9.10.mohammad afsar alam

8/12/2019 9.10.Mohammad Afsar Alam

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ISSN 0975 5942

Regional Planning and the Waste Land Development in

India: An Overview

Mohammad Afsar AlamAssistant Professor, Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social

Sciences, Adi-Keih, Eritrea, N.E. Africa,

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Wasteland means degraded and unutilized lands except current

fallows due to different constraints (CSIR, 1990). It includes areas of

degraded forests, hilly slopes, eroded valleys; water logged marshy

lands, ravine, sheet and gully erosion, shifting cultivation, salinity

and alkalinity, shifting and sand dunes, wind erosion, extreme

moisture deficiency, riverine lands, coastal sand dunes etc. where

crop production is not economical. In fact, these are degraded lands

and are ecologically unstable with almost complete loss of top soil

and are unsuitable for cultivation due to decline in their quality and

productivity. Poor land practices have led to malnutrition and decline

in production capacity of the soil. It is estimated that in wastelands

the biomass production is less than 20 per cent of its overall

potential. Wasteland development is one of the major policy

considerations in India since it represents under utilization of

available land resources. It is precisely to restore this ecological

imbalance by developing the degraded non-forest wastelands, the

Government of India had created the Department of wastelandDevelopment during July 1992 under the Ministry of Rural

Development, which has been subsequently recognized and renamed

Department of Land Resources, with a broader mandate. In the

present paper an attempt has been made to discuss the need for an

appropriate regional planning for the wasteland development on the

basis of shortcomings in the existing system of macro-level sectoral

planning mechanism.

Keywords: Wasteland, Degraded land, Development, Planning
http://www.isaps-india.org/APJSS/index.htmhttp://www.isaps-india.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.isaps-india.org/http://www.isaps-india.org/APJSS/index.htm


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Introduction

India shares 17 per cent of the world population, while its

land is 2 per cent of the total geographical area of the world.Naturally, the pressure on the land is beyond its carrying capacity.

Therefore, the productive lands, especially the farmlands in India are

in the constant process of various degrees of degradation and are fast

turning into wastelands. At present, approximately 68.35 million

hectare area of land is lying as wastelands in India. Out of these

lands, approximately 50 per cent lands are such non-forest lands,

which can be made fertile again if treated properly. It was

unprotected non-forest lands, which suffered the maximum

degradation mainly due to the tremendous biotic pressure on it. In the

last 50 years it is Indias lush green village forests and woodlots have

been deforestated to the maximum, (Fig. 1). To restore this

ecological imbalance, the Government of India had created the

Department of Wasteland Development to develop the degraded non-

forest wastelands. The wastelands represent under utilization of

resources. In fact, the prevalence of poverty, malnutrition, hunger

and regional inequality is to some extent due to under utilization of

resources particularly in India, it exists in the form of wastelands. It

could be noted that a country like Japan has inadequate land area

with high density of population, but it has achieved a high rate ofeconomic development, indicating their intensive effort towards

better utilization of resources. In India, despite having a large land

area, the problem of under utilization of resources persists in

different parts of the country. Hence, there is a growing concern on

wasteland development in India. Wasteland development could be

achieved only through formulation and implementation of specific

regional planning.

National Wasteland Board was established in 1985 under theMinistry of Forest and Environment mainly to tackle the problem of

degradation of lands, restoration of ecology and to meet the growing

demands of fuel wood and fodder at the national level. During the

Seventh Five Year Plan the strategy adopted by the National

Wasteland Board emphasized more on tree planting activities rather

than community participation for wasteland development. In the year

1992, the new department under the Ministry of Rural Development

(now Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment) was created and the

National Wasteland Board was placed under it. The board was

reconstituted in August 1992 and was made responsible mainly for


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development of wastelands in non-forest areas in totality by

involving local people at every stage of development. It aims at

creating a scenario where the Government acts as a facilitator and thepeople at the grass root level become the real executioner of the

programme. Major programme implemented for improving the

productivity of wastelands and degraded lands keeping in view the

poverty, backwardness, gender and equality is Integrated Wastelands

Development Programme.

Fig. 1 Environmentally Degraded Wastelands

Categories of Waste Land in India

In India there are two types of wastelands in general i.e.

ecological wastelands and developmental wastelands. The ecological

wastelands consist of degraded forests, gullied and ravenous lands,

marked hill slopes, saline-alkali soils, deserts, sand dunes and

shifting cultivation areas. The developmental wastelands include

mine spoils areas, water logged areas formed by seepage of canal

irrigation, foreshores of irrigation reservoirs, industrial wastelands,


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land strip cleared for laying of electric transmission and so on. Area

wise detailed account of categories of wastelands (Table 1), and their

maps 2, 3 and 4 are given below respectively.

Table 1 Categories of Wastelands in India

S.No. CategoryArea (in

sq.Kms.)

1 Snow covered/Glacial 55788.49

2 Barren rocky/Sheet Rock 64584.77

3 Sands-inland/Coastal 50021.65

4 Land affected by Salinity/ alkalinity 20477.38

5 Gullied/or ravenous land 20553.35

6 Upland with or without scrub 194014.297 Water logged & marshy 16568.45

8 Steep sloping area 7656.29

9 Shifting cultivation land 35142.2

10 Mining/industrial wastelands 1252.13

11 Degraded/pastures/grazing land 25978.91

12 Underutilized/degraded notified forest land 140652.31

13 Degraded land under plantation crop 5828.09

Grand Total: 638518. 31 Sq.Kms.

Fig. 2 Incidence of A Category Environmentally Degraded Wasteland


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The degradation of environment in the fragile Indian sub-

tropical ecosystem is basically attributed to: Increasing biotic pressure.

Absence of adequate investments and appropriatemanagement practices.

Over exploitation of natural resources.

The break-down of traditional institutions for managingcommon property resources and failure of new institutions tofill the vacuum, and

Faulty land use practices.

Consequences Soil erosion and land degradation.

Depletion of natural resources.

Lower productivity.

Ground water depletion.

Shortage of drinking water.

Reduction in species diversity, and

Increase in the extent of wasteland.

Table 2 Estimate of Wastelands from Different Sources

S.No. SourcesArea

(m.ha)

Estimated

(E)/Scientific

(S)1 National Commission on

Agriculture(NCA-1976)

175.00 E

2 Directorate of Economics and

Statistics, Department of Agriculture

and Cooperation

38.40 E

3 Ministry of Agriculture (1982) 175.00 E

4 Department of Environment and

Forest

95.00 E

5 National Wasteland Development

Board

123.00 E

6 NBBS and LUP, ICAR, 1994 187.00 E

7 Society for Promotion of Wastelands 129.00 E

8 # National Remote Sensing Agency,1995

75.50 S

9 Dr.N.C. Saxena (Secretary RD-WD) 125.00 E

# The figure of 75.50 m.ha is derived from the results of land use/land

cover mapping done on1:250,000 scale during 1989-90, using satellite data

at the request of Planning Commission for increasing food production in

various Agro-climatic zones.


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In this context, it is important to highlight the extent ofvariation in the spatial distribution of wastelands throughout the

country. In fact, in India the wasteland ranges from 38 to 187 millionhectares, according to the estimates given by different agencies withdiverse classification strategies, table 2.

Fig. 3 Incidence of B Category Environmentally Degraded Wastelands

Fig. 4 Incidence of C Category Environmentally Degraded Wastelands


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Problems of Planning Wasteland Development

India is one of the biggest countries of the world, so

wasteland in India is not the same everywhere. It vary significantly interms of its nature, type, formation and location as per the given data

and maps. As the nature and causes of wasteland formation are not

the same in different parts of the country. Hence, the wasteland

development plan suitable for one region may not be suitable for

another region. No doubt, in different five years plans, the

Government of India has launched various programmes first under

the Ministry of Rural Development and then under the Ministry of

Land Resources to develop the degraded wastelands in different parts

of the country, but it could not achieved its targeted objectives. In

fact, the present system of planning of wasteland development is

based on routine process of implementation. Although the district,

and blocks are accepted as a proper unit of administration of our

planning programme, the planning machineries and administrative

agencies are inadequate both in number and quality in formulation

and implementation of wasteland development programmes. There

has not been proper much decentralization of plan formulation at the

district and block levels in identification and planning of activities

for wasteland development.

As per the instructions given by the respective heads of the

departments, wasteland development programmes are usually

implemented at the state of regional level i.e. agriculture and forest

departments. The concept of regional consideration may not receive

substantial attraction among our planners in selection of appropriate

activities for wasteland development. It could be seen clearly that the

present systems of planning for wasteland development do not have

any systematic effort on locational implications. The lack of

systematic approach probably not attempted due to the magnitude oftask involved is mainly responsible for our failure to bring

sustainable development of wastelands. This failure is attributed to

lack of scientific analysis of the region. There is a reason to believe

that the implementation of the plans, however, has been left to the

judgment of local officials and sometime politicians.

The Strategy and Regional Planning Approach

Development of wastelands mainly in non-forest areas aimed

at checking land degradation putting such wastelands of the country

to sustainable use and increasing bio-mass availability especially that


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of fuel wood, fodder, fruits, fiber and small timber, the Government

of India is taking up this colossal task through its Integrated

Wasteland Development Project Scheme (IWDP) by revitalizing andreviving village level institutions and enlisting peoples participation.

It is peoples own programme which aims at giving them actual

decision making powers in terms of project implementation and fund

disbursal.

It is one of the programmes which are making sincere efforts

towards the empowerment of the people so that a sense of collective

responsibility can be evolved among them. The new guidelines for

watershed development* provides a paradigm shift in the traditional

approach where the role of Government is changed from that of

governance to facilitation.

The institutional arrangements envisaged in the guidelines

can be seen as a reflection where the sustainability comes through the

involvement of the people and the local bodies. The approach of

watershed development in a holistic manner automatically strikes a

prudent balance between environmental concerns and developmental

aspirations. The efforts being made under the guidelines can be

termed as sincere and honest as here the survival of life itself is at astake with the watershed development rather than the quality of life

itself as compared to similar situations in the developed countries.

Man and environment are interdependent. The changes in the

environment directly affect the lives of the people depending on it. A

degraded environment means a degraded quality of life of the people.

Environmental degradation can be tackled effectively through the

holistic development of the watershed. A watershed provides natural

geo-hydrological unit for planning any developmental initiative. In

fact, the effective community control has been an integral part of theIndian social fabric which was fragmented by the colonial rule. This

programme is an effort towards its restoration and a small step in the

achievement of this goal which might turn into a big leap with the

support from the people.

In order to develop wastelands through the devices of

regional planning, it is crucial to have a scientific study and

systematic planning procedure. The development of wastelands

depends on the effective implementation of regional planning which

can be made in order to realize the desired objectives only when the


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nature, type, forms of wastelands and their resource potentials are

identified in different parts of the country. In this paper an attempt

has been made to prepare a model regional planning programme forwasteland development.

Objectives and Management of Waste Land Development

Programme

The wasteland development programme has manifold objectives.

Goals in this regard are given below:

Identification of area specific wastelands in different parts of

the country.

To check further degradation of land. Sustainable use of degraded lands.

Increasing biomass availability along with nourishing soil.

Restoration of ecological balance.

* Watershed development refers to conservation, regeneration and

the judicious use of all the resources.

Developing wasteland extension programme.

Selection and utilization of appropriate technology.

Ecological regeneration of degraded lands.

Consultancy services in the field of activities selected for the

wasteland development.

Coordinating integrated wasteland development regional

planning programme.

Implementing mechanisms for the improvement andsustainable use of technology for wasteland development.

This can be done by participatory approach with the help of

local people in the planning and management of lands. Ecosystemapproaches in management considering watershed, would ensure

integration of various ecological components (both biotic and

abiotic). This would also help in enhancing the socio-economic status

of a region. Similar approaches practiced in drier districts like

Ananthpur (Andhra Pradesh), Tumkur, Banglore rural (Karnataka)

have yielded positive results with increase in land productivity and

ground water levels in the respective watersheds.


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People friendly action programme helps local people and

organizations in rehabilitating and improving the degraded lands. In

this regard, management aspects are: Fixing target areas (degraded forest areas and pastures, public

and private wastelands, farmlands with lower productivity).

Assessing the infrastructure available to meet therequirement.

Finding the possibilities of involving the Government, NGOs,and local people. The key element of a participatory approach

being local peoples priorities; provision of secure rights and

gains to the poor; flexible approaches; working with local

groups and institutions, capacity building of motivated localpeople.

Government has to give priorities in terms of funding,

encouragement, and policy making.

Measures to strengthen local organizations, by delegating

more power and responsibility to local communities,

decentralized resources management etc.

Research and information access to understand the causes forland degradation and effective means to address them.

Wasteland monitoring and preparedness.

NGOs have pivotal task in the implementation of the actionplan.

Mechanisms by which local people, NGOs and other groupscan contribute to implementation and monitoring of

wasteland development programme on regular basis.

Promoting conservation of natural resources through

traditional knowledge.

Promoting ideas to consider the village as an ecosystem andto maintain its integrity.

Providing examples of the practices done at different places.

Integrated village ecosystem planning with watershedapproach needs to be espoused for sustainable development.

This would enhance the total natural resources base by

restoration and management of degraded wastelands, production of

basic biomass needs of the village community and equity in

distribution of biomass resources.


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Action Plan

The following action plan is proposed for the sustainabledevelopment of wastelands in India.

Employment of people through institutional arrangements.

Planning from below bottom up approach.

Sustainability through peoples participation.

In situ soil and moisture conservation measures like terracing,

bunding, trenching, vegetative barriers and drainage line

treatment should be adopted.

Planting and sowing of multi-purpose trees, shrubs, grasses,

legumes and pasture land should be developed. Natural regeneration should be encouraged.

Promotion of agro-forestry and horticulture.

Wood substitution and fuel wood conservation measures.

Awareness raising, training and extension among local people

should be encouraged.

Encouraging peoples participation through community

organization and capacity building.

Drainage line treatment by vegetative and engineering

structures. Development of small water Harvesting Structures.

Afforestation of degraded forest and non-forest wasteland.

Development and conservation of common property

resources.

Selection of suitable and fast growing species of plants torevetage the degraded forest wasteland.

The growth of phytoplankton and other aquatic plant species

in water logged areas should be harvested for manufacturing

bio-fertilizers. Land affected by shifting cultivation should be rehabilitated

through revegetating the wastelands with indigenous species.

Efforts should be made to practice agriculture in marshylands with the application of appropriate technology.

Encouragement of common wastelands should be checked.

Developing non-farm activities in salt affected lands.

In order to develop wastelands, suitable animal husbandry

programmes such as dairy development with good market

facilities should be formulated and implemented.


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There is too much scope to utilize wastelands for industrial

purposes. Entrepreneurship development programme should

be organized periodically and frequently, focusing on thepossibility of starting industries in the wastelands.

Data Collection and Findings

Data findings are considered as the pre-requisite for the

successful implementation of wasteland regional planning. Data

collection should be made keeping the following key points in mind:

It should be done on regular and periodic basis.

Quality of land should be assessed in terms of biological and

chemical properties of soils in the wastelands. Field trips should be organized in order to update frequent

changes and development in wastelands.

Required information on local resource potential should begathered from different sources, such as local industrial

department, local entrepreneurs, NGOs, Geologists and

Geographers.

Work should be started on the basis of available information fromsurveys at the appropriate level according to the status of

different types of wastelands.

Undertake the updating analysis and interpretation of data

derived from identification, sampling and evaluation activities.

Inter-disciplinary approach should be adopted while datacollection.

Undertake inventories with the involvement of local people andidentify the local peoples behavior on utilization of wasteland

resources.

Means of Implementation

So far as the implementation of regional wastelanddevelopment planning is concerned, no doubt, it would be a difficult

task for any single department. Therefore, it is an utmost requirement

to integrate and coordinate various activities for successful

implementation of regional wasteland development planning. Hence

there is a need to focus on the following efforts:

Special regional planning units should be established at micro-

level, i.e. at the district and block level for the formulation and

implementation of wasteland development programme.


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By human resource development and institution building, the

regional level capacity should be developed and strengthen.

Allocation of activities should be made appropriately amongvarious departments, such as forest department, agricultural

department, social forest department and departments of allied

activities for effective implementation of it s objectives, targets,

and priorities of wasteland development programme.

Areas of operation of various agencies should be properlydemarcated in implementing wasteland development

programmes.

Motivating local people to take part in the selection and

cultivation of indigenous species of crops in degradedwastelands, shifting cultivation lands and so on.

Efficient use of trained personnel in scientific and technological

fields relevant to the identification of appropriate activities for

sustainable development of wastelands.

The capacity of government and private institutions, NGOs, andlocal communities should be enhanced with a view to undertake

inter-sectoral coordination and planning for wasteland

development.

Conclusion

The present system of planning is based on centralized

system, though decentralized attempts have been made during

various plan periods. In this situation, the planning for wasteland

development at the overall level may not be suitable for different

regions in the country. The reason is that the planning done at the

national level has not given due consideration to regional aspect of

development. Due to neglect of spatial aspect of development,

planning has consistently been at the macro-level. It can be traced

that the nature and causes of wastelands formations are not the samein all parts of the country. Wasteland formation differs significantly

in different regions and in different forms. Hence, we need specific

regional planning for sustainable wasteland development. But at

present there is no specific regional planning for wasteland

development in India. It is taken as a part of agricultural sectoral

planning. Hence, the formulation and implementation of integrated

Wasteland Development Planning depends on the important points

discussed above.


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9.10.mohammad afsar alam

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