of the total 2.95 million sq. km of the
  countrys land area, 1.75 million sq. km of land
  requires special treatment to restore it to
  productive state.
• The steady growth of human as well as livestock
  population is exerting heavy pressures on Indias
  land resources.
• LAND DEGRADATION- ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES
• Water and wind erosion (150 million ha).
• Salinity and alkalinity (8 million ha).
• Other factors (7 million ha).

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Land degradation on hill-slopes.
Wind and water erosion
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EXAMINING LAND POLICIES

• The country has not implemented yet, a
  well-defined integrated land use policy.
• Land management has been largely unsystematic,
  arbitrary, and unsustainable.
• There are no fuel-wood collection, grazing, and
  fodder policies at the national level for
  conserving land resource in rural areas.
• Extraction of fuel/fire wood, timber, fodder
  from forests is also beyond the sustainable
  limits, creating enormous negative impacts on
  forests land.

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DEGRADED LAND..
NOBODYS LAND..
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FOREST RESOURCE

• Great variation in forest types depending upon
  rainfall, soil topography and climatic factors.
• 16 forest types.
• Of the 16 forest types in the country, the dry
  deciduous form the major forest type (38.2 ).
• Other predominant forest type is the moist
  deciduous covering 30.3 of the forest area.
• Others- tropical rainforest, dry thorn forest,
  alpine forest.

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MAJOR FOREST AREA
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FOREST RESOURCE

• As per the Status of Forest Report-1999, the
  forest cover in India is 63.73 million ha (19.39
  the geographical area of the country).
• This is composed of 37.74 million ha (11.48) of
  close forest, 25.50 million ha (7.76) of open
  forest and 0.49 million ha (0.15) of mangroves.
• The broad national goal is of 33.
• 19 vs. 33 indicates depletion of forest cover.

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FOREST DEPLETION IN INDIA

• Indias forest wealth is dwindling due to
• over-grazing,
• over-exploitation both for commercial and
  house-hold needs,
• encroachments,
• unsustainable practices including certain
  practices of shifting cultivation, and
• developmental activities such as roads,
  buildings, irrigation and power projects.

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NATIONAL FOREST POLICY 1988

• The principal aim To ensure environmental
  stability and to maintain ecological balance so
  vital for sustenance of all life-forms. Gaining
  direct economic benefit from forests- secondary.
• Some basic objectives of the NFP are
• Conserving the natural heritage of the country by
  preserving the remaining natural forests.
• Increasing forest cover through massive
  afforestation (Farm forestry etc.)
• Meeting the needs of rural and tribal people.

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NATIONAL FOREST POLICY(CONT.)

• The policy recommends that industrial wood
  requirements should be met from the farm
  forestry/private area plantations.
• The policy also sets a national goal to have a
  minimum of one third of the total area of the
  country under forest or tree cover in the plains.
  
• In the hills and in mountainous regions, the aim
  should be to maintain two third of the area under
  such cover

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EXAMINING THE FOREST POLICY

• Though the policy is very comprehensive, its
  implementation is a giant task as reflected from
  some bitter realities, e.g.
• - The demand for commercial timber was estimated
  at 64 MCM in 1996 with a growth rate of 5 per
  annum (FSI 1995). So, how can forests remain
  un-affected?
• -Fuel-wood consumption was estimated at over 250
  million cubic meters in 1997 as against the goal
  of over 50 million cubic meters only.
• - Sustainable extraction of wood is often an
  official term on paper because in practice ,
  rapid depletion of forest stock has almost become
  a norm.

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EXAMINING FOREST POLICY (Cont.)

• Shifting cultivation is still practiced in 13
  states of the country causing forest degradation.
• Still, an estimated 100 million cows graze in
  forests against a sustainable level of 31 million
  per annum.
• An estimated 0.7 mha of forest land has been
  encroached upon for agriculture by the people who
  live in their vicinity.
• Frequent forest fires has been a major cause of
  degradation of forest land.

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DEFORESTATION.
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DEFORESTED MOUNTAINS
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JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT

• JFM is Forest Departments initiative to link
  people with forest management.
• Village communities are given legal right to
• manage nearby forest areas as per their need.
• The areas entrusted are usually fringe forest,
• degraded or even deforested areas.
• The communities are required to form and run
  committees for forest protection development.
• Each of these committees has an executive
  committee that manages its daily affairs in
  co-ordination with FD.

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE
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WILDLIFE RESOURCE

• India - a country with rich wildlife
  (animals/plants)
• A mega-biodiversity country.
• Two biodiversity hot-spots.
• - The Western Ghats (extending into Sri
• Lanka or Ceylon)
• - Eastern Himalayas (extending into
• Burma).

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE
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• WILDLIFE RESOURCE OVERALL
• With 2.4 of the worlds area, India accounts
  for 7.31 of global faunal total. Flora accounts
  for 10.78 of the global total
• 49,219 plant species
• - 15000 flowering plants
• Recorded faunal species 89,451
• - 4000 vertebrates

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE- RICHNESS

• Amphibians 140 species
• Reptiles 420 species
• Birds 1200 species
• Mammals 340 species
• Mollusks 4000 species
• Insects 50,000 species
• Other invertebrates 6500 spp.
• Fish 2000 species

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE -ENDEMISM

• Many endemic plants/animals.
• Of the 49,219 plant species, 5100 (33) are
  endemic.
• 55 bird species are endemic to India.
• 44 species of mammals are endemic.
• 110 endemic amphibian species.

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE - PROBLEMS

• 3 of worlds threatened species are in India.
• According to the Red List (IUCN 2000), 44 plant
  species are Critically Endangered, 113
  Endangered and 87 Vulnerable.
• Amongst animals, 18 are Critically Endangered,
  54 Endangered, 143 are Vulnerable.

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WILDLIFE RESOURCE PROBLEMS

• The major causes of species extinction are
  habitat loss and degradation.
• In recent years, hunting has emerged as a primary
  reason for the decline in numbers of species.
• Hunting by local communities may be among the
  most widespread threats to wildlife
• (Silent poachers- snaring/trapping and those
  equipped with guns.

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WILDLIFE (PROTECTION)ACT,1972

• Objective Effectively controlling poaching and
  illegal trade in wildlife and its derivatives.
• Long title
• An Act to provide for the protection of wild
  mammals, birds and plants and for matters
  connected there with
• Date of original text September 1972.
• Amended in January 2003

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WILDLIFE(PROTECTION) ACT (CONT.)

• Prohibition of Hunting No person shall hunt any
  wild animal specified in Schedule, I, II, III and
  IV (total 6 schedules).
• The Act also controls trade and commerce in
  wild animals, animal articles, and trophies.
• It institutes the National Board for Wild Life
  and of the State Boards for Wild Life.
• The declaration of Sanctuaries/NP is done under
  the provisions of this Act.
• It has detailed provisions regarding zoos,
  wildlife management, hunting, and penalties for
  wildlife crimes.

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PROTECTED AREA (PA)NETWORK

• SANCTUARIES
• Total sanctuaries 448
• Total sanctuary area 112,357.86 ha
• NATIONAL PARKS
• Total N.P. 85
• Total area of N.P. 36,171.60 ha
• (Together cover 4 of countrys area)
• TIGER RESERVES
• 27 Tiger Reserves
• Established under Project Tiger 1971
• Covering 33,000 ha area.

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PROJECT TIGER- A SUCCESS STORY?

• 40,000 tigers at the turn of the century.
• Only 1800 left by early 1970s.
• This led in 1973 to initiation of Project Tiger.
• 27 tiger reserves are set up till date.
• Hunting and trading in tiger is banned.
• Habitat improvement and anti-poaching measures
  are carried out.
• Between 1973 to 1989, the species showed a great
  recovery as tiger population increased to 4000.
• Slight decline thereafter with numbers 3500 in
  1997.
• Current status- a controversy.

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EXAMINING WILDLIFE ACT, 1972

• Though wildlife is also found outside PA network,
  the authorities concentrate mainly on PAs.
• They pour their conservation efforts in 4 of the
  countrys landmass set aside as sanctuaries and
  national parks. On rest of 96 land, wildlife is
  at mercy of industrialization, urbanization,
  agriculture.
• The Act is not community-friendly. So the
  implementing govt. agencies use coercion to deal
  with
• local people to control damage to wildlife by
  people.
• The Act has displaced tens of thousands of local
  people who had been traditionally dependent on
  the forests protected as N.P./Sanctuaries.

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BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT, 2002

• It has come into being after India became a
  Party
• to Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.
  
• An Act to provide for conservation of Biological
  
• Diversity, sustainable use of its components
  and
• equitable sharing of the benefits.
• Its significance is in the recognition of
  village-level
• councils in managing biodiversity and
  organizing
• benefit sharing.

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BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT, 2002
-National Biodiversity Authority at the federal
level and State Biodiversity Authorities at the
provincial level are formed under the provisions
of this Act. -These nodal bodies oversee the
conservation, use, and sharing of the benefits
from the use of biological resources. -Anyone
having intention to obtain biological resources
for commercial utilization or for bio-surveys or
bio-utilization, is obliged to take prior
permission of boards.
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A CONCLUDING REMARK

• Major natural resource problems in India are due
  to the four Ps.
• Lack of integrated planning/ management of
  natural resources dilutes governments efforts
  for solving the problems. (Govt. departments,
  municipalities, local authorities and industries
  use the resources according to the priorities of
  their individual sectors.)

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THANKS..