Environmental History of Modern India: Land, Population, Technology and Development 9789354350429, 9789354353277

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE Tables

1.1 Global Cropland and Pasture Estimates for 10000 bc to ad 2000, Different Studies 2 1.2 Trend of Global Population and Land-Use Pattern, 1800 bc to ad 19906 1.3 Percentage of Urban Population and Projected Growth in the World, 1950–2050 9 1.4 Freshwater Withdrawals and the Percentage of Use among the Different Sectors, 1700–2000 10 2.1 Trends of Geographical Area in India, 1880–1947 25 2.2 Trends of Land Utilisation in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010– 2011  27 2.3 Selected State-wise Estimated Wasteland in India (1984) 32 2.4 Trends of Different Categories of Wastelands in India, 1986–2000 and 2003 33 2.5 State-wise Wastelands of India, 2003 34 2.6 Trends of Land Utilisation in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 37 2.7 Trends of Forest in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–201138 2.8 State-wise Total Area Diverted for Forest Land under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in India 39 2.9 Trends of Land Not Available for Cultivation in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011  41 2.10 Trends of Permanent Pastures and Other Grazing Lands in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 42 2.11 Trends of Land under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not Included in Net Area Sown) in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 44 2.12 Trends of Culturable Wasteland in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 45 2.13 Trends of Fallow Lands Other Than Current Fallow in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 46 2.14 Trends of Current Fallow in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 47 2.15 Trends of Net Area Sown in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 48 3.1 Population of the Madras Presidency, 1822 and 1836–1838 54 3.2 Madras Population according to Different Censuses, from 1851 to 1871 56 3.3 Trend of Population in India, 1871–1951 58

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List of Tables and Figure

3.4 Cholera Deaths in British India, 1877–1941  59 3.5 Deaths due to Plague in British India, 1898–1938 60 3.6 Trend of Average Annual Mortality, Birth Rate and Life Expectancy at Birth in India during the Colonial Period, from 1871–1881 to 1931–1941 60 3.7 Number of Inhabited Houses per Square Mile in British India, 1871 63 3.8 Number of Houses in India, 1871–1941 63 3.9 Urban Population of Major Towns in India, 1871 64 3.10 Trend of Urban Population in India, 1871–1941 65 3.11 Trend of Number of Villages and Towns in India, 1871–1941 66 3.12 Trend of Population in India, 1951–2011 67 3.13 Trend of Population Growth in Different States of India, 1951–2011 68 3.14 Trend of Urban Population in India, 1951–2011 70 3.15 Trend of Urban Population Growth in Different States of India, 1951–201171 3.16 Trend of Percentage of Urban Population in Different States, 1961–201174 3.17 Health Infrastructures in India, 1950–2000 79 3.18 Trend of Birth Rate, Death Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and Life Expectancy of India, 1951–2016 81 4.1 Value of Timber and Wood Exports from India, 1849–1878 93 4.2 Value of Gums and Resins Export from India, 1849–1878 94 4.3 Value of Lac Export from India, 1849–1878 95 4.4 Trends of Coffee Export from India, 1852–1878 96 4.5 Value of Tea Export from India, 1849–1878 98 4.6 Trends of Revenue of Forest Department in India, 1868–1877 102 4.7 Value of Timber and Wood Exports from India, 1879–1947 109 4.8 Quantity and Value of Sandalwood Extracted from the Forests in Madras Presidency, from 1882–1883 to 1945–1946 111 4.9 Quantity and Value of Sandalwood Oil Export in India, from 1930–1931 to 1939–1940 112 4.10 Value of Gums and Resins Export from India, 1879–1933  113 4.11 Value of Lac Export from India, 1879–1933  113 4.12 Area under Coffee and Tea Plantations in India, from 1885 to 1946–1947114 4.13 Trends of Coffee Export from India, 1879–1947 116 4.14 Value of Coffee Export from India, 1879–1941 117 4.15 Value of Tea Export from India, 1879–1947 118 4.16 Expansion of Railways in India, 1881–1941  119 4.17 Extraction of Timber and Minor Forest Produce 120 4.18 Trends of Revenue and Expenditure of Forest Department, from 1879–1880 to 1935–1936 122 5.1 Trends of Green Cover in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 135 5.2 Selected Categories of Land Use 137 5.3 Net Area Irrigated by Source in India (from 1950–1951 to 2014–2015)138 5.4 Consumption of Fertilisers and Pesticides in India 139

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List of Tables and Figure 5.5 7.1 7.2 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4

ix

Total Number of Registered Motor Vehicles in India (from 1951–1956 to 1959–2015) 143 Trends of Sales of PC (Desktops and Notebooks), Networking Products, UPS and Other Peripherals in India, 2000–2010 207 Number of Households Having Radio, Transistor, Television and Telephone in India 209 Category-wise Distribution of Operational Holdings in India, from 1960–1961 to 2010–2011 226 Total Number of Persons and Tribals Displaced by Various Developmental Projects in India during 1951–1990 228 State-wise Number of Cases and Total Area Diverted for Forest Land under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in India (25 December 1980 to 25 July 2016) 230 Land under Non-Agricultural Use in India, 1950–1951 and 2010–2011232

Figure

1.1 World Population and Cumulative Deforestation, 1800–2010

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BCM EIA EIC FAO ICDs IESHR MLD MoEF MPWs NLUCB OBCs PAFs PHCs SCs SEZs SIA STs TGA WEEE WWAP

Billion Cubic Metres Environmental Impact Assessment East India Company Food and Agriculture Organization Integrated Child Development Projects Indian Economic and Social History Review Millions of Litres per Day Ministry of Environment and Forest Multi-Purpose Workers National Land Use and Conservation Board Other Backward Class Project Affected Families Primary Health Centres Scheduled Castes Special Economic Zones Social Impact Assessment Scheduled Tribes Total Geographical Area Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment World Water Assessment Programme

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PREFACE The contemporary literature on the environmental history of India primarily focuses on forestry, wildlife and impact on the livelihood conditions of the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities, and to some extent related to pastoral lands, water issues and that of urban environment. The environmental history literature on forestry and wildlife has extensively explored different regions and in different timespans, but it largely remains focused on the colonial period, particularly from the late nineteenth century onwards. Again, these literatures were largely confined to a particular region and time periods. Even though comprehensive attempts have been made, they remain largely confined to either a particular region or specific aspects of the environmental history. Other than forestry and wildlife aspects of environmental history, viz., pastoral, water and urban environment have also remained confined to only a few regions, river basins and towns/cities. Obviously, a wide range of other aspects of environmental components have not received adequate attention in the context of India’s environmental history literature. In other words, the environmental history literature had dealt with the impact of natural resources, particularly forests, when the population density was low, subsistence living conditions, traditional technology, lack of technological invention and innovation, lack of urbanisation, and poor infrastructural facilities, etc. Population explosion, urbanisation, technological advancement, commercialisation of agriculture, change in land-use pattern, vast improvement of infrastructure facilities, etc., and its consequences on the environment have not received any sufficient attention. In other words, the environmental history literature mainly focused on the colonial period and again even the post-Independence period did not get any attention. Further, the electronic waste and its impact on environment is not touched upon by the environmental historians. Hence, understanding the comprehensive environmental history of India of both the colonial as well as the postcolonial period is important. Here, an attempt has been made to comprehend the complexity of the environmental history of the contemporary India from the early nineteenth to that of the early twenty-first centuries. During the precolonial period or at the time of colonial intervention, a vast extent of the land resources was left unused or were only used to a limited extent. In other words, a large extent of the common property resources was found in the Indian subcontinent at the time xiii

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Preface

of colonial intervention. Since the density of the population was very low and its needs were also limited, the natural resources were left undisturbed. Since the colonial conquest, these resources were exploited due to commercialisation agriculture and forest resources. Though the Britishers have extracted/exploited these resources, there was no major change in the land-use patterns until the mid-twentieth century. However, the land-use patterns have changed drastically during the post-Independence period due to population explosion, urbanisation, agrarian transformation, infrastructural development, etc. The changing trend of the land-use pattern and its implications on the ecology, environment and biodiversity resources in general and the forest, pastoral land and other common property resources in particular need to be examined over the specified period of time. In other words, the study seeks to examine, the factors that have changed the land-use pattern like population, urbanisation, water, irrigation, etc., and the kind of environmental consequences it has had over the period of time has to be unearthed. It also attempts to explore the population growth and its consequences on environment in terms of urbanisation, food security and other infrastructural facilities. Precisely, it looks into the population explosion and its impact on the land-use patterns and its consequences on the ecology and environment. This book also attempts to explore the manner in which the natural resources were exploited for commercial motives by the colonial administration from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. In other words, it focuses on the question of to how the colonial commercial policy has impacted on the ecology and environment for more than one and a half centuries and whether the postcolonial government policies have changed in favour of environmental protection or continued with the same old colonial policy. Even if postcolonial governments have changed their policies, whether they are effectively protecting the environment has also become a matter of major concern. It also attempts to focus on the issues of how the land for development policies has impacted the environment from the early nineteenth century to until the recent years. Further it also explores gigantic the problem of electronic waste and its adverse impact on the environment, ecology and health in a historical manner. It also engages with the complexity of conflict between land and population in relation to the environment. Precisely, this book attempts to capture the comprehensive environmental history of modern India along with the complexity of the issues and problems have posed for the contemporary India, from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My doctoral degree on economic history under the guidance of Professor M. Atchi Reddy had helped me explore the history for over two and half centuries that had resulted in the publication of my first book, Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India (2017). The experience that I have gained during my research to explore the archival sources further reinforced me to explore the environmental history-related issues from the historical period(s) and link it with the contemporary period. Such an interest and inclination resulted in the outcome of my second book, Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (2018). Further, my archival experience helped me to explore the water-related issues from the environmental history point of view and my role as a project associate and my subsequent works on water have perhaps resulted in the outcome of my third book, Water and the Environmental History of Modern India (2020). My interest in a wide range of issues of the post-Independence period and the contemporary period resulted in Political Economy of Modern South India: Environment, Society, Polity, Gender and Labour History (under review). Further, an attempt was made to work on the unexplored area of environmental history pertaining to wildlife resulting in Colonialism and Wildlife: An Environmental History of Modern India (forthcoming). My journey as a student of economics, being recognised as an economic historian and later to be known as an environmental historian—initially confined to forest and tribals, later to water-related issues and further digressing interest towards the wildlife over the period of last three decades—has been a stimulating experience. Having the understanding of both historical and contemporary issues and problems on a wide range of issues as an interdisciplinary student, I vehemently felt for a comprehensive aspect of environmental history from the colonial and postcolonial era of the Indian subcontinent on a wide range of issues that were not addressed at all from the environmental history point of view. Hence, I decided to write this book. I strongly believe that this book will enrich the learners of different disciplines and researchers to understand the comprehensiveness of the environmental history for the last three centuries. I hope the readers will appreciate the effort! As a teacher, I taught theories of development, society and culture, imperialism and environment issues in India over more than a decade. The lessons I have learnt from the perspectives of young scholars compelled me to think about providing a comprehensive view of the environmental xv

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Acknowledgements

history of modern India. I am thankful to all my students who challenged me to think about the issues pertaining to the environmental history not only in historical context but also in a contemporary perspective. I must thank anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions, which helped me to enrich the argument. The earlier version of Chapter 4 was presented at the seminar on ‘Writing Indian Economic History’, organised by the Department of History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, on 27–28 February 2009. The earlier version of Chapter 6 was a lecture delivered at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, on 15 April 2014 and subsequently published as a ‘NMML Occasional Paper No. 46’, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. The earlier version of Chapter 7 was presented at a national seminar on ‘E-Waste Management and Recycling in India—Issues and Challenges’, organised by the Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, on 17–18 March 2011. I thank the participants for their comments and suggestions. I thank Chandra Sekhar and Shreya Chakraborti, Bloomsbury India, for their kind support and encouragement. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks to my family members, especially to my wife, Ajitha Saravanan, my daughter, Soumya Saravanan, and sons, Gautham Saravanan and Manish Saravanan. I must say, their immense support during the pandemic situation in keeping domestic peace and discipline equally contributed towards my dedication to explore the issues related to environmental history of the contemporary period.

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1 INTRODUCTION Two hundred and twenty-four years ago, in 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus visualised that the population will grow geometrically twofold in every twenty-five years, and food production will grow only in arithmetic proportion that would result in famine and starvation. In other words, Malthus emphasised over two centuries ago that population control is important even when the population at the global level was not at all a problem. According to Malthus, ‘Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.’1 The global population growth was very low and it seems that it took several centuries to reach the onebillion mark.2 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, until the early nineteenth century, the global population was less than 0.8 billion. In the subsequent years, the population has increased gradually and took about 100 years to reach two billion.3 Since then, the global population growth has increased remarkably. Since the mid-twentieth century, the world population has increased remarkably from 2.54 billion in 1950 to 6.15 billion in 2000, and it is expected to grow to 9.77 billion in 2050 and 11.18 billion in 2100.4 In other words, 83 million are added every year, which indicates a 1.1 per cent growth rate per year. Due to the population growth, more areas were brought under cultivation and the total cultivated area has increased manyfold during the last three centuries. According to Goldewijk et al. (2010), the total cropland area has increased more than fivefold, i.e., 3 million square kilometres to 15.32 million square kilometres during the last three centuries.5 From ad 1 to ad 2000, various estimates of the cropland at the global level show that they have increased remarkably. These estimates further indicate that from ad 1 to ad 1400, 1.9 to 2.3 million square kilometres of land was classified as cropland. In other words, over the fourteen centuries, the cropland has increased only marginally. Beginning with the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, the cropland has increased gradually from 2.7–4.1 million square kilometres in 1700 to 4.0–6.8 million square kilometres in 1800, according to different estimates.6 Since the mid-nineteenth century, the cropland has increased remarkably (Table 1.1). In fact, croplands have increased two to three folds within one and a half centuries (1850–2000). Until the fourteenth century, less than 2 per cent of the world’s total geographical area comprised croplands which has increased marginally in the subsequent 1

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ad 1700

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20.6

4.1

2.5%

9.4

2.9%

13.1

3.9%

19.6

5.9%

22.8

6.9%

9.9

29.3

8.4%

12.1

9.8%

14.2

1.7 102%

1.9 1.4%

2.3%

3.2

3.7 2.9%

5.1 3.6%

7.2 5.1%

12.9 9.2%

24.7

31.4 12.5% 17.5% 22.3%

17.7

32.1

22.8%

32.1

33.4

33.6

33.6

10.0%

14.5

14.5

14.5

17.8

14.7

23.7%

33.4

2936

34.3

34.5

34.5

10.5%

15.2

15.2

15.2

17.9

14.7

24.3%

34.3

34.1

10.6%

15.3

15.3

15.3

Source: ‘The HYDE 3.1 Spatially Explicit Database of Human‐Induced Global Land‐Use Change over the Past 12,000 Years’, in Global Ecology and Biogeography: A Journal of Macro Ecology.

1.1

0.8%

1.1

0.8%

HYDF 3.1

HYDE 3.1 (% of global land area)

Pongratz et al. (2008)

FAO (2008)

32.8 5.2

4.0

2.1%

8.5

32.8

2.3

1.3%

5.6

17.3

Klein Goldewijk (2001) 2.0

1.2%

3.0

4.2

15.3

FAO (1996)

Houghton et al. (1983)

Pasture

0.8%

0.9%

HYDE 3.1 (% of global land area)

1.9

3.6

13.0

14.2

2.0 1.8

1.3

Pongratz et al. (2008)

HYDF 3.1

4.00

11.4

14.2

8.2

14.4

14.4

15.0

(in million square kilometres) ad ad ad ad 1970 1980 1990 2000

FAO (2008)

6.8

12.3

11.7

19.1

ad 1950

4.1

9.4

9.1

15.7

ad 1920

Ramankutty and Foley (1999)

8.1

13.9

ad 1900

14.1

5.4

5.4

ad 1850

2.7

4.0

ad 1800

Klein Goldewijk (2001) 5.4

ad 1750

14.1

2.3

ad 1400

FAO (1996)

Esser (1991)

1.2

ad 1100

2.7

ad 500

Richards (1990)

ad 1 3.0

10000 bc

Houghton et al. (1983)

Cropland

Table 1.1: Global Cropland and Pasture Estimates for 10000 bc to ad 2000, Different Studies 

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Introduction

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four centuries to 2.9 per cent. Since the mid-nineteenth century until the twentieth century, the cropland area has increased more than twofold. The pastoral land also varied until the fourteenth century and has marginally increased till the mid-nineteenth century. Thereafter, it has increased four to five folds in the subsequent one and a half centuries. Precisely, both croplands and pastoral lands were very negligible until the fourteenth century and have only marginally increased in the midnineteenth century and in the subsequent one and half centuries they increased several folds (Table 1.1). The increasing trend of croplands and pastoral lands indicates that more than fourfold common property resources have been brought under cultivation. The world population has increased gradually from 1800 to 1900 and after that there was a phenomenal growth, whereas deforestation occurred gradually from the early nineteenth century at the global level. This trend was depicted in Figure 1.1 which will give us a clear picture regarding the population growth and deforestation over two centuries at the global level. Figure 1.1: World Population and Cumulative Deforestation, 1800–2010

Source: State of the World’s Forests Report 2012.7

Growing population has a direct impact on forests and the environment. When the population growth was low, deforestation was also low and as the population increased, deforestation has also increased. However, in the early days, people have used forest resources only to a limited extent. ‘People began converting forests to other land uses—using

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fire, primitive tools and grazing—thousands of years ago to facilitate hunting and agriculture.’8 Consequently, there was no serious threat for the forest resources. According to Michael Williams: [T]he long-held view has been that prehistoric peoples were a nonfactor in environmental change and degradation. Their number and densities were too low to bring about significant change; their technology was insufficient to cause alteration; and their livelihood (particularly that of non-Western ‘primitive’ peoples) was in perfect harmony with nature.9

State of the World’s Forests Report 2012 mentions: Conservation of forests formed an integral part of the Vedic tradition of India: as early as 300 bce, the Maurya kingdom recognized the importance of forests, and the first emperor of the dynasty, Chandragupta, appointed an officer to look after the forests. The concept of sacred groves is deeply ingrained in Indian religious beliefs, and thousands of such protected areas still conserve trees and biodiversity.10

However, population increase had led to an increased demand for cropland and grazing pastures over the period. According to FAO: Some estimates suggest that global forest area has decreased by around 1.8 billion hectares in the past 5000 years (a decline equivalent to nearly 50  percent of the total forest area today). Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that much of this forest loss was associated with population increase and demand for land for crops and grazing, as well as with unsustainable levels of exploitation of forest resources.11

Population growth and deforestation occurred in different countries at different points of time. For example, in China, forest cover has declined rapidly over the past few centuries. ‘Four thousand years ago, the population of China was about 1.4 million people, and forests covered more than 60 percent of the land area. By 1840, China’s population had reached 413 million and forest cover had declined to 17 percent.’12 In addition to the population growth, colonisation has also made serious impact on the forest. For example, the forest cover declined in South Asia over several centuries and it was further accentuated due to the colonisation process. State of the World’s Forests Report 2016 states: The forests of southern Asia were also converted to agricultural land to support the rapidly expanding population in that region. It is likely

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that the forest area in southern Asia has declined by more than half in the last 500 years. There, as elsewhere, colonization had an impact on forests, with the European colonizers heavily exploiting timber for use in other parts of the world. […] In the Americas, there is evidence that native cultures systematically used fire to convert forest areas for crop-growing or as a wildlife management tool. Large-scale forest conversion in the North American continent began, however, with the arrival of Europeans in the late fifteenth century. The rate of forest conversion rose sharply as the human population grew; on the other hand, the push westward by settlers in the nineteenth century led to forest re-growth on abandoned agricultural land in the east. In Central and South America, forest cover was probably about 75  percent of the land area before the arrival of Europeans; deforestation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reduced this to about 70 percent by the early twentieth century.13

Historically different countries experienced deforestation either due to population or colonisation or both at different points of time. Due to the population growth, the vegetated lands are converted for the croplands and pastoral lands and it has impacted the ecology and environment. William points out in Deforesting the Earth that: As the forest changed, so the humans colonized the newly vegetated land with remarkable rapidity, doing all those things that humans do: foraging, firing, hunting, selecting species and rejecting others, turning the soil, fertilizing it, trampling it, and mixing it. In the course of manipulation, of the biota some tree taxa moved, flourished, or were eliminated, just as surely as if they had been affected by changing climate.14

This impact was much more severe after the industrialisation and technological advancement. Williams further states that the industrialisation, mechanisation, power; population growth and migration, colonisation and improvements in transportation and communication are the major driving forces for the deforestation process across the world from the eighteenth century onwards.15  After the Second World War, majority of the colonised countries got freedom. However, these countries continued to follow the same old colonial forest policies. ‘Although colonialism was largely dismantled in the aftermath of the Second World War, the forest policies of many newly independent countries in the tropics continued to reflect its legacy.’16 ‘Today, humankind has greater technological capacity than ever before to bring about rapid land–use change on a very large scale.’17 At the same time, several countries have experienced either stable or

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an increase in the forest cover during the second half of the twentieth century. The State of the World’s Forests Report 2016 also states that: Forest area has been stable in North America since the early twentieth century, following two centuries of deforestation. Although forest cover in China had fallen to a historical low of less than 10 percent of the land area by 1949, it had recovered to nearly 20 percent of the land area by the end of the twentieth century as a result of major reforestation and afforestation programmes.18

Since the early nineteenth century, the population has increased marginally but deforestation occurred much more rapidly during the same period. In other words, in little more than two centuries, about one billion hectares of deforestation has occurred.19 It seems that until the mid-twentieth century, the deforestation of the temperate forest was high and after that, deforestation of tropical forest has increased rapidly.20 Decline of the forest area was also rampant in recent years, particularly from the last decade of the twentieth century to first one and a half decades of the early twenty-first centuries21 (Table 1.2). ‘In 1990 the world had 4,128 million ha of forest; by 2015 this area had decreased to 3,999 million ha. Thus, there is a considerable change from 31.6 percent of global land area in 1990 to 30.6 percent in 2015.’22 FAO states: Over the past 25 years the world’s forest area has declined from 4.1 billion ha to just under 4 billion ha, a decrease of 3.1 percent. The rate of global forest area net loss has slowed by more than 50 percent between the periods of 1990–2000 and 2010–2015.23 Table 1.2: Trend of Global Population and Land-Use Pattern, 1800 bc to ad 1990 

(in million square kilometres) Year

Forest and Woodland

Grassland

Pasture

Cropland

World Population

8000 bc

65

63

0

0

5–20 million

ad 1700

62

63

5

2.7

680 million

ad 1850

60

60

8

5.4

1.2 billion

ad 1900

58

54

14

8.0

1.6 billion

ad 1950

54

45

23

11.7

2.5 billion

ad 1990

48

36

34

15.2

5.3 billion

Source: ‘Population and the Natural Environment: Trends and Challenges’, in Population and Development Review by J.R. McNeill.29

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Introduction

7

According to the FAO, within fifteen years (1980–1995), the net decline in forest cover was about 180 million acres. However, this trend was not common among the different regions. It seems that the declining trend was mainly confined to developing countries as against the developed countries which were showing a net increase within the fifteen years.24 However, the forest area has declined at the global level in recent decades. ‘The geographical distribution of deforestation has changed in the twentieth century, but its major driver continued to be the expansion of agricultural land, facilitated by greater mechanization. Other drivers included urban expansion, infrastructure development and mining.’25 In recent decades, deforestation is happening in the developing countries due to various development activities. According to State of the World’s Forests Report 2016: There was a net forest loss of 7 million hectares per year in tropical countries in the period 2000–2010 and a net gain in agricultural land of 6 million hectares per year. The greatest net loss of forests and net gain in agricultural land over the period was in the low-income group of countries, where the rural population is ever growing. Large-scale commercial agriculture accounts for about 40 percent of deforestation in the tropics and subtropics, local subsistence agriculture for 33 percent, infrastructure for 10 percent, urban expansion for 10 percent and mining for 7 percent.26

At the same time, the deforestation has declined in the developed countries. In fact, more areas were brought under the forest cover. FAO also mentions: In western Europe, deforestation rates declined as a result of several factors such as: improvements in the productivity of existing agricultural land; the consideration that remaining forest lands were less suitable for farming; industrialization and associated urbanization; an increase in timber imports from other parts of the world; and the replacement of wood by coal as the main source of fuel. By the end of the twentieth century the forest area in most of Europe was stable or increasing, with forests covering around onethird of the total land area.27,28

The earth has about 133 million square kilometres of land which is not covered by rock, sand or ice. Till 8000 bc, the population in the world was about 5–20 million; the total land area comprised forest and woodland was 65 million square kilometres, grassland was

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about 63 million square kilometres and there were no pastoral lands. It seems that till ad 1700, the population has increased to over 680 million and the pasture and cropland emerged largely at the cost of the forest and woodland. Since then, the population has increased progressively and the pasture and cropland has also increased in the same manner. For instance, the total population was about 1.2 billion in 1850 and the pasture land and cropland has increased to 8 million square kilometres and 5.4 million square kilometres respectively, while the forest and woodland and grassland have also increased during this period. In the subsequent century, i.e., in 1950, the population has increased to 2.5 billion and the pastoral and cropland have also increased to 23 million square kilometres and 11.7 million square kilometres respectively whereas the forest and woodlands and grasslands have declined from 60 million square kilometres each to 54 and 45 million square kilometres respectively within hundred years (Table 1.2). In the subsequent four decades, population has increased from 2.5 billion to 5.3 billion and pastoral lands and croplands have increased to 34 and 15.2 million square kilometres while the forest and woodlands and grasslands have declined to 48 and 36 million square kilometres for the same period (Table 1.2). At the global level too, population is increasing, which has resulted in increase of pastoral lands and croplands while the forests and woodlands and grasslands have declined more or less in the same proportion. It is not that merely population increased but even the pastoral lands and croplands have also increased simultaneously over the centuries, but all these had main implications for biodiversity, ecology and environment. It seems that since the early twentieth century, about 1 per cent of the birds and mammal species have gone into extinction and many more have become endangered.30 McNeill further predicted that the threat to the biodiversity resources was to be much more serious in the subsequent decades.

URBANISATION At the global level, urbanisation was very low until the early nineteenth century. In 1800, only 3 per cent of the population lived in the urban areas. Since the early twentieth century, urbanisation has increased tremendously at the global level. In 1900, only 0.22 billion people lived in the urban areas. Since the mid-twentieth century, urban population has increased at the global level from 0.75 billion in 1950 to 2.87 billion in 2000 and it is projected to grow to 6.68 billion in 2050.31 In other words, in 1900, only about 13 per cent of the population has lived in

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Table 1.3: Percentage of Urban Population and Projected Growth in the World, 1950–2050 Year

Percentage of Urban Population (%)

1950

29.6

2000

46.7

2020

56.2

2050

68.4

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018).32

the urban areas and it has increased to 29.53 per cent in 1950 and it has increased further to 46.67 per cent in 2000 and it is expected to increase even more to 68.37 per cent in 2050 (Table 1.3).

WATER Until the twentieth century, the demand for water was determined mainly by the population. People used water for food production and domestic use. Since the onset of the twentieth century, industrial consumption of freshwater gradually increased.33 From 1700 to 1900, the global freshwater withdrawal has increased from 110 cubic kilometre. In other words, global freshwater withdrawal has increased more than fivefold. From the eighteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century, the per capita freshwater use has increased from 170 cubic metre to 360 cubic metre. In other words, the per capita freshwater has increased more than twofold within two centuries. During these two centuries, about 90 per cent of the water was used for irrigation and the rest of the 10 per cent was used for industry, municipal and other uses (Table 1.4). Similarly, until the twentieth century, freshwater withdrawal was limited and largely used for irrigation and other purposes, viz., industry and municipal uses were very limited. Since the early twentieth century, freshwater withdrawal has increased from 580 cubic kilometre in 1900 to 1382 cubic kilometre in 1950 and 3,973 cubic kilometre in 2000. Till 1950, withdrawal of freshwater has increased more than twofold and the per capita use has increased more than one and half folds from 360 cubic metre in 1900 to 550 cubic metre in 1950. During this period, the share of irrigation has declined and industry began to gain a larger share. In the second half of the twentieth century, freshwater withdrawal has increased nearly threefold and per capita withdrawal has also increased to nearly one-fourth. During this period, the share of irrigation

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Table 1.4: Freshwater Withdrawals and the Percentage of Use among the Different Sectors, 1700–2000 Year

Withdrawals (in cubic kilometre)

Withdrawals per Capita (in cubic metre )

Irrigation (%)

Industry (%)

Municipal (%)

1700

110

170

90

2

8

1800

243

270

90

3

7

1900

580

360

90

6

3

1950

1,382

550

83

13

4

2000

3,973

662

64

25

9

Source: ‘Population and the Natural Environment: Trends and Challenges’, in Population and Development Review (2006) by J.R. McNeill.34

has come down from 83 per cent to 64 per cent, while industry and municipal shares have increased from 13 per cent and 4 per cent to 25 per cent and 9 per cent respectively for the same period. With the increasing the demand for water among different sectors, water pollution further aggravated the water problem significantly in different parts of the world. According to World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) 2017, ‘An estimated 80% of all industrial and municipal waste water are released to the environment without any prior treatment, resulting in a growing deterioration of overall water quality with detrimental impacts on human health and ecosystems.’35 ‘Over the past several decades, ever-growing demands for—and misuse of—water resources have increased the risks of pollution and severe water stress in many parts of the world.’36 Fifty-four years ago, Garrett Hardin (1968) predicted that ‘the tragedy of the commons’ can be averted since ‘no technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation’, ‘the only way we can preserve and nurture other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that very soon’.37 In other words, ‘the population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension in morality.’38 The importance of controlling population growth was emphasised by Malthus more than two centuries back. He cautioned us how it will be difficult to meet the livelihood demands. After about one and half centuries, Hardin in 1968, has cautioned us to reduce the population not by compulsion but by enlightening the people to reduce the fertility to protect both the ecology and environment. Malthus has cautioned us to control the population when there was no evidential threat of population explosion and similarly, Hardin too has cautioned us to control the growth of population from an environmental point of view.

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IN THE CONTEXT OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT When the population was low in the Indian subcontinent, extraction of the forest resources or exchange of forest resources was the main agenda of the colonial powers from the early sixteenth century. For example, Vasco da Gama started his expedition from Lisbon in 1497 and reached the city of Calicut on 20 May 1498. He stayed nearly for six months and returned to Europe. While returning, he carried a letter from the Raja of Calicut (Zamorin) to the King of Portugal. The letter said: Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of your household, has visited my kingdom and has given me great pleasure. In my kingdom there is abundance of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, and precious stones. What I seek from thy country is gold, silver, coral, and scarlet.39

Since the early sixteenth century, forest resources have been extracted for commercial purposes. As such, till the mid-eighteenth century, the local people were not responsible for deforestation but instead, it occurred due to colonial commercialisation. Before the mid-eighteenth century, the population of Indian subcontinent was ‘too few people rather than too many.’40 In fact, till the mid-nineteenth century, there was no question of over population in the Indian subcontinent.41 Migration rate was also very low and that has not influenced much the demographic features of the Indian subcontinent.42 Forbiddance of widow remarriage was also one of the factors for the low population growth among the Hindus.43 Whereas Muslims has the tolerance of widow remarriage that led to higher population growth in India.44 According to Davis, ‘rapid and massive population growth—has no purely political solution. With density already great and living standards low, a continued increase in numbers means continued tragedy.’45 Findlay Shirras (1933) argues that: ‘The population of India has been of gradual growth, and it was only in the latter half of the nineteenth century, owing to increased economic development, railways, irrigation works, industries and trade, that population increased more rapidly than hitherto.’46 Shirras estimated that ‘India’s population about 1650 at 80,000,000, and about 1750 at 130,000,000. The figure for 1850 is of the order of 190,000,000.’47 She attributed that ‘large economic development brought about by the extension of railways, irrigation, commerce and industry towards the end of last century.’48 ‘Clearing new lands for the plough was the most common form of investment in agriculture in the colonial period. Irrigation works leading to land reclamation were another. The result was steady conversion

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of forests, woodlands, grasslands, and desert into arable tracts.’49 ‘Vegetation cover has moved down the scale of abundance: from forest to woodlands; from woodland to scrub; from scrub to grasslands; from grasslands to barren areas. Simultaneously, cultivated lands have made large absolute and relative gains.’50 Since the mid-twentieth century, population explosion and technological advancement resulted in a threat to natural resources, invariably in different parts of the world. Indeed, the ramification of depletion of natural resources was rampant in the developing countries due to rapid population growth, particularly since the later part of the twentieth century. In most of the developing countries, the infant mortality rate has declined while the longevity of life has increased. Consequently, the pressure on natural resources has increased several folds in most of the developing countries. For instance, at the time of Independence, India’s population was around 30 crores and it has increased to 121 crores in 2011. At the same time, the infant mortality rate has declined from 165 to 34 and longevity has increased from 45 to 67 per 1,000 for the same period. This is due to development of health infrastructural facilities as well as other intervention mechanisms during the post-Independence period. Consequently, we have to harness more and more natural resources to feed the mass as well as to provide infrastructural facilities. In every country, land resources are finite. Then the question arises as to how to ensure that the needs of increasing population be met within the given geographical area. Obviously, increasing productivity is an important aspect; either by bringing more area under cultivation or by adopting new technologies to increase productivity. The latter one only enables to increase the productivity factors marginally. Hence, more area has to be brought under the ambit of cultivation. Given the limited land resources, other inputs have to be employed to increase the productivity factors, such as irrigation, fertilisers, highyielding varieties and other technical inputs. Irrigation is an important component for the production process but its availability is limited and uncertain. Hence, water was stored in lakes, tanks, ponds, etc. Several dams have been constructed across rivers and their tributaries to expand the irrigation facilities during the post-Independence period without realising the need to maintain the natural flow. Consequently, every basin/sub-basin became a closed basin. Hence, water conflict became a common phenomenon invariably between head reach and tail-end within a basin, between basins, within a state, between states and finally between countries. None of the river basins are exempted from water conflict. For details, see Saravanan (2000).

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Adding to the water scarcity, water pollution aggravated the problem further. The villages or towns used to discharge waste water into streams and rivers which resulted in water pollution not only of surface water but also of groundwater. Of course, in villages, it did not make serious impact on the environment due to its limited quantity, and its flow was confined to a very short distance. Whereas in cities and towns, discharge of huge quantity of waste water, resulting in the pollution of both surface and groundwater, further added to the water woes. Since the early nineteenth century, the East India Company (EIC) gave priority to establish the large dams while it failed to maintain small water bodies like tanks, ponds, etc. Consequently, both supply side channels and distributive channels have been encroached invariably in different parts of the country. In addition to that, groundwater was also extracted and reached a zero point in many parts of the country due to the bore-well technology since the last quarter of the twentieth century. Consequently, drinking water problem is a perennial problem not only in the urban areas but also in rural areas. Cities and towns are diverting water from distant places. For example, Madras city is getting water from the Krishna River originating from Andhra Pradesh, which is at a distance of about 600 kilometres. It is also getting water from Hogenakkal and Veeranam tank which are about 200 kilometres away from Madras city. The freshwater is diverted from distant places and is used/polluted and discharged as sewage. Only a limited quantity of sewage water was treated. For example, Yamuna River, on whose bank Delhi, the national capital, is located, has become a highly polluted river. It is polluted because only about 20 per cent of the sewage water was treated through two treatment plants and the rest of the sewage water was going directly to the Yamuna River. This is the case in most of the cities/towns in this country. Given the background, this book attempts to capture the comprehensive environmental history, engaging the complexity of the issues and problems for the contemporary India from the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century in a historical context.

SYNOPTIC VIEW OF THE CHAPTERS This book consists of nine chapters. The first chapter sets the argument in motion and gives detailed outlines of the book. The second chapter analyses the trend of land-use pattern and its implications for the ecology and environment in India at the macro level for different states. Land is one of the important factors of production, and it also ensures both ecological and environmental sustainability. Land became a scarce

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resource due to population explosion that demanded more production as well as various infrastructural developments, such as power, road, housing, drinking water, education, medical care, etc. Since Independence, the population of India has increased nearly fourfold. Consequently, the demand for food security and infrastructural facilities has also increased remarkably and that has led to mounting pressure on land-use patterns. To ensure food security for the increasing population, uncultivable land was brought under cultivation and private land as well as common property resources have been exploited to provide the various infrastructural facilities. The second chapter also attempts to analyse the consequences of population pressure on the land and other common property resources during the post-Independence period. The third chapter attempts to explore the issue of population growth and its consequences for environment from the late eighteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, consisting of the precolonial, colonial and post-Independence period. During the precolonial period, the population density was not only very low but also was low in terms of lack of migration, urbanisation, slums, food security, agricultural expansion and other infrastructural facilities. In other words, people lived on subsistence level. During the colonial period, the population density did not increase due to frequent famines, drought and lack of health infrastructural facilities. Till the last phase of colonial period, i.e., 1947, death rate, infant mortality rate and the longevity factors were also very low. Consequently, the population growth remained the same during the most part of the colonial period. For example, the population growth marginally increased over the fifty-year period from 23 crores in 1871 to 25 crores in 1921. However, after Independence, population growth has been remarkable. The population figures have increased fourfold within six decades from 36 crores in 1951 to 121 crores in 2011. This population explosion resulted in severe and massive exploitation of natural resources during the post-Independence period. Precisely, how the population explosion has impacted on the land-use pattern and what was its consequences on the ecology and environment are captured in this chapter. The focal point of the fourth chapter is to analyse the colonial projects and their impacts on the ecology and environment in India during the colonial era in a historical perspective (1800–1947). It argues that the focus of the colonial policy on various sectors of the economy has paved the way for ecological and environmental destruction in different parts of the Indian subcontinent, spread over a time frame of one and a half centuries. Further, it also argues that the colonial policies were not designed to protect the ecological and environmental resources and, instead, they have been systematically framed to disintegrate

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the traditional institutional structure as well other societies and its communities, in order to exploit natural resources. Over the one and a half years of colonial era, the policy initiatives and enactments of various acts and laws may pose as if that they were brought into force to protect natural resources but in reality, they were designed to extract natural resources in a much more systematic manner leading to serious impact on the ecology and environment in different parts of the county at different points of time. This chapter seeks to argue that the colonial policies and their initiatives have ignored to accord due importance to the protection of natural resources as it was mainly concerned about the exploitation of these resources that gradually led to serious impact on the ecology and environment of the Indian subcontinent. The fifth chapter attempts to analyse post-Independent India’s environmental history for the last seven decades, in a historical perspective (1947–2017). It raises an important question whether the postcolonial government policies have changed in favour of environmental protection or continued in the line of the same old colonial legacy. This chapter consists of nine sections. The first section analyses the trends of green cover that encompass forestry, pastoral land and other culturable waste, and the factors that influenced the depletion of green cover during the post-Independence period. The second section deals the impact of green revolution resulting in the increase of area under cultivation, irrigation expansion—dams and wells—decline of soil fertility due to chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and other related issues. The third section analyses the trends of urbanisation and their consequences on environment not only in terms of area and population but also on a wide range of household amenities and increasing slum dwellings. It also discusses the policies and their impact on urban environment. The fourth section analyses the increasing trend of water demand among different stakeholders and how it was managed, and the environmental consequences that occurred during the post-Independence period. The fifth section analyses the trends in industrial growth and their implications for the environment during the post-Independence period. From the environmental point of view, there are two types of industries—water-polluting industries and airpolluting industries. The former one includes tanneries, dyeing and bleaching, pharmaceutical industries, etc. These industries are polluting both surface and groundwater sources. The latter includes cement, coal, power plant, etc., polluting the air. This section analyses the trend of expanding wide range of industries and their implications for the environment during the post-Independence period. The sixth section analyses the trend of growing number of vehicles and its impact on the environment. It also looks into the quality of air- and water-related issues.

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The seventh section deals with various policy initiatives taken by the government to protect the environment during the post-Independence period. The eighth section analyses the political economy of postIndependent India’s government policies and their consequences for the environment. The last section ends with concluding observations of the chapter. The sixth chapter analyses the issues related to acquisition of private land for the various development purposes from the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century in a legal–historical perspective. Land acquisition for public purpose is not only a threat to the livelihood options of the private land owners and farmers but also to the ecology and environment. Since the early nineteenth century, a separate act was enacted at the Presidency level to acquire land for the public purposes. In the mid-nineteenth century, i.e., 1857, a common act was enacted for the country as a whole. Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was a comprehensive one which was extensively used to acquire land for various development activities. During the colonial and the post-Independence period, several amendments were made in this act, resulting in serious consequence not only for the private land but has also impacted on common property resources. This has become a somber threat not only for the farmer livelihood options but also to the ecologically and environmentally important common property resources. At the same time, there is no government policy for rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people. This has resulted in farmers to forego their assets without any alternative livelihood options. This chapter, therefore, argues as to how land acquisition policies have affected the livelihood options of the farmers without appropriate rehabilitation and resettlement policies, and how it has endangered both the ecology and environment in a historical context for about two centuries, from the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century (1824–2013). The seventh chapter attempts to analyse the generation of electronic waste in India and its consequences for environment during the postIndependence period, particularly during the last three decades. The electrical and electronic equipment has undergone a tremendous change since the last quarter of the twentieth century. During the 1980s, the government policy has encouraged the white goods that have led to tremendous growth of consumer appliances, such as washing machines, refrigerators, television, etc. Since the early 1990s, the government gave priority for the information and communication technologies that have led to the growth of computers, mobile phones, electronic gadgets, etc. In addition to this, technological advancement in the electrical and electronic equipment has led to disposal of the old models. On the one

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hand, end life of the electrical and electronics products is short and, on the other hand, the spurt of technological innovation has led to disposal of the old products. At the same time, no serious measures have been initiated to control/manage the generation of electronic waste by the government. Whatever little measures were initiated by the government have not made any serious impact in either control or management of the waste. It resulted in posing great threat to natural resources and public health in new circumstances. Given the scenario, the chapter attempts to analyse the nature and trends of electronic waste in India and their impact on environment during the last three decades. The eighth chapter discusses the complexity of conflict between land, population, environment and development in a historical perspective. Unlike other countries, India’s land resources were controlled by certain communities and historically, nearly one-fifth of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) do not have any land. The landless people and those who are living in the forests constituted about one-fourth of the Indian subcontinent’s population. Of course, many other communities also do not own land. This chapter is divided into eighth sections. The first section deals with the landless communities and their living conditions. The second section analyses the peoples living in the forests and the impact of conservation initiatives on their livelihoods. The third section deals with the trend of landholding pattern. The fourth section analyses the various developmental projects that have displaced the people from their land and the initiatives taken to compensate and rehabilitate them. The fifth section analyses as to how the forest land was diverted for enforcing the various development measures. The sixth section deals with the role played by political economy, especially its impact on landless people, tribals and those who have lost their lands due to various development projects. The seventh section deals with the population, environment and development aspects of the people addressed during the post-Independence period and the last section ends with concluding observations. The last chapter ends with concluding observations and offering suggestions.

NOTES AND REFERENCES Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (London: J. Johnson, 1798), 14. 2 John D. Durand, ‘The Modern Expansion of World Population’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 3, no. 3, Population Problems (1967): 139. 3 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2012 (Rome: FAO, 2012), 9. 1

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United Nations, World Population Prospects the 2017 Revision Volume I: Comprehensive Tables (New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017): 2–3, https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/ Publications/Files/WPP2017_Volume-I_Comprehensive-Tables.pdf. 5 Kees Klein Goldewijk, Arthur Beusen, Gerard van Drecht and Martine de Vos. ‘The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human-induced global land-use change over the past 12,000 years’, Global Ecology and Biogeography: A Journal Macroecology 20, no. 1 (2010): 77. 6 Ibid., 75. 7 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2012, 9. 8 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2016: Forests and Agriculture: Land-use Challenges and Opportunities (Rome: FAO, 2016): 10. 9 M. Williams, Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 14. 10 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2012, 19. 11 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2016 (Rome: FAO, 2016), 11. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Williams, Deforesting the Earth, 12. 15 Ibid., 226–262. 16 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2016, 12. 17 Ibid., 10. 18 Ibid., 12. 19 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2012, 9. 20 Ibid. 21 FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2015: How are the World’s Forests Changing? (Rome: FAO, 2012), 16. 22 Ibid., 3. 23 Ibid., 16. 24 FAO, The State of the World’s Forests, 1999 (Rome: FAO, 1999). http://www.fao.org/docrep/W9950E/w9950e02.htm#TopOfPage. 25 FAO, State of the World’s Forests 2016, 12. 26 Ibid., x. 27 Ibid., 12. 28 Ibid., x. 29 J.R. McNeill, ‘Population and the Natural Environment: Trends and Challenges’, Population and Development Review, 32, The Political Economy of Global Population Change, 1950–2050 (2006), 185. 30 Ibid., 186. 31 UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition, https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Downloa48.6d/55.3. 32 Ibid. 33 McNeill, ‘Population and the Natural Environment’, 187. 34 Ibid., 188. 4

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35 WWAP (World Water Assessment Programme), The United Nations World Water Development Report 2017: Water for a Sustainable World (Paris: UNESCO, 2017). 36 WWAP (World Water Assessment Programme), The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015: Water for a Sustainable World (Paris: UNESCO, 2015), 7. 37 Garrett Hardin, ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’, Science 162, no. 3859 (1968): 1248. 38 Ibid., 1243. 39 Quoted by W.W. Hunter in The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products (London: Trubner & Co, Ludgate Hill, 1886), 358. 40 David G. Mandelbaum, ‘Population Problem in India and Pakistan’, Far Eastern Survey 18, no. 24 (1949), 284. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid., 285. 44 Kingsley Davis, ‘Human Fertility in India’, American Journal of Sociology 52, no. 3 (1946), 254. 45 Ibid., 243. 46 G. Findlay Shirras, ‘The Population Problem in India’, Economic Journal 43, no. 169 (1933): 60. 47 Ibid., 61. 48 Ibid. 49 J.F. Richards, James R. Hagen and Edward S. Haynes, ‘Changing Land Use in Bihar, Punjab and Haryana, 1850–1970’, Modern Asian Studies 19, no. 3 (1985): 700. 50 Ibid., 724.

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2 LAND-USE PATTERN AND THE ENVIRONMENT This chapter analyse the trends of land-use pattern in India from the late eighteenth to that of the early twenty-first centuries in a historical perspective. Since the early nineteenth century, the establishment of tea, coffee and teak wood plantations paved the way for changes in the land-use pattern of the non-arable areas in different parts of the country. Otherwise, till the first half of the nineteenth century, the land-use pattern has not changed much due to the low density of population and lack of infrastructural facilities. Since the midnineteenth century, invariably, common property resources were brought under arable land areas, mainly due to agricultural expansion. With improved irrigation methods and facilities despite the series of famines and droughts during the second half of the nineteenth century—though in the early phase, agricultural expansion took place—the net sown area more or less remained the same till the third decade of the twentieth century. However, during the post-Independence period, the land-use pattern has changed drastically due to the population explosion, agricultural expansion, technological advancement and rapid development of infrastructural facilities. Consequently, the changing trend of land-use pattern and its implications for ecology, environment and biodiversity resources were rampant. This chapter, therefore, attempts to capture the nature and trends of land-use pattern and its consequences on ecology and environment, from the late eighteenth to that of the early twenty-first centuries in a historical perspective. This chapter consists of five sections. The first section gives a brief account of the land-use pattern during the precolonial period. The second section analyses the changing land-use pattern during the colonial period (1800–1947). The third section deals with the trends of land-use pattern during the post-Independence period (1947–2017). The fourth section traces the trend of land-use pattern in different states during the post-Independence period (1947–2017) and the last section ends with the concluding observations.

20

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UNTIL THE COLONIAL PERIOD (AROUND 1800) The surface of the earth has changed considerably over the last half century due to urbanisation, deforestation and intensive agricultural practices.1 Consequently, conversion of grassland, woodland and forest into cropland and pasture has risen during the same period.2 Since 1850, the global population has increased six times and urban population had increased more than 100 times.3 Change in land-use pattern of a particular country in a given time depends on several factors, such as technology, economics, environmental factors and patterns of development.4 For instance, major irrigation projects brought more land under cultivation while rural and urban growth and infrastructural development reduced the overall area under cultivation.5 In the developing countries, the availability of arable land has declined due to population growth.6 Since the early seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century (1600–1850), various estimates of the size of the population show that the population has increased. It also indicates that in the first half of the seventeenth century, the population has either declined or remained stagnant. Since the second half of the seventeenth century, various estimates show that, invariably, the population has increased till the mid-nineteenth century. Of course, the growth rate is varied among different estimates.7 In other words, the population has increased in the Indian subcontinent from 100 million in 1600–1650 to 130–160 million in 1750, 140–200 million in 1800 and 190–240 million in 1850s.8 During the precolonial period, the land-use pattern has not changed due to low population and lack of technology in the Indian subcontinent. For example, in the Salem and Baramahal regions, a vast extent of the land was unutilised at the close of the eighteenth century. In 1793, the total geographical area of this region was 4,092,973 acres which included 1,127,716 acres (27.55 per cent) of arable land, 359,279 acres (8.78 per cent) of fallow land, 1,559,612 acres (38.1 per cent) of cultivable wasteland and 1,046,366 acres (25.56 per cent) of uncultivable wasteland.9 However, during the first half of the nineteenth century, favourable conditions prevailed for population growth not only due to political stability in the country but also because of the famine relief operations that were undertaken.10 The population growth was nearly stagnant till the early seventeenth century. Then it has increased marginally till the mid-eighteenth century and subsequently it was more or less stagnant due to epidemics and political turmoil till the nineteenth century. However, later, the atmosphere favoured the population growth due to containment of

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Environmental History of Modern India

natural calamities by the colonial administration. The people were forced to move from one place to another due to natural calamities and political turmoil since the early seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Consequently, there was little impact on the land-use pattern until the colonial intervention or till the late eighteenth century.

TRENDS OF LAND-USE PATTERN (1800–1947) Land-use pattern has changed remarkably in the Indian subcontinent during the colonial period due to the establishment of tea and coffee plantations, expansion of cultivated area, expansion of irrigation facilities and commercialisation of agriculture, besides development of various infrastructural facilities. Since the second quarter of the nineteenth century, establishment of the tea and coffee and plantations paved way for changes in the land-use pattern, particularly non-arable areas, in different parts of the country. The East India Company (EIC) has encouraged the British administrators and judges to establish tea and coffee plantations by offering incentives and privileges. About 12.08 lakh acres (8.7 lakh acres coffee and 3.38 lakh acres tea), largely in the elevated ranges, were brought under the plantation in different parts of the country.11 Further, the East India Irrigation Company gave priority to the establishment of large dams during the 1840s and also developed several dams in the second half of the nineteenth century. For example, in 1880–1881, the length of main canals in the five provinces was about 6,755 miles that increased to 14.483 miles in 1895–1896, and the irrigated area also increased from 59.54 lakh acres to 134.20 lakh acres for the same period.12 Since the second half of the nineteenth century, the railway network was gradually developed in different parts of the country by the nine private British companies, which encroached upon a huge extent of the forest lands not only to lay down tracks but also to exploit vast forest resources in different parts of the country. Till the mid-nineteenth century, about 40,000 miles of railway network was developed in the Indian subcontinent. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, several tracts of forest lands were brought under the reserve forest/protected forest lands under the Indian Forest Act of 1878. However, since the early twentieth century, no major initiative was undertaken by the colonial administration due to drought, World Wars and Depression. While referring to the mid-eighteenth century scenario, Raychaudhuri points out that: ‘The performance of even the subsistenceoriented agriculture was quite high, no doubt owing to the availability of very fertile land for a relatively small population rather than to any

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23

technological excellence’.13 Since the mid-eighteenth century to till the nineteenth century, the population growth was little not only due to the natural calamities but also because of political turmoil and internal conflicts.14 Until the mid-nineteenth century, the demand for land had not aroused due to low population and, in fact, landowners were looking for the tenants for cultivation. According to Hunter, ‘In ancient times, and until three-quarters of a century of British rule had passed, overpopulation was unknown in India. The demand was by the land-holders for tenants, not by the husbandman for land.’15 He pointed out that even in the fertile Gangetic basin, a large extent of the land was unoccupied towards the end of the eighteenth century. According to him: At the end of the last century about one-third of Lower Bengal, and probably half of the Panjab, lay unoccupied. The Central Provinces lay half unoccupied on the south, Assam lay unoccupied on the north. How came it that this great breeding-ground, with every cause of the increase of an Indian population in full development, was thus surrounded by almost unoccupied provinces, while within its own districts the competition was by landlords for cultivators, not by cultivators for land?16

Since the mid-nineteenth century onwards, the land-use pattern has changed remarkably with the conversion of forests, woodlands, grasslands and desert lands into arable land due to agricultural expansion and irrigation facilities.17 For example, in the Madras Presidency, the cultivated land has increased from 12 million acres in 1853 to 20 million acres in 1878. In other words, about two-thirds of the cultivated land have increased within twenty-five years (1853–1878).18 Consequently, the net sown area has increased from 1,801.5 lakh acres in 1899–1900 to 2,800.21 lakh acres in 1939–1940. The proportion of the net sown area to the total geographical area has increased from about 33 per cent to 42 per cent respectively for the same period. In other words, the growth rate of net sown area was about 54 per cent in four decades, 1899–1900 to 1939–1940. While bringing more land into cultivation, some extent of land was converted for human settlement and transportation purposes and also forests and woodlands had been exploited for the commercial purposes.19

Total Geographical Area The total geographical area has increased during the colonial period. In 1899–1900, the total geographical area was 5,477.14 lakh areas and it has increased in the subsequent decades. In 1909–1910, it has increased

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24

Environmental History of Modern India

to 6,217.28 lakh acres; 6,224.68 lakh acres in 1919–1920; 6,675.14 lakh acres in 1929–1930; and 6,696.48 lakh acres in 1939–1940. The total geographical area has increased over 22.26 per cent between 1899–1900 and 1939–1940 (Table 2.1).

Area under Forest Available data clearly indicates an increase in forest cover from 658.43 lakh acres or 12.02 per cent of the total geographical area in 1899–1900 to 815.85 lakh acres or 13.75 per cent in 1946–1947. In other words, the proportion of forest area to the total geographical area has witnessed a marginal increase during this period. During the post-Forest Act regime, a large extent of forest land was brought under the reserve forest area in the Indian subcontinent. For instance, forest area has increased to 811.89 lakh acres in 1909–1910, 883.23 lakh acres in 1919–1920, 872.76 lakh acres in 1929–1930 and 872.16 lakh acres in 1939–1940. By the end of 1881–82 there were 46,213 square miles of Reserved and 8,612 square miles of Protected Forests; with the close of 1884– 85 there were 49,214 square miles of former and 13,103 square miles of latter class. As the end of 1897–98 the area had increased to 81,414 square miles of Reserves and had decreased to 8,845 square miles of protected forests.20

Within two decades of the nineteenth century, 658.43 lakh acres of land was brought under the forest cover. In the subsequent decades of the colonial era, the area under forest has constantly increased and its proportion to the total geographical area also has increased. Precisely, more and more areas were brought under the forest cover during the colonial period, particularly since the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Agriculture Expansion Expansion of agriculture was notable in the Indian subcontinent especially during the post-Forest Act period. Despite an increase in current fallows, the net sown area has gone up progressively during this period. For instance, in 1899–1900, 1,801.50 lakh acres of land was under the net sown area and it has shot up to 2,427.75 lakh acres in 1946–1947. In other words, the proportion of net sown area, which was 33 per cent of the total geographical area in 1899–1900, has risen to 40.91 per cent in 1946–1947. This was proof that more and more land was brought under the cultivation during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century in the Indian subcontinent. The net sown area has increased 55.44 per cent between 1899–1900 and 1939–1940 (Table 2.1).

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Environmental History of Modern India.indd 25

65,842,918

138,150,727

106,404,160

57,165,960

180,150,454

547,714,219

Area under forest

Area not available for cultivation

Uncultivated land

Area and current fallows

Net area sown

Total geographical area

100

32.89

10.44

19.43

25.22

12.02

%

621,728,817

222,911,547

45,335,412

114,665,202

157,627,145

81,189,511

1909–1910

100

35.85

7.29

18.44

25.35

13.06

% 14.19

%

8.38

622,468,276 100

222,825,487 35.8

52,134,792

113,414,708 18.22

145,769,969 23.42

88,323,320

1919–1920

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1890–1991 to 1946–1947 (various years).

1899–1900

Details

Table 2.1: Trends of Geographical Area in India, 1880–1947 

13.1

%

7.45

667,514,606 100

228,160,853 34.2

49,712,921

155,491,449 23.3

146,872,810 22

87,276,573

1929–1930

669,648,000 100

280,021,000 41.82

62,033,000 9.26

118,611,000 17.71

121,767,000 18.18

87,216,000 13.02

1939–1940 %

593,392,000

242,775,000

87,559,000

87,211,000

94,262,000

81,585,000

1946–1947

(in acres) 1899–1900 to 1939–1940

100

22.26

40.91 55.44

14.76 8.51

14.7 11.47

15.89 –11.86

13.75 32.46

%

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26

Environmental History of Modern India

Decline of Common Land The overall trend of common land that included the area under forest, area that was not available for cultivation and uncultivated land other than fallow land has declined during the post-Forest Act colonial period. Since the last decade of the nineteenth century, the common land has increased progressively until the third decade of the twentieth century and after that it has declined remarkably. In 1890– 1891, the area under common land was about 261,979,365 acres and this has increased to 390,181,178 acres in 1931–1932. In other words, the growth rate of common land was about 48.94 per cent during the four decades. Invariably, different types of common land like forest area that was not available for cultivation and uncultivated land other than fallow land has increased during this period (Table 2.1). Prior to 1935–1936, Burma region was also included. Since then, the total common land and invariably different types of common land have declined remarkably in the Indian subcontinent. It clearly indicates that after the third decade of the twentieth century, more and more common lands, particularly area that was not available for cultivation and uncultivated land other than fallow land, were brought under cultivation.

Increase of Current Fallow Area under current fallows has declined during the first three decades of the twentieth century and it has increased since the fourth decade onwards. In 1899–1900, about 10.44 per cent of the area falls under the current fallow and it has declined to 7.29 per cent in 1909–1910; 8.38 per cent in 1919–1920; 7.45 per cent in 1929–1930 and 9.26 per cent in 1939–1940. In 1946–1947, it has increased to 14.76 per cent.

Net Sown Area Since the mid-nineteenth century, several frequent famines and droughts affected the Indian subcontinent. Further, between 1850 and 1900, more than fifty droughts occurred in the country. Most of the famines and droughts affected the most parts of the country. Consequently, only one-third of the geographical area was brought under the net sown area. The net sown area has not changed despite the existence of only a few famines during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The net sown area has increased from 1,801.5 lakh acres in 1899–1900 to 2,800.21 lakh acres in 1939–1940. The growth rate of net sown area has increased about more than 55 per cent within four decades of the twentieth century (Table 2.1). In fact,

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27

in the first three decades, the net sown area more or less remained constant. During the period from 1930 to 1940, the net sown area has increased from 2,281.62 lakh acres to 2,800.21 acres in 1939–1940. The frequent famines and droughts during the second half of the nineteenth century and early decade of the twentieth century led to the net sown area remaining constant in the Indian subcontinent.21 Since the early twentieth century, more geographical area was brought under the colonial administration. At the same time, more area was brought under the forest and the agricultural expansion has also increased remarkably, but the other common property resources have declined remarkably during the colonial period.

POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD (1947–2017) Reporting Area At the time of Independence, the total geographical area of the Indian subcontinent was about 328.73 million hectares; however, only an area of 284.32 million hectares was brought under the land utilisation statistics. During the post-Independence period, vast areas have been brought under the land utilisation statistics. For instance, in 1950–1951, about 284.32 million hectares land was brought under the land utilisation statistics. It has increased in the subsequent decades: i.e., 298.46 million hectares in 1960–1961; 303.75 million hectares in 1970–1971; 304.16 million hectares in 1980–1981; 304.86 million hectares in 1990–1991; 305.19 million hectares in 2000–2001 and 307.48 million hectares in 2010–2011. In other words, the growth rate of land utilisation area in the Indian subcontinent was about 8.15 per cent within six decades, i.e., between 1950–1951 and 2010–2011 (Table 2.2). Table 2.2: Trends of Land Utilisation in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011  (in million hectares) Details

1950–1951

%

1950–1951 to 2010–2011

Reporting area for land utilisation statistics

284.32

 

8.15

Forest

40.48

14.24

76.85

Not available for cultivation

47.52

16.71

–8.29

  (a) Land put to non-agricultural use

9.36

3.29

182.05

  (b) Barren and unculturable land

38.16

13.42

–54.98

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Environmental History of Modern India

Details

1950–1951

%

1950–1951 to 2010–2011

Other uncultivated land excluding follow land

49.45

17.39

–47.12

(a) Permanent pastures and other grazing lands

6.68

2.35

54.19

(b) Land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown)

19.83

6.97

–83.86

(c) Culturable wasteland

22.94

8.07

–44.86

Fallow lands

28.12

9.89

–12.52

(a) Fallow lands other than current fallow

17.45

6.14

–40.86

(b) Current fallow

10.68

3.76

33.71

Net area sown (I–IV)

118.75

41.77

19.21

I. Total cropped area

131.89

46.39

49.79

II. Area sown more than once

13.15

9.97

325.86

III. Net irrigated area

20.85

17.56

205.32

IV. Gross irrigated area

22.56

17.11

294.19

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.

22

Area under Forest Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, greater area was brought under the forest; however, the area under forest has increased remarkably only during the post-Independence period. In 1950–1951 only 40.48 million hectares, which constitutes about 14.24 per cent of the total land utilisation statistics areas, has increased to 71.59 million hectares, which constitutes of 23.28 per cent in 2010–2011. In other words, the growth rate of forest was about 76.85 per cent between 1950– 1951 and 2010–2011. However, in the first three decades of the postIndependence period, more than 57 per cent of the area was added into the forest. In the subsequent decades, the growth rate was very meagre. In fact, a little more than three-fourths of the forest area were added to the forest during the last six decades of the post-Independence period (Table 2.2). During the first three decades of post-Independence period (1950– 1980), 26.98 million hectares or about 57 per cent of the additional area was brought under the forest, while on an average of 4.5 million hectares of forest (0.15 million hectares) per year was diverted for

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29

various development programmes during the same period. Between 1980 and 2016, about 3.32 million hectares of area was brought under the forest and at the same time, 0.89 million hectares was diverted for various development purposes. In other words, during the postForest Conservation period (1980–2016), on an average, about 0.025 million hectares of forest per year was diverted for various development purposes.

Area Not Available for Cultivation In the category of land not available for cultivation that consists of land put to non-agricultural use and barren and unculturable land has declined marginally from 47.52 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 43.58 million hectares in 2010–2011. But within this category, the former increased from 9.36 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 26.4 million hectares in 2010–2011, whereas the latter declined from 38.16 million hectares to 17.18 million hectares for the same period. With reference to land put to non-agricultural use, growth rate was about 182 per cent between 1950–1951 and 2010–2011 (Table 2.2). The ‘Area not available for cultivation’ is an important category which impacted both due to population explosion and agricultural expansion during the post-Independence period. Due to population explosion, more and more area was brought under not only for habitation purpose but also for the development of various infrastructural facilities like schools, colleges, hospitals, government offices, roads, etc. For example, at the time of Independence, there were only about 644 lakh households and it has increased to 3,308.35 lakh households in 2011. Population has increased from 36 crores in 1951 to 121 crores in 2011. The number of villages has increased from 5.58 lakh villages in 1951 to 6.4 lakh villages in 2011. The number of towns has also increased from 3,018 in 1951 to 7,935 in 2011. The number of schools, colleges, other academic or research institutions and common facilities have increased remarkably during the post-Independence period. Consequently, land being put to non-agricultural use has increased during the post-Independence period.

Other Uncultivated Land Other uncultivated land, viz., permanent pasture and other grazing lands, miscellaneous tree crops and groves, and culturable wastelands, nearly halved from 49.45 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 26.15

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Environmental History of Modern India

million hectares in 2010–2011. The proportion of other uncultivated land to the reported area of land utilisation has come down from 17.39 per cent in 1950–1951 to 8.59 per cent in 2010–2011. Land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves and culturable wasteland has declined from 19.83 and 22.94 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 3.2 and 12.65 million hectares in 2010–2011 respectively (Table 2.2). As against the land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves and culturable wasteland, permanent pastures and other grazing lands have increased from 6.68 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 10.3 million hectares in 2010–2011. The miscellaneous tree crops and groves and culturable wastelands have been brought under the cultivation and development of various infrastructural facilities during the postIndependence period.

Net Sown Area Since Independence, agriculture expansion was emphasised upon to eradicate poverty. Consequently, more and more lands were brought under the cultivation process. In other words, barren and unculturable land was brought under cultivation, particularly during the green revolution period, which was supported by the technological advancement in the agrarian sector. Consequently, net area sown has increased from 118.7 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 141.56 million hectares in 2010–2011. In other words, net area sown growth rate was about 19.26 per cent during the last six decades. About one-fifth of the net sown area has increased during the post-Independence period. Not only has the net sown area increased but also area sown has increased more than once from 13.15 million hectares in 1950– 1951 to 56 million hectares in 2010–2011. In other words, area sown more than once has increased fourfold during the post-Independence period.

Fallow Land This increased despite the declining trend of follow lands during the same period.

Net Irrigated Area At the same time, the gross irrigated area increased fourfold from 22.56 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 88.73 million hectares in 2010–2011 and the net irrigated area has also increased more

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31

than threefold during the same period. Despite the drought, it became a regular and frequent phenomenon in different parts of the country and affected a large number of people during the postIndependence era.23

NATIONAL WASTELAND USE INITIATIVES National Wasteland Development Board was established in 1985 under the Ministry of Forests 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. According to the 1984 estimate, about 1,295.8 lakh hectares were classified as wastelands in India, of which 71.65 lakh hectares (5.53 per cent) were classified as saline and alkaline lands; 736 lakh hectares (56.79 per cent) water eroded areas; 129.26 lakh hectares (9.98 per cent) wind eroded area; and 358.89 lakh hectares (27.69 per cent) forest degraded area (Table 2.3). Nearly 80 per cent of the wasteland is lying with the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa. Of the 5.53 per cent of the saline and alkaline lands, about 57.04 per cent are lying in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Rajasthan. Of the water eroded area (57 per cent), about three-fourths of the portion lies in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Of the wind eroded wasteland (9.98 per cent), 82 per cent was lying in Rajasthan and the rest in Haryana and Gujarat. Of the degraded forest area (27.69 per cent), about two-thirds (66.76 per cent) was lying in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (Table 2.3). For this reason, a large proportion of the wasteland belongs to the water eroded and forest degraded areas which is mostly concentrated in a few states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa and Bihar. The wastelands have declined since the last two decades of the twentieth century from 6.39 lakh square kilometres to 5.53 lakh square kilometres in 2003 and it further declined to 5.13 lakh square kilometres in 2010 (Table 2.4). Since 1986, the wastelands have been divided into thirteen categories and invariably every category has declined from late 1980s to till the 2010 and later.

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Environmental History of Modern India

Table 2.3: Selected State-wise Estimated Wasteland in India (1984) (in lakh hectare) States/UTs

Saline and Alkaline Lands

Water Eroded Area

Wind Eroded Area

Forest Degraded Area*

Total

Andhra Pradesh

2.4

74.42

–

37.34

114.16

Assam

–

9.35

–

7.95

17.3

Bihar

0.04

38.92

–

15.62

54.58

Gujarat

12.14

52.35

7.04

6.83

78.36

Haryana

5.26

2.76

15.99

0.74

24.78

Himachal Pradesh

–

14.24

–

5.34

19.58

Jammu & Kashmir –

5.31

–

10.34

15.65

Karnataka

67.18

–

20.43

91.65

4.04

Kerala

0.16

10.37

–

2.26

12.79

Madhya Pradesh

2.42

127.05

–

71.95

201.42

Maharashtra

5.34

110.26

–

28.41

144.01

Manipur

–

0.14

–

14.24

14.38

Meghalaya

–

8.15

–

11.03

19.18

Nagaland

–

5.08

–

8.78

13.86

Orissa

4.04

27.53

–

32.27

63.84

Punjab

6.88

4.63

–

0.79

12.3

Rajasthan

7.28

66.59

106.23

19.33

199.34

Sikkim

–

1.31

–

1.5

2.81

Tamil Nadu

0.04

33.88

–

10.09

44.01

Tripura

–

1.08

–

8.65

9.73

Uttar Pradesh

12.95

53.4

–

14.26

80.61

West Bengal

8.5

13.27

–

3.59

25.36

UTs

0.16

8.73

–

27.15

36.04

Total

71.65

736

129.26

358.89

1,295.8

Note: * Barren area notified as forest not included in the above figures. Source: ‘Draft Report on Status of Land Degradation in India’, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India.

Environmental History of Modern India.indd 32

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55,788.5 638,518

Land with or without scrub

Waterlogged and marshy land

Land affected by salinity/alkalinitycoastal/inland

Shifting cultivation area

Underutilised/degraded notified forest land

Degraded pastures/grazing land

Degraded land under plantation

Sands-Inland/Coastal

Mining/Industrial wastelands

Barren rocky/stony waste/sheet rock area

Steep sloping area

Snow covered and/or glacial area

Total wasteland area

2

3

Environmental History of Modern India.indd 33

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

 

552,692

5,4328.2

9,097.38

57,747.1

1,977.35

33,984.2

2,138.24

19,344.3

126,552

18,765.9

12,024.1

9,744.97

187,949

20.17

1.76

0.24

2.04

0.04

1.58

0.18

0.82

4.44

1.11

0.65

0.52

6.13

2003

17.45

1.72

0.29

1.82

0.06

1.07

0.07

0.61

4

0.59

0.38

0.31

5.94

0.6

–85,826

–1,460.3

1,441.1

–6,837.7

725.21

–16,037

–3,689.8

–6,634.6

–14,101

–16,376

–8,453.3

–6,823.5

–6,064.8

–1,514

Area

–2.71

–0.05

0.05

–0.22

0.02

–0.51

–0.12

–0.21

–0.45

–0.52

–0.27

–0.22

–0.19

–0.05

%

Change from 1986 to 2000–2003

513,325.1

41,430.78

41,430.78

68,729.78

537.54

35,234.27

318.02

7,196.42

102,133.54

10,306.84

7,094.3

5,471.03

184,749.28

8,692.51

Area

2010   %

16.21

1.31

1.31

2.17

0.02

1.11

0.01

0.23

3.23

0.33

0.22

0.17

5.83

0.27

–125,193.22

–14,357.71

33,774.49

4,145.01

–714.59

–14,787.38

–5,510.07

–18,782.49

–38,518.77

–24,835.36

–13,383.08

–11,097.42

–9,265.01

–11,860.84

Area

–19.61

–25.74

441.13

6.42

–57.07

–29.56

–94.54

–72.30

–27.39

–70.67

–65.36

–66.98

–4.78

–57.71

%

From 1986 to 2000–2010

(area in square kilometres)

Sources: http://dolr.gov.in/category–wise–wastelands–india–comparative–analysis–between–wasteland–atlas–2000–and–wasteland–atlas (accessed on 13 June 2018); https://www.indiastat.com/table/geographicaldata/15/geographicalwasteland/293/823737/data.aspx

7,656.29

64,584.8

1,252.13

50,021.7

5,828.09

25,978.9

140,652

35,142.2

20,477.4

16,568.5

19,4014

0.65

1986–2000

2003 19,039.3

1986–2000 20,553.4

Gullied and/or Ravinous land

1

% to Total Geogra­phical Area Covered

Wastelands

Category

S. No.

Table 2.4: Trends of Different Categories of Wastelands in India, 1986–2000 and 2003

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Environmental History of Modern India

The wastelands spread over almost all states and union territories; are, however, concentrated only in a few states. In 2003, 5.53 square kilometres of land was classified as wastelands, of which nearly twothirds of the wastelands were concentrated in six states—Rajasthan (18.36 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (12.7 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (10.34 per cent), Maharashtra (8.92 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (8.19 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (5.13 per cent) (Table 2.5). Eleven states have only less than 1 per cent of the wastelands. Table 2.5: State-wise Wastelands of India, 2003 Name of the State

Wasteland (area in square kilometres)

%

Andhra Pradesh

45,267.15

8.19

Arunachal Pradesh

18,175.95

3.29

Assam

14,034.08

2.54

Bihar

5,443.68

0.98

Chhattisgarh

7,584.15

1.37

Goa

531.29

0.10

Gujarat

20,377.74

3.69

Haryana

3,266.45

0.59

Himachal Pradesh

28,336.8

5.13

Jammu & Kashmir

70,201.99

12.70

Jharkhand

11,165.26

2.02

Karnataka

13,536.58

2.45

Kerala

1,788.8

0.32

Madhya Pradesh

57,134.03

10.34

Maharashtra

49,275.41

8.92

Manipur

13,174.74

2.38

Meghalaya

3,411.41

0.62

Mizoram

4,469.88

0.81

Nagaland

3,709.4

0.67

Orissa

18,952.74

3.43

Punjab

1,172.84

0.21

Rajasthan

101,453.86

18.36

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Land-Use Pattern and the Environment Name of the State

Wasteland (area in square kilometres)

%

Sikkim

3,808.21

0.69

Tripura

1,322.97

0.24

Tamil Nadu

17,303.29

3.13

Uttarakhand

16,097.46

2.91

Uttar Pradesh

16,984.16

3.07

West Bengal

4,397.56

0.80

Union Territory

314.38

0.06

Total

552,692.26

100.00

35

Source: http://dolr.gov.in/category–wise–wastelands–india–comparative–analysis–between–wasteland–atlas–2000–and–wasteland–atlas (accessed on 13 June 2018).

Since 2005–2006, the wastelands were classified into twenty-three categories. According to 2005–2006 estimates, the total wasteland area was about 4.72 square kilometres and it has declined to 4.67 square kilometres in 2008–2009. It indicates that the wastelands have been converted into arable land since the last two decades of the twentieth century.24 During the post-Independence period, immensely vast areas were brought under forest and cultivation and land was put into nonagricultural use and the phenomenon has progressively increased. On the other hand, barren and unculturable land, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown) and culturable wasteland have declined. Thus, more and more lands were brought either under cultivation or under various infrastructural facilities during the post-Independence period.

TREND OF LAND-USE PATTERN IN DIFFERENT STATES The land-use pattern has changed at the macro level and it varies among different states at different points of time. This section will analyse the trend of reporting area of land utilisation statistics, forests, area not available for cultivation, other culturable land, fallow land, net sown area, total cropped area and area sown more than once in different states during the post-Independence period, particularly after the reorganisation of linguistic states. After Independence, the States Reorganisation Act, 1956,  was a major reform of the boundaries of India’s  states and territories,

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organising them along the linguistic lines. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal were formed as separate states. Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep were formed as union territories. While forming the new states, the territories were also reorganised. After the reorganisation of the states in 1956, several states have been created in India. For instance, Gujarat was made separate state in 1960, so as Nagaland (1963), Haryana (1966), Himachal Pradesh (1971), Manipur (1972), Tripura (1972), Meghalaya (1972), Sikkim (1975), Mizoram (1987), Arunachal Pradesh (1987), Goa (1987), Chhattisgarh (2000), Uttarakhand (2000), Jharkhand  (2000) and Telangana (2014).

Reporting Area of Land Utilisation Statistics In most of the states, the reporting area has increased marginally during the post-Independence period, particularly after the linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956. In some of the states, reporting area has declined due to bifurcation of states. Invariably, in most of the states, reporting area has increased marginally during the post-Independence period. The reporting area has increased in the following states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, the eight states in Northeast India and the seven union territories (Table 2.6). The state of Jharkhand was bifurcated from Bihar state, Chhattisgarh was bifurcated from Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh in 2000. For analytical purpose, these states were included with the erstwhile bifurcated states. Whereas, the reporting area has declined in the states of Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa and West Bengal during the post-Independence period. At the same time, Bihar, including Jharkhand, has no change in the reporting area during the postIndependence period. However, only in few states, such as Himachal Pradesh, the eight states in Northeast India, Gujarat and the seven union territories, huge area was brought under the reporting area. Though in these states, the proportion of the area brought under the reporting area was high; except for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, in all other states of Northeast India and union territories, the actual area that has increased is very negligible.

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37

Table 2.6: Trends of Land Utilisation in Different States in India, from 1950– 1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

36,814

27,285

–25.88

27,505

0.24

0.81

Bihar + Jharkhand

18,126

17,330

–4.39

17,330

0.00

0.00

361

0.00

–

19,069

2.31

6.45

4,370

–0.73

–

Goa Gujarat

6,762

17,914

164.92

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

901

2,817

212.65

4,576

0.64

62.44

Jammu & Kashmir

2,357

4,872

106.70

4,027

15.69

–17.34

Karnataka

8,471

18,783

121.73

19,050

0.00

1.42

Kerala

2,165

3,857

78.15

3,886

0.03

0.75

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

52,599

43,784

–16.76

44,546

0.01

1.74

Maharashtra

28,450

30,668

7.80

30,758

0.00

0.29

Orissa

15,581

15,539

–0.27

15,472

–0.64

–0.43

Punjab

11,959

12,250

2.43

5,033

0.00

–58.91

Rajasthan

31,525

33,842

7.35

34,270

0.01

1.26

Tamil Nadu

15,555

13,015

–16.33

13,033

0.32

0.14

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

29,261

29,494

0.80

29,843

–0.10

1.18

West Bengal

7,940

8,852

11.49

8,684

–0.05

–1.90

Northeastern states (8)

15,678

17,736

13.13

24,653

7.20

39

Union Territories (7)

179

819

357.54

100.00

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.25

Forests As I have mentioned in the previous section, the forest cover has increased from 14 per cent to 23 per cent during the postIndependence period, despite exploitation of large extent of forest for various development purposes. Invariably, in most of the states, the forest area has increased marginally during the post-Independence period. The forest area has increased in the following states: Andhra

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Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand, the eight states in Northeast India and the seven union territories (Table 2.7). Only in a few states, the forest area has increased remarkably. For example, in Rajasthan 234 per cent, Gujarat 99 per cent, Orissa 63 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 42 per cent, Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand 36 per cent, Goa 19 per cent, the eight states in Northeast India 140 per cent, Tamil Nadu 14 per cent and Karnataka 13 per cent between 1960–1961 and 2010–2011. However, the largest proportion of the forest was declined in Haryana (–60.61 per cent) between 1971 and 2010–2011. In Bihar, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir, nearly onefourth and in Punjab, nearly one-fifth of the forest declined during the post-Independence period. In Maharashtra, forest land declined marginally (–3.6 per cent). Table 2.7: Trends of Forest in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

4,932

5,847

18.55

6,230

0.50

6.55

Bihar + Jharkhand

3,423

3,758

9.79

2,861

–2.98

–23.87

125

0.00

19.05

124

922

643.55

1,834

7.50

98.92

39

–66.09

–60.61

Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh

151

793

425.17

1,126

2.93

41.99

Jammu & Kashmir

596

3,134

425.84

2,269

12.16

–27.60

Karnataka

1,014

2,709

167.16

3,072

0.13

13.40

Kerala

622

1,056

69.77

1,082

0.00

2.46

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

11,918

13,827

16.02

15,033

0.50

8.72

Maharashtra

4,395

5,411

23.12

5,216

1.28

–3.60

Orissa

2,899

3,561

22.84

5,814

0.02

63.27

Punjab

328

370

12.80

294

5.00

–20.54

Rajasthan

1,344

814

–39.43

2,743

5.26

236.98

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39

Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

Tamil Nadu

2,395

1,866

–22.09

2,125

–0.42

13.88

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

3,194

3,794

18.79

5,143

–0.21

35.56

West Bengal

693

1,102

59.02

1,174

–1.34

6.53

Northeastern states (8)

2,441

6,111

150.35

14,675

11.64

140.14

Union Territories (7)

15

650

4,233.33

–100

–100

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.26

From 1980 onwards till 2016, about 0.89 million hectares was diverted for various development purposes. In other words, during the postForest Conservation Act period (1980–2016), on an average, about 0.025 million hectares of forest per year was diverted for various development purposes. Of the diverted forest land (0.89 million hectares), more than one-third, i.e., about 37 per cent, was diverted from Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh, 5–7 per cent from Andhra Pradesh + Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand and the eight states in Northeast India (Table 2.8). And in the rest of the states, the percentage of diverted land was about less than 5 per cent. It also clearly indicates that the states where area under forest declined are coincident with the forest area diversion. Table 2.8: State-wise Total Area Diverted for Forest Land under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in India (as on 25 October 1980 to 25 July 2016) States/UTs

Land Diverted (in hectares)

%

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

47,190.86

5.26

Bihar + Jharkhand

27,318.53

3.04

Goa

2,022.85

0.23

Gujarat

63,964.41

7.13

Haryana

5,933.85

0.66

Himachal Pradesh

12,675.87

1.41

Jammu & Kashmir

656.45

0.07

Karnataka

43,273.79

4.82

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Environmental History of Modern India

States/UTs

Land Diverted (in hectares)

%

Kerala

40,747.34

4.54

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

330,453.55

36.81

Maharashtra

60,001.21

6.68

Orissa

48,535.22

5.41

Punjab

63,371.73

7.06

Rajasthan

25,674.94

2.86

Tamil Nadu

2,421.87

0.27

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

60,691.64

6.76

West Bengal

4,311.92

0.48

Northeastern states (8)

55,605.13

6.19

Union Territories (7)

2,847.24

0.32

Total

897,698.4

100.00

Source: Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 221, dated 2 August 2016.

Area Not Available for Cultivation Area not available for cultivation category has changed remarkably in different states during the post-Independence period. On the whole, area not available for cultivation has increased in the following states: Andhra Pradesh + Telangana, Bihar + Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Whereas, this category has declined in Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand and the Northeastern states. Area not available for cultivation consists of two types of land: land put to non-agricultural uses and barren and unculturable land. The land put under the non-agricultural use has increased in different states of the country whereas barren and unculturable land has declined invariably among the states. The barren and unculturable land have declined due to expansion of cultivation and development of infrastructural facilities during the post-Independence period. The area not available for cultivation has declined in the following states—Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand and Northeastern states—due to vast extent of barren and unculturable lands brought under the use than that

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41

Table 2.9: Trends of Land Not Available for Cultivation in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960– 1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

6,338

4,189

–33.91

4,899

3.68

16.95

Bihar + Jharkhand

2,243

2,233

–0.45

3,463

0.64

55.08

37

0.00

00.00

3,675

4,980

35.51

3,723

–0.16

–25.24

624

33.05

127.35

Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh

57

530

829.82

1,131

0.89

113.40

Jammu & Kashmir

714

549

–23.11

301

–48.28

–45.17

Karnataka

1,108

1,734

56.50

2,217

5.27

27.85

Kerala

236

356

50.85

510

24.09

43.26

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

6,066

4,209

–30.61

4,443

4.30

5.56

Maharashtra

2,224

2,494

12.14

3,179

9.32

27.47

Orissa

3,009

2,539

–15.62

2,279

23.72

–10.24

Punjab

2,737

3,306

20.79

533

21.97

–83.88

Rajasthan

7,206

6,248

–13.29

4,268

–0.88

–31.69

Tamil Nadu

2,610

2,240

–14.18

2,666

8.29

19.02

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

4,740

4,503

–5.00

3,763

7.03

–16.43

West Bengal

1,300

1,293

–0.54

1,810

13.55

39.98

Northeastern states (8)

4,423

7,147

61.59

3,291

–3.09

–53.95

Union Territories (7)

38

41

7.89

–100

–100

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.27

of the land put to non-agricultural purposes (Table 2.9). In short, wherever the area not available for cultivation has declined mainly due to barren and unculturable lands brought under either for cultivation or for various development purposes during the postIndependence period.

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Environmental History of Modern India

Other Uncultivated Land (Excluding Fallow Land) Under this category, there are three types of land: (a) permanent pastures and other grazing lands, (b) land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves and (c) culturable wasteland. Invariably, the area under these three types of other uncultivated land was small and in most of the states, the area under this category has declined during the post-Independence period.

Permanent Pastures and Other Grazing Lands The permanent pastures and other grazing lands have declined in most of the states except in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand. In some states, permanent pastures and other grazing lands have completely disappeared; for example, in Kerala, about 45 million hectares in this category in 1960–1961 disappeared in the year of 2000– 2001. In several states, such as Andhra Pradesh + Telangana, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, more than half of the area has disappeared since the 1960s. About 97 per cent of the area has disappeared in Punjab alone and about 70 per cent of the area disappeared in Tamil Nadu (Table 2.10). Evidently, permanent pastures and other grazing lands have rapidly declined in most of the states during the post-Independence period. Table 2.10: Trends of Permanent Pastures and Other Grazing Lands in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960– 1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

253

1,193

371.54

554

–17.93

–53.56

126

18.87

–43.24

1

0.00

–

851

0.59

–18.33

27

–20.59

–50

Bihar + Jharkhand

222

Goa Gujarat

208

1,042

400.96

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

1,508

Jammu & Kashmir

87

121

39.08

119

–5.56

–1.65

Karnataka

1522

1,733

13.86

912

–4.90

–47.37

Kerala

18

45

150

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43

Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960– 1961 to 2010–2011

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

959

3,900

306.67

1,983

–18.63

–49.15

Maharashtra

915

1,443

57.7

1,242

6.34

–13.93

Orissa

672

736

9.52

513

15.80

–30.30

Punjab

45

125

177.78

4

0.00

–96.80

Rajasthan

1,214

1,685

38.8

1694

–0.76

0.53

Tamil Nadu

432

363

–15.97

110

–10.57

–69.70

265

–11.37

502.27

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

44

West Bengal

–

–

5

25.00

Northeastern states (8)

57

210

268.42

186

–15.07

–11.43

Union Territories (7)

4

9

125

6

–14.29

–33.33

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.28

Land under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves Invariably, the area under miscellaneous tree crops and groves was very small to an extent and a mixed pattern of trend is visible among different states during the post-Independence period. In some states, area under miscellaneous tree crops and groves has increased and in most of the states, it has declined: for instance, in Bihar + Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the area has increased. In some states, more or less the area remained the same, like in the case of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh + Telangana. It is to be pointed out that the states which had large extent of these areas showed a decline and the states which had lesser area have seen increased lands. For instance, West Bengal had about 639 million hectares in 1960–1961 and it has declined to 53 million hectares in 2010–2011. In other words, about 92 per cent of the area has declined within five decades. Likewise, Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh had about 331 million hectares and it has declined to 29 million hectares for the same period. States like Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana while had only small extent of these lands in 1960, have increased remarkably in the subsequent decades (Table 2.11).

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Environmental History of Modern India

Table 2.11: Trends of Land under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not Included in Net Area Sown) in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

600

293

–51.17

290

7.81

–1.02

Bihar + Jharkhand

338

–1.74

171.57

Goa

1

0.00

100.00

4

0.00

–90.48

11

57.14

366.67

Gujarat

170

42

–75.29

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

22

33

50

65

14.04

96.97

Jammu & Kashmir

15

130

766.67

66

–8.33

–49.23

Karnataka

97

366

277.32

286

–5.61

–21.86

Kerala

40

204

410

4

–73.33

–98.04

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

5,807

331

–94.3

29

38.10

–91.24

Maharashtra

465

185

–60.22

250

–23.78

35.14

Orissa

466

462

–0.86

220

–54.36

–52.38

Punjab

–

11

4

33.33

–63.64

Rajasthan

229

16

–93.01

21

50.00

31.25

Tamil Nadu

506

246

–51.38

252

–1.18

2.44

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

3,726

893

–76.03

740

25.00

–17.13

West Bengal

741

639

–13.77

53

–7.02

–91.71

Northeastern states (8)

6,926

1327

–80.84

560

–1.41

–57.80

Union Territories (7)

19

2

–89.47

6

–70.00

200.00

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.29

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45

Culturable Wasteland Culturable wasteland has declined in most of the states during the postIndependence period except for Rajasthan and the Northeastern states (Table 2.12). Table 2.12: Trends of Culturable Wasteland in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–61 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

1,391

1,627

16.97

626

–14.01

–61.52

Bihar + Jharkhand

1,313

903

–31.23

381

19.06

–57.81

53

–3.64

–43.01

1,960

–1.26

156.54

27

42.11

–34.15

Goa Gujarat

242

764

215.7

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

89

50

–43.82

124

0.00

148.00

Jammu & Kashmir

185

162

–12.43

135

–3.57

–16.67

Karnataka

456

656

43.86

414

–3.04

–36.89

Kerala

107

143

33.64

92

55.93

–35.66

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

5,823

3,214

–44.81

1,443

–6.12

–55.10

Maharashtra

1,063

933

–12.23

919

–4.07

–1.50

Orissa

1,872

1,418

–24.25

520

32.65

–63.33

Punjab

1,161

473

–59.26

4

–73.33

–99.15

Rajasthan

7,623

6,840

–10.27

4,233

–13.75

–38.11

Tamil Nadu

1,314

706

–46.27

331

–5.97

–53.12

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

291

1,639

463.23

736

–20.00

–55.09

West Bengal

–

–

29

–21.62

–

Northeastern states (8)

11

119

601

–8.24

405.04

Union Territories (7)

0

14

8

–69.23

–42.86

981.82

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.30

Follow Land Fallow land consists of two categories: fallow lands other than current fallow and current fallow. In most of the states, fallow land

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Environmental History of Modern India

other than current fallow has declined as against the current fallow increased rapidly across different states of the country during the postIndependence period (Tables 2.13 and 2.14). Table 2.13: Trends of Fallow Lands Other Than Current Fallow in Different States in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

6,096

896

–85.3

1,490

0.05

66.29

Bihar + Jharkhand

 

843

 

1,167

0.27

38.43

Goa

 

 

 

Gujarat

596

425

–28.69

16

0.23

–96.24

Haryana

 

 

 

 

Himachal Pradesh

11

3

–72.73

3

–0.77

0.00

Jammu & Kashmir

15

11

–26.67

21

1.63

90.91

Karnataka

365

516

41.37

426

0.04

–17.44

Kerala

7

62

785.71

52

0.53

–16.13

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

3,084

1,417

–54.05

843

0.05

–40.51

Maharashtra

1,486

1,128

–24.09

1,179

–0.08

4.52

Orissa

221

299

35.29

567

0.32

89.63

Punjab

11

a

 

4

0.33

Rajasthan

2,481

3,105

25.15

1,726

–0.29

–44.41

Tamil Nadu

781

623

–20.23

1,580

0.29

153.61

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

1,078

1,260

16.88

622

–0.12

–50.63

West Bengal

459

382

–16.78

18

–0.38

–95.29

Northeastern states (8)

750

172

–77.07

564

0.14

227.91

Union Territories (7)

0

1

 

17

0.21

1,600.00

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.

31

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47

Table 2.14: Trends of Current Fallow in Different States in India, from 1950– 1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

1960– 1961

%

2010– 2011

%

From 1960– 1961 to 2010–2011

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana

984

2,456

149.59

2,229

–3.6

–9.2

Bihar + Jharkhand

2,197

1,339

–39.05

2,649

54.0

97.8

Goa

–

342

13

–98.6

–96.2

Gujarat

–

342

379

–58.8

10.8

379

63.4

252.7

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

23

15

–34.78

54

0.0

260.0

Jammu & Kashmir

123

108

–12.2

101

24.7

–6.5

Karnataka

506

835

65.02

1,199

–12.3

43.6

Kerala

18

67

272.22

76

–2.6

13.4

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh

707

782

10.61

756

–31.1

–3.3

Maharashtra

1,251

1,196

–4.4

1,366

21.3

14.2

Orissa

784

918

17.09

877

157.9

–4.5

Punjab

873

543

–37.8

33

–17.5

–93.9

Rajasthan

1,707

2,022

18.45

1,235

–48.9

–38.9

Tamil Nadu

1,495

974

–34.85

1,015

–10.5

4.2

1,258

15.8

623.0

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand

174

West Bengal

–

–

584

63.1

–

Northeastern states (8)

11

45

309.09

308

–5.2

584.4

Union Territories (7)

8

15

87.5

20

185.7

33.3

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.32

Net Sown Area Net sown area has increased in most of the states between the years 1960–1961 and 2010–2011. The states in which the net sown area has increased are: Andhra Pradesh + Telangana, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand. The states in which the net sown area has declined

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Environmental History of Modern India

are: Bihar + Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Northeastern states and the union territories. The net sown area has also declined marginally in Maharashtra. In Punjab, the net sown area has declined because the state was bifurcated into Punjab and Haryana. The net sown area has increased in most of the states, except for a minor fluctuation between the year 1960–1961 and 2010–2011. Since 2000– 2001, the net sown area has declined in most of the states (Table 2.15). Since 1980–1981, the net sown area has declined in Tamil Nadu mainly due to drought and water conflict between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in sharing the Cauvery water. Table 2.15: Trends of Net Area Sown in Different States in India, from 1950– 1951 to 2010–2011 (in million hectares) Name of the State

1950– 1951

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana Bihar + Jharkhand

1960– % 1961

%

From 1960–1961 to 2010–2011

16,020 10,784 –32.68 11,186

0.64

3.73

8,950

–8.48

–21.02

–7.09

98.50

9.21

9.63

3,518

–0.23

98.68

8,032

–10.26 6,344

Goa Gujarat

2010– 2011

131 1,747

9,397

437.89 10,302

Haryana Himachal Pradesh

258

273

5.81

543

–2.16

98.90

Jammu & Kashmir

622

657

5.63

732

–2.14

11.42

Karnataka

3,403

10,228 200.56 10,523

1.09

2.88

Kerala

1,117

1,924

–7.52

6.03

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh Maharashtra Orissa

18,235 16,104 –11.69 19,813

1.99

23.03

16,651 17,878 7.37 5,658 5,606 –0.92

17,406 4,682

–2.45 –19.68

–2.64 –16.48

Punjab

6,804

7,422

4,158

–2.16

–43.98

Rajasthan

9,719

13,112 34.91

18,349

15.66

39.94

Tamil Nadu

6,022

5,997

4,954

–6.58

–17.39

Uttar Pradesh + Uttarakhand West Bengal

16,232 17,187 5.88

17,326

–1.53

0.81

4,747

5,436

14.51

4,981

–8.05

–8.37

Northeastern states 2,468 (8) Union Territories (7) 94

2,603

5.47

189

–95.31

–92.74

90

–4.26

79

–22.55

–12.22

72.25

9.08

–0.42

2,040

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.33

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49

CONCLUSION Since the colonial intervention, the land-use pattern in the Indian subcontinent has changed remarkably in the non-arable lands. From the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the EIC has established coffee and tea plantations mainly in the highlands which destroyed a large extent of the forest areas. At the same time, till the first half of the nineteenth century, the land-use pattern has not changed much due to the low density of population and lack of infrastructural facilities, invariably, in different parts of the country. In other words, except for the plantations development in the highlands, there was no change in the land-use pattern until the mid-nineteenth century. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the common property lands were converted into arable lands due to the agricultural expansion along with extension of irrigation facilities in different parts of the country. Though agricultural expansion has occurred, generally the sector suffered due to the frequent droughts and famines in a larger part of the country in different points of time. Since the mid-nineteenth century, development of the railway network for establishing its business network which has destroyed a large extent of the forests not only to lay down the timber plate but also to make coaches, berths and fuelwood from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century till the replacement of wood by coal for fuel. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, more and more areas were brought under the reserve forest. At the same time, the forest resources have been exploited for the commercial motives at the cost of the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities’ livelihood options. Consequently, several tribal revolts took place in different parts of the country during the entire colonial period. During the post-Independence period, the pressure on the landuse pattern has increased due to the rapid population growth, infrastructural development and to increased cultivation. During the early phase of post-Independence period, common property resources were increasingly brought under the utilisation. For example, 1.5 lakh hectares of forest land per annum was diverted for various development activities by the state governments during the first three decades. At the same time, several lakh hectares of land was utilised for non-agricultural purposes and increasing the area under cultivation which took place at the cost of other common property resources. Since 1985, the Government of India established National Land Use and Conservation Board (NLUCB) to frame land-use policies and to lay emphasis upon planning for optimum utilisation of land resources. This policy focused mainly on the common properties other than the forest land. Indeed, prior to this, different state have established

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Environmental History of Modern India

land-use board in 1975 itself. Consequently, the permanent pastures and other grazing lands, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves and cultural wastelands have declined or disappeared in different parts of the country. The post-Independence government has initiated several measures to increase the agricultural production to eradicate the growing poverty. Consequently, agricultural expansion took place and also development of various infrastructural facilities during the early independence period. The agricultural revolution, i.e., green revolution, has brought more area under cultivation. Since the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990), the government policies towards the housing projects further paved the way to usher in changes in the land-use pattern. In addition, the globalisation process also has paved the way to acquire the land by the multinational corporations which has been contested by the people. All these initiatives not only changed the land-use pattern but also impacted on environment. The land-use pattern has changed drastically after the constitutional amendment in 1984 and had further accentuated due to the rise of globalisation since the 1990s. However, after the 2013 enactment, some rational have been made to the land-use pattern in the country. During the post-Independence period, vast expanses of land were brought under net sown area while the fallow land has increased due to droughts and lack of irrigation facilities. Consequently, the proportion of the fallow land has increased and net sown area has declined. Precisely, common property lands have been increasingly brought either under cultivation or for development purposes, while the fallow land has increased due to lack of water, rainfall and other natural calamities occurring in different parts of the country during the post-Independence period.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1

Irban Showqi, Irfan Rashid and Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, ‘Land use and cover dynamics as a function of changing demography and hydrology’, GeoJournal 79, no. 3 (2014): 297. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., 298. 4 Margaret R. Biswas, ‘Agriculture and Environment: A Review, 1972–1992’, Ambio 23, no. 3 (1994): 193. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid.

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51

7 Leela Visaria and Pravin Visaria, ‘Population (1857–1947)’. In The Cambridge Economic History of India, edited by Dharma Kumar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 466. 8 Ibid. 9 Board of Revenue, Vol. 151–A (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives, 1791–1794), 41–42. 10 Visaria and Visaria, ‘Population (1857–1947)’, 465. 11 W.W. Hunter, The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products (London, Trubner & Co, Ludgate Hill, 1886), 502; C.D. Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency (Madras: Government Press, 1885), 403–404. 12 Elizabeth Whitcombe, ‘Irrigation’. In The Cambridge Economic History of India, edited by Dharma Kumar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 713. 13 Tapan Raychaudhuri, ‘The Mid-eighteenth-century background’. In The Cambridge Economic History of India, edited by Dharma Kumar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 32. 14 Visaria and Visaria, ‘Population (1857–1947)’, 465. 15 Francis Hentry Skrine, Life of Sir William Wilson Hunter (London: Longmans Greens and Co, 1901), 393. 16 Ibid. 17 J.F. Richards, James R. Hagen and Edward S. Haynes, ‘Changing Land Use in Bihar, Punjab and Haryana, 1850–1970’, MAS 19, no. 3 (1985): 700. 18 W.W. Hunter, The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products (London: Trubner & Co, 1886), 447. 19 Richards et al., 700. 20 Berthold Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1900), 121. 21 Visaria and Visaria, ‘Population’, 528–531. 22 Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016 (New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2017), 352–353. 23 Debu C., ‘Drought hit Regions in India’, 2016, https://www.mapsofindia. com/my-india/government/drought-hit-regions-in-india. 24 http://dolr.gov.in/sites/default/files/Wastelands_Atlas_2011.pdf (accessed on 13 June 2018). 25 Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016 (New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2017), 352–353. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.

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3 POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT This chapter seeks to explore the population growth in India and its consequences for environment from the late eighteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, comprising of precolonial, colonial and postIndependence period (1750–2017). This chapter is divided into five sections. The first section deals with the demographic features during the precolonial period or until the colonial period (up to 1750s). The second section analyses the trend of population growth during the colonial period, i.e., from the late eighteenth century till the mid-twentieth century (1750–1947). The third section analyses the trends of population growth during the post-Independence period, i.e., from the mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century (1947–2017). The fourth section deals with the population and environmental consequences from the late eighteenth century to the early twenty-first century (1750–2017) and the last section ends with concluding observations.

POPULATION DURING THE PRECOLONIAL PERIOD Until the colonial period, the statistics on population were not available. However, various accounts suggest that the population density was very low. Till the mid-seventeenth century, the population of the Indian subcontinent was about 100 million and it has increased to 130–160 million in the mideighteenth century.1 Frequent wars among the rulers and famines have led to lower levels of population growth. According to the Census Report 1871, ‘Centuries of lawlessness and internal strife had undoubtedly thinned the people, and large areas, which are not thick with a settled and industrious population, were then absolutely waste and untenanted.’2 Adding to that, frequent famine also resulted in the low population growth; for instance, severe famines affected the people of the Presidency in years 1733, 1782 to 1783, 1805 to 1807, 1824 and 1832–1838.3 The Indian subcontinent was ruled by several minor dynasties and constant warfare was seen among them. Every household has to provide manpower for the warfare which was mandatory. This is evident from the ancient period. For example, frequent wars among the Chera, Chola and Pandya kings during the ancient period. In addition to the internal 52

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53

warfare, external forces also caused wars from the early medieval period. The Afghans and Muslims invasions of the Indian subcontinent occurred in the medieval period. From the late eighteenth century, European ruler extended their rule in different parts of the country. Apart from war, natural calamities like droughts, famines, cholera and other epidemics also caused loss of population. Consequently, the population density was very low and their longevity was also very short.

POPULATION DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD (1750–1947) Since the seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century (1600–1850), various estimates of the size of the population in the Indian subcontinent showed that the population has gradually increased. It further indicates that in the first half of the seventeenth century, either the population had declined or was stagnant. Since the second half of the seventeenth century, various estimates suggest that the population has invariably increased till the mid-nineteenth century. Of course, the growth rate is varied among the different estimates.4 In other words, the population has increased in the Indian subcontinent from 100 million in 1600–1650 to 130–160 million in 1750, and from 140–200 million in 1800 to 190–240 million in the 1850s.5 During the early colonial period, population data was not available. The population density too was very low at the end of the eighteenth century; for example, the Salem and Baramahal regions were brought under the colonial administration by the end of the eighteenth century. At that time in history, the total population was about 600,000.6 Though the estimation was crude, it will give us some idea about the size of population in the Indian subcontinent. One of the earliest available accounts on population were that for the Madras Presidency. According to 1822 Census, the total population of the Madras Presidency was about 13,470,923.7 Subsequently, in 1836–1838, another enumeration was held and the total population figures returned was about 13,967,395. In 1823–1824, the Deccan districts—Vizagapatanam, Guntur, Nellore, North Arcot, South Arcot, Madras and Salem—were affected by famine.8 Over the fifteen years, the population has increased only by about 490,472. In 1833–1834, cholera and famine have affected both Guntur and Nellore districts which have, lost more than one-half of their population.9 This declining trend was reflected in the subsequent census. According to 1822 Census, the total population of Guntur and Nellore districts was about 894,221 and it has declined to 596,152 in 1836–1838. In other words, about 298,063 persons, which forms about 33.33 per cent, were lost due to famines and other epidemics. This famine also affected the Cuddappa, Bellary and North Arcot districts

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(Table 3.1). In the Rajahmundry, Guntoor, Nellore, Cuddapah, Chingleput, North Arcot, Madura, and Salem districts, the returns show an actual decrease of population. Scholars argue that this decline was due to the possibility of not including certain estates in the 1836– 1838 Census. But the fact of the matter is that after 1822 Census, in 1823–1824, prior to 1836–1838 Census, famines have affected in these districts. Consequently, it had a huge impact on the population not because of the possibility of exclusion of the estates alone. Table 3.1: Population of the Madras Presidency, 1822 and 1836–1838 Districts

1822

1836–1838

Variation between 1822 and 1836–1838

Ganjam

332,015

438,174

106,159

Vizagapatam

772,570

1,047,414

274,844

Rajahmundry (now Godavery)

738,308

695,016

–43,292

Masulipatam

529,849

544,672

14,823

Guntoor

454,754

267,426

–187,328

Nellore

439,467

328,726

–110,741

Cuddapah

1,094,460

1,081,261

–13,199

Bellary

927,857

1,129,907

202,050

Kurnool

 

 

0

Chingleput

363,129

331,821

–31,308

Madras

462,051

462,051

0

North Arcot

892,292

523,248

–369,044

South Arcot

455,020

484,800

29,780

Tanjore

901,353

1,128,730

227,377

Trichinopoly

481,292

485,242

3,950

Madura

788,196

552,477

–235,719

Tinnevelly

564,957

851,891

286,934

Coimbatore

638,199

783,392

145,193

Salem

1,075,985

898,233

–177,752

Canara

657,594

768,123

110,529

Malabar

907,575

1,165,791

258,216

Total

13,476,923

13,967,395

490,472

Source: Report on the Census of the Madras Presidency, 1871.10

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55

Trends of Population Growth in Madras Presidency, from 1851–1852 to 1871 For the Indian subcontinent, population data was available from 1870 onwards. However, census was carried out in different provinces at different point of time. For example, census was undertaken in the North-Western Provinces in 1853 and 1865, Oude in 1869, Punjab in 1855 and 1868, Hyderabad Assigned Districts in 1867 and in the Central Provinces in 1866. In the Madras Presidency, quinquennial census was carried out from 1851 to 1852 onwards. According to the Memorandum on the Census of British India (1875), ‘in Madras quinquennial returns have been prepared since 1851–52 by the officers of the Revenue Department, giving with more or less accuracy the numbers of the people in each district.’11 This data is useful to understand the problem of population growth since the mid-nineteenth century. In 1851–1852, the total population of Madras Presidency was about 215.82 lakhs and it has increased to 236.04 lakhs in 1861–1862. The population growth rate for the decade (from 1851–1852 to 1861–1862) was about 9.38 per cent. The population further increased to 308.83 lakhs in 1871 and the growth rate was about 30.83 per cent (Table 3.2). In other words, the population growth rate was about 33.10 per cent within two decades between 1851–1852 and 1871. Though the population has increased about one-third within two decades, the population growth rate was not same among the different districts of the Madras Presidency. Invariably, the population growth was high but there was variation among the districts. The population has declined in Bellary between 1851–1851 and 1856–1857 due to famines in 1853–1854. Between 1861–1861 and 1866–1867, the population has increased only marginally in Ganjam, Bellary, North Arcot and Madurai due to a famine in 1865–1866.

Population in India, 1871–1941 Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a complete enumeration of census was carried out. According to the 1871 Census, the total population of the Indian subcontinent was about 23.88 crores and it has increased to 31.87 crores in 1941 (Table 3.3). From the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, over the seven decades, the population growth was about 33.43 per cent. Though the population growth has increased one-third of the population over seven decades, the actual increase took place during the last two decades of the colonial era, i.e., 1920s onwards. In other words, the population more or less remained constant from 1880s

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Environmental History of Modern India.indd 56

1,012,036

520,866

570,083

 

 

Masulipatam

Guutoor

Vizagapatam

Godavery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nellore

Cuddapah

Bellary

Kuraool

Chingleput

North Arcot

South Arcot

Taujore

Trichinopoly

Madura

Kistna

926,930

 

Garjam

1,756,791

709,196

1,676,086

1,006,005

1,485,873

583,462

273,190

1,229,599

1,451,921

935,690

1,254,272

Census of 1851–1852

Districts

1,792,737

809,580

1,657,285

1,135,961

1,588,104

605,221

287,726

1,181,087

1,351,151

952,032

593,213

623,808

1,081,703

1,284,243

949,747

Census of 1856–1857

2.05

14.15

–1.12

12.92

6.88

3.73

5.32

–3.95

–6.94

1.75

4.06

19.76

6.88

2.39

2.46

Growth Rate 

Table 3.2: Madras Population according to Different Censuses, from 1851 to 1871

2,266,615

1,200,408

1,973,731

1,755,817

2,015,278

938,184

959,640

1,668,006

1,351,194

1,376,811

1,452,374

1,592,939

2,159,199

1,520,088

Census of 1871

16.45

19.23

13.98

39.15

12.77

16.65

24.49

27.82

18.03

17.81

12.01

11.59

11.61

23.01

Growth Rate  

29.02

69.26

17.76

74.53

35.63

60.80

251.27

35.65

–6.94

141.51

178.84

57.40

72.15

63.99

1851–1852 to 1871

56 Environmental History of Modern India

17/08/21 11:15 AM

1,269,216

 

 

 

 

Tinnevelly

Coimbatore

Nilgiris

Salem

Environmental History of Modern India.indd 57

22,407,855

Source: Report on the Census of British India taken on the 17th February 1881.12

21,581,697

3.83

30,883,625

 

5.81

Total

1,602,914

2,261,250

1,514,909

 

1,966,995

49,501

1,763,274

1,693,959

Census of 1871

Malabar

6.09

 

1.99

5.53

Growth Rate 

918,362

1,268,200

1,176,831

1,339,374

Census of 1856–1857

South Canara

1,195,377

1,153,862

Census of 1851–1852

Districts

18.38

21.81

9.37

21.48

23.24

11.36

Growth Rate  

43.10

49.27

–13.06

64.55

52.81

33.46

1851–1852 to 1871

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Environmental History of Modern India

to till 1920s. Whereas, between 1871 and 1921, i.e., a period of five decades, the population growth was only 5.23 per cent. In fact, during this period, for two decades, the population growth was negative. A large number of deaths took place due to insufficient living space and household amenities during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Nearly for about four decades (1880–1920), there was no change in the population due to severe famine, drought and war in different parts of the country. Since the 1920s, the population has increased from 25.13 crores in 1921 to 36.11 crores in 1941, which meant the growth rate was about 26.79 per cent. Table 3.3: Trend of Population in India, 1871–1951 Year 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951

Population 238,830,958 253,891,821 287,223,431 238,396,327 252,093,390 251,321,213 278,977,238 318,660,580 361,088,090

Growth Rate 6.31 13.13 –17 5.75 –0.31 11.00 14.22 13.31

Source: Census of India (various years).

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a series of famines affected different parts of the country. The series of famines were—the Orissa famine in 1866, the Bihar famine in 1873–1874, the Madras famine in 1876–1878 that severely affected the Deccan districts Nellore, Chengalput, Salem, and Coimbatore, the 1883–1884 famine that affected Bellary and Ananthapur districts, the Ganjam famine in 1888–1889, the 1896–1897 famine that affected the Deccan districts Ganjam, Vizagapatanam, and Godavari, the 1899–1900 famine that affected the Deccan districts Kistna and Nellore, and the 1901 famines that affected Cuddappa, Ananthapur, Chengalput and North Arcot districts.13 Famines occurred frequently in northern and north-western parts of the Madras Presidency.

Cholera and Plague Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a large number of deaths occurred due to cholera and plague and this trend has continued till the third quarter of the twentieth century. Over the fifty years period from 1877 to 1931, approximately 3–4 lakh people lost their lives annually. However, after the third decade of the twentieth century, this

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death rate was contained to less than 1.5 lakhs (Table 3.4). Likewise, in four decades, between 1898 and 1938, 124 lakh people lost their lives due to plague. In other words, more than 3 lakh people lost their lives every year from 1891 to 1938. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, a large number of people lost their lives due to plague. From 1898 to 1918, more than 102.54 lakh people lost their lives (Table 3.5). After the third decade of the twentieth century, these deaths were either contained or declined due to the development of modern health facilities. Till the first three decades of the twentieth century, the mortality rate was high and after that it has declined remarkably. The declining trend was due to the ‘Western Power-science culture’14. According to Mandelbaum (1949): The application of medical science in India has greatly reduced the toll taken by smallpox, cholera, and other diseases. Famine was controlled, indeed eliminated, for several decades through the building of a network of railroads which moved food supplies promptly into deficit areas.15

In other words, in the five decades from 1871 to 1921, the population growth was only 5.3 per cent. From the last quarter of the nineteenth century till the first quarter of the twentieth century, population has increased marginally from 23.88 crores to 25.13 crores due to famines and droughts and a large number of people had also lost their lives due to cholera and plague. Table 3.4: Cholera Deaths in British India, 1877–1941 (quinquennial period) Years 1877–1881 1882–1886 1887–1891 1892–1896 1897–1901 1902–1906 1907–1911 1912–1916 1917–1921 1922–1926 1927–1931 1932–1936 1937–1941

Death (annual average) 288,949 286,105 400,934 443,890 383,294 367,160 397,127 328,593 392,070 143,890 297,756 140,440 147,423

Source: Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee.16

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Table 3.5: Deaths due to Plague in British India, 1898–1938 Years 1898–1908 1909–1918 1919–1928 1929–1938 Total

Deaths 6,032,693 4,221,528 1,702,718 422,880 12,379,819

Source: Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee.17

Mortality Rate Mortality rate is one of the important indicators for population growth. It is expected that the improved health infrastructural facilities will reduce the mortality rate. However, till 1871, there are no series of data available for the entire country. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, mortality data became available. For the five decades from 1871–1881 to 1911–1921, the mortality rate has continued to increase from 40 to 47. However, the mortality rate has gradually declined from 1921 to 1931 onwards till the end of the colonial rule (Table 3.6). This decline was due to expansion of the medical facilities as well as famines and preventive measures taken during the last two and a half decades of the British era.

Birth Rate The birth rate has not increased from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. Since 1871–1881, the birth rate was about 49 and it has declined to 46 in 1891–1901. In the subsequent decade (1901–1911), the birth rate has increased to 49. However, the birth rate has declined marginally in the subsequent decades of the colonial period (Table 3.6). It is expected that if the health infrastructural facilities improved during the last phase of the colonial period, the birth rate was supposed to increase whereas it has actually declined. It means that the death rate has declined during the last phase of the colonial period, may be due to famine or drought control measures and not due to the improvement in the health infrastructural facilities. Table 3.6: Trend of Average Annual Mortality, Birth Rate and Life Expectancy at Birth in India during the Colonial Period, from 1871–1881 to 1931–1941 Year

Mortality Rate

Birth Rate

1871–1881 1881–1891 1891–1901 1901–1911

40.7 41 44 42.60

49 46 49.2

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Life Expectancy at Birth 24.6 25.1 23.8 22.90

Infant Mortality Rate 263 256 272 287

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Population and the Environment Year

Mortality Rate

Birth Rate

1911–1921 1921–1931 1931–1941 1941–1951

47.20 36.30 31.20 27.40

48.1 46.4 45.2 39.9

Life Expectancy at Birth 20.10 26.80 31.80 32.10

61 Infant Mortality Rate 290 241 211

Source: David G. Mandelbaum, ‘Population Problem in India and Pakistan’.18

Life Expectancy at Birth On the one hand, the mortality rate has increased and, on the other, the birth rate has declined from 1871–1881 to 1911–1921, consequently the average life expectancy at birth has declined from 25 to 20 for the same period (Table 3.6). The life expectancy at birth has constantly declined from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century due to frequent famines, droughts and a large number of the deaths occurred due to cholera and plague during this period (see Tables 3.5 and 3.6). However, since 1921–1931 onwards, life expectancy has improved marginally from 26 to 32 in the subsequent decades.

Infant Mortality Rate In addition to the high mortality rate, decline of birth rate and low level of life expectancy, the infant mortality rate has increased remarkably during the same period. In 1871–1881, the infant mortality rate was 263 and it has increased to 290 in 1911–1921 (Table 3.6). An increasing trend of infant mortality from 1871–1881 to 1911–1921 clearly indicates that the health infrastructural facilities were either poor or lacking during the colonial period. However, in the subsequent decades, the infant mortality rate has declined to 211 in the next two decades.

Health Infrastructure The first initiative was undertaken by the colonial administration to improve health infrastructural facilities during the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1859, the Royal Commission was appointed to enquire about the health of the army personnel in India. It has suggested providing health facilities not only to army but also to civilians. Accordingly, the Commission of Public Health Offices were established in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta in 1864.19

Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee (1946) The Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee (1946), popularly known as Bhore Committee, was appointed by the

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Government of India in October 1943 to make ‘(a) a broad survey of the present position in regard to health conditions and health organisation in British India, and (b) recommendations for future developments.’20 The health infrastructural facilities were very poor during the British period. In 1942–1943, there were 47,400 doctors, 7,000 nurses, 750 health visitors, 7,000 midwives (qualified), 75 pharmacists (qualified) and 1,000 dentists. The total population was about 30 million. One doctor per 6,300 people; one nurse per 43,000 people; one health visitor per 400,000 people; one midwife (qualified) per 60,000; one pharmacist (qualified) per 400,000 people; and for 300,000 people, one dentist.21 Again, the number of medical institutions was high in the urban areas as compared to that of the rural areas.22 The available beds per 1,000 people were only 0.14 bed in British India.23 Precisely, from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century, the mortality rate has increased, whereas birth rate has declined marginally. Infant mortality rate has also increased and consequently life expectancy has declined. In other words, human life was under great threat during this period. Various scholars have concluded that the famines were controlled due to the railway network and diseases were controlled due to the improved modern health facilities.24 It is true that the railway network rose from 5,005 miles in 1871 to 37,000 miles in 1921, and the kind of modern health infrastructural facilities that have been developed during this time have yet to be analysed. The fundamental question is why these 37,000 miles of railway network and other health infrastructural facilities did not make any impact on controlling diseases and demographic features of the country? If their claims are valid, then why did the Bengal Famine occur in the 1940s? Further the evidences suggest that despite the great depression and the Second World War, except in the case of birth rate, other demographic profiles have shown a positive improvement. This may be due to the fact that Nationalist Movement gained great momentum since the 1930s, and the British administration has made some efforts to provide the facilities for the benefit of the people. The Nationalist Movement compelled the Britishers to change their strategy from extraction and exploitation to securing the well-being of the people in the Indian subcontinent, while for their survival may be a valid proposition.

Number of Houses In 1871, the number of inhabited houses in British India was about 370 lakh houses; an average of forty-one houses per square miles and 5.14 persons per house. The number of inhabited per square miles has varied for different regions, in the range of 6 to 102 (Table 3.7).

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Table 3.7: Number of Inhabited Houses per Square Mile in British India, 1871 Provinces

Number of Houses

Bengal

69

Assam

24

North-Western Provinces

78

Ajmere

33

Oude

102

Punjab

41

Central Provinces

20

Bear

29

Mysore

37

Coorg

11

British Burma

6

Madras

42

Bombay

26

Average for British India

41

Source: Henry Waterfield, Memorandum on the Census of British India 1871–72.25

Population has increased from 23.88 crores in 1871 to 27.89 crores in 1941. In other words, the population growth was about 33 per cent over the period of seven decades (1871–1941). At the same time, the number of houses has increased from 3.70 crores in 1871 to 6.38 crores in 1941. In other words, the growth rate of number of houses has increased to 72.28 per cent for the same period (Table 3.8). The average size of the household has gradually declined from 6.45 persons in 1871 to 4.99 persons in 1941. In fact, the average size of the population has declined to less than 4 persons in the three decades from 1911 to 1931. Table 3.8: Number of Houses in India, 1871–1941 Year

Number of Houses

1871

37,041,259

1881

48,169,837

1891

53,932,102

1901

55,841,315

1911

63,710,179

1921

65,198,389

1931

71,062,228

1941

63,815,000

Source: Census of India (various years).

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64

Urbanisation Urbanisation in India is an unplanned and uncontrolled process. During the precolonial period, cities and towns were developed around forts, ports and pilgrimage centres. In fact, the East India Company (EIC) developed a city like Madras in 1639. The city was designed in such a way that it facilitated the residential and marketing area. Of course, it was a very small area in the early seventieth century. Until the colonial period, India’s urbanisation mainly centred around the forts, ports and religiously important places. The same trend has continued during the early colonial period. Till the second half of the nineteenth century, India had only a very few towns and had no great manufacturing centres.26 In 1871, less than one-twentieth population of British India lived in the urban areas. To be precise, according to Hunter (1886): Calcutta itself has grown out of a cluster of hamlets on the bank of the Hugli; and the term ‘municipality’ which in Europe is only applied to towns, often means in India a ‘rural union’ or collection of homesteads for the purpose of local government.27

According to the 1871 Census, about 56 lakh people or less than 3 per cent of the population lived in 44 largest towns. The largest towns were Calcutta (7.95 lakhs), Bombay (6.44 lakhs), Madras (3.98 lakhs) and Lucknow (2.85 lakhs). The first three cities were capitals of their respective Presidencies (Table 3.9). There are twelve other towns whose population was more than a lakh: Benares, a holy city; Patna, the capital of Bihar and under Muslim rule; Delhi, the royal city of old Mughal Empire; Agra, former capital of North-Western Provinces; Allahabad, present seat of Government of North-Western Provinces; Bangalore, one of the largest cantonment areas; Amritsar, the sacred city of the Sikhs; Kanpur, the frontier cantonment of the British forces; Poona, the summer capital of Bombay and the principal cantonment in Western India; Ahmedabad, once capital of Gujarat; Surat, the commercial mistress of Western India before Bombay; and Bareilly, the chief town of Rohilkhand. In other twenty-eight towns, the population was between 50,000 and 100,000. Again, these towns were at one time historically important places. Table 3.9: Urban Population of Major Towns in India, 1871 Town Calcutta Bombay Madras Lucknow Benares Patna

Population 794,645 644,405 397,552 284,779 175,188 158,900

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Town Trichinopoly Shahjehanpoor Bhaugulpoor Dacca Mirzapoor Gaya

Population 76,530 72,136 69,678 69,212 67,274 66,843

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Population and the Environment Town Delhi Agra Allahabad Bangalore Umritsur Cawnpoor Poona Ahmedabad Surat Bareilly Lahore Rangoon Howrah Nagpoor Meerut Furruckabad

Population 154,417 149,008 143,693 142,513 135,813 122,770 118,886 116,873 107,149 102,982 98,924 98,745 97,784 84,441 81,386 79,204

Town Moradabad Monghyr Muttra Peshawur Allyghur Mysore Mooltan Jubbulpoor Kurrachee Sholapoor Tanjore Madura Bellary Goruckpoor Cuttack Salem

65 Population 62,417 59,698 59,281 58,555 58,539 57,815 56,826 55,188 53,526 53,403 52,175 51,987 51,766 51,117 50,878 50,012

Source: Henry Waterfield, Memorandum on the Census of British India 1871–72.28

Trend of Urbanisation India, 1871–1941 Urbanisation was very low until the colonial period and even that was largely confined to the capital cities, ports and religious towns. Until 1871, less than 5 per cent of the population only lived in urban areas. In 1881, the percentage of population living in the urban areas has increased to 7.29 per cent and further it has increased to 10.84 per cent in 1901. In the subsequent three decades, the percentage of population in urban areas has not changed much and it remained more or less the same (Table 3.10). Since 1941, the proportion of population has increased marginally to 13.86 per cent. It indicates that the growth of urbanisation was very low and confined to very few places. Table 3.10: Trend of Urban Population in India, 1871–1941 Year

Population

1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941

206,162,360 253,891,821 287,223,431 238,364,000 252,068,000 251,321,213 278,977,238 318,660,580

Urban Population 18,504,955 27,251,176 25,851,873 25,941,633 28,086,170 33,455,989 44,153,297

% of Urban Population 5.00 7.29 9.48 10.84 10.29 11.18 11.99 13.86

Growth Rate

47.26 –5.13 0.35 8.27 19.12 31.97

Source: Census of India (various years).

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Trend of Villages and Towns in India, 1871–1941 In 1871, the total number of villages and towns in India was about 4.93 lakhs and it has increased to 6.99 lakhs in 1931. The growth rate of villages and towns was about 42 per cent between 1871 and 1931. The number of villages and towns has increased from 4.93 lakhs in 1871 to 7.14 lakh in 1881, and from 7.18 lakh in 1891 it further increased to 7.3 lakh in 1901. Since 1901, the number of villages has gradually declined and reached a figure of 6.96 lakh villages in 1931 (Table 3.11). In 1871, only forty-six towns had more than 50,000 population and it has increased to 104 in 1931. Only 374 towns had population between 10,000 and 50,000, and it has increased to 901 for the same period. In 1871, 1,070 towns had population between 5,000 and 10,000, and it has increased to 2,330 in 1931. The number of towns which had population of 5,000 and above shares only 0.31 per cent of the total number of villages and towns and this had increased marginally to 0.47 per cent in 1931. From 1881 onwards, in the next four decades, the growth of the urbanisation was more or less stagnant invariably among the different categories. From 1920 onwards, gradual increase took place until the mid-twentieth century. Table 3.11: Trend of Number of Villages and Towns in India, 1871–1941 Number and Size of Villages and Towns

1871

 %

1931

%

Growth Rate

More than 50,000 population

46

0.01

104

0.01

126.09

Between 10,000 and 50,000 ditto

374

0.08

901

0.13

140.91

Between 5,000 and 10,000 ditto

1,070

0.22

2,330

0.33

117.76

Under 5,000 ditto

480,437

97.36

696,071

99.52

44.88

Not specified

11,517

2.33

–

0.00

0.00

Number of towns and villages in British India

493,444

100

699,406

100

41.74

Source: Census of India (various years).

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POPULATION DURING THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD Population India’s population growth has increased remarkably during the post-Independence period. In 1951, the total population was about 36 crores and it has increased to 121 crores in 2011. In other words, the population growth has increased fourfold within the six decades of the post-Independence period. The decadal growth rate of population has increased from 13.31 per cent in 1951 to 21.64 per cent in 1961 and 24.8 per cent in 1971. Since then, the growth rate has declined gradually and fell to 17.70 per cent in 2011. The population growth was very high till 1971 and later started declining gradually (Table 3.12). Table 3.12: Trend of Population in India, 1951–2011 Year

Population

Growth Rate

1951

361,088,090

13.31

1961

439,234,771

21.64

1971

548,159,652

24.80

1981

683,329,097

24.66

1991

846,421,039

23.87

2001

1,028,737,436

21.54

2011

1,210,854,977

17.70

Source: Census of India (various years).

Trend of Population in Different States, 1951–2011 Population has increased invariably in every state and union territories during the post-Independence period (Table 3.13).

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Environmental History of Modern India.indd 68

119,881

Kerala

13,549,000

9,697,300

19,402,500

Jharkhand

Karnataka

2,812,463

2,386,940

3,254,650

Himachal Pradesh

20,633,350 7,590,524

16,263,700

5,674,400

Gujarat

Haryana

Jammu & Kashmir

589,997

1,744,500

547,000

Delhi

Goa

57,963

16,903,715

23,586,772

      –

3,560,976

2,658,612

36,670

42,846

49,482

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

      –

10,837,329

Daman and Diu

24,948

7,457,700

Chandigarh

Chhattisgarh

46,447,457

8,029,100

29,085,900

Assam

Bihar

35,983,447 336,558

31,115,000

 

Andhra Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh

63,548

31,480

1961

1951

States/UTs

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

24.76

21.57

      –

9.41

17.83

33.77

26.87

7.86

52.40

–25.89

35.28

      –

380.52

59.69

34.98

      –

15.65

101.87

Growth Rate

Table 3.13: Trend of Population Growth in Different States of India, 1951–2011

33,406,061

61,095,297

32,988,134

12,541,302

6,864,602

25,351,462

60,439,692

1,458,545

16,787,941

243,247

343,709

25,545,198

1,055,450

104,099,452

31,205,576

1,383,727

84,580,777

380,581

2011

4.91

15.60

22.42

23.64

12.94

19.90

19.28

8.23

21.21

53.76

55.88

22.61

17.19

25.42

17.07

26.03

10.98

6.86

Growth Rate

146.56

214.88

240.18

285.33

187.59

346.77

271.62

166.64

862.34

391.59

702.20

242.53

4,130.60

257.90

288.66

      –

171.83

1,108.96

1951–2011

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11,135,069 20,155,602 162,189 33,686,953 1,142,005

9,160,990

15,971,130

138,093

30,119,680

Punjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tamil Nadu

361,088,400

India

Source: Census of India (various years).

2,946,900

26,300,670

Uttarakhand 

West Bengal

639,984

17,548,846 369,079

14,646,100

317,407

Orissa

Pondicherry

60,274,800

266,063 369,200

196,970

213,700

Mizoram

Nagaland

Tripura

780,037 769,380

578,060

606,300

Manipur

Meghalaya

Uttar Pradesh

39,553,718

18,615,700

32,002,500

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

1961

439,234,771

34,926,279

73,754,573

      –

32,372,408

24,108

1951

21,000

States/UTs

Lakshadweep

Growth Rate

21.64

32.80

2,402.79

      –

78.44

11.84

17.45

26.20

21.55

16.28

19.82

72.77

35.08

26.90

34.94

23.60

73.90

14.80

2011

1,210,854,977

91,276,115

10,086,292

199,812,341

3,673,917

72,147,030

610,577

68,548,437

27,743,338

1,247,953

41,974,218

1,978,502

1,097,206

2,966,889

2,855,794

112,374,333

72,626,809

64,473

Growth Rate

17.70

13.84

–93.93

2,253.68

14.84

15.61

12.89

21.31

13.89

28.08

14.05

–0.58

23.48

27.95

24.50

15.99

20.35

6.30

1951–2011

235.33

247.05

242.27

231.50

474.06

139.53

342.15

329.20

202.84

293.17

186.59

825.83

457.04

389.34

394.03

251.14

290.14

207.01

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Trends of Urban Population in India, 1951–2011 Until Independence, and even much later, the growth rate of urbanisation in India was very low. For instance, in 1951, about 17 per cent of the population inhabited in urban areas and this proportion has increased marginally in the subsequent decade (17.97 per cent). Since 1981, the growth of urban population was remarkable and it continued likewise till the early twenty-first century. In 1971, about one-fifth of the population inhabited the urban areas and this proportion has increased to nearly one-third in 2011. Though the proportion of the urban population has increased nearly one-fifth in 1971 to one-third in 2011, the growth rate has not increased in the same manner. The urban population growth rate in India was about 600 per cent for the six decades between 1951 and 2011. The decadal growth rate of urban population for 1951–1961 was about 26.41 per cent and it has increased to 38.23 per cent and 46.14 per cent in the subsequent two decades (1961–1971 and 1971–1981). Since the 1980s, the urban population growth rate has declined from 46.14 per cent in 1971–1981 to 31.80 per cent in 2001–2011 (Table 3.14). Table 3.14: Trend of Urban Population in India, 1951–2011 Year

Population

Urban Population

% of Urban Population

Growth Rate

1951

361,088,090

62,443,709

17.29

–

1961

439,234,771

78,936,603

17.97

26.41

1971

548,159,652

109,113,977

19.91

38.23

1981

683,329,097

159,462,547

23.34

46.14

1991

846,427,039

217,611,012

25.71

36.47

2001

1,028,737,436

286,119,689

27.81

31.48

2011

1,210,726,932

377,105,760

31.15

31.80

Source: Census of India (various years).

Trend of Urban Population Growth in Different States of India, 1951–2011 Though the urban population growth has increased from 618.75 lakhs in 1951 to 3,771.06 lakhs in 2011, this growth is, however, not equally distributed among the states and union territories and wide variation exists among the states. In other words, the population growth has increased more than sixfold in six decades. But this growth is not equally distributed among the states and a wide variation exists. According to 1951 Census, about 60 per cent of the urban population lived in four states—Madras (18.07 per cent), Bombay (18.05 per cent), Uttar Pradesh

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71

(13.94 per cent) and Bengal (9.94 per cent). Another 27 per cent of urban population lived in the six states—Hyderabad (5.62 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (4.65 per cent), Bihar (4.37 per cent), Rajasthan (3.88 per cent), Punjab (3.88 per cent) and Mysore (3.52 per cent). In other words, about 86.32 per cent of the urban population alone lived in these ten states. Another 10.39 per cent of the urban population lived in the following five states—Travancore (2.41 per cent), Madhya Bharat (2.33 per cent), Delhi (2.32 per cent), Saurashtra (2.25 per cent), and Patiala and East Punjab States Union (1.08 per cent). In short, about 97 per cent of the urban population inhabited only in 15 states (Table 3.15). After the reorganisation of the states in 1956, the trend of urbanisation changed when compared with the 1951 Census. In 1961, nearly 50 per cent of the urban population lived in the four states—Maharashtra (14.14 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (12.01 per cent), Tamil Nadu (11.39 per cent) and West Bengal (10.82 per cent). Nearly 42 per cent of the urban population lived another seven states—Andhra Pradesh (7.95 per cent), Gujarat (6.74 per cent), Mysore (6.67 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (5.86 per cent), Punjab (5.18 per cent), Bihar (4.94 per cent) and Rajasthan (4.16 per cent). About 90 per cent of the urban population lived in eleven states. More or less the same trend has continued in the subsequent decades with a slight change. In 2011, about one-third of the urban population was living in the four states—Maharashtra (13.48 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (11.80 per cent), Tamil Nadu (9.26 per cent) and West Bengal (7.71 per cent). About 47 per cent of the urban population was living in another seven states— Andhra Pradesh (7.48 per cent), Gujarat (6.83 per cent), Mysore (6.27 per cent), Rajasthan (4.52 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (5.32 per cent), Delhi (4.34 per cent), Kerala (4.23 per cent) and Bihar (3.12 per cent). Precisely, in twelve states about four-fifth of population were living in urban areas. In most of the Northeastern states, except Assam, and the union territories, except Delhi, the proportion of the urban population is less than 1 per cent. Table 3.15: Trend of Urban Population Growth in Different States of India, 1951–2011 States/UTs

1951

%

2011

%

Growth Rate (1951–2011)

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

8,014

0.01

143,488

0.04

1,690.47

0.00

28,219,075

7.48

349.74

0.00

–100.00

0.08

1,835.78

Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad

3,476,159

Arunachal Pradesh

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5.62 0.00

317,369

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States/UTs

1951

%

2011

%

Growth Rate (1951–2011)

Assam

414,418

0.67

4,398,542

1.17

741.17

Bihar

2,704,731

4.37

11,758,016

3.12

334.72

Chandigarh

0.00

1,026,459

0.27

340.65

Chhattisgarh

0.00

5,937,237

1.57

41.84

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

0.00

160,595

0.04

2,222.75

Goa, Daman and Diu

0.00

0.00

–

Daman and Diu

0.00

182,851

0.05

284.60

2.32

16,368,899

4.34

1,039.00

Goa

0.00

906,814

0.24

–

Gujarat

0.00

25,745,083

6.83

180.72

Delhi

Kutch

1,437,134

0.00

–100.00

Haryana

0.00

8,842,103

2.34

398.72

Himachal Pradesh

0.00

688,552

0.18

977.07

0.00

–100.00

Himachal Pradesh and Bilaspur

113,754

45,146

0.18

0.07

Jammu & Kashmir

0.00

3,433,242

0.91

478.65

Jharkhand

0.00

7,933,061

2.10

32.36

0.00

23,625,962

Karnataka

6.27

120.19

Karnataka (Mysore)

2,178,727

3.52

0.00

–100.00

Travancore Cochin

1,488,292

2.41

0.00

–100.00

Coorg

16,255

0.03

0.00

–100.00

Kerala

0.00

15,934,926

4.23

523.89

Lakshadweep

0.00

50,332

0.01

–

20,069,405

Madhya Pradesh

2,877,339

4.65

5.32

162.40

Bhopal

136,063

0.22

0.00

–100.00

Madhya Bharat

1,441,231

2.33

0.00

–100.00

Vindhya Pradesh

305,910

0.49

0.00

–100.00

13.48

355.26

Maharashtra

0.00

50,818,259

Saurashtra

1,393,161

2.25

0.00

–100.00

Bombay

11,170,340

18.05

0.00

–100.00

Manipur

2,862

0.00

834,154

0.22

29,045.84

Meghalaya

0.00

595,450

0.16

304.60

Mizoram

0.00

571,771

0.15

369.38

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Population and the Environment States/UTs

1951

Nagaland Orissa

594,070

Pondicherry

73

%

2011

%

Growth Rate (1951–2011)

0.00

570,966

0.15

2,880.46

0.96

7,003,656

1.86

1,078.93

0.00

852,753

0.23

858.18

10,399,146

2.76

333.13

0.00

–100.00

4.52

543.48

0.00

–100.00

Punjab

2,400,932

3.88

Patiala and East Punjab States Union

665,510

1.08

Rajasthan

2,649,367

4.28

Ajmer

297,764

0.48

Sikkim

2,744

0.00

153,578

0.04

5,496.87

0.00

34,917,440

9.26

180.13

0.00

–100.00

Tamil Nadu

17,048,085

Madras (Tamil Nadu)

11,183,734

18.07

Tripura

42,595

0.07

961,453

0.25

2,157.20

Uttar Pradesh

8,625,699

13.94

44,495,063

11.80

415.84

0.00

3,049,338

0.81

39.94

29,093,002

7.71

372.81

0.00

–100.00

Uttarakhand West Bengal

6,153,263

9.94

Chandernagare

49,909

0.08

India

61,875,123

100

377,106,125

509.46

Source: Office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

Given the macro level trend at the country level, let us see urbanisation trends within different states. According to the 1961 Census, the largest proportion of the population living in the urban areas is in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (88.75 per cent). The following eight states and union territories together account for more than 20 per cent of the population living in the urban areas—Punjab (36.72 per cent), Maharashtra (28.22 per cent), Tamil Nadu (26.69 per cent), Gujarat (25.77 per cent), West Bengal (24.45 per cent), Pondicherry (24.11 per cent), Karnataka (22.33 per cent) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (22.15 per cent). The other seven states have more than 10 per cent of the urban population—Andhra Pradesh (17.44 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (16.66 per cent), Rajasthan (16.28 per cent), Goa, Daman and Diu (16.06 per cent), Kerala (15.11 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (14.29 per cent), and Uttar Pradesh (12.85 per cent). The remaining states and union territories has less than 10 per cent—Assam, Bihar, Himachal

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Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim and Tripura (Table 3.16). In short, only nine states and union territories have more than one-fifth of the population living in the urban areas in 1961. Nevertheless, this trend has changed over the period. In 2011, the largest proportion of the population living in the urban areas is Delhi with 97.50 per cent followed by Chandigarh with 97.25 per cent. In most of the union territories, such as Lakshadweep (78.07 per cent), Daman and Diu (75.17 per cent) and Pondicherry (68.33 per cent), more than 60–70 per cent of the population is living in the urban areas. Among the states, Goa (62.17 per cent) has the largest urban population followed by Mizoram (52.11 per cent). Among the major states, the proportion of urban population was high in Tamil Nadu (48.40 per cent), Kerala (47.70 per cent), Maharashtra (45.22 per cent) and Gujarat (42.60 per cent). In the highly populated states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the proportion of the urban population was very low with 22.27 per cent and 11.29 per cent respectively. In all other states, the proportion of the urban population was between 20 and 30 per cent. Table 3.16: Trend of Percentage of Urban Population in Different States, 1961–2011 States/UTs

1961

2011

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

22.15

37.70

Andhra Pradesh

17.44

33.36

Arunachal Pradesh

0.00

22.94

Assam

8.42

14.10

Bihar

8.43

11.29

Chandigarh

0.00

97.25

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

0.00

46.72

Goa, Daman and Diu

16.06

75.17

Delhi

88.75

97.50

Chhattisgarh

23.24

Goa

0.00

62.17

Gujarat

25.77

42.60

Haryana

0.00

34.88

Himachal Pradesh

2.27

10.03

Jammu & Kashmir

16.66

27.38

Jharkhand

24.05

Karnataka

22.33

38.67

Kerala

15.11

47.70

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States/UTs

1961

2011

Lakshadweep

0.00

78.07

Madhya Pradesh

14.29

27.63

Maharashtra

28.22

45.22

Manipur

8.68

32.45

Meghalaya

0.00

20.07

Mizoram

0.00

52.11

Nagaland

5.19

28.86

Orissa

6.32

16.69

Pondicherry

24.11

68.33

Punjab

36.72

37.48

Rajasthan

16.28

24.87

Sikkim

4.22

25.15

Tamil Nadu

26.69

48.40

Tripura

9.02

26.17

Uttar Pradesh

12.85

22.27

Uttarakhand  

30.23

West Bengal

24.45

31.87

India

17.97

31.15

Source: Census of India (various years).

HEALTH COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS DURING THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD After the Independence, the Government of India formed several committees and commissions to suggest appropriate measures to improve the health conditions. The prominent Committees include Bhore Committee (1946), Mudaliar Committee (1961), Chadha Committee (1963), Mukherjee Committee (1965), Jungalwalla Committee (1967), Kartar Singh Committee (1973) and Srivastava Committee (1975).

Bhore Committee (1946) The Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee (1946), popularly known as the Bhore Committee, was appointed by the Government of India in October 1943 to conduct: ‘(a) a broad survey of the present position in regard to health conditions and health organisation in British India, and (b) make recommendations for future developments.’29

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This Committee has concluded that the prevailing insanitary conditions, malnutrition, and inadequacy of the existing medical and preventive health organisations as the main causes responsible for poor health conditions of the people. The committee suggested that the integrated of preventive and curative services should be extended to all citizens to prohibit the unethical private practice by whole‐time salaried doctors in the long run. Further, it proposed that no individual should fail to secure adequate medical care, i.e., both curative and preventive, and that special provision should be given to mothers, children and mentally deficient persons. In the long run, it recommended the setting up of a Primary Health Unit with one controlling medical officer, five other medical officers, seventy-eight nonmedical staff and seventy-five bedded hospitals for each 10,000 to 20,000 population; the Secondary Unit with one controlling medical officer, 139 other medical officers, 358 non-medical staff and 650 bedded hospital for 300,000 population; in the District Headquarters, one controlling medical officer, 238 other medical officers, 1,398 non-medical staff and 2,500 bedded hospital. It also recommended that the total number of hospital beds for the given population of 3 million would be 17,000 or a ratio of 5.67 beds per 1,000 population. In the short-term plan, the committee suggested that the three types of organisations or a three-tier structure for general health services, viz., Primary Health Units, Secondary Health Units and the District Health Units, which were to be developed within a decade. It also further suggested that certain special health services for diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, venereal disease, leprosy, nutrition, etc. should be provided. It also advised three months training in preventive and social medicine to prepare ‘social physicians’. Simultaneously, it aimed to impart health education at school level. It also envisaged developing the health programme and infrastructure to control the communicable diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, small pox, cholera, plague, leprosy, venereal disease, etc. It also emphasised upon policy measures to control population growth rate. To conclude, it was suggested that the government should give the highest priority for health programmes towards realisation of a reduction in sickness and mortality rates among mothers and children and also underscored that the government should spend a minimum of 15 per cent of their revenue on health improvement-related welfare activities. Succinctly, this committee outlined the plan to develop health infrastructure in order to provide better health facilities to the general public at large.

Mudaliar Committee (1961)30 The Health Survey and Planning Committee was formed under the chairmanship of A.L. Mudaliar and the main objective of the

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committee was to assess the performance of the health sector since the submission of Bhore Committee Report and also to formulate further health programmes for the country. The committee also found that the conditions in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) were unsatisfactory and suggested to strengthen the PHCs before new ones were established. Further, it proposed to develop one PHC for 40,000 population with better infrastructure, i.e., ten beds with two beds for the emergency and one ambulance. Curative, preventive and promotive services were to be be provided at PHCs. It also planned to develop the taluk-level headquarter hospitals with minimum bed strength of about fifty and which have on their staff rolls at least three medical officers dealing with medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology. It also emphasised on the need to develop the district headquarter hospitals with about 500 to 750 beds facility in each district and to provide the special hospitals for specialists, paediatrics, maternity, communicable diseases, deafness and dental services. In addition to the health infrastructural facilities, it also emphasised on the provision of water supply and sanitation facilities to the rural and urban areas and envisaged one medical college per 5 million population. The Family Planning Programme too has to be effectively implemented. This Committee had, in effect, emphasised on both health infrastructure facilities of various types of medical practices as well as medical institutions in this country, and proposed that at least 10 per cent of the total outlay be earmarked for medical facilities.

Chadha Committee (1963)31 This Committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of Dr M.S. Chadha to advice on the necessary arrangements for the maintenance phase of National Malaria Eradication Programme. It suggested that the vigilance activities should be carried out by basic health workers, members of panchayats, Block Development Committees, mahila mandals, youth clubs and other voluntary agencies and teachers. It also suggested that one basic health worker should cover not more than 10,000 populations leading to the establishment of sub-centres of a PHC, with a midwife or auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM). In addition to that, three to four basic health workers should also be there for additional duties, to collect vital statistics and execute family planning concepts under the supervision of a family planning health assistant. It further suggested the forming of a systematic administrative structure for Malaria Eradication Programme. Thus, the district laboratories/ headquarter hospitals should have facilities for the examination of blood smears at rural health centres and they should be available free of charge and suggested to improve dispensaries and PHCs.

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Mukherjee Committee (1965)32 The Mukherjee Committee was appointed to review the performance of family planning. The committee recommend that there should be a separate cell in the State Secretariat for dealing exclusively with the Family Planning Programme. It also recommended that basic health workers should be utilised for purposes other than the Family Planning Programme. It also suggested that a strong executive agency should be created in the form of a Health Directorate in each state government, set up to deal exclusively with the Family Planning Programme. Malaria eradication activities should be separated from the Family Planning Programme. The committee also emphasised on the need for accelerating the training of paramedical personnel, nurses, ANMs, etc. required for the Family Planning Programme. Essentially, it has laid special focus on encouraging the Family Planning Programme.

Mukherjee Committee (1966)33 The Mukherjee Committee was headed by Shri Mukherjee who was the Union Health Secretary to the government on the development of multiple activities of mass programmes like family planning, small pox, leprosy, trachoma, malaria (maintenance phase), etc. It recommends that there should be one basic health worker for a population of 10,000 and for every four basic health workers, there should be a health inspector who would provide close supervision and guidance to the basic health workers. It further advised that in urban areas, there should be one basic health worker for every 15,000 population and 10,000 population for the rural areas. It further recommended the expansion of facilities with the addition of a rural Family Planning Centre at each PHC, one sub-centre for 10,000 population manned by a trained ANM and one lady health visitor (LHV) to supervise and guide the work of four sub-centres.

Jungalwalla Committee (1967)34 In 1964, the ‘Committee on Integration of Health Services’ was set up under the chairmanship of Dr N. Jungalwalla and the main objective of this committee was to look into various problems related to the integration of health services, abolition of private practice by doctors in government services and the service conditions of doctors. It also made the recommendations to address the issues and problems appropriately.

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Kartar Singh Committee (1973)35 In 1973, Kartar Singh Committee was constituted to form a framework for integration of health and medical services at peripheral and supervisory levels. Accordingly, the committee suggested measures for the integration of services and monitoring levels for the entire organisations.

Srivastava Committee (1975)36 In 1974, Dr J.B. Srivastava Committee was appointed to study the problems of medical education in accordance with national needs and priorities and develop a curriculum for health assistants who were to function as a link between medical officers and multi-purpose workers (MPWs).

HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA, 1951–2001 After Independence, Government of India gave highest priority to improve the health infrastructure facilities in terms of doctors, nurses, hospitals and dispensaries, sub-centres, PHCs, community health centres and hospitals beds. The number of doctors in allopathy was only 61,800 in 1951 which increased to 503,900 in 2000. Likewise, the number of nurses also have increased from 18,054 to 737,000 for the same period. The number of sub-centres, PHCs and community health centres was only 725 in 1951 which increased to 163,181 in 2000. The number of hospitals and dispensaries was only 9,209 in 1951 which increased to 43,322 in 2000. The number of hospital beds, both in the government as well as private hospitals, has increased from 117,198 to 870,161 for the same period (Table 3.17). Table 3.17: Health Infrastructures in India, 1950–2000 Particulars

1950

2000

Doctors (Allopathy)

61,800

503,900

Nurses

18,054

737,000

SC/PHC/CHC

725

163,181

Dispensaries and hospitals (all)

9,209

43,322

Beds (private and public)

117,198

870,161

Source: National Health Policy, 2002.

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In addition to the health infrastructural facilities, several health programmes were also introduced under different five-year plans. Further, the government has resolved to improve the water supply and sanitation facilities. Consequently, the demographic profile of India has changed drastically due to the vast improvements in health infrastructural facilities that had occurred during the post-Independence period. Around the 1970s, a major shift in health policies that gave priority to the prevention aspects than that of curative part of the diseases. For example, the Integrated Child Development Projects (ICDS) was implemented. The national health policies were framed. Accordingly, PHCs were established within three kilometres of habitation. Further, the housing and household amenities, such as living space, kitchen, toilet, lighting, fuel, drinking water, drainage, etc., have also gained momentum during the last three or four decades. Consequently, the demographic profiles have changed during the post-Independence period.

Demographic Profile Birth Rate After Independence, the birth rate has declined from 42.10 in 1960 to 19.01 in 2016. The decline in birth rate was gradual over the six decades. The birth rate has declined due to family planning as well as increase in literacy rate and other awareness programmes.

Death Rate The death rate has also declined from 22.80 in 1950 to 7.31 in 2016. The death rate has also declined not only due to the improvement in the health infrastructural facilities but also due to various poverty alleviation programmes besides the introduction of public distribution system during the post-Independence period.

Infant Mortality Rate Infant mortality rate has declined from 164 in 1960 to 34.6 in 2016. This decline is not only due to health infrastructural facilities but also state intervention measures to reduce infant mortality like the ICDS programme.

Life Expectancy Life expectancy has increased remarkably from 41.17 in 1960 to 68.56 in 2016. At the time of Independence, the person living below the poverty line was about 50 per cent and it has decreased to 25 per cent despite the high population growth. Various programmes like old age pensions, public distribution system and other supportive

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mechanisms initiated by the government have increased over a period of time during the post-Independence period (Table 3.18). Table 3.18: Trend of Birth Rate, Death Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and Life Expectancy of India, 1951–2016 Year

Birth Rate

1951

Death Rate

Infant Mortality Rate

22.80

146

Life Expectancy at Birth

1960

42.10

22.42

164

41.17

1961

41.86

21.88

161

41.79

1971

38.84

16.75

141

48.41

1981

35.85

13.03

111

54.31

1991

30.92

10.59

86.2

58.41

2001

26.01

8.56

64.3

62.98

2011

20.86

7.45

43.5

67.01

2016

19.01

7.31

34.6

68.56

Source: World Bank.

37

POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT The previous sections dealt with the trend of population growth from precolonial, colonial and post-Independence periods. This section will analyse the population and its consequences for the environment from the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial periods, i.e., from the mideighteenth century to the early twenty-first century.

Precolonial period Until the colonial intervention, the population density was low despite the rampant people migration from other geographical boundaries. Consequently, the exploitation of natural resources was very limited. Indeed, not only was the density of population low but also their needs and requirements were very limited. In other words, their livelihood options were confined to subsistence levels and they were met with hunting, extraction of forest resources and cultivation. To ensure their subsistence, they have developed several ponds and tanks which were maintained by the communities themselves. The rulers also have developed these facilities. Travelling was supported by the choultaries. The livelihood options of the different communities were interlinked and interdependent on each other. The farmers cultivated different cereals that were supported by the different service providing

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communities; for instance, water distribution and maintenance of the canal work were carried out by the nirkaties and he was rewarded or awarded after the harvesting season on an annual basis. The blacksmith, who used to make ploughing materials, carts, other carpenter work, etc., were paid on an annual basis. The other household requirements like, pots, washing, water lifting devices etc. were supplied by the potter, washer men, chakilliar38 respectively. In other words, the people lived helping each other and mainly for the livelihood purposes. This kind of traditional arrangement prevailed in one or the other form invariably in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. Trade and commerce with the other countries also was carried out to a very limited extent. Even within the country, trade- and commerce-related activities were undertaken on a weekly basis, mainly with the exchange of goods and commodities. These exchanges happened through the traditional mode of transport like bullock carts, horses, donkeys and other means. Consequently, the population on the environment was very trivial and limited impact on the environment during the precolonial period. Hence, vast extents of the areas were unoccupied and large extent of common property resources bound in different parts of the country. In other words, population density was low and the people requirements were also limited and, therefore, there was no environmental threat until the colonial intervention.

Colonial Period Unlike the precolonial period, during the colonial times, people and trade and commerce have made serious impact on the ecology and environment. The colonial period has to be looked at in two different phases. The first phase is until the First War of Independence or the 1857 Revolt/Mutiny and the second phase is from the late nineteenth century till the mid-twentieth century. From the late eighteenth century till the mid-nineteenth century, the population remained stable but the expansion of agriculture took place, forest resources were exploited for commercial purpose and commercial crops like tea and coffee plantations were established largely in the highlands, besides establishing iron and sugar manufacturing industries.39 However, these impacts on environment confined only to a few geographical reasons. For example, teak and other species were taken over by the colonial administration during the early nineteenth century in the Cochin and Travancore region. Sandalwood was extracted in the entire southern peninsula. Tea plantations were established in northern parts of West Bengal, Assam and Kerala. Coffee plantations were established in the elevated hill ranges of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu

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and Andhra Pradesh. Precisely, during the first phase of the colonial period, population remained stable and the agricultural expansion and exploitation of the forest resources for commercial purposes and the growing of commercial crops was being encouraged. However, extraction and exploitation were confined to a few pockets and, hence, the impact on the ecology and environment was also very limited. The second phase of the colonial period was very important as far as the environment point of view was concerned as it has made a severe impact on both the ecology and environment. The first and foremost impact was that of introduction of the railways from 1853 onwards. The railway network was expanded to about 40,000 miles at the end of the colonial era. It is to be pointed out that this railway network was developed mainly for the commercial purpose and hence the majority of the railway network connected with the port cities like Karachi, Mumbai, Cochin, Chennai and Kolkata. The development of the railway network not only destroyed forests which were felled to lay down the tracks and to make timber plates, coaches and fuelwood. Invariably, to a large extent, the forest recourses were either destroyed or exploited for the development of railways in different parts of the country. In addition to this, the railway network paved the way to extract various resources and export them to other countries. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, reserve forest was introduced to protect the environment but commercial exploitation continued to be the main agenda of the colonial administration until the mid-twentieth century.40 The rights of people who depended on the forest resources for their livelihood were severely curtailed during the entire colonial period. While establishing the tea and coffee plantations in different parts of the country since the second quarter of the nineteenth century tribals and other forest-dwelling communities rights were not only encroached upon but also questioned their occupancy and community management systems. However, since the last quarter of the nineteenth century more and more highlands were brought under the reserve forest without considering occupancy rights of tribals and other forest-dwelling communities. Consequently, several tribal revolts occurred against the colonial administration from the beginning to the end of the colonial rule. Over the 150 years of the colonial rule, more than 130 tribal revolts have occurred in different parts of the country in different points of time. The main agenda of the colonialism is to explore the virgin lands to extract the natural resources and secure maximisation of their profit by exploiting the colony people. Hence, they have introduced the permanent settlement system in the early nineteenth century to ensure the constant and assured revenue sources.41 In the process, colonialism paved the way not only to develop the feudal system but also the capitalist

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set-up, invariably in different parts of the country. The EIC expected the regular and assured revenue but the zamindars collected/extracted more revenue from the people and remitted less money to the EIC. In other words, neither the motives of the EIC were achieved nor the common people were protected but the zamindars (middlemen) accumulated huge amount of money and emerged as capitalists from the early nineteenth century onwards. This zamindari background people were educated in England and at a later point of time emerged as nationalist leaders. In other words, those who received education in England were mainly from the feudalist/capitalist background and later they have emerged as leaders of nationalist sentiments. Those who exploited the people and manipulated the Britishers have emerged as protectors of the common people. It is important to know that who these leaders are—who played a prominent role in India’s freedom movement and was this movement for the interest of the common people or in interest of the elite groups, who wants to sustain and enjoy the privileges of exploitation and raised their voices against the Britishers. In fact, India’s freedom movement was by and large led by those who exploited the common people within the country and outsiders of the country, such as the Europeans. I am making this statement because the real freedom fighters are the tribals who fought against the British intervention from the late eighteenth century and continued to fight till the mid-twentieth century. Unfortunately, their concerns and their struggles were however undermined by the feudal and capitalistic leaders until the last phase of the freedom struggle.

Post-Independence Period At the time of Independence, the total population was about 36 crores and it has increased to 121 crores in 2011. Due to the increase in population, agricultural expansion took place. The area under cultivation has increased from 118.75 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 141.56 million hectares in 2011. The net area under irrigation also increased several folds, i.e., from 20.83 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 63.66 million hectares in 2010–2011. In addition to that, the demand for domestic water supply has increased several folds. Electricity not only for agriculture and industry but also domestic needs has also increased several folds. To meet the increasing demand, we have developed several dams which have submerged a large extent of forest land and also displaced several million people. Consequently, every basin and sub-basin became a closed basin in different parts of the country. In addition to the several dams, extraction of groundwater has also reached

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the maximum level resulting in desertification of several regions. The phenomenal growth of urbanisation and industrialisation during the post-Independence period not only increased the demand for water but also increased water pollution posing a serious threat not only for the surface water but also for groundwater. The number of vehicles and its quantity of emissions have also increased several folds during the postIndependence period.

CONCLUSION Population is an important and fundamental factor to maintain a sustainable environment and other natural resources. Since the population density was low and the peoples’ requirement was mainly confined to livelihood options, there was little or no threat to either the ecology or environment. Because of frequent famines, internal warfare, and epidemics like cholera and plague, their lifespan was not secured and loss of life has led to the low population growth. From the early seventeenth century to the mid-seventeenth century, the population of the Indian subcontinent was about 100 million. In the subsequent centuries (the 1750s), the population has increased to 130–160 million. The population has increased further to 140–200 million in 1800. As I mentioned earlier, India’s economy was mainly a subsistence economy. However, a limited trade and commerce exchange between the countries was being held from the early period. Even when Vasco da Gama reached Malabar in 1498, the ruler has shown interest in the exchange of products. In other words, the people or ruler had shown interest to exchange their products with the other countries. As such, there was no threat to the ecology and environment. Though the trading with Europeans from the sixteenth century to the mid-eighteenth century, goods and commodities had been exchanged and there was no threat to the ecology and environment. In other words, as long as the Europeans engaged Indians with trade and commerce, there was no threat to the ecosystem. Since the mid-eighteenth century, the Britishers started to exercise power and mainly focused on land revenue. Since the last decade of the eighteenth century, in addition to enhancing the land revenue, they began to control the natural resources which had ecological and environmental consequences. Although the British administration was willing to reduce the tax during the famine, but they were never really concerned about the people of the country. On the one hand, they have designed different strategies to enhance the land revenue while, on the other hand, they were never concerned about the famines and other epidemic diseases. Consequently, a large number

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of people lost their lives since the mid-eighteenth century to the midtwentieth century, i.e., over two centuries. Famines that occurred in the 1770s, the 1790s, 1818, 1823, 1834, 1854, 1865, 1876–1878, 1899 and 1901 showed that the preventive measures were not adequately adopted to protect the population, despite the establishing of the Famine Commissioner. According to the population estimates of the mid-eighteenth century, the total population was about 130–160 million in 1750 and 140–200 million in 1800. In the subsequent 120 years, India’s population has increased to only 251 million in 1921. In other words, the population was 238 million in 1871 and it has increased to 251 million in 1921, and within the five decades the population has increased only to 13 million. It clearly indicates that the colonial administration was concerned only of extraction of the natural resources and taxes from the Indians and they were least concerned about the human beings. Hence, the death rates, birth rates and infant mortality rates were very high and the longevity at birth was very low during the colonial period. Precisely, the colonial administration over the 200 years was never concerned about the population of Indian subcontinent and their main agenda was only to extract the resources from the people and transport them. As a result, there was no change in the population growth over the two centuries of the colonial era. As against the colonial administration, India’s independent governments gave priority to protect the population by providing the food grains by expansion of agriculture, and generating the employment opportunities through the poverty alleviations programmes and improved the infrastructural facilities like schools, hospitals, roads, drinking water supply and household amenities. The post-Independence government plans and programmes centred on population and resulted in the decline of death rates, birth rates and infant mortality rates, leading to drastic improvement in longevity, which became at par with the developed countries. Despite the tremendous improvement in the demographic profile of over the six decades, the environment and ecological damage factors have not received the due importance supposed that they to deserved.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1 Leela Visaria and Pravin Visaria, ‘Population (1857–1947)’. In The Cambridge Economic History of India, edited by Dharma Kumar (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 466. 2 Report on the Census of the Madras Presidency, 1871 (Madras: The Government Gazette Press, 1871), 1. 3 Ibid., 2.

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4 Visaria and Visaria, ‘Population (1857–1947)’, 466. 5 Ibid. 6 Board of Revenue, Vol. 151–A, 1791–1794 (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives), 41–42. 7 Report on the Census of the Madras Presidency, 1871 (Madras: The Government Gazette Press, 1874), 2. 8 Imperial Gazetteer of India, 16, 305. 9 Report on the Census of the Madras Presidency, 2. 10 Ibid., 2–3. 11 Memorandum on the Census of British India of 1871–72 (London: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode Printers, 1875), 5. 12 W. Chichele Plowden, Report on the Census of British India Taken on the 17th February 1881 ( London: George Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1883), 55. 13 Imperial Gazetteer of India, 16, 305. 14 David G. Mandelbaum, ‘Population Problem in India and Pakistan’, Far Eastern Survey 18, no. 24 (1949): 284. 15 Ibid., 4. 16 Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee (Calcutta: Government of India Press, 1946), 111. 17 Ibid., 114. 18 David G. Mandelbaum, ‘Population Problem in India and Pakistan’, Far Eastern Survey 18, no. 24 (1949): 284. 19 Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee (Calcutta: Government of India Press, 1946), 23. 20 Ibid., 1. 21 Ibid., 13. 22 Ibid., 14. 23 Ibid., 15. 24 Mandelbaum, ‘Population Problem in India and Pakistan’, 284. 25 Henry Waterfield, Memorandum on the Census of British India 1871–72 (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1875), 10.  26 W.W. Hunter, The Indian Empire: Its People and Products (London: Trubner & Co, Ludgate Hill, 1886), 46. 27 Ibid. 28 Waterfield, Memorandum on the Census of British India, 12.  29 Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee, 1. 30 Ibid. 31 Report of the Special Committee on the Preparation for entry of the National Malaria Eradication Programme into the maintenance Phase (New Delhi: Ministry of Health, Government of India, 1963). 32 Report of the Special Committee Appointed to Review Staffing Pattern and Financial Position under the Family Planning Programme (New Delhi: Ministry of Health, Government of India, 1965). 33 Mukherjee Committee Report, Part-2 (New Delhi: Ministry of Health, Government of India, 1968). 34 Report of the Committee on Integration of Health Services (New Delhi: Directorate General of Health Services, 1967).

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35 Report of the Committee on Multipurpose Workers under Health and Family Planning Programme (New Delhi: Ministry of Health, Government of India, 1973). 36 Report of the Group on Medical Education and Support Manpower (New Delhi: Ministry of Health, Government of India, 1975). 37 h t t p s : / / d a t a . w o r l d b a n k . o r g / i n d i c a t o r / S P. D Y N . C D R T. I N ? end=2015&locations=IN–BR–CN–KR–MY–PK&start=1960&view=chart (accessed on 22 June 2018). 38 A person belonging to the Scheduled Caste. 39 Velayutham Saravanan, Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India (London: Routledge, 2017). 40 Velayutham Saravanan, Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). 41 Ibid.

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4 COLONIALISM AND THE ECOLOGY1 The ecological and environmental history studies that have emerged during the last quarter of the twentieth century have predominantly focused on forestry and wildlife. These studies by and large are confined to presidency level or specific region level or that of a particular timeframe.2 These studies focus predominantly on either conservation of forests or commercialisation of forests and its impact on the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities’ livelihood. The former one is predominantly focusing on these subjects until the introduction of Indian Forest Act in 1878. It argues that the introduction of the reserve forest is a landmark for the ecological and environmental protection in the Indian subcontinent. The later one has dealt mainly with how the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities were affected due to the enactment of the Indian Forest Act. However, some studies have also explored the ways and means by which the forest resources were systematically exploited for commercial purposes since the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth centuries of the colonial period.3 Of course, these studies also remained confined mostly to the presidency level/regional level and to a particular timeframe. Given the background, this chapter attempts to analyse the ecological and environmental history of India during the colonial era for about one and a half centuries comprising the timeframe, from the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The main focus of this chapter is on analysing the colonial forest policies and that impact on the ecology and environment in the Indian subcontinent during the colonial era, from the late eighteenth century to mid-twentieth century, i.e., in a historical perspective (1800–1947). It raises some important questions, whether the colonial policies were designed to protect the ecology and environment or to exploit the natural resources in general and forest resources in particular. Whether the policy initiatives and enactment of the various acts has really protected the natural resources or were actually designed to extract the natural resources in a much more systematic manner leading to a serious impact on the ecology and environment in the different parts of the county at different points of time over the one and a half of centuries of colonial era. In this chapter, attempt has been made to ascertain the colonial policies and their impact on the ecology and environment of 89

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the Indian subcontinent during the colonial rule. This chapter consists of six sections. The second section analyses the colonial approach and its consequences on the ecology and environment till the last quarter of the nineteenth century or prior to the enactment of Indian Forest Act of 1878. The third section deals with various policy initiatives undertaken by the colonial government to protect the natural resources. The fourth section analyses the effects of introduction of protective measures, i.e., as to how the commercialisation of the natural resources has taken place beginning from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to that of the mid-twentieth centuries and the last section offer the concluding observations.

COMMERCIALISATION OF FOREST RESOURCES (1800–1878) It is a well-known fact that European expeditions to explore new geographical terrains which began from the ninth century and continued till the nineteenth century, primarily were a hunt for resources.4 In the early period, trade and commerce were their main agenda and later they have started controlling the geographical regions. From the early sixteenth century to the late eighteenth century, they have mainly focused on trade and commerce.5 Later, they have started controlling the geographical regions and natural resources in different parts of Indian subcontinent. At the close of the eighteenth century, the colonial policy was mainly framed to focus on the expansion of agriculture and to extract timber for different construction purposes. In fact, after the land revenue, the colonial administration gave a high priority to exploit the teak and timber in the early phases of colonial regime. ‘The general policy was to expand agriculture and to obtain teak and other timber for the Navy and for construction purposes.’6 Since the early colonial rule, ‘… destruction of the more accessible forests increased during the early days of British occupation.’7 Initially, the commercialisation was confined only to specific trees like teak and sandalwood but it later on extended to all forest resources.8 Until the first half of the nineteenth century, forest resources were exploited mainly from the southern peninsula, particularly from the Western Ghats. In the other regions, such as Central Provinces, Bengal and Assam, the colonial administration has not exploited, indeed, they had only a little information.9 Since the early nineteenth century, the colonial administration extracted the various forest resources for commercial purposes. They have made an attempt to have monopoly control over the forest resources in different parts of the country, and exploited the different kinds of forest resources, such as teak timber for King’s Navy, other timbers for export, sandalwood, gums, lac, etc., to supply for iron-

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making and sugar-boiling industries, besides destroying the huge extent of forest areas for the cultivation of coffee and tea plantations in the highlands of different regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Monopoly Control over Forest Resources From the early nineteenth century, the colonial administration established a monopoly control over certain forest resources, particularly in the southern parts of the Western Ghats. In 1807, Captain Watson was appointed as the first Conservator of Forest in India and he exerted control over valuable forest resources of Malabar and Travancore regions within two years. In fact, this position was created by the colonial administration mainly to access the forest resources for future extraction.10 All the claims of the local people and rulers were extinguished by the colonial administration since the early nineteenth century. The colonial government established monopoly control over forest resources from the early nineteenth century. Initially, monopoly control over teak trees was established in Malabar and Travancore regions in the early nineteenth century. Subsequently, it extended to over several other species that had commercial value. ‘Between 1820 and 1865, rosewood, anjili, ebony and sandalwood were added to the list of species reserved for extraction and use by the colonial government’.11 Huge amount of forest resources were exported from different parts of the country. For instance, in 1877–1878, the export of forest resources worth of £1,041,726, of which £406,652 was from teak, £362,008 from lac and lac-dye, £89,381 from caoutchouc and £183,685 from gums.12 Since the early nineteenth century, the colonial administration had exercised control over the forest resources for their commercial venture.

Teak Timber for King’s Navy The natural resources of England, particularly oak trees, immensely helped in ship-building since the early period. ‘The universally high regard felt by Englishmen for their native oak as the choicest of ship timbers led them to depend upon their own woodlands for a constant supply with which to build hulls for the King’s ships.’13 They did not encounter any scarcity for oak trees until the mid-seventeenth century. ‘Prior to the beginning of the First Dutch War, in 1652, there was no real naval timber problem, for the naval fighting was carried on for the most part by private ships gathered for the occasion’.14 Since the mid-seventeenth century, timber scarcity was felt in England; however, they have managed without any major difficulties. ‘Just before the Second Dutch War, the American Revolution, and the war with Revolutionary France, investigators reported almost complete exhaustion of the native oak supply, yet the Navy sustained all those contests without

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suffering the extreme consequences predicted in such black colors.’15 In the subsequent centuries, timber scarcity was aggravated in England due to frequent wars. ‘The timber problem was first realized in the sixteenth century. It became acute during the Restoration. A century later, after the Seven Years’ War, the scarcity of oak caused very general alarm, and during the remaining hundred years of wooden shipbuilding the groves of England became less and less capable of meeting the increasing demands of the Navy.’16 ‘During the first half of the eighteenth century, the timber problem was dormant in the English forests.’17 ‘The Seven Years’ War from 1756 to 1763 brought the timber shortage back to where it had been just a century before.’18 Since the mid-eighteenth century, England started looking for the timber resources from other countries, particularly colonies. ‘The most successful attempt to relieve the timber shortage by foreign shipbuilding came from the use of teak in India.’19 ‘England armed dozens of ships built in India for her expeditions against Ceylon, Java, Manila, and the Moluccas, and into the Red Sea, between 1795 and 1800.’20 Albion states: The choicest timber lay in the southwestern part of India, in the region known as the Malabar Coast, but even in India a shortage of good naval timber was already felt. Tippoo Sahib, who had controlled a large portion of that country, had cut off much of the largest teak in the interests of the French. The shipbuilding of the Portuguese was a constant drain on the supply of ship timber.21

Prior to the British invasion in southern parts of the Indian peninsula, other European countries extracted the timber to build ships. At the close of the eighteenth century, there was a scarcity for oak timber in England to build ships. This had compelled them to find an alternative source of supply from other countries, mainly from its colonies.22 They found that appropriate teak timber was found in abundance in India, particularly in southern parts of the country. The growing demand for teak timber was one of the matters which received the early attention of the East India Company. Initially, … an order issued by the Bengal–Bombay Joint Commission, appointed to enquire into the internal circumstances of Malabar and make regulations prohibiting the felling of Teak below 21 inches in girth. Nothing further happened till 1805, when a dispatch was received from the Court of Directors, enquiring to what extent the King’s Navy might, in view of the growing deficiency of Oak in England, depended on a permanent supply of Teak timber from Malabar.… The immediate result was a general proclamation, declaring the royalty right in Teak trees claimed by the former Governments was vested in the Company, and prohibiting all further

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unauthorized felling on such trees.… Thus, Captain Watson of the Police was on the 10th November 1806 appointed the first Conservator of Forests in India.23

Within a couple of years he had succeeded in establishing a timber monopoly throughout Malabar–Travancore, and practically annihilated more or less all private rights in the forests by assuming their nonexistence.24 Large quantities of teak timber were extracted to build the British Navy till 1822.25 These measures were contested both by the proprietors and merchants that has led to the abolition of Conservator of Forest post itself in 1823.26 To ensure the future teak supply, Nilambur teak plantation was established in 1842. In short, the early colonial rule has extracted the forest resources mainly to meet the demand from their own country. Any attempt to protect the forest was not really to conserve it but to ensure the future supply, particularly to meet the demand in England.

Timber Export Since the beginning of the colonial rule, a large number of the timbers were cut down for the various commercial purpose in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. A large quantity of timber and wood has been exported to the European countries. For instance, about £7,093,957 worth of timber and wood was exported between 1849 and 1878 (Table 4.1). It is to be pointed out that the timber export has progressively increased every year during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. In fact, the extraction of timber and wood for export had progressively increased from the early nineteenth century. Table 4.1: Value of Timber and Wood Exports from India, 1849–1878 (in £) Year

Value

Year

Value

Year

Value

1849

28,435

1859

234,855

1869

288,645

1850

24,145

1860

233,192

1870

156,123

1851

26,717

1861

170,158

1871

256,404

1852

20,162

1862

450,314

1872

326,030

1853

19,207

1863

278,106

1873

386,019

1854

131,921

1864

220,749

1874

415,904

1855

123,518

1865

430,756

1875

366,399

1856

128,237

1866

369,523

1876

471,627

1857

208,097

1867

134,273

1877

373,878

1858

233,593

1868

128,178

1878

458,792

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1878 (various volumes).

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Extraction of Sandalwood Since the early nineteenth century, a large quantity of sandalwood from the hills/forest was extracted mainly to export to other countries for commercial motives.27 In fact, the colonial government has encouraged the middlemen to export the sandalwood by providing the required facilities. A large quantity of sandalwood was extracted from the different districts of the Madras Presidency since the late eighteenth century. For example, about 62,984–11¾ mounds28 of sandalwood was delivered from Coimbatore district alone to the Board of Trade between 1799 and 1809 and it was worth of 104,915 Star Pagodas29 nine fanams30 eight cash31. After the colonial intervention, these sandalwood trees were extracted for commercial purposes and even exported to other countries like China. For instance, in Salem district alone, revenue from sandalwood was about 3,776–30–40 Star Pagodas in 1800–1801.32 The collector had reported that about 200–400 candies33of sandalwood could be supplied from the district annually.34 Later, the right to cut sandalwood was leased out to private contractors. Around 1836, the government engaged itself to ascertain the number of sandalwood trees in different hills and it came out that the precious trees were in plenty in different hills of Salem district.35 Subsequently, through lease/rent of sandalwood cutting rights in different hills, the colonial government earned a large amount of revenue. For instance, in a decade between 1862–1863 and 1875–1876, about `147,537 was earned from the sandalwood.36 In other words, about one-fourth of total receipts of the Forest Department had come from sandalwood in Salem and Baramahal regions.

Gums and Resins Gums and resins were another example of important forest resource that were exported to other countries from the early colonial period. Between 1849 and 1878, about £2,745,616 worth of gums and resins were exported to other countries (Table 4.2). The export value of gums and resins has progressively increased till the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Table 4.2: Value of Gums and Resins Export from India, 1849–1878 (in £) Year 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854

Value 40,667 54,624 44,790 42,296 32,580 32,712

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Year 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860

Value 43,448 33,240 25,535 27,014 31,271 17,114

Year 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866

Value 20,785 22,760 43,013 34,821 31,517 20,765

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Colonialism and the Ecology Year 1867 1868 1869 1870

Value 22,524 125,786 207,355 210,407

Year 1871 1872 1873 1874

Value 171,602 147,336 240,169 146,940

Year 1875 1876 1877 1878

95 Value 179,015 194,010 289,460 212,060

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1878 (various volumes).

Lac Like other forest goods, the colonial administration has extracted a huge amount of lac from the forests and exports it to other countries. Between 1849 and 1878, about £6,365,475 worth of lac was being exported to other countries (Table 4.3). The lac exports have been increasing every year from the second half of the nineteenth century, up to the enactment of the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Table 4.3: Value of Lac Export from India, 1849–1878 (in £) Year

Value

Year

Value

Year

Value

1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858

82,453 148,226 139,177 105,824 150,680 102,791 92,287 126,878 105,575 109,111

1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868

80,641 78,182 172,774 232,789 235,090 242,021 207,394 305,575 137,996 188,954

1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878

227,176 253,800 190,825 278,945 203,680 257,653 254,011 755,747 536,976 362,244

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1878 (various volumes).

Coffee and Tea Plantations Coffee Coffee plantations were established during the early nineteenth century in different parts of the country. However, coffee plantations were largely confined to peninsular India, particularly in the Western Ghats, from Kanara to Travancore. In the early period, the coffee plantations were concentrated in Coorg, two districts—Kadur and Hassan—in Mysore State, the Nilgiris in Madras Presidency and Waynad in Kerala. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the coffee plantations were established in Shervaroy hills in Salem district and Palni hills in Madurai

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district of Madras Presidency.37 Attempts had been made in the other parts of the country, particularly in British Burma and Chittagong in Bengal Presidency, which however had not materialised.38 Coffee plantations were established in various hills of South India during the early nineteenth century, particularly between 1830s and 1850s. However, these plantations progress was very slow till the 1860s.39 Coffee plantations were largely found in the highlands of the different regions of South India: two districts of Mysore State—Hassan and Kadur; few districts of Madras Presidency—Madurai, Tinnevelly, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Salem and Malabar; and Princely States—Coorg, Cochin and Tiruvancore.40 As of 1883, 335,308.5 acres of land were brought under the coffee cultivation.41 The colonial government has encouraged coffee and tea cultivation by providing various forms of subsidies and concessions.42 However, it has to be pointed out that the planters had not received much support from the Princely States of Mysore and Coorg.43 A large extent of coffee products was exported to other countries and the quantity of exports has progressively increased almost every year since the mid-nineteenth century. For instance, 327.32 thousand metric tons of coffee was exported between 1852 and 1878 (Table 4.4). Export of coffee has increased gradually in the first decade of the late nineteenth century (1850–1860) and the subsequent two decades (1860–1878) exports were very high. This trend could be attributed to the prices of coffee at the global market. The price of coffee has increased fairly until 1880s.44 Coffee was exported predominantly to the United Kingdom and France, besides Austria, Turkey, Egypt, the United States of America, Arabia, Ceylon, Persia, Victoria and foreign ports in India and other ports of the Indian subcontinent.45 A large quantity of coffee being exported mainly was to the European countries and the United States of America during the late nineteenth century. The export value has progressively increased from £75,723 in 1849 to £1,344,038 in 1878 (Table 4.4). In other words, about £18,445,056 worth of coffee was exported during the span of three decades (1849–1878). Table 4.4: Trends of Coffee Export from India, 1852–1878 (thousands of metric tons and value in £) Year 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854

Quantity – – – 3.57 3.65 3.36

Value

Year

75,723 73,100 100,509 84,306 97,490 109,762

1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860

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Quantity 4.18 4.62 2.78 5.30 6.51 8.67

Value 82,804 120,201 132,819 90,727 135,036 188,532

Year Quantity 1861 9.75 1862 9.55 1863 12.12 1864 14.69 1865 15.74 1866 8.00

Value 337,433 467,991 513,237 607,072 801,908 785,102

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Colonialism and the Ecology Year 1867 1868 1869 1870

Quantity 15.05 21.68 16.37 15.34

Value

Year

414,107 761,210 1,121,032 870,189

1871 1872 1873 1874

Quantity 25.77 19.10 18.65 15.89

Value

Year Quantity 809,701 1875 18.97 1,380,410 1876 15.45 1,146,219 1877 15.17 1,499,496 1878 17.39

97 Value 1,307,919 1,633,395 1,353,588 1,344,038

Sources: Mario Samper and Radin Fernando, ‘Historical Statistics of Coffee Production and Trade from 1700 to 1960’;46 Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1878 (various volumes).

Tea Plantations From the early period, tea plants were found in our country particularly in the southern valley of Himalayas, but it did not get much attention from the people until the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Tea plantation initiatives have started during the second quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1834, under GovernorGeneral Lord William Bentinck, a committee was appointed ‘for the purpose of submitting a plan for the introduction of tea-culture into India’.47 In the subsequent years, plants and seeds were brought from China and distributed all over the country. In addition to that, the government itself formed experimental plantations in Upper Assam and Kumaun and Garwal districts of Northwestern Provinces.48 In 1839, the Assam Tea Company was formed for which the government provided the land.49 In Kumaun, some retired government officers came forward to the aid establishment of the tree plantations. However, no notable progress had taken place until the second half of the nineteenth century. Since the second quarter of the nineteenth century; gradually, tea plantations were extended to other regions of Assam that was supported by the promulgation of the WasteLand Rules of 1854. Around 1856, tea plantation was introduced in Darjeeling and Sikkim regions. Unlike the coffee plantation, tea plantation was found in different parts of the country. In 1882–1883, about 870,316 acres of land was brought under the tea plantation, of which, 756,707 acres (87 per cent) were in Assam; 94,184 acres (11 per cent) were in Bengal and the rest in Punjab, Madras and Travancore regions.50 Precisely, the tea plantations were largely located both in Assam and Bengal regions of the Indian subcontinent. Like coffee, tea was also exported to other countries as early as in the second half of the nineteenth century. For instance, from the Madras Presidency alone about 2,172,999 pounds quantity worth of `2,374,910 was exported between 1855–1856 and 1882–1883.51 In 1867–1868, 7,811,429 pounds of tea were exported and it has increased to 17,920,439 pounds in 1872–1873.52 In 1877–1878, the

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total export of tea from British India was about 33,656,715 pounds worth of £3,061,867 (Table 4.5). Table 4.5: Value of Tea Export from India, 1849–1878 (in £) Year

Value

Year

Value

Year

Value

1849

35,525

1859

60,533

1869

974,519

1850

27,231

1860

127,771

1870

1,080,515

1851

33,979

1861

151,981

1871

1,139,703

1852

59,220

1862

192,442

1872

1,482,186

1853

58,113

1863

223,763

1873

1,590,926

1854

43,066

1864

271,229

1874

1,754,618

1855

40,504

1865

301,022

1875

1,963,550

1856

63,075

1866

309,899

1876

2,183,881

1857

121,061

1867

378,126

1877

2,620,140

1858

53,331

1868

714,288

1878

3,061,867

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1878 (various volumes).

In the subsequent years, it has increased further. In 1882–1883, about 58,233,345 pounds worth £3,738,842. In addition to this, from Madras Presidency, 309,548 pounds worth of £32,905 was exported.53 It clearly shows that the colonial administration has encouraged the establishment the plantations in different regions of the country, particularly in the hill areas mainly for export to the other countries and in the process destroyed a large extent of forests during the early nineteenth century.54 From the early nineteenth century onwards, the colonial government has encouraged the plantations by providing concessions in different parts of the country that has resulted in denudation of the forests and other natural resources since the early nineteenth century.

Iron-Making and Sugar-Boiling Industries As we have mentioned earlier, iron deposits are extensively found in the hills in different parts of the country. In South India, ‘Salem, the Northern Circars, ceded Districts, and Mysore, iron is found largely in ore, while in Coimbatore and Malabar the black sand brought down by streams was rich in the metal.’55 Until the colonial intervention, the traditional iron-making industries supplied agricultural implements, carpenters’ and smiths’ tools, and iron-boilers for sugar-making, domestic utensils and to meet many other requirements of the people.56 These industries have employed workers varying from three to ten and in some cases the numbers may even go up to twenty.57 Even in other parts of the country, only a small number of workers

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were involved in the production process. ‘[I]ron in India is manufactured only by peasant families of smelters, each working on a small scale.’58 These traditional iron-making industries, though spread over different parts of the country, mostly depended on the locally available fuelwood for burning charcoal mainly from their own villages. Since the early nineteenth century, the colonial government emphasised upon the extraction of iron ore but it was confined only to South India. In 1824, Thomas Munro observed that ‘… the richness of the ores of Salem and other districts have been known above thirty years, without anything having been done to extend their produce, and he suggested that the State has to extend the support for extracting the resources.’59 In 1824, Heath, who was working in Madras Civil Service, requested the government for the exclusive right of iron-making in India and a lease of right of cutting the fuelwood in the government wasteland.60 In fact, Munro and other members’ recommended Heath’s proposal with the support of necessary facilities for establishing the iron-making industries. The Court of Directors had, however, declined to accept the proposal.61 After some years, the Court of Directors gave exclusive privilege to establish the iron-making industries in the Madras Presidency in 1830.62 He established the iron-making industries at Porto Nova in South Arcot district with the help of the government. In 1833, Heath applied to the government for further financial assistance as well as other kinds of support. Considering the cost of production when compared with other countries, the government extended its support to this iron-making industry.63 ‘Accordingly in 1833 Heath was granted exclusive mining rights in Salem, Coimbatore, South Arcot, Malabar and Canara and gave permission to cut fuel in Tanjore, Tiruchinopoly and South Arcot with exemption from various duties for 21 years.’64 In addition to this, the duty on Indian iron in England was reduced and the materials required for the Porto Nova were allowed to pass duty free.65 In 1853, the colonial government has granted permission to the East India Iron Company for the exclusive right of getting ore from government wastelands in South Arcot, Salem, Malabar, Canara and Coimbatore for thirty years on the payment of rent £500 per annum.66 In addition, to the native iron-smelting industries and British Iron-making Company, the sugar-boiling industries in the different districts of the Madras Presidency consumed a large quantity of fuelwood during the early colonial period.67 Later, in 1880s, an attempt has been made to smelt iron ore by using coal in Raniganj, Birbhum and Manbhum districts of Bengal Presidency, Central Provinces and Kumaun in Northwestern Provinces.68 But these

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projects were abandoned due to lack of profit. It clearly indicates that the colonial government has encouraged the iron-making industries by extending all kinds of concessions leading to the decline of forest resources in different parts of the country during the early nineteenth century.

Coal Mining Though the availability of coal has been known in this country since the late eighteenth century, attempts were not, however, made to extract these resources until the early nineteenth century. The first English coalmine was opened in 1820. And yet, no other industry was established in the subsequent two decades. From 1854 onwards, every year a number of coalmine industries were established. In 1885, about 65 working collieries were developed in the country. The coalmining industries were largely concentrated in the Santal Parganas of Bengal Presidency.69 Few coalmining industries were also found in the Chanda district of Central Provinces and Khasi and Jaintia hills and Lakhimpur district of Assam, Darjeeling and in the Salt Range of Punjab.70 There were four prominent coalfields in the country: Damodar Valley, Chota Nagpur group, Narmada Valley and Godavari Valley. Predominantly, these coalfields were located in the hill and forest areas leading to large-scale destruction of natural resources in the country.

Railways Unlike the other interventions, which were confined either to a particular region or presidency, the establishment of railway network has, however, destroyed the forest resources invariably in different parts of the country. The first idea of railroads in India was conceived in 1831–1832 in the Presidency of Madras.71 However, only ‘in May 1845 the Court of Directors of the East India Company gave their formal recognition to the desirability of railways in India and called the attention of the Governor General in India.’72 ‘In July 1847, the Court of Directors represented the desirability of permitting the construction of short experimental lines not only in Bengal, but in Bombay and Madras as well.’73 It is interesting to note that the establishment of the railway network was not meant for the common people of the country but to the extent as a market for British goods and investment. It is more appropriate to quote Guha: ‘In a famous minute of 1853, the governor general of India, Lord Dalhousie, wrote of how railway construction was both the means for creating a market for British goods and the outlet for British capital seeking profitable avenues for investment.’74 In other words: ‘For the most

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part, however, from the beginning of the railways in South Asia, the majority of the benefits accrued to Great Britain.’75 Thus, in effect, ‘commodification, in the form of looking at all nature as having value only in its profit-making potential, became official economic policy.’76 The first railway line in India, extending over a distance of 21 miles from Bombay to Thana, was opened for public traffic on 16 April 1853. The first section of the East Indian Railway from Howrah to Hoogly, a distance of 23 miles, was opened on 15 August 1854. The Madras Railway Company opened its first section, 65 miles long, from Rayapuram to Arcot, in 1856.77 By 1867 the all-rail route between Calcutta and Delhi and also between Calcutta and Bombay was completed.78 Since the introduction of railways in 1853, the length of railway track has phenomenally increased. In 1854, 35 miles of railway network was opened for the traffic and it has increased to 6,029 miles in 1877.79 Stebbing stated: The new line to be constructed was the Indus Valley Railway between Multan and Sukkur, a distance of nearly 300 miles. At the rate of 2,000 sleepers per mile this would require 600,000 sleepers 10 feet by 10 inches by 5 inches (or 3.5 cubic feet apiece), being upwards of 2,000,000 cubic feet. The locomotives would use fuel-wood. At the rate of one train daily either way and at one maund per train-mile an annual supply of 219,000 maunds would be demanded. In addition, a large supply of fuel for brick-burning would be required. The sleepers would have to come mainly from the Sind Forests. The fuels were to come from the Tamarisk and Jhand forests of Sind and the Punjab. The other new line was the Northern State Railway from Lahore to Multan. It was estimated that 2,200,000 sleepers would be required for its construction.80

For every mile of track laid, 860 sleepers were required, which had an expected lifespan of approximately twelve to fourteen years. In the 1870s, it was calculated that every year one million sleepers were needed. Indian trees, particularly sal (Shorea robusta), deodar (Cedrus deodara) and teak (Tectona grandis) were preferred as sleepers, for their perceived strength over other Indian timbers, so it was these three species that were intensively exploited. A large quantity of forest resources was extracted due to the establishment of railways in the Madras Presidency during the latter part of the nineteenth century.81 For example, in 1878, the agent of the Madras Railways stated that the approximate requirement of wood for fuel was about 91,000 tons.82 Due to the laying of Madras Railways, a large number of valuable trees were cut down in the forest areas of different parts of South India. For example, in 1859–1860

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about 245,743 berths were supplied from Salem and Baramahal region alone.83 In addition to the berths, a large quantity of wood was purchased for the fuel by the Madras Railways. About 354,921 tons of wood was purchased and about 801,504,650 pounds or 357,017.66 tons of wood was consumed, exclusive of small wood for lightings during the period of five years, 1873–1877.84 In short, large quantities of forest resources were extracted for the railways in different parts of the country during the third quarter of the nineteenth century.85

War of Independence After the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, tremendous demand for the timber has led to the destruction of forests for the following purposes: expansion of railway network, demand for the British Navy and the excessive commercial exploitation of timber was done to pay for the cost of suppressing the War of Independence.86

Revenue from the Forest Since the early nineteenth century, the Forest Department has extracted a sizeable amount of revenue from the forests, either through selling of forest resources directly or leasing out the rights of collection of forest produce in different parts of the country. However, there is no evidence of a separate account for it during the early nineteenth century. But the available data clearly indicates that the revenue from the forest was not a negligible amount. In 1868, about £331,088 worth of revenue was collected from the forest resources. In the subsequent years, the revenue from the forest has increased progressively. Between 1868 and 1877, about £5,213,350 was collected from the forests in India (Table 4.6). This may be attribute Table 4.6: Trends of Revenue of Forest Department in India, 1868–1877 Year 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877

Revenue (in £) 331,088 407,342 471,590 453,442 501,924 570,337 623,131 583,281 672,528 598,687

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1867–1868 to 1876–1877 (various volumes).

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to commercialisation of forest resources prior to the conservation initiatives. In other words, since the early nineteenth century, different kinds of forest resources were extracted for commercial purpose that has led to detrimental ecological and environmental impact on the Indian subcontinent.

CONSERVATION INITIATIVES: FOREST AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ACTS This consists of two parts; one is the forest related initiatives and the part two other environmental protection measures.

Forest-related Policies and Acts According to Grove, the consequences of deforestation on the ecology and environment were realised by the colonial administration during the second quarter of the nineteenth century both in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. However, constructive initiatives were made only during the second half of the nineteenth century. The office of Conservator of Forest position was introduced in different presidencies. ‘In 1847, Bombay Presidency appointed Dr. Gibson as a regular Conservator of Forests. Madras followed suit some years later and in 1865 appointed Dr. Cleghorn as Conservator of Forests in Madras Presidency.’87 At the country level, conservation was emphasised only during the late nineteenth century. In 1855, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General, issued the ‘Charter of the Indian Forests’ outlining forest conservancy for whole of India.88 Since the late eighteenth century, colonial administration imposed several restrictions on the forest-dwellers and other people to use the forest resources; however, by and large these restrictions were confined to only particular regions/hills. Indeed, large extents of the forest were alienated/denuded for the tea and coffee plantations in different hill regions of the country since the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Sandalwood extraction was controlled by the colonial administration, particularly in the peninsular region from the early nineteenth century. Teak timber extraction was taken over by the colonial administration from the early nineteenth century itself. However, no specific act was in force to protect the natural resources of the country as a whole, until the introduction of the Indian Forest Act in 1865.

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Indian Forest Act, 1865 The Indian Forest Act, 1865, empowered the government to declare any land covered with trees as government forest and bring it under the government management. The main aim of this act was to ensure sustenance for the future needs of the nation and states. Another unfortunate aspect of this act was that it did not emphasise on the environment and ecology points of view but aimed to preserve for the future requirements of forest resources. However, this act was confined only to the government forests and it did not cover private forests. The revenue department has played a more prominent role than that of the forest department to determine the reserve forest areas. While the interests of the agricultural communities gained greater importance than that of reserve forests.

Indian Forest Act, 1878 The Indian Forest Act, 1878, was a landmark not only in the Indian forest history but also from the ecology and environmental point of view. This act was extended to all the provinces of British India except Madras, Coorg, Burma, Bihar, the Hissar district of Punjab, Ajmer and Baluchistan. It is a comprehensive one not only in terms of outlining the procedures for the reserve forest but also imposed restrictions on the people’s rights over the forest land. Under this act, forests were divided into three categories: reserved forests, protected forests and village forests. At the same time, it has to be pointed out that though the government has brought out large tracts of forest areas under reserve forest and imposed several restrictions on the forest resources using communities, resulting in more systematic extraction. The Indian Forest Act, 1878, under Section 23 prohibited the following: Any person who (a) makes any fresh clearing prohibited by Section 5, or (b) sets fire to a reserved forest, or, in contravention of any rules made by the State Government on this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest; or who, in a reserved forest (c) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons as the forest-officer may notify in this behalf; (d) trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass; (e) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging any timber; (f) fells, girdles, lops, or bums any tree or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, the same; (g) quarries stone, bums lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes, any forest-produce; (h) clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other purpose; (i) in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the State Government hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or

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snares; or (j) in any area in which the Elephants’ Preservation Act, 1879, (6 of 1879), is not in force, kills or catches elephants in contravention of any rules so made, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both, in addition to such compensation for damage done to the forest as the convicting court may direct to be paid.

Indian Forest Act, 1927 The Indian Forest Act, 1927, was extensively modified form of the Forest Act of 1878 and continued to be in force until the end of colonial era. Basically, this act has brought several other forest resources under the forest produce and imposed further restrictions of the people. Under Section 26(1), it prohibited in the following: Any person who (a) makes any fresh clearing prohibited by Section 5, or (b) sets fire to a reserved forest, or, in contravention of any rules made by the State Government in this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest; or who, in a reserved forest (c) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons as the forest-officer may notify in this behalf; (d) trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass; (e) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging any timber; (f) fells, girdles, lops, or bums any tree or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, the same; (g) quarries stone, bums lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes, any forestproduce; (h) clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other purpose; (i) in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the State Government hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or snares; or (j) in any area in which the Elephants’ Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879), is not in force, kills or catches elephants in contravention of any rules so made, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both, in addition to such compensation for damage done to the forest as the convicting court may direct to be paid. To be precise, this forest acts helps to bring out more forest area under the reserve forest. It had also extensively curtailed the people’s rights during the colonial period. However, some provinces like Burma and Madras enacted separate forest acts.

Other Environmental Protection Measures, till 1947 Till the mid-nineteenth century, the colonial government did not launch any initiatives to protect the environment. Even the environmental protection measures were mainly regulative in nature and were limited

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only to protect water and air pollution, and that too was largely in the urban areas and towns. In addition to the forest acts, other acts were also enacted at the presidency level to regulate the water and air pollution. However, these acts were largely confined to cities/towns and companies during the colonial period. Several acts were enacted, such as The Shore Nuisances (Bombay and Kolaba) Act, 1853; The Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857; The Indian Penal Code, 1860; Indian Forest Acts, 1878; The Indian Easements Act of 1882; Indian Fisheries Act of 1897; The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act, 1905; The Bombay Smoke Nuisance Act, 1912, etc., which are only explained here.

The Shore Nuisances (Bombay and Kolaba) Act, 1853 This act empowered the authorities to remove any kind of inconvenience, obstruction or encroachment in the Bombay harbour and Kolaba seashores. According to this act, the authorities were given the power to check or evacuate ‘any nuisance, obstruction or encroachment anywhere below high-water mark in the said harbour of Bombay, or upon or about the shores of the said islands.’ Though this act was enacted to protect the seashores but essentially was confined to the Bombay harbour and Kolaba regions to prevent disturbances of any sort in the harbour and the various related activities.

The Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857 The Oriental Gas Company was established in Calcutta under the Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857, to distribute the coal gas for lighting from its plants at Rajabazar and Howrah. Under this act, any damages to the water bodies, both common and private, will be an offence. According to the Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857, contamination to the water bodies will be a punishable offence under Section 15. It says that: Daily penalty during the continuance of the offence. If the said Company shall at any time  cause or  suffer to  be brought, or to flow into any stream, reservoir, aqueduct,  pond, or  place for  water, or  into  any  drain communicating therewith,  any washing  or other  substance produced in  making or  supplying Gas,  or shall willfully do any act connected with the making  or supplying of Gas, whereby the water in any such stream, reservoir, aqueduct,  pond, on  place for  water, shall be fouled, the said Company  shall forfeit for every such offence a sum not exceeding one thousand  rupees; and  they shall  forfeit an  additional sum  not exceeding five  hundred rupees  for each day during which such washing or other substance shall be brought or shall flow, or the act by which such water  shall be 

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found shall  continue, after  the expiration  of twenty-four hours  from the time when notice of the offence shall have been served  on the  said Company, by the person into whose water such washing or  other substance  shall be  brought or shall flow, or whose water shall  be fouled  thereby; and  such penalties  shall be paid to such last-mentioned person.89

Further, it also made provisions for penalty if they company fouled the individual water resources. Under Section 17, ‘Whenever any water shall be fouled by the Gas of the said Company, they shall forfeit to the person whose water shall be so fouled for every such offence a sum not exceeding two hundred rupees, and a further sum, not exceeding one hundred rupees, for each day during which the offence shall continue, after the  expiration of twenty-four hours from the service of notice of such offence.’

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 The Indian Penal Code, 1860, made certain provinces to protect the people from water and air pollution, which affects the public health. It was the first attempt to protect the water and air from the environmental point of view. Certain provisions were made to protect water and air from pollution and pronounced such activities as an offence. According to Section 277: Whoever voluntarily corrupts or fouls the water of any public spring or reservoir, so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.90

Section 278 proclaims that, ‘whoever voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the health of persons is general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way, shall be punished with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.’91

The Indian Easements Act of 1882 The Indian Easements Act of 1882, Section 23, prohibits polluting the stream against the lower riparian owners by the upstream owners.

Indian Fisheries Act of 1897 Destruction of fish by explosives and poisoning waters was prohibited by the Indian Fisheries Act, 1897. According to Sections 4 and 5: If any person put any dynamite or other explosive substance or any poison,

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lime or noxious material in any water to catch or destroy the fish, he shall be punishable with imprisonment of term which may extend to two months, or with fine of 200 rupees.

The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act, 1905 The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act, 1905, was enacted to prevent or reduce atmospheric pollution due to the nuisances arising from the smoke of furnaces, fire-places in the town and suburbs of Calcutta and in Howrah.

The Bombay Smoke Nuisance Act, 1912 The Bombay Smoke Nuisance Act, 1912, was enacted to prevent or reduce atmospheric pollution due the nuisance arising from the smoke of furnaces in the town and Islands of Bombay. Until the colonial intervention, only specific forest resources were controlled by the rulers in different parts of the country and all other resources were used by the people without any restrictions. After the colonial intervention, control over the forest resources were extended to some more forest resources, particularly teak, sandalwood in different parts of the country. Indeed, these resources were not only controlled but were also extracted for commercial purposes. Introduction of the commercial crops in different hills destroyed the forests beginning from the early nineteenth century. However, no forest act was enacted until 1865. Interestingly, the subsequent forest acts have also helped to bring out more forest area under the reserve forest area and also extensively curtailed the people’s rights. In addition to the forest acts, other environmental protection acts were also enacted at the presidency level to regulate the water and air pollution. However, these acts were largely confined to cities/towns and companies during the colonial period. To conclude, while restricting the people to use the forest resources, the colonial policy continued to be a guide for the commercialisation of the forest resources until the mid-twentieth century.

CONSERVATION AND COMMERCIALISATION OF FORESTS Commercialisation of forests has continued to be the primary agenda of colonial administration despite several conservation initiatives being taken during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.92 In other words, ‘… the ultimate goal of the Forestry Service was to maximize the profit from timber and other forest commodities (e.g., resins) as

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much as possible.’93 Until the first half of the nineteenth century, the forest resources were exploited mainly from South India, particularly the Western Ghats. In the other regions, such as the Central Provinces, Bengal and Assam, the colonial administration did not exploit as they had only little information.94 During the second half of the nineteenth century, forest resources were exploited invariably in different regions of the Indian subcontinent. In the Central Provinces, forest resources were extracted by the timber contractors, particularly in the second half of the nineteenth century.95 In the Western Himalayas also, forest were extensively cut down for the use of railways during the same period. Let us see how forest resources, such as timber, sandalwood, gums, lac, etc., had been extracted after the conservation initiatives were undertaken by the colonial administration.

Timber Export As I have indicated earlier, the Indian Forest Act, 1878, had restricted the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities to avail the forest resources. While restricting them, the colonial administration continues Table 4.7: Value of Timber and Wood Exports from India, 1879–1947 

(1879–1919 in £ and 1920–1947 in `) Year 1879

Value 321,868

Year 1889

Value 664,093

Year 1899

Value 723,804

1880

340,141

1890

874,711

1900

724,616

1881

545,831

1891

562,564

1901

713,740

1882

566,717

1892

614,379

1902

594,362

1883

672,477

1893

699,883

1884

582,685

1894

595,804

1885

592,711

1895

863,080

1886

614,891

1896

801,897

1902– 1903 1903– 1904 1904– 1905 1905– 1906

1887

302,507

1897

798,685

1888

474,005

1898

1,079,061

1906– 1907 1907– 1908

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Value 384,110

383,432

Year 1908– 1909 1909– 1910 1910– 1911 1911– 1912 1913

748,062

1914

714,092

522,784

1915

625,719

597,344

1916

532,394

554,499

1917

471,501

551,242

1918

274,885

465,637 722,086 635,864 809,582

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Environmental History of Modern India

110 Year

Value

Year

Value

Year

Value

Year

Value

1919

473,616

1927

4,332,800

9,041,000

1943

2,900

1920

1,460,780

1928

5,314,200

11,172,000

1944

500

1921

3,101,400

1929

5,907,200

14,595,000

1945

2,700

1922

3,257,000

1930

5,335,500

368,000

1946

26,800

1923

5,398,400

11,708,000

793,000

1947

43,200

1924

4,001,200

1925

6,213,700

4,018,000

1926

4,553,800

1930– 1931 1931– 1932 1932– 1933 1933– 1934

1934– 1935 1935– 1936 1936– 1937 1937– 1938 1938– 1939 1939– 1940 1941

6,133,000

1942

5,661,000

390,000

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1879 to 1947 (various volumes).

to extract timber and wood from the forest and exported that to the other countries. ‘Hardwoods are found in all parts of India, though for export purposes the most important areas are Burma; the Andamans, and the Western Ghats.’96 ‘Teak, of which over one million pounds worth is imported into the United Kingdom each year, is obtained entirely from the countries of the East India, particularly Burma, is the most important source of supply.’97 Extraction of timber and wood and their export has progressively increased during the post-Forest Act period. For instance, about £24,791,361 from 1879 to 1919 and `112,831,080 from 1920 to 1947 worth of timber and wood was exported between 1879 and 1947 (see Table 4.7). It shows that the forest resources have been to the other countries for commercial purposes from the late nineteenth century onwards.

Extraction of Sandalwood A large quantity of sandalwood resources has been extracted during the period of study. Further, it also indicates that the extraction of sandalwood resources has progressively increased from 1882–1883 to 1946–1947 (Table 4.8). About 22,755 tons of sandalwood was extracted over the period of fifty-three years between1882 and 1947 in the Madras

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54

N.A

1895–1896

1896–1897

N.A

N.A

0.21

0.42

N.A

N.A

N.A

0.14

N.A

0.11

N.A

N.A

N.A

0.16

N.A

N.A

1913–1914

1912–1913

1911–1912

1910–1911

1909–1910

1908–1909

1907–1908

1906–1907

1905–1906

1904–1905

1903–1904

1902–1903

1901–1902

1900–1901

1899–1900

1898–1899

Year

273

293

334

274

298

496

164

148

153

116

79

69

76

106

64

N.A

1.52

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

0.28

Sandalwood Sandalwood (quantity in (` in lakhs) tons)

1929–1930

1928–1929

1927–1928

1926–1927

1925–1926

1924–1925

1923–1924

1922–1923

1921–1922

1920–1921

1919–1920

1918–1919

1917–1918

1916–1917

1915–1916

1914–1915

Year

707

579

677

724

641

703

710

468

521

418

497

432

N.A

N.A

N.A

607

9.87

8.60

9.24

9.28

7.53

8.88

7.86

5.54

6.05

6.68

7.16

6.18

5.24

N.A

N.A

4.76

Sandalwood Sandalwood (quantity in (` in lakhs) tons)

Sources: E.S. Thangam, ‘Forest Products of Madras State’;98 Madras Administration Reports (for various years).

N.A

60

1894–1895

1897–1898

71

70

1893–1894

97

1891–1892

1892–1893

74

18

1887–1888

1890–1891

11

1886–1887

90

64

1885–1886

114

N.A

1884–1885

1888–1889

N.A

1883–1884

1889–1890

21

Sandalwood Sandalwood (quantity in (` in lakhs) tons)

1882–1883

Year

1945–1946

1944–1945

1943–1944

1942–1943

1941–1942

1940–1941

1939–1940

1938–1939

1937–1938

1936–1937

1935–1936

1934–1935

1933–1934

1932–1933

1931–1932

1930–1931

Year

938

1023

1233

N.A

N.A

N.A

1063

1204

1248

960

716

604

511

648

672

564

20.83

14.70

N.A

N.A

N.A

6.44

6.86

7.67

5.52

4.92

4.23

4.58

5.95

6.13

4.41

Sandalwood Sandalwood (quantity in (` in lakhs) tons)

Table 4.8: Quantity and Value of Sandalwood Extracted from the Forests in Madras Presidency, from 1882–1883 to 1945–1946

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Presidency alone. It clearly indicates that the extraction of forest resources has not declined when the concept of conservation was being introduced as against the extraction of these resources that has shown progressive increase during that period.

Export of Sandalwood Oil In addition to sandalwood, sandalwood oil is also exported to other countries. During the third decade of twentieth century (1930–1940), about 105,593 gallons99 worth of `11,689 thousand exported to the other countries (Table 4.9). Huge quantity of sandalwood was cut down to extract the sandalwood oil. For example, ‘Mature sandalwood trees weigh around 100 kg, of which 20 kg is the aromatic heartwood, which in turn produces between 600–700 ml of oil per tree.’100 It clearly indicates that a huge quantity of sandalwood was cut down to extract the oil even after the enactment of Indian Forest Act mainly to export to the other countries. Table 4.9: Quantity and Value of Sandalwood Oil Export in India, from 1930– 1931 to 1939–1940 Year

Sandalwood (in gals)

Sandalwood (`in 000)

1930–1931

8,724

1,283

1931–1932

12,679

1,815

1932–1933

6,267

747

1933–1934

8,102

924

1934–1935

9,376

978

1935–1936

11,205

1,110

1936–1937

15,185

1,413

1937–1938

13,259

1,386

1938–1939

9,695

947

1939–1940

11,101

1,086

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1830–1831 to 1939–1940 (various volumes).

Gums Gum(s) was yet another important forest resource exported to other countries from the early colonial period. Between 1879 and 1920, about £9,007,107 worth of gum was exported to other countries from India (Table 4.10).

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Table 4.10: Value of Gums and Resins Export from India, 1879–1933 (1879–1919 in £ and 1920–1933 in `) Year 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892

Value 217,158 328,171 475,950 322,218 356,932 397,201 361,889 498,176 133,000 236,034 392,204 205,173 158,750 160,674

Year 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906

Value 163,324 147,435 148,180 64,533 80,050 141,630 91,893 59,639 53169 55,132 33,863 36,194 34,047 43,882

Year 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920

Value 49,656 49,117 37,723 39,445 59,394 70,324 54,519 66,080 38,640 33,394 58,943 68,074 83,585 156,096

Year 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

Value 101,200 21,000 107,600 1,267,000 807,000 1,493,000 1,427,000 2,064,000 2,182,000 2,493,000 1,825,000 1,396,000 1,308,000

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1919–1920 (various volumes).

Lac Lac(s) was yet another important forest resource exported to other countries from the early colonial period. Between 1879 and 1919, about £47,871,940 and between 1920 and 1933 about `610,989,317 worth of lac was exported to other countries from India (Table 4.11). Table 4.11: Value of Lac Export from India, 1879–1933 (1879–1919 in £ and 1920–1933 in `) Year 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892

Value 300,072 371,717 578,321 719,698 609,113 556,738 599,983 589,773 520,675 501,898 401,146 488,518 781,449 751,247

Year 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906

Value 784,959 960,336 1,406,474 1,833,601 1,309,862 1,070,920 580,930 757,773 710,265 640,352 1,233,850 1,815,931 2,050,941 2,120,077

Year 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920

Value 2,333,182 2,722,039 1,863,131 1,847,782 1,428,572 1,342,694 1,408,881 1,310,535 1,070,496 1,145,054 1,868,779 2,518,535 1,965,641 7,263,717

Year 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

Value 7,582,600 7,915,800 10,265,200 90,627,000 75,506,000 69,019,000 54,724,000 69,886,000 86,426,000 69,672,000 31,374,000 18,304,000 12,424,000

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 to 1919–1920 (various volumes).

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Coffee and Tea Plantations Even after introduction of the forest act, the colonial government has encouraged coffee and tea cultivation by providing various forms of subsidies and concessions.101 However, it has to be pointed out that the planters have not received much support from the Princely States of Mysore and Coorg.102 In 1885–1886, about 338,253 acres (119,142 acres coffee and 219,111 acres tea) were brought under the cultivation of plantations. In the subsequent decades, the area under plantations has increased progressively until the colonial period. In 1989–1990, about 369,891  acres (118, 219 acres coffee and 251,672 acres tea) were brought under the cultivation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the area under the plantations was about 6.26 lakh acres (1.33 lakh acres coffee and 4.93 lakh acres tea), and it has increased to 7.97 lakh in 1920 (0.96 lakh acres coffee and 7.01 lakh acres tea), 8.57 lakh in 1930 (0.91 lakh acres coffee and 8.57 lakh acres tea), and 10.07 lakh in 1947 (2.25 lakh acres coffee and 7.82 lakh acres tea (Table 4.12). Table 4.12: Area under Coffee and Tea Plantations in India, from 1885 to 1946–1947 (in acres) Year

Coffee

Tea

Total

1885–1886

119,142

219,111

338,253

1890–1891

138,016

254,845

392,861

1900–1901

133,529

502,173

635,702

1910–1911

92,874

532,703

625,577

1920–1921

95,501

660751

756,252

1930–1931

92,249

774,683

866,932

1940–1941

202,000

823,000

1,025,000

1946–1947

225,000

782,000

1,007,000

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1878 to 1947 (various volumes).

The data clearly indicates that the area under plantations has progressively increased during the post-Forest Act period. The overall plantation area continues to grow during the post-Forest Act period, whereas the area under coffee plantations was almost stagnant during the first three decades of the twentieth century and then it gradually increased. The area under tea plantations continues to grow till the fourth decade of the twentieth century and then it begins to decline marginally.

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Coffee products were exported on a large scale to other countries and the quantity of exports has progressively increased annually since the late nineteenth century. For instance, 815.17 thousand metric tons of coffee was exported between 1879 and 1947 (Table 4.13). A huge amount of coffee was exported during the postForest Act period. Coffee export was very high for a period of the three and half decades, i.e., between 1879 and 1915, and then the next one and a half decades (1915–1930). It was followed by a high rate of fluctuations and the last one and a half decades (1930–1947), these exports have declined remarkably. This trend could be attributed to the growing prices of coffee at the global market. The prices of coffee have increased fairly until 1880s, and then it has slowly declined in the subsequent years. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the coffee prices have reached an all-time low and thereafter the prices have slowly increased.104 Coffee was exported predominantly to the United Kingdom and France, besides Austria, Turkey, Egypt, the United States of America, Arabia, Ceylone, Pergia, Victoria and foreign ports in India and other ports of the Indian subcontinent.105 The value of the coffee exports has increased remarkably during the post-Forest Act period. Between 1978 and 1941, i.e., nearly seven decades, £75,743,552 worth of coffee was exported to other countries (Table 4.14). During the post-Forest Act period, the area under tea cultivation has been increased until the colonial period (Table 4.15). Like coffee, tea was also exported to other countries since the post-Forest Act period. The value of tea export has been increased progressively during the post-Forest Act period (Table 4.15).

Iron-making and Sugar-boiling Industries As I have mentioned earlier, iron deposits were extensively found in the hills in different parts of the country. Later, in 1880s, efforts were made to smelt iron ore by using coal in Raniganj, Birbhum and Manbhum districts of Bengal Presidency, Central Provinces and Kumaun in Northwestern Provinces.106 But these projects were abandoned due to lack of profit. It clearly indicates that the colonial government has encouraged the iron-making industries by extending all kinds of concessions leading to the decline of forest resources in different parts of the country during the early nineteenth century.

Railways Since the post-Forest Act period, railways continued to grow in different parts of the country. In 1877, 6,024 miles of tracts were laid; and it has

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Environmental History of Modern India.indd 116

16.68

18.85

18.82

13.91

18.56

12.18

11.86

15.84

15.07

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888

1889

1890

1891

1892

1906

1905

1904

1903

1902

1901

1900

1899

1898

1897

1896

1895

1894

1893

Year

11.59

18.30

16.75

14.80

13.67

12.96

12.52

14.29

13.72

11.43

10.71

14.78

14.29

14.16

Quantity

1920

1919

1918

1917

1916

1915

1914

1913

1912

1911

1910

1909

1908

1907

Year

8.80

16.69

8.35

12.93

8.10

10.17

18.13

13.20

13.56

12.25

13.83

11.82

15.34

12.41

Quantity

1934

1933

1932

1931

1930

1929

1928

1927

1926

1925

1924

1923

1922

1921

Year

103

Source: Mario Samper and Radin Fernando, ‘Historical Statistics of Coffee Production and Trade from 1700 to 1960’.

18.07

17.68

1881

17.31

18.80

1880

1882

18.34

1879

1883

Quantity

Year

Table 4.13: Trends of Coffee Export from India, 1879–1947

8.60

8.80

8.70

9.50

15.80

5.20

12.95

14.21

5.56

13.16

10.63

10.17

8.83

13.64

Quantity

1947

1946

1945

1944

1943

1942

1941

1940

1939

1938

1937

1936

1935

Year

2.30

4.80

1.50

1.30

3.10

4.20

4.30

2.70

8.50

7.10

6.50

13.60

8.00

Quantity

(thousands of metric tons)

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1,548,481

1,633,032

1,602,594

1,460,729

1,410,131

1,470,301

1,287,077

1,364,742

1,514,777

1,539,725

1,894,467

1,500,008

1,463,787

2,023,740

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888

1889

1890

1891

1892

1906

1905

1904

1903

1902

1901

1900

1899

1898

1897

1896

1895

1894

1893

Year

1,107,317

911,585

911,585

880,842

833,480

818,967

989,809

1,166,549

1,519,130

1,585,039

2,198,191

2,208,555

2,029,034

2,082,430

Value

1920

1919

1918

1917

1916

1915

1914

1913

1912

1911

1910

1909

1908

1907

Year

1,713,945,000

795,855,000

662,088,000

717,837,000

657,955,000

1,024,402,000

1,043,503

897,450

887,742

730,936

926,653

743,014

664,319

1,171,149

Value

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1879 to 1946–1947 (various volumes).

Value

Year

Table 4.14: Value of Coffee Export from India, 1879–1941 

1934

1933

1932

1931

1930

1929

1928

1927

1926

1925

1924

1923

1922

1921

Year

10,245,000

10,981,000

9,450,000

19,186,000

14,540,000

16,925,000

23,192,000

13,263,000

18,526,000

20,895,000

15,746,000

12,361,000

13,908,000

14,297,000

Value

1941

1940

1939

1938

1937

1936

1935

Year

2,414,000

7,315,000

7,511,000

5,459,000

8,367,000

10,220,000

7,271,000

Value

(1879–1914 in £ and 1915–1941 in `)

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6,283,870

1892

1906

1905

1904

1903

1902

1901

1900

1899

1898

1897

1896

1895

1894

1893

Year

5,898,402

5,643,658

5,705,288

4,907,761

5,432,993

6,367,287

6,061,408

5,363,203

8,058,623

8,124,548

7,664,889

7,988,599

6,928,993

6,620,499

Value

1920

1919

1918

1917

1916

1915

1914

1913

1912

1911

1910

1909

1908

1907

Year

1933 1934

20,565,047

1932

1931

1930

1929

1928

1927

1926

1925

1924

1923

1922

1921

Year

11,850,518

11,782,052

11,180,649

13,320,715

10,352,329

9,983,372

8,862,651

8,630,952

8,277,579

7,804,936

6,929,141

6,866,899

6,571,843

Value

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1879 to 1946–1947 (various volumes).

5,445,487

5,504,293

1890

1891

5,302,446

5,473,137

4,883,143

1887

1888

4,897,177

1886

1889

4,134,221

4,137,851

1884

3,738,842

1883

1885

3,099,887

3,662,859

1881

1882

3,170,118

3,072,244

1879

1880

Value

Year

Table 4.15: Value of Tea Export from India, 1879–1947

198,450,000

171,528,000

194,063,000

235,114,000

23,559,300

26,006,400

26,604,400

33,484,900

29,087,700

27,131,700

33,302,100

23,043,600

18,229,200

12,140,800

Value

1947

1946

1945

1944

1943

1942

1941

1940

1939

1938

1937

1936

1935

Year

34,495,800

34,281,900

36,850,200

37,697,500

31,910,400

263,060,000

232,905,000

243,809,000

200,381,000

198,241,000

201,319,000

Value

(1879–1914 in £ and 1915–1947 in `)

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119

increased to 16,000 miles in 1890, 24,752 miles in 1900; 32,000 miles in 1910; 37,000 miles In 1920; and 40,000 miles in 1947 (Table 4.16). At the time of India Independence, on 15 August 1947, the total length of railway mileage was 40,524 of which 6,539 miles went to Pakistan, sparing India with 33,985 miles.107 Until 1930, timber was used for various needs of railways—timber plate, berth and fuel. In 1930, timber plate was replaced by steel and fuel wood by coal. In other words, until the establishment of the three-fourths of the railway network in the colonial era, only forest resources were extracted and used. The establishment of the railways, therefore, had not only alienated the forests and other common land but also exploited result in perpetual exploitation of the forest resources throughout the colonial period. Until the introduction of the steel plates to lay down the tracks and coal for fuel, forest resources were ruthlessly exploited on a large scale. In other words, the establishment of railways has resulted in serious and systematic exploitation of forest resources from the late nineteenth century in different parts of the country. Table 4.16: Expansion of Railways in India, 1881–1947 Year 1881 1891 1901 1911 1920–1921 1930–1931 1940–1941 1946–1947

Total Route (in miles) 9,892 17,283 25,365 32,839 37,029 42,281 41,052 40,524

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1879 to 1946–1947 (various volumes).

Timber and Minor Forest Produce Extraction of timber and minor forest produce has increased during the post-Forest Act period. Extraction of timber fuelwood and minor forest produce has increased in terms of both quantity and value during the post-Forest Act period. Between 1903–1904 and 1946–1947, a period of around fifty years, about 10,102,933,866 cubic feet of timber and fuelwood was extracted from the forests. Between 1892–1893 and 1946–1947, i.e., about fifty-five years approximately `427,018,044 worth of minor forest produce was extracted from the forests (Table 4.17). Precisely, even after the enactment of the forest act, a large quantity of timber and other minor forest produce has been extracted from the forests.

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120

Table 4.17: Extraction of Timber and Minor Forest Produce (1886–1912 in £ and 1913–1947 in `) Year

Timber and Fuel (cu. ft)

Minor Forest Produce

Year

Timber and Fuel (cu. ft)

Minor Forest Produce

1892–1893

–

110,387

1920–1921

298,653,989

13,600,627

1893–1894

–

110,397

1921–1922

261,383,074

13,807,264

1894–1895

–

115,816

1922–1923

349,958,974

14,571,518

1895–1896

–

117,946

1923–1924

354,534,164

14,842,307

1896–1897

–

122,518

1924–1925

255,289,800

13,713,591

1897–1898

–

131,550

1925–1926

410,617,323

14,311,941

1898–1899

–

77,569

1926–1927

362,035,906

14,587,903

1899–1900

–

81,622

1927–1928

370,173,767

14,315,363

1900–1901

–

76,283

1928–1929

364,189,585

15,178,316

1901–1902

–

75,432

1929–1930

350,067,089

15,083,045

1902–1903

–

91,948

1930–1931

322,852,829

12,586,854

1903–1904

232,916,345

298,607

1931–1932

305,911,538

11,327,397

1904–1905

251,568,276

387,795

1932–1933

313,707,129

11,067,710

1905–1906

232,035,865

526,669

1933–1934

217,257,081

11,287,444

1906–1907

246,334,840

461,300

1934–1935

401,142,506

9,996,730

1907–1908

222,146,948

504,419

1935–1936

378,195,834

10,205,955

1908–1909

234,982,123

551,144

1936–1937

258,276,927

10,088,554

1909–1910

241,132,930

554,095

1937–1938

279,682,908

11,872,528

1910–1911

260,583,175

635,188

1938–1939

284,918,675

12,283,418

1911–1912

257,194,423

708,982

1939–1940

293,655,916

12,089,430

1912–1913

290,718,866

11,084,674

1940–1941

306,479,000

12,511,000

1913–1914

294,643,323

10,798,905

1941–1942

209,588,000

12,693,000

1914–1915

270,455,459

10,763,283

1942–1943

335,560,000

12,938,000

1915–1916

286,216,111

11,680,737

1943–1944

374,286,000

15,483,000

1916–1917

306,869,398

12,456,596

1944–1945

439,108,000

16,471,000

1917–1918

328,666,379

13,675,668

1945–1946

353,749,000

19,091,000

1918–1919

343,850,918

14,204,588

1946–1947

316,334,000

23,654,000

1919–1920

339,515,833

12,877,188

Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1878 to 1946–1947 (various volumes).

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121

First World War (1914–1918) and the Second World War (1940–1945) During the First World War, forest resources were severely depleted as large quantities of timber were felled to build ships and railway sleepers and also to meet Britain’s war efforts. Large-scale supplies of timber, firewood and other forest produce (like hay) were made available to the army.108 ‘Timber from India’s forests were utilized in various mid-Eastern fields of World War I’.109 This massively increased the demand for Indian timber. The Second World War has put even more pressure on the forest as compared to the First World War due to the growing demand. ‘Enormous quantities of timber (from almost every wood species) were extracted, causing excessive felling and advance working in almost all forest divisions in the provinces. There were also very extensive over-felling in private forests and forests in Princely States.’110 ‘In World War II (1939–1945) enormous quantities of timber of many different species were supplied causing excessive fellings and advance working in almost all forest divisions in the Province. There was also extensive over-felling’s in private forests of the Princely States. Many varieties of the timber which had not been used previously in any appreciable quantity began to be consumed in large quantities.’111 Indian forest resources were supplied to the Allied Forces in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf during the Second World War and the forest was also under seize for fuel-wood to offset the loss of coal due to the war efforts.112

Revenue from the Forest In the post-Forest Act era, the Forest Department has extracted a sizeable amount of revenue and the expenditure incurred was always lower than the income ensured. In 1879–1880, about `676,536 worth of revenue was collected from the forest resources whereas the expenditure was only about `466,063 and the net income was about `210,473 (Table 4.18). Though the income has progressively risen during the rest of the colonial period, the expenditure was however lower than the income generated.

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Environmental History of Modern India.indd 122

843,926

865,275

1892–1893 1,591,332

719,794

1887–1888 1,124,125

1891–1892 1,490,582

719,765

1886–1887 1,103,970

784,113

680,988

1885–1886 1,086,092

1890–1891 1,448,002

679,397

1884–1885 986,984

792,000

650,715

1883–1884 1,052,900

780,035

568,539

1882–1883 938,855

1888–1889 1,349,047

558,736

1881–1882 874,896

1889–1890 1,486,303

466,800

1880–1881 709,645

726,057

646,656

663,889

706,268

557,047

404,331

384,205

405,104

307,587

402,185

370,316

316,160

242,845

210,473

Net Expenditure Income

466,063

Revenue

1879–1880 676,536

Year

1906–1907

1905–1906

1904–1905

1903–1904

1902–1903

1901–1902

1900–1901

1899–1900

1898–1899

1897–1898

1896–1897

1895–1896

1894–1895

1893–1894

Year

1,697,120

1,735,053

1,827,030

1,937,157

1,298,103

1,157,355

1,297,863

1,235,425

1,859,868

1,739,514

1,733,869

1,660,504

1,631,548

1,723,022

Revenue

948,866

954,818

869,138

813,618

751,783

705,581

730,164

730,175

990,731

1,001,689

993,955

911,161

913,449

906,407

Expenditure

748,254

780,235

957,892

1,123,539

546,320

451,774

567,699

505,250

869,137

737,825

739,914

749,343

718,099

816,615

Net Income

1920–1921

1919–1920

1918–1919

1917–1918

1916–1917

1915–1916

1914–1915

1913–1914

1912–1913

1911–1912

1910–1911

1909–1910

1908–1909

1907–1908

Year

54,143,495

53,675,730

46,818,231

40,969,257

37,061,930

31,116,367

29,769,784

33,301,545

32,209,809

1,937,157

1,827,030

1,778,306

1,766,099

1,724,198

Revenue

36,419,907

31,763,199

28,875,505

21,157,063

18,743,883

18,592,607

18,206,450

17,543,455

17,207,810

1,129,771

1,016,268

1,006,697

994,158

980,340

Expenditure

17,723,588

21,912,531

17,942,726

19,812,194

18,318,047

12,523,760

11,563,334

15,758,090

15,001,999

807,386

810,762

771,609

771,941

743,858

Net Income

Table 4.18: Trends of Revenue and Expenditure of Forest Department, from 1879–1880 to 1935–1936  (1884–1899 value in `and 1899–1900 onwards in £)

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36,982,496

35,323,406

33,887,450

1923–1924 56,219,223

1924–1925 56,748,761

1925–1926 59,918,479

26,031,029 1930–1931

21,425,355 1929–1930

19,236,727 1928–1929

14,767,502 1927–1928

17,464,493 1926–1927

Year

47,334,396

61,251,357

57,869,552

60,779,732

61,884,248

Revenue

Note: Till 1926–1927, £1 = `10, after that £1 = `13, 1 anna and 8 paisa. Source: Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1879 to 1946–1947 (various volumes).

40,851,578

40,446,571

Net Expenditure Income

1921–1922 58,316,071

Revenue

1922–1923 55,214,073

Year

Net Income

33,993,219 13,341,177

34,752,851 26,498,506

33,354,224 24,515,328

33,871,542 26,908,190

34,784,624 27,099,624

Expenditure

1935–1936

1934–1935

1933–1934

1932–1933

1931–1932

Year

43,162,389

39,717,246

35,337,643

37,652,860

39,988,963

Revenue

23,988,901

25,993,704

33,348,551

29,118,077

28,113,229

Expenditure

19,173,488

13,723,542

1,989,092

8,534,783

11,875,734

Net Income

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CONCLUSION Until the colonial intervention, only specific forest resources were controlled by the rulers in different kingdoms of the country and all other resources were used by the people without any restrictions. After the colonial intervention, control over the forest resources was extended to a vast amount of forest resources, particularly teak and sandalwood in different parts of the country. To secure revenue from the forest resources, the colonial government has followed different approaches— lease, action—either for a particular product or for a particular forest area. For instance, extraction of sandalwood was leased out in different hill regions of Madras Presidency. Indeed, these resources were not only controlled but were also extracted for commercial purposes. In other words, ‘… the extension of agriculture to feed the European taste for exotic tropical products, such as cotton, tea, sugar, coffee, chocolate, and pepper.’113 Introduction of the commercial crops like coffee and tea in different hills destroyed the forests from the early nineteenth century onwards. In addition to that, the establishment of Indian Railways has made a serious of ecological and environmental impact in the second half of the nineteenth century across the country. Michael Williams states: The construction of railways was an integral part of British colonial military and commercial policy. They strengthened the control of British rule by facilitating the speedy movement of troops and armaments … second, they augmented British wealth by facilitating the import of British manufactured goods and the export of Indian raw materials, which had implications for land use.114

Williams further observes that ‘… the impact on the forest and the scrub jungles and their wildlife in the immediate vicinity of the railroads was usually stark and severe.’115 Until the 1878 Forest Act, no attempt was made to protect the forest resources. The subsequent forest acts have also helped to bring out more forest areas under the reserve forest category by extensively curtailing the people’s rights, especially the tribals over the forests. Even after the enactment of the forest act, the forest department has received a huge amount of revenue from the forest. In other words, while initiating the conservation measures, the colonial government has not pursued this goal in real terms. Even after the introduction of reserve forests, the forest resources have been thoroughly extracted mainly to increase the revenue. Despite the act, the colonial policy continued to guide the commercialisation of the forest resources until the mid-twentieth

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century. In addition to this, the couple of World Wars also accentuated the destruction of forest resources. This chapter seeks to conclude that the colonial policies and the initiatives have ignored to accord due importance of the protection of natural resources as they were mainly concerned with the exploitation of these resources that has gradually led to serious and adverse impact on the ecology and environment of the Indian subcontinent during the colonial period.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1

The earlier version of the paper presented at the seminar on ‘Writing Indian Economic History’, organised by the Department of History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, 27–28 February 2009. 2 For detailed review, see Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Colonial Commercial Forest Policy and the Tribal Private Forests in Madras Presidency: 1792–1881’, IESHR 40, no. 4 (2003): 403–423; Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations: Decline of Environment and Tribals in Madras Presidency during the 19th Century’, IESHR 41, no. 4 (2004): 465–488. 3 See D.D. Gangwal, ‘Commercialisation of Forests, Timber Extraction and Deforestation in Uttaranchal, 1815–1947’, Conservation and Society 3, no. 1 (2005): 110–133; Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest, Environmental Negligence and Alienation of Tribal Rights in Madras Presidency: 1792–1882,’ IESHR 35, no. 2 (1998): 125–146; Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Economic Exploitation of Forest Resources in South India during Pre-Forest Act Colonial Era, 1793–1882,’ International Forestry Review: The International Journal of Forest Science and Policy 10, no. 1 (2008): 65–73. 4 Velayutham Saravanan, Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), 1. 5 E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, vol. 1 (London: The Bodley Head Ltd., 1922), 24. 6 S.S. Negi, Indian Forestry through the Ages (New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company, 1994), 15. 7 Stebbing, The Forests of India, 34. 8 Negi, Indian Forestry, 14. 9 Ibid., 16. 10 Akhileshwar Pathak, Law, Strategies, Ideologies:  Legislating Forests in Colonial India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002). 11 Richard Haeuber, ‘Forest Policy in Two Eras: Continuity and Change?’, Environmental History Review 17, no. 1 (1993): 50. 12 W.W. Hunter, The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products (London: Trubner & Co, Ludgate Hill, 1886) (Second Edition), 526.

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13 Rober T. Greenhalgh Albion, Forests and Sea Power: The Timber Problem of the Royal Navy 1652–1862 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926), 95. 14 Ibid., vii–viii. 15 Ibid., 96. 16 Ibid., 97. 17 Ibid., 133. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid., 365. 20 Ibid., 365–366. 21 Ibid., 366. 22 Stebbing, The Forests of India, 34; Richard Haeuber, ‘Forest Policy in Two Eras: Continuity and Change?’, Environmental History Review 17, no. 1 (1993): 50; H.C. Dawkins and M.S.  Philip, Tropical Moist Forest Silviculture and Management: A History of Success and Failure (Wallingford:  CAB International, 1998). 23 Berthold Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1900), 64–65. 24 Berthold Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1900), 64–65; Stebbing, The Forests of India, 65. 25 Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India, 65; Negi, Indian Forestry, 16. 26 Stebbing, The Forests of India, 67. 27 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest’, 125–146. 28 A measure of weight prevailed in Madras Presidency. One mound is equal to 25 pounds in the Madras Presidency. 29 One Star Pagoda was equal to forty-five fanams or 3,600 cash. One Star Pagoda was equal to three and half Company Rupees. 30 A money measurement. Eighty cash equal to one fanam; forty-five fanams equal to one Star Pagoda. 31 It was a lowest money measurement. Eighty cash equal to one fanam and forty-five fanams equal to one Star Pagoda. 32 Letter from Board of Revenue to the Collector of Salem, 6 July 1801 (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives). 33 A dry grain measurement. One candies equalS to forty bullas or puddies or 7,248 cubical inches. 34 BOR, Vol. 258 (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives, 1800), 6642. 35 BOR, Vol. 1587 (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives, 1837), 1504. 36 Letter from Colonel R. H. Beddome, Conservator of Forests to J. H. Garstin, Acting Secretary to Government, Revenue Department (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives, 1876). 37 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 502. 38 Ibid. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid.; C.D. Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, 3 Vols (Madras: Government Press, 1885), 336.

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41 W.W. Hunter, The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products (London: Trubner & Co, Ludgate Hill, 1886), 502; C.D. Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, 403–404. 42 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest’, 125–146; Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations’, 465–488. 43 William Gervase Clarence-Smith, ‘The Coffee Crisis in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, 1870–1914’. In The Global Coffee Economy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1500–1989, edited by William Gervas Clarence-Smith and Steven Topik (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 109. 44 Ibid., 101. 45 Maclean, Manual of the Administration, 336. 46 Mario Samper and Radin Fernando, ‘Historical Statistics of Coffee Production and Trade from 1700 to 1960’. In The Global Coffee Economy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1500–1989, edited by William Gervas Clarence-Smith and Steven Topik (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 436–439. 47 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 504. 48 Ibid. 49 Ibid., 104. 50 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 506–507; Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, 404. 51 Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, 346. 52 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 575. 53 Ibid., 507. 54 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest’, 125–146; Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations’, 465–488. 55 A. Sarada Raj, Economic Conditions in the Madras Presidency 1800–1850 (Madras: University of Madras, 1941). 56 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 618; Sarada Raj, Economic Conditions in the Madras Presidency. 57 Sarada Raj, Economic Conditions in the Madras Presidency. 58 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 619. 59 A.J. Arbuthnot, Sir Thomas Munro: Selections from Minutes and Other Official Writings, 2 volumes (London: C. Kegan Paul & Co, 1881). 60 Dietrich Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in the Madras Presidency (Madras: Government Press. 1983). 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid. 63 Sarada Raj, Economic Conditions in the Madras Presidency. 64 Ibid. 65 Ibid. 66 Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration. 67 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest’, 125–146; Hunter, The Indian Empire, 618. 68 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 618–619. 69 Ibid., 619. 70 Ibid., 620–622.

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71 Nalinaksha Sanyal, Development of Indian Railways (Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1930), 3. 72 Ibid., 8. 73 Ibid., 14. 74 Ramachandra Guha, ‘The Prehistory of Community Forestry in India’, Environmental History 6 (2001): 214. 75 Christopher V. Hill, South Asia: An Environmental History, ABC-CLIO (2008): 121. 76 Ibid., 123. 77 Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways: 125 Years of Service to the Nation 1853–1978 (New Delhi: The Caxton Press, 1978), 7. 78 Ibid. 79 Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1867/68 to 1876/77 (various volumes). 80 E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, Vol. II, 1923. 81 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest, 125–146. 82 Brandis, Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration. 83 F.J. Richards, Madras District Gazetteers, Salem District, Vol. I (Madras: Government Press, 1918). 84 G.O. No. 373 PWD (Railway) (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives, 26 April 1878). 85 Aruna Awasthi, ‘Environmental Degradation: A Case Study of Railways and Deforestation in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries’. In Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 60 (1999): 572–581. 86 Negi, Indian Forestry, 23. 87 Ribbentrop, Forestry in British India, 12. 88 Ibid., 13. 89 The Oriental Gas Company Act, 1857 90 Indian Penal Code, 65, https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A186045.pdf. 91 Ibid. 92 Velayutham Saravanan, Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (Palgrave Macmillan: London and New York, 2018), Chapter 3. 93 Hill, South Asia: An Environmental History, 125. 94 Negi, Indian Forestry, 16. 95 Ibid., 21. 96 Report of the Imperial Economic Committee (Tenth Report), Timber (London: Printed and Published by His Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1928), 23. 97 Ibid., 21 98 E.S. Thangam, ‘Forest Products of Madras State’. In Forest Centenary of Forest Administration in Madras State (Chennai: Madras Forest Department, 1959), 21. 99 One gallon is equal to 3.79 litres. 100 https://globalriskinsights.com/2017/02/radar-sandalwood-transformingcrime-commerce-asia/ (accessed in 24 January 2019). 101 Saravanan, ‘Commercialisation of Forest’, 125–146; Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations’, 465–488.

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102 William Gervase Clarence-Smith, ‘The Coffee Crisis in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, 1870–1914’. In The Global Coffee Economy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1500–1989, edited by William Gervas Clarence-Smith and Steven Topik (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 109. 103 Mario Samper and Radin Fernando, ‘Historical Statistics of Coffee Production and Trade from 1700 to 1960’. In The Global Coffee Economy in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, 1500–1989, edited by William Gervas Clarence-Smith and Steven Topik (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 436–439. 104 Ibid., 101. 105 C.D. Maclean, Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, 3 Vols. (Madras: Government Press, 1885), 336. 106 Hunter, The Indian Empire, 618–619. 107 Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways: 125 Years of Service, 7. 108 Negi, Indian Forestry, 31. 109 M.P. Singh, J.K. Singh, Reena Mohanka and R.B. Sah, Forest Environment and Biodiversity (New Delhi: Daya Publishing House, 2007), 24. 110 Negi, Indian Forestry, 35. 111 Singh et al., Forest Environment and Biodiversity, 25. 112 E.P. Stebbing, The Forests of India, 1962, 187. 113 Michael Williams, Deforesting the Earth: from prehistory to Global Crisis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 334. 114 Ibid., 356. 115 Ibid.

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5 POST-INDEPENDENT INDIA’S ENVIRONMENT India’s environmental history debate is largely centred on forest, wildlife, and forest-dwelling communities and was mainly confined to the precolonial and colonial periods.1 The other aspects of environmental history issues have got only a little attention during this period.2 The post-Independent India’s environmental history has not gained the same attention like that of the precolonial and colonial periods. This part of India’s environmental history is more important than that of the precolonial and colonial periods due to its complex and multidimensional features. In fact, the post-Independent India’s environmental issues and problems are not only multidimensional/ faceted but have become more complex due to populist politics. But unfortunately, the environmental history literature did not get due importance that it deserved except of course for a very few exemptions.3 Indeed, there exists the need to analyse environmental history issues of the post-Independence period because of several dramatic changes that that have taken place during this period. Independent India’s environmental issues and problems have become complex due to various factors, such as population explosion, urbanisation, slums, agricultural expansion, large quantity of application of fertilisers and pesticides, expansion of irrigation, large scale groundwater extraction, popularity of water intensive crops, growth of water pollution and air-polluting industries, and also phenomenal rise in the number of vehicles. Consequently, various developments in the agriculture industry and service sector have led to a series of serious environmental implications in the post-Independence period. One of the most important environmental implications in India occurred due to the green revolution during the post-Independent India’s environmental history. It resulted in expansion of area under cultivation and irrigation, power generation, large number of dams being constructed, over-exploitation of groundwater resources, decline of the quality of soil due to heavy use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, etc. In other words, the green revolution has not only brought additional area into cultivation at the cost of common property resources except for the forests, but has also destroyed the fertility of the soil and quality of water in different regions of the 130

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country. Waterlogging or salination are common phenomena in these areas. The second most important environmental implication is the growth of urbanisation and urban agglomeration during the postIndependence period. At the time of Independence, the total population was about 3,610 lakhs of which, 624 lakh, which constitutes about 17 per cent, lived in the urban areas. In the subsequent decades, not only has the total population increased but urban population has also increased remarkably. According to the 2011 Census, the total population was about 12,107 lakhs of which 3,771 lakhs population was living in the urban areas and its proportion was about 31 per cent. Between 1951 and 2011, the total population has increased 3.54 folds whereas the urban population has increased to sixfold for the same period. As such people living in the urban areas were not the problem, but how they were living was a matter of concern. About 40 per cent of population in the urban areas was living in the slums. In fact, urbanisation is one of the major environmental concerns in the post-Independence period. It has also led to serious environmental consequences on a wide range of issues including housing, living space, kitchen, sanitation, drainage connection, drinking water, transport, school, hospital and other infrastructural facilities. In most of the cities, drinking water and drainage have become a paramount problem. Most of the cities/towns are diverting the river water from distant places or between river basins and polluting them; further discharging of sewage into the river has resulted in intensively polluting both surface and groundwater, river water and basins in different parts of the country. Take for example, Madras city. Though it was established in 1639 along the Coovam River, the river has now turned into a drainage canal and same is the case for several other rivers of the countries. For example, the national capital of Delhi is located along the Yamuna River. If you take bath in the Yamuna or Coovam River, most probably that would be the last bath of your life. That is a case for several river basins of this country. Water is another important and core factor among environmental issues arising due to population growth, urbanisation, agricultural expansion and domestic water supply during the post-Independence period, because it is not only essential for the humans to survive but also to the production process. In other words, water is important for human beings, animals and the production process not only in agriculture but also in the industrial production process. It became a scarce resource during the post-Independence period. Consequently, water-related deaths have increased during the post-Independence period. Most rivers have been polluted due to industries, municipalities

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and the drainage from agricultural land. Another important factor is that the industrial pollution, which occurs largely due to dyeing and bleaching industries, tanneries, pharmaceutical industries, sago factories and other water-consuming industries, adversely affected the environment, especially in terms of surface water or groundwater or both in different parts of the country, as well as river basins during the post-Independence period. Another important factor is that the increase in number of vehicles have caused a very severe environmental problems during the postIndependence period. The number of vehicles was very low at the time of Independence and it has increased remarkably during the postIndependence period. It is not merely the number of vehicles on road but the question of the kind of fuels they are running on is also an important factor. The number of vehicles that has led to air and noise pollution has also added to the environmental problems during the post-Independence period. However, there are several interventions since the late 1970s to regulate pollution, but they largely went in vain. In 1951, the numbers of vehicles were 306,000 and it has increased to 210,023,000 in 2015. Given the macro picture, this chapter analyses the post-Independent India’s environmental history for the last seven decades (1947–2017), in a historical perspective. This chapter consists of nine sections. The first section analyses the trends of green cover that encompasses forestry, pastoral land and other culturable waste, and the factors that influence the green cover during the post-Independence period. The second section deals with the impact of the green revolution on increasing area under cultivation, irrigation expansion, dams, wells, decline of soil fertility due to excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides and other related issues. The third section analyses the trends of urbanisation and its consequences on environment not only in terms of the area and population but also as a wide range of household amenities and increasing slums. It also discusses the policies and its impact on urban environment. The fourth section studies the increasing trend of water demand among the different stakeholders and how that was managed and what were the consequences for the environment. The fifth section analyses the trend of industrial growth and its implications on environment during the post-Independence period. From the environmental point of view, there are two types of industries: water-polluting industries and air-polluting industries. The former includes tanneries, dyeing and bleaching industries, pharmaceutical industry, etc. These industries are polluting both surface and groundwater sources. The latter refers to cement, coal, power plant, etc., polluting the air in the surroundings. This section

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analyses the trend of wide range of industries and their implications on environment. The sixth section explores the impacts of growing vehicles on the environment. It also looks into the air quality- and water quality-related issues. The seventh section deals with the various policy initiatives and enactment of laws by the government to protect the environment in the post-Independence period. The eighth section analyses the political economy of the post-Independence government policies and its consequences for the environment. The last section offers concluding observations.

TRENDS OF GREEN COVER, 1947–2017 The green cover area has changed dramatically during the postIndependence period. It includes forestry, barren and unculturable land, permanent pastures and other grazing lands, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown) and culturable wasteland. Forest includes the area of crops raised in the forest and grazing lands or areas open for grazing within the forests remain included under the ‘forest area’. Barren and unculturable land include all land covered by mountains, deserts, etc. Permanent pasture and other grazing land include all grazing land, be it permanent pasture and meadows or not. Village common grazing land is included under land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown); however, land under casuring trees, thatching grasses, bamboo bushes and other groves for fuel, etc., which are not included under ‘orchards’, are classified under this category. Culturable wasteland includes land available for cultivation, whether taken up or not taken up for cultivation once, but not cultivated during the last five years or more in succession including the current year for some reason or the other. Such land may be either fallow or covered with shrubs and jungles which are not put to any use. They may be either accessible or inaccessible and may lie in isolated blocks or within cultivated holdings. The aforementioned categories are considered as green cover in this chapter. The land utilisation area has increased during the post-Independence period from 284.32 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 307.48 million hectares in 2010–2011. At the same time, the total green cover has declined from 118.09 million hectares to 114.92 million hectares. In other words, the growth rate of land utilisation area was about 8.15 per cent between 1950–1951 and 2010–2011 whereas the growth rate of green cover has declined –2.68 per cent for the same period. In other words, the percentage of green cover to total land utilisation area was

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about 41.53 per cent in 1950–1951 and it has declined to 37.37 per cent in 2010–2011 (Table 5.1). The green cover has declined despite bringing more area under utilisation during the last seven decades, except forest cover. The proportion of forest to the total green cover was about 41.53 per cent in 1950–1951 and it has increased to 62.30 per cent in 2010–2011. Whereas, the percentage of other green cover, viz., barren and unculturable land, was 38.1 per cent, permanent pastures and other grazing land was 6.69 per cent, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown) 9.83 per cent, and culturable wasteland 22.94 per cent in 1950–1951, it has declined to 14.95 per cent, 8.96 per cent, 2.78 per cent and 11.01 per cent respectively in 2010–2011. The other green cover, viz., barren and unculturable land, permanent pastures and other grazing lands, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves (not included in net area sown) and culturable wasteland have made serious impact on the environment due to the green revolution. During the green revolution period, green cover other than forests was brought under cultivation. In other words, agricultural expansion has happened largely at the cost of green cover other than the forest. The trends of green cover particularly forests can be looked at in three different phases during the post-Independence period. The first phase is till 1980s or until the enactment of Forest Conservation Act in 1980 and the second one is from 1980 to 2006 and the third and last phase is 2006 onwards till the recent years. At the time of Independence, the total forest cover was about 40.48 million hectares and it has increased to 67.46 million hectares in 1980. Though the forest cover has increased during this period, large extent of forest area was diverted for various development programmes until the 1980s. Between 1950 and 1980, on an average, 1.5 lakh hectares of forest per year was diverted for various development programmes. More importantly, till the 1980s, forest was in the state subject and there was no restriction to divert the forest for various development projects. Consequently, the states have diverted huge areas of forest. A large number of irrigation/power projects were initiated during this period. The second phase is very important because the international agencies have insisted upon bringing more area under the forest cover. The Central Government does not have any power to regulate the diversion of forest for various development programmes until the 1980s. Due to the indiscriminate cutting and diversion of forest land, the forest was brought from State List to Concurrent List through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976.

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32.31

5.66

8.32

19.43

100.00

6.68

9.83

22.94

118.09

34.28

40.48

38.16

41.53

%

284.32

1950– 1951

127.6

19.21

4.46

13.97

35.91

54.05

298.46

1960– 1961

100.00

15.05

3.50

10.95

28.14

42.36

42.75

%

4

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.

Barren and unculturable land Permanent pastures and other grazing lands Land under misc. tree crops and groves (not incl. in net area sown) Culturable waste land Total

Reporting area for land utilisation statistics Forest

Details

127.09

17.5

4.37

13.26

28.13

63.83

303.75

1970– 1971

100.00

13.77

3.44

10.43

22.13

50.22

41.84

%

119.73

16.74

3.58

11.99

19.96

67.46

304.16

1980– 1981

Table 5.1: Trends of Green Cover in India, from 1950–1951 to 2010–2011

100.00

13.98

2.99

10.01

16.67

56.34

39.36

%

117.42

15

3.82

11.4

19.39

67.81

304.86

1990– 1991

100.00

12.77

3.25

9.71

16.51

57.75

38.52

%

115.05

13.63

3.44

10.66

17.48

69.84

305.19

2000– 2001

100.00

11.85

2.99

9.27

15.19

60.70

37.70

%

114.92

12.65

3.2

10.3

17.18

71.59

307.48

2010– 2011

100.00

11.01

2.78

8.96

14.95

62.30

37.37

%

(in million hectares)

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Based on the constitutional amendment, the Government of India has enacted the Forest Conservation Act in 1980. This act promulgated that without consulting the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, the state cannot divert the land and it has also laid down that an equal amount of afforestation has to be established. Between 1980 and 2016, around 21,885 instances of diversion which totalled about 897,698.40 hectares.5 Consequently, diversion of forest land has declined to around 24,936 hectares per annum between 1980 and 2016. The states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have diverted huge extent of reserve forest. Most of the development activities in the modernisation process happened during third phase. The third phase is very important due to the policies that gave importance to the populist politics at the cost of the environment. The Government of India has enacted the Scheduled Tribes and Other ForestDwelling Communities (Restoration of Forest Rights) Act 2006. This act extended the privileges to the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities to access forest resources without any restriction. It also empowered to initiate various development activities and the responsibilities given to the local communities. As on 31 March 2017, 45 lakh claims were made and about 30 lakh hectares were given the ownership rights.6 The populist vote-bank politics paved the way not only for the ownership rights but also access to the forest resources. Until 2005, the non-tribals in the tribal/ hilly areas were portrayed as encroachers/exploiter; after 2006 they have been recognised as forest-dwelling communities and entitled to get the ownership rights as well as to access forest resources. Precisely, the green cover area has declined mainly due to diversion of forest for various development activities, grazing and other culturable waste. They have also declined due to agricultural expansion and further the threat to the green cover was due to the populist vote-bank politics.

GREEN REVOLUTION AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT At the time of Independence, poverty level was very high and about 45 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line. The postcolonial government’s prime agenda was to increase agricultural productivity in order to eradicate starvation. The government gave top priority to the agricultural sector and constructed several dams across rivers to increase irrigation and power facilities in order to enhance productivity. During the Third Five-Year Plan, the green revolution strategies have been adopted. The green revolution measures were

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multidimensional: expansion of area under cultivation, expansion of irrigation, electrification in the agricultural sector, introduction of highyielding varieties, application of fertilisers and pesticides, extraction of groundwater sources through bore-well technology, etc. They have posed a great threat to natural resources. At the time of Independence, the total cultivated area was about 131.89 million hectares and it has increased to 152.82 hectares in 1959–1960. Since the green revolution, thousands of acres have been brought under cultivation. For instance, in 1970, the total cultivated area has increased to 162.27 million hectares and it has further increased to 200 million hectares in 2013–2014 (Table 5.2). At the same time, grazing land and cultivable waste have declined during this period. The net cultivated area has increased from 118.75 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 132.94 million hectares in 1960–1961 and it has further increased to 141.43 million hectares in 2013–2014. At the same time, area sown more than once has increased from 13.15 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 19.98 million hectares in 1959–1960 and to 59.43 million hectares in 2013–2014. Table 5.2: Selected Categories of Land Use (in million hectares) Year

Net Area Sown

Total Cropped Area

1950–1951 1960–1961 1970–1971 1980–1981 1990–1991 2000–2001 2010–2011 2013–2014

118.75 133.20 140.86 140.29 143.00 141.34 141.56 141.43

131.89 152.77 165.79 172.63 185.74 185.34 197.56 200.86

Area Sown More Than Once 13.15 19.57 24.93 32.34 42.74 44.00 56.00 59.43

Net Irrigated Area

Gross Irrigated Area

Irrigated More Than Once

20.85 24.66 31.10 38.72 48.02 55.20 63.66 68.10

22.56 27.98 38.20 49.78 63.20 76.19 88.93 95.77

1.71 3.32 7.09 11.06 15.18 20.98 25.27 27.67

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.7

Not only has the area under cultivation increased but also the area under irrigation has increased remarkably during the post-green revolution period. In the 1960s, the gross irrigated area was about 27.98 million hectares and it has increased to 95.77 million hectares in 2013–2014. The net irrigated area has increased from 20.85 million hectares in 1950–1951 to 68.10 million hectares in 2013–2014. Likewise, the area irrigated more than once has increased from 1.71 million hectares to 27.67 million hectares in 2013–2014 (Table 5.3). The canal irrigation has increased in the post-Independence period and rose rapidly after the

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Table 5.3: Net Area Irrigated by Source in India (from 1950–1951 to 2014–2015) (in ’000 hectare)

Canals Year

Wells

Other Source

Total

5,978

2,967

20,853

7,155

2,440

24,661

4,461

7,426

2,266

31,103

9,531

8,164

2,551

38,720

2,944

14,257

10,438

2,932

48,023

2,466

22,566

11,252

2,909

55,205

15,643

1,980

28,543

10,629

6,864

63,659

16,278

1,842

31,126

11,312

7,542

68,100

Tanks

Tube Wells

Other Wells

8,295

3,613

–

10,370

4,561

135

866

12,838

4,112

842

15,292

3,182

1990–1991 16,973

481

17,453

2000–2001 15,809

203

16,012

2010–2011 15,472 (P)

171

2013–2014 16,115 (P)

163

Govt.

Pvt.

Total

1950–1951 7,158

1,137

1960–1961 9,170

1,200

1970–1971 11,972 1980–1981 14,450

Note: P: Projected. Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.8

green revolution. The bore-well irrigation has also increased remarkably. The water was lifted from about a 1,000 feet depth and more. The groundwater extraction has led not only to salination but also competing deepening has led to depletion of water in the particular region. For instance, this phenomenon was common among the peninsular states. While expanding the canal irrigation and exploiting the groundwater, the state has neglected traditional water tanks. In other words, the canal irrigation options were exhausted and the groundwater was also saturated. The only option was to restore the traditional tanks. In addition to this, water pollution has further aggravated the scarce resources. At the time of Independence, the total net area irrigated was about 20,853 thousand hectares. Of this, 8,295 thousand hectares (7,158 government and 1,137 private) were irrigated from canals, 3,613 thousand hectares from tanks, 5,978 thousand hectares from wells and 2,967 thousand hectares from other sources. Till the green revolution period, the net irrigated area had increased marginally among the different sources except for other sources. For example, in 1960–1961, the total net irrigated areas were about 24,661 thousand hectares, of which, 10,370 thousand hectares (9,170 government and 1,120 private) from canals, 4,561 thousand hectares from tanks, 135 thousand hectares from bore-wells, and 7,155 thousand hectares from wells (Table 5.3). After the green revolution period, the net irrigated area had been increased remarkably from 24,884 thousand hectares in 1960–1961 to

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68,100 thousand hectares in 2013–2014. The source of net irrigated area has increased mainly due to canals, tube-wells and other wells. The canal irrigated area has increased from 10,502 thousand hectares in 1961–1962 to 16,182 thousand hectares in 2013–2014. It is to be noted that though the canal irrigated area has increased, the sources of private canal has declined from 1,163 thousand hectares in 1961–1962 to 163 thousand hectares in 2013–2014. Tube-wells and other wells have increased during the same period but the former one is remarkable than the latter one. In 1961–1962, the number of tubewells were about 258 thousand and it has increased to 31,606 thousand in 2013–2014 whereas other wells increased from 7,094 thousand hectares to 11,312 thousand hectares in the same period. Invariably, the sources of private canals and tanks have declined progressively during the green revolution period. The net irrigated area under private canals was about 1,163 thousand hectares in 1961–1962 and it has declined to 163 thousand hectares and 1,723 thousand hectares respectively in 2013–2014. In other words, the traditional sources like tanks lost its importance during the green revolution period. Until the green revolution period, only a limited quantity of fertilisers was consumed. After the green revolution period, the quantity of fertiliser and pesticides consumption has increased remarkably. For example, in 1960–1961, only 292.1 thousand tonnes of fertilisers and 8.62 thousand tonnes pesticides were consumed and it has increased to 26,752.6 thousand tonnes and 55.54 thousand tonnes respectively in 2015–2016 (Table 5.4). The consumption of pesticides has reached its peak in the 1980s and after that it has declined. Excessive consumption of fertilisers has led to the decline of the soil fertility during the post-Independence period, particularly after the green revolution period. The massive quantities of fertilisers and pesticides were causing damage not only to the quality of the soil and its fertility but also to the health of the people. Table 5.4: Consumption of Fertilisers and Pesticides in India 

(in thousand tonnes) Year

N

P

K

Total

Pesticides 2.35

1955–1956

107.5

13.0

10.3

130.8

1960–1961

210.0

53.1

29.0

292.1

8.62

1970–1971

1,487.0

462.0

228.0

2,177.0

24.32

1980–1981

3,678.1

1,213.6

623.9

5,515.6

45.00

1990–1991

7,997.2

3,221.0

1,328.0

12,546.2

75.00

2000–2001

10,920.2

4,214.6

1,567.5

16,702.3

43.58

2015–2016

17,372.3

6,978.8

2,401.5

26,752.6

55.54

Note: N: Nitrogen, P: Phosphorus, K: Potassium. Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.9

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The green revolution has resulted in expansion of agriculture and also irrigation. The expansion of cultivated area was at the cost of the green cover and the expansion of irrigation was not only diversion of river water but also maximum extraction of groundwater. At the same time, the traditional water sources got neglected during the green revolution period. In addition to that, the application of fertilisers and pesticides has led to the decline of soil fertility in different parts of the country. To be sure, the green revolution and its impact on the environment was huge and serious, as it has brought more area under cultivation, irrigation was increased and more fertilisers were used, which has resulted in the decline of soil fertility, resulting in an overall threat to natural resources.

URBANISATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES Most of India’s urbanisation process is unplanned and it is growing on its own except Chandigarh and Pondicherry cities. During the postIndependence period, urbanisation and urban agglomeration has experienced phenomenal growth. Theoretically, growing urbanisation is one of the most prominent indicators of economic development of a given country. But actually, the question is whether it as an indicator of economic development. During the post-Independence period, urbanisation and urban agglomeration witnessed a phenomenal growth invariably in different parts of the country. For instance, in 1951, less than one-fifth of the population inhabited the urban areas and this proportion has increased to nearly one-third in 2011. Unfortunately, India’s urbanisation is growing on its own without proper plan and basic amenities. According to the 2001 Census, about 618.258 lakh populations was living in the slum areas and it has increased to 654.94 lakh in 2011. In other words, about one-fourth of the urban population is living without the basic infrastructural facilities in the slums. Hence, India’s urbanisation occurred largely with severe environmental problems invariably in different parts of the country.

COMPETING DEMAND FOR WATER Competing demand for water among the different stakeholders have increased during the post-Independence period. As I indicated earlier, the demand for water in agricultural sector has increased since Independence. With the growth of urbanisation, the demand for domestic water supply too has increased. Simultaneously, water requirements of the industries have also increased during the postIndependence period.

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The total demand for water will increase in future among the different stakeholders. According to the Central Water Commission, the demand for water was 629 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 1997– 1998 and it has increased to 694–710 low and high demand in 2010. It is expected to increase to 784–843 BCM low and high demand in 2025. It is projected that the demand will increase further 973–1180 BCM low and high in 2050.10 In the future, it is expected that the demand for water will increase in area of irrigation, domestic, industries, power, inland navigation and the requirements of ecology. The demand for irrigation was 524 BCM, it has increased to 543–557 BCM low and high demand and it will increase to 561–611 BCM low and high demand in 2025. It is projected that the demand will increase further to 628–817 BCM low and high demand in 2050. The domestic demand front will increase fourfold, industries twofold, power tenfold, inland navigation twofold and ecological needs about fourfold. Consequently, the share of agricultural sector will come down from 80 per cent to 68 per cent between 1997–1998 and 2050. The increasing demand among the different stakeholders has put pressure on both surface and groundwater. The demand for surface water will increase from 339 BCM in 1997–1998 to 641–752 BCM low and high demand in 2050. This competing demand for the water among the different sectors has not only increased but has also aggravated due to water pollution. Consequently, water is emerging as the centre of environmental problems in the recent decades. Due to the increasing demand, water was diverted from distant places and later it was used and discharged as sewerage/effluents into the river basins resulting in polluting not only the surface water but also the groundwater during the post-Independence period. Domestic waste water is the major part of the water pollution problem. According to the Central Water Pollution Control Board (2016), about 61,948 millions of litres per day (MLD) domestic waste water was generated from the urban areas of which only 23,277 MLD or 37.58 per cent was treated and the rest was discharged into the river and other water courses. In other words, nearly two-thirds of the urban domestic waste water are discharged without treatment. According to the report, about 25,805 MLD treatment capacities are under construction. Even if we take construction into account, only 42 per cent of the urban domestic water will be treated and rest of it will be disposed of every day. In other words, only two-fifth of the urban domestic waste water is treated and the rest of them are left untreated.11 Consequently, most of the rivers are polluted. In 2015, precisely 302 stretches have been reported to be polluted in different river basins in different states of the country.12

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INDUSTRIALISATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT Since Independence, industrialisation has been one of the prime agendas for the socio-economic development of the country. Several industries have been established in collaboration with the other countries during the post-Independence period. These industries have caused serious environmental problems over the years. Despite various initiatives to prevent industrial pollution, the problems continue to persist. As of 19 May 2014, around 3,266 industries were identified to be highly polluting. Most of these polluting industries are located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. About 82.52 per cent of the highly water polluting industries are located in around ten states. More than 50 per cent of highly polluting industries are located in four states, viz., Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. However, out of the 3,266 highly polluting industries, 2,328 industries (71.28 per cent) of the highly polluting industries are complying with the directions of the Central Pollution Control Board. About 17.48 per cent of the industries violating norms laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board. Around, 11.24 per cent of the industries have been closed.13 Of the 3,266 highly polluting industries, 1,162 or 35.58 per cent of them are discharging their effluents into rivers and lakes. However, 792 industries, which constitute 68.16 per cent are complying the parameters prescribed by the government. Around 200 industries or 17.21 per cent of the industries are not complying with the norms and about 170 industries or 14.63 per cent of the industries are closed down. About 925 industries or 80 per cent of the industries are located in the three states: Uttar Pradesh (569), Maharashtra (214) and Haryana (142). Out of the 200 industries which are not complying with the standards, 152 or 76 per cent is located in three states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana. About 170 industries have been either closed down or in legal disputes.14

VEHICLES AND THEIR IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT The number of vehicles has increased remarkably during the postIndependence period. For example, in 1950–1951 there were 306,000 vehicles and it has increased to 210,023 thousand in 2011 (Table 5.5). It is not the number of vehicles has increased but its carbon discharge is affecting the quality of air and consequently health of the people. Indeed, it is one of the potential threats to the environment.

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Table 5.5: Total Number of Registered Motor Vehicles in India (from 1951– 1956 to 1959–2015) (in ’000) Years (as on 31st March)

All Vehicles

Two Wheelers

Cars, Jeeps and Taxies

Buses

Goods Vehicles

Others

1951

306

27

159

34

82

4

1961

665

88

310

57

168

42

1971

1,865

576

682

94

343

170

1981

5,391

2,618

1,160

162

554

897

1991

21,374

14,200

2,954

331

1,356

2,533

2001

54,991

38,556

7,058

634

2,948

5,795

2011

141,866

101,865

19,231

1,604

7,064

12,102

2015

210,023

154,298

28,611

1,971

9,344

15,799

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Road Transport Year Book, 2016–2017.

15

Due to the increasing number of vehicles, the demand for petrol and diesel consumption has also increased remarkably. This trend can be seen from four metro cities: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore. For instance, in 1990–1991, 602,000 tons was the demand in Delhi and it has increased to 1,614,000 tons in 2010.16 In other words, the growth rate was about 168.11 per cent within two decades. Invariably, among the different metros’ energy demand has doubled within two decades. The demand for diesel has increased more than threefold within two decades.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MEASURES During the post-Independence period, environmental protection measures can be seen in two phases, i.e., 1947–1970 and after the 1970s. Until 1947, except the reserve forests, a few regulatory mechanisms were introduced and that too it was confined to cities/ towns and those acts that have been adopted by the post-Independence governments. In the first phase, no major environmental protection measures were introduced besides adopting the colonial acts. The second phase is significant because several environmental protection measures have been implemented to tackle water pollution, industrial pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. These measures have gained momentum besides protecting a wide range of natural resources. The environmental measures can be classified into two categories—protective measures and regulatory/control measures. The former stresses on how to protect the environment, like forestry,

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biodiversity, wildlife, etc., and the latter one how to regulate water pollution, industrial pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. Let us study various environmental protection measures during the postIndependence period.

Environmental Protection Measures, 1947–1970 The post-Independence government has adopted most of the acts enacted during the colonial period meant to protect the environment. In addition to that prevention of water pollution was emphasised through (a) the Factories Act, 1948 and (b) the River Boards Act, 1956, till the 1970s.

The Factories Act, 1948 The Factories Act, 1948, has made provisions to make an effective arrangement for waste disposal and empowered state governments to frame rules to implement this provision. The Factories Act, 1948, under the disposal of wastes and effluents, Section 12, specifies that, ‘Effective arrangements shall be made in every factory for the treatment of wastes and effluents due to the manufacturing process carried on therein, so as to render them innocuous, and for their disposal.’

The River Boards Act, 1956 The River Boards Act, 1956, suggested to establish a River Board and such board has to be empowered to prevent water pollution.

Forestry The post-Independence government has not changed its colonial forest policy and continued with the same practice till the 1980s. In fact, the forest land was diverted for various development purposes during the post-Independence period.17 According to the Ministry of Forest and Environment (2004), about 4.3 million hectares of forest land was diverted for various development activities in the period of 1952–1980; of which, about 0.5 million hectares of forest land was diverted for river valley projects, 0.134 million hectares for industries and townships, 0.061 hectares for infrastructure development and 1.008 million hectares for miscellaneous purposes. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the rate of diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes was to the tune of 150,000 hectares per annum for three decades between 1950 and 1980. Until the 1980s, the post-Independence government has followed the same colonial policy to restrict the people to use the forest resources and at the same time they have diverted a vast extent of the forest for various development purposes.

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Till the 1970s, the post-Independent government has not made any serious effort to protect the environment besides adapting the laws that were enacted during the colonial regime. At the same time, it has diverted forest resources on a gigantic scale for various development purposes.

Environmental Protection Measures, after 1970s Since the 1970s, the postcolonial government has taken up several initiatives to protect the environment and ecology through adopting the policies and by enacting several acts and rules on a wide range of environmental polluting issues. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, who pledged to protect the environment after attending the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in June 1972. Subsequently, constitutional amendment, environmental protection, forest conservation, prevention of air, noise and water pollution measures, and wildlife protection acts have been enacted. The following acts have been enacted after the 1970s: Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Water Pollution (Prevention) Act, 1974; Air Pollution (Prevention) Act; and Noise Pollution (Prevention) Act. To monitor pollution Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an autonomous body was established in 1974. The states also established similar kind of institutions to control pollution.

Constitution Amendment Since 1976, the Constitution of India has emphasised upon the importance of environment. The 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976, inserted specific provisions for environmental protection in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties. Article 48A declares that: ‘the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.’ Article 51A(g) says: ‘to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.’

Forestry Until 1974, the forest was under a state subject. Based on the constitution, forest was brought under the federal list subject. Based on the constitutional amendment, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, was enacted. Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, imposed restriction on the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose without the prior approval of the Central Government. According to this act,

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‘non-forest purpose’ means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for (a) the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticultural crops or medicinal plants; (b) any purpose other than reafforestation; but does not include any work relating or ancillary to conservation, development and management of forests and wildlife, namely, the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes. This act prevented the diversion of forest land for development purposes; however, the process of diversion of diversion has continued to persist.

Environmental Protection Act, 1986 The Environmental Protection Act made provisions to protect the environment as a whole, by initiation of various measures and laid down rules and penalty provisions not only for individuals but also for companies and even for government officers. According to the Environmental Protection Act, 1986: ‘environment’ includes water, air, and land and the interrelationship that exists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property. According to the provisions of the act, the central government shall have the power to take all such measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of the environment and preventing, controlling and abating environmental pollution. Further, this act made provisions for the Central Government make the rules to regulate the following aspects: to make the standards of quality of air, water or soil for various areas and purposes; to fix the maximum allowable limits of concentration of various environmental pollutants (including noise) for different areas; to fix the procedures and safeguards for the handling of hazardous substances; to prohibit and restrict on the handling of hazardous substances in different areas; to prohibit and restrict on the location of industries and the carrying on process and operations in different areas; and to make rules for the procedures and safeguards for the prevention of accidents which may cause environmental pollution and to provide for remedial measures for such accidents. This act also specified the penalty provisions for the contravention of the provisions of the act. According to this act: ‘whoever fails to comply with or contravenes any of the provisions of this act, or the rules made or orders or directions issued thereunder, shall, in respect of each such failure or contravention, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both, and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional

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fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention. If the failure or contravention referred to in sub-section (1) continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years.’ This act also included provisions meant punish the officers of the government departments.

Water Pollution Acts and Rules Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1974. Under this act, Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards were established. The functions of the Central Board are: to promote cleanliness of streams and wells in different areas of the states; to advise the Central Government on any matter concerning the prevention and control of water pollution; to coordinate the activities of the State Boards and resolve disputes among them; to provide technical assistance and guidance to the State Boards; to carry out and sponsor investigations and research relating to problems of water pollution and prevention, control or abatement of water pollution; to plan and organise the training of persons engaged or to be engaged in programmes for the prevention, control or abatement of water pollution on such terms and conditions as the Central Board may specify; to organise through mass media a comprehensive programme regarding the prevention and control of water pollution; to collect, compile and publish technical and statistical data relating to water pollution and measures devised for its effective prevention and control and prepare manuals, codes or guides relating to treatment and disposal of sewage and trade effluents and disseminate information connected therewith; and to plan and cause to be executed a nation-wide programme for the prevention, control or abatement of water pollution. The State Boards also has the same functions. Failure to comply with directions within such time as may be specified in the direction shall, on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both and in case the failure continues, with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure continues after the conviction for the first such failure. Whoever fails to comply with any order, and on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year and six months but which may extend to six years and with fine, and in case the failure continues, with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for everyday during which such failure continues after the conviction for the first such failure.

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Every subsequent conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years and with fine. Offences by companies, where an offence under this act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of, the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Not only company but also offence committed by any department of government, the Head of the Department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 This act provides for a provision to impose levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying on certain industries and by local authorities, with a view to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards for the prevention and control of water pollution constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977, 16 industries are classified as water pollution industries. Under this act, the water cess has been imposed for the different kind of water consuming industries.

Air Pollution Acts and Rules Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 According to Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, ‘air pollutant’ means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance, including noise present in the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or environment. According to this act, the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board has to exercise the powers to prevent and control of air pollution. The main functions of the Central Board are: to improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country and to advise the Central Government on any matter concerning the improvement of the quality of air and the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution; to plan and cause to be executed a nation-wide programme for the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution; to coordinate the activities of the State and resolve disputes among them; and to provide technical assistance and guidance to the State Boards, carry out and sponsor investigations and research relating to problems of air pollution and prevention, control or abatement of air pollution; organise through mass media

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a comprehensive programme regarding the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution; to collect, compile and publish technical and statistical data relating to air pollution and the measures devised for its effective prevention, control or abatement and prepare manuals, codes or guides relating to prevention, control or abatement of air pollution; to lay down standards for the quality of air, to collect and disseminate information in respect of matters relating to air pollution. The functions of the State Board also more or less same like Central Board. As far as the penalty is concern, this act proposes, whoever fails to comply with the provisions of the act, will be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year and six months but which may extend to six years and with fine, and in case the failure continues, with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure continues after the conviction for the first such failure. If the failure referred to in sub-section continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years and with fine. Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this act or any order or direction issued there under, for which no penalty has been elsewhere provided in this act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both, and in the case of continuing contravention, with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand, rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention. Offences by companies and any department of government, the Head of the Department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. However, the environmental protection measures were largely confined to industrial pollution, air pollution and noise pollution problems. To control the industrial pollution common effluent treatment plants and individual effluent treatment plants have been made mainly focusing on tanneries and dyeing and bleaching industries. However, the other polluting industries did not get much attention. Even the industrial pollution control mechanism was not effective due to legal intervention as well as ineffective monitoring mechanism. The air pollution controlling mechanism also was largely confined to the vehicles and to check the pollution limit. At the same time, it also emphasized to shift to LPG options during the last three decades and once again this was confined to the urban areas. Noise pollution control mechanism has also been fairly regulated during the last few decades.

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The postcolonial government however did not pay any attention towards the major polluting components, i.e., sewerage and its treatment. Only a few cities/towns sewerage is treated and that too only in a limited extent. For example, in Delhi only 20 per cent of the sewerage was treated and the rest of the sewerage is flowing into the river Yamuna. Consequently, Yamuna River has been polluted beyond restoration. India’s environmental policy has emerged mainly in the 1970s, and was largely restricted to a few selected aspects like industrial, air and noise pollution. Though the post-Independence governments followed the same colonial act, vast areas of forests have been diverted for the various development activities. The other green cover, i.e., grazing land and unculturable waste has been brought under cultivation during the green revolution period. However, after 1980 diversion of forest land was regulated by the Central Government. Subsequently, watershed development programme, joint forestry management programme has been launched to preserve water and forest resources. Despite these initiatives, the environmental conditions have not improved due to inefficient institutional mechanisms and vote-bank politics of Indian political economy.

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT Since Independence, the political economy of India’s development has made serious impact on the environment and ecology. Some of the political efforts have been prevented due to people’s movements. For example, the government was forced to withdraw the Green Valley Projects due to people movements. The political economy of forest policies of the twenty-first century are lying behind the vote-bank politics is for the tribals and other traditional forest-dwellers in particular. In electoral democracy, held hostage by populist politics, tribal development was by and large viewed from, the potential to generate a vote-bank facilitating the hold on power and not from a developmental and ecology and environment point of view.18 The political economy behind the enactment of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is to regain the Congress vote-bank in the tribal belt. The act will pose a serious threat to the environmentally important forests resources and other common property resources. The political economy of tribal development in the late 1970s and restoration of Forest Rights Act in 2006 have to be looked at from an historical perspective. To regain the tribal vote-bank that was lost in the early 1970s by the Congress Party introduced tribal development

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strategy during the Fifth Five-Year Plan period and enjoyed their support until the early 1990s. Again, when the Congress Party had lost its support during the late 1990s and early part of 2000 has resulted in the enactment of restoration of Forest Rights Act in 2006. For example, in 1971 (Fifth Lok Sabha) elections, out of thirty-six parliamentary constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, Congress Party had won twenty-one seats. In 1977 (Sixth Lok Sabha) elections, out of thirty-eight parliamentary constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, Congress had won only thirteen seats.19 Consequently, to regain the vote-bank of the tribals a new strategy for tribal development was introduced. The Congress Party has reaped its fruits in the subsequent elections, particularly after the 1980s and that sustained till the early 1990s. For instance, during the 1980s (Seventh Lok Sabha) elections, Congress Party had won thirty-two parliamentary seats out of forty-one seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.20 In 1984, out of thirty-eight parliamentary seats, Congress Party has won thirty-two seats.21 But in the 1989 election, out of thirty-nine parliamentary seats, Congress Party has won only twenty seats.22 In 1991 (Tenth Lok Sabha) elections, Congress has won twenty-nine parliamentary seats out of forty-one total reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes.23 In 1996 (Eleventh Lok Sabha) elections, Congress won twenty-one parliamentary seats out of forty-one total reserved seats.24 In 1998 (Twelfth Lok Sabha) elections, Congress won eighteen parliamentary seats out of forty-one total reserved seats.25 In 1999 (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) elections, Congress won only nine parliamentary seats out of forty-one total reserved seats for the tribals.26 In 2004 (Fourteenth Lok Sabha) elections, Congress won fourteen parliamentary seats out of forty-one total reserved seats.27 The political economy of the tribal development strategies in the late 1970s has gained the vote-bank for the Congress and the party has sustained it for over one and half decades until it started losing during the late 1990s. The Congress Party lost its vote-bank in the tribal belt during the 1999 and 2004 parliamentary elections. To regain the confidence of tribals and their vote-bank, the Congress has introduced the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, as a rectification of historical injustice. Thus, tribal development strategies and restoration of forest rights acts were initiated to restore the lost vote-bank by the Congress during the early 1970s and late 1990s and early 2000 respectively. The political economy of the Congress government during the 1980s has extended the incentives and facilities in favour of the private sector which has had serious consequences for the private land resources in the subsequent decades. On the one hand, the amendment in the land acquisition act has facilitated to large number of private enterprising

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activities as for public purposes and, on the other, the housing policies were opened to the private sector.28 During the 1980s, the political economy of these two important policies, viz., Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, and housing policies in favour of private sector have resulted in a series of implications for the private land resources. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, has provided definitions for the ‘corporation owned or controlled by the state’ and for ‘public purpose’. In Section 3, ‘Definition’ after clause (c) the following clause (cc) ‘Corporation owned or controlled by the state’ was inserted, and also for ‘public purpose’ a detailed explanation was incorporated. The amendments made in 1984 in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, ended any differentiation between acquisition for a state purpose and acquisition for a private enterprise or state enterprise by amending Section 4 of the original act to insert the words—or for a company—after any public purpose. The courts have interpreted this amendment to mean that any notification of acquisition issued under Section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a public purpose or for a company. This opened the floodgates to acquisition of private land by the state for companies. And this in turn has unleashed the tribal and rural backlash that has led the government to replace the 1894 Act with an altogether new act.29 The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990) envisaged, the major responsibility for house construction would have to be left to the private sector and here government has to facilitate the development of suitable housing sites on a large scale. It emphasised that the government has to undertake land acquisition and development in the urban areas for housing and the construction activities should be left to the private sector. In other words, the government has to play an active role through developing the necessary delivery system in the form of a housing finance market and taking steps to make developed land available at right places and at reasonable prices. The first one has a major impact on the process of acquiring the private land and common property resources in general for private and company interests and the second one, largely affected the private land for private and companies’ commercial motives in the name of public purpose. This policy actually opened up for the private sector to acquire private land for commercial gains in the name of public purpose. These two initiatives during the 1980s led to severe protest from the farmers in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, particularly in the non-Congress Party ruled states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa while paved the way for the enactment of Fair Compensation of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act in 2013. The Congress took up this issue and became a saviour of the farmers to regain their vote-bank in the non-Congress ruled states.

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FOREST RIGHTS ACT, 2006 The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, has recognised the tribals and other forest-dwellers ownership rights for their occupied land and also permitted them to collect the forest produce from the forest, besides diverting the forest for various development initiatives. This act has not only recognised the forest rights but also restored rights of tribals and other traditional forest-dwellers. According to this act, the forest-dwelling tribals and other traditional forest-dwellers who have occupied forest land as an individual or as a family or a community restricted to the area under actual occupation and shall not exceed four hectares as on before the 13 December 2005 are given the following forest rights: (a) right to hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood; (b) community rights such as nistar, by whatever name called, including those used in erstwhile princely states, zamindari or such intermediary regimes; (c) right of ownership, access to collect, use, and dispose of minor forest produce which has been traditionally collected within or outside village boundaries; (d) other community rights of uses or entitlements such as fish and other products of water bodies, grazing (both settled or transhumant) and traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic or pastoralist communities; (e) rights, including community tenures of habitat and habitation for primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities; (f) rights in or over disputed lands under any nomenclature in any state where claims are disputed; (g) rights for conversion of pattas or leases or grants issued by any local authority or any State Government on forest lands to titles; (h) rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages, old habitation un-surveyed villages and other villages in forest, whether recorded, notified, or not, into revenue villages; (i) right to protect, regenerate, or conserve or manage any community forest resource, which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use; (j) rights which are recognised under any state law or laws of any Autonomous District Council or Autonomous Regional Council or which are accepted as rights of tribals under any traditional or customary law of concerned tribes of any state; (k) right of access to biodiversity and community right to intellectual property and traditional knowledge related to biodiversity and cultural diversity; (l) any other traditional right customarily enjoyed by them but excluding the traditional right of hunting or trapping or extracting a part of the body of any species of wild animal; and (m) right to in situ rehabilitation including alternative land in cases where they have been illegally evicted

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or displaced from forest land of any description without receiving their legal entitlement or rehabilitation prior to the 13 December 2005. This act has also facilitated the diversion of forest land, felling of not exceeding seventy-five trees per hectare for the various developmental activities by the government subject to less than one hectare for each of the activities based on the recommendation of gram sabha. The listed development activities include: (a) schools; (b) dispensary or hospital; (c) anganwadis; (d) fair price shops; (e) electric and telecommunication lines; (f) tanks and other minor water bodies; (g) drinking water supply and water pipelines; (h) water or rain water harvesting structures; (i) minor irrigation canals; (j) non-conventional source of energy; (k) skill upgradation or vocational training centres; (l) roads; and (m) community centres. This act empowers the gram sabhas to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both. To be precise, forest rights acts, ‘empower the forest rights holder, gram sabha and local level institution with the right to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage any community forest resource.’30 Until the 1980s, the subject of forest was under the state list of subjects which diverted a vast extent of the forest for the various development purposes. To protect the forest, the subject was brought under the federal list through a constitutional amendment that reduced the diversion till 2007, but the populist politics undermined the conservation motives from 2008 onwards in India.

CONCLUSION After Independence, the first three decades the government did not undertake any major initiatives to protect the environment besides adopting the colonial acts. Instead of protecting the environment, the governments have encouraged the diverting the green cover. Invariably, a vast extent of forest area was diverted for the various development initiatives. Adding to that, other green cover like pastoral and other barren and cultivable land was also brought under cultivation during the green revolution period. In other words, till 1980, the green cover— forest, pasture and barren and uncultivable wasteland—has declined drastically. After the 1980s, the diversion of green cover was regulated by the Central Government or Government of India. Till the 1970s, the other environmental issues did not receive much attention. In the early 1970s, several environmental acts such as the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Water Pollution (Prevention) Act; Air Pollution (Prevention) Act; and Noise Pollution (Prevention) Act have been enacted. In addition to that several rules and regulations have

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been framed. These acts are controlled/regulated to some extent. The technological advancement in the agrarian sector has made serious impact on the ecology in terms of soil fertility, declining water quality, etc. However, the water polluting components of the environment like sewerage water did not draw attention. This integral aspect has proved to be a great threat to the environment not only in the urban areas but also in the rural areas. Such waste generated is polluting both surface and groundwater quality. The post-Independent India’s environmental history, issues are multifaceted, such as population explosion, urbanisation, slums, agricultural expansion, etc., and they were largely neglected during the early decades. Instead of preserving the environment, the green cover was largely diverted both for the purpose of development and agricultural expansion. In other words, within the three decades of the post-Independence period, large extents of forests were diverted and other common property lands were reduced to a negligible proportion. The other significant aspects of the environment gained attention only in the 1970s. Several acts have been enacted which were largely regulatory in nature. Adding to that political economy of the tribal and other forest-dwelling communities has further added to the growing environment problems. Without realising the importance of environment, the common property resources were exploited in the early period. The vote-bank politics in Independent India have further aggravated the India’s environment crises.

NOTES AND REFERENCES For details, see Velayutham Saravanan, Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India, 1792–1947 (London and New York: Routledge, 2017); Velayutham Saravanan, Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). 2 Velayutham Saravanan, Water and the Environmental History of Modern India (London: Bloomsbury, 2020). 3 See Saravanan, Environmental History. 4 Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016 (New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2017), 352–353. 5 Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 221, 2 August 2016. 6 See Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Forest Rights Act, 2006: Failure of Law or Governance?’ (unpublished paper). 7 Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016 (New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2017), 327–328. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid., 348. 10 Central Water Commission. 1

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11 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Lok Sabha, Unstarred Question No. 1475, 26 July 2016. 12 Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3789, 22 December 2015. 13 Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 216, 9 July 2014. 14 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. 15 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Road Transport Year Book, 2016–17 (New Delhi: Government of India, 2019), 41–42. 16 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. 17 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Environmental History of Tamil Nadu State, Law and Decline of Forest and Tribals, 1950–2000’, MAS 41, no. 4 (2007): 723– 767; Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Land Acquisition Act in India: Impact on Environment and Livelihood, 1824–2013’, NMML Occasional Paper, no. 46 (New Delhi: NMML, 2014). 18 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Political Economy of Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006: Conflict between Environment and Tribal Development’, South Asia Research 29, no. 3 (2009): 199–221. 19 Key Highlights of General Elections, 1977 to the Sixth Lok Sabha, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 20 Key Highlights of General Elections, 1980 to the Seventh Lok Sabha, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 21 Statistical Report on General Elections, 1984 to the Eight Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 22 Key Highlights of General Elections, 1989 to the Ninth Lok Sabha, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 23 Statistical Report on General Elections, 1991 to the Tenth Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 24 Statistical Report on General Elections, 1996 to the Eleventh Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 25 Statistical Report on General Elections, 1998 to the Twelfth Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 26 Statistical Report on General Elections, 1999 to the Thirteenth Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 27 Statistical Report on General Elections, 2004 to the Fourteenth Lok Sabha, Vol. 1 (National and State Abstracts and detailed results), Election Commission of India, New Delhi. 28 Saravanan, ‘Land Acquisition Act in India’. 29 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 2011–2012. 30 Annual Report, 2012–2013.

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6 LAND FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT The state as an ‘Eminent Domain’ uses this right to acquire the private land/property for public purpose. This system is in practice in different parts of the world, both in developed and developing countries, for the last several centuries, particularly after the industrial revolution.1 While taking over private property, the state used to pay compensation to its owners.2 The origins of the term ‘Eminent Domain’ can be traced to the legal treatise written by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius in 1625, which says that: [T]he property of subjects is under the eminent domain of the state, so that the state or he who acts for it may use and even alienate and destroy such property, not only in the case of extreme necessity, in which even private persons have a right over the property of others, but for ends of public utility, to which ends those who founded civil society must be supposed to have intended that private ends should give way. But it is to be added that when this is done the state is bound to make good the loss to those who lose their property.3

However, during the precolonial period, land was acquired for various public purposes, such as building roads, forts, palaces and public buildings, digging tanks and canals but it did not pose any serious problems.4 Of course, these developmental activities were very limited during the precolonial era. Even the colonial government continued to follow the same policies. Indeed, the developmental measures almost ‘non-existed’ during the East India Company regime, i.e., until the mid-nineteenth century. ‘So long as the Company held real sway, the policy was strictly and narrowly commercial. Dividends were the paramount aim and end of government.’5 However, ‘[t]he government of the East India company had also acquired land for similar purposes, including for building ports and dockyards, but did not encounter major opposition.’6 Since the early nineteenth century, a separate act was enacted at the presidency level to acquire land resources for public purposes mainly in the urban areas. During the mid-nineteenth century, the British crown initiated various developmental activities, such as the establishment of railways, 157

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educational institutions and construction of dams, in different parts of the country. Railway was included as a public purpose only in 1850. Indeed, there was no provision to acquire the land for private companies under the Bengal Regulation. Hence, in 1850, railway construction was included as a public purpose. For the acquisition of land for public purpose, the government enacted ‘Land for Public Purposes Act 1857’ for the country as a whole. A comprehensive act for land acquisition was enacted in 1894 and the same act continues to be practiced till date. ‘The exercise of the doctrine of Eminent Domain was limited to acquiring land for public purpose such as roads, railways, canals, and social purposes … state-run schools and hospitals.’7 It is not necessary that all the entire range of acquisition has to be initiated by the government alone but it should also be undertaken by the concerned local authorities, societies registered under the societies registration act and cooperative societies can acquire land for developmental activities through the government. Further, this act also added the company but largely confined it only to railways, until the 1933 amendment. In other words, until 1933, the company meant only railways and not many other companies.8 The post-Independence government, however, has not made any substantial change in the land acquisition act till the last quarter of the twentieth century. ‘In fact, the attitude of the Indian state towards the acquisition of the land of the poor in no way differed from that of the British.’9 Since then, the companies were encouraged to acquire land by the government. ‘Public sector and government projects were not the only purposes for which land was forcibly acquired by the state. Rather, states acquired land for private companies too on the pretext of public purpose in the interest of states.’10 To facilitate the interest of private companies, constitutional amendment was made in 1978. Until 1978, the constitutional provisions had restricted the power of the parliament and state legislature to enact the law for compulsory acquisition of property due to: (a) the compulsory acquisition of property must be for a public purpose; (b) that such acquisition must be by authority of law; (c) that such law must provide for compensation for the property so acquired; and (d) that the law must either fix the amount of the compensation or specify the principles on which, and the manner in which, the compensation is to be determined and given.11

Until 1978, the property right was a ‘fundamental right’ and this was reduced to the status of ‘legal right’ under the 44th Amendment of the Indian Constitution. Accordingly, ‘No person shall be deprived

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of his property save by authority of law.’ This amendment has made two major implications: one is, any violation to property could be challenged only in high courts and not directly in the Supreme Court; and the second is, the government is no longer under any obligation to compensate persons whose land had been acquired. However, the amendments have made provisions to acquire the land for companies during the post-Independence period. ‘There has been a tendency in recent years by most project promoters to acquire land by using the eminent domain powers of the state, rather than through market negotiations.’12 Consequently, ‘[t]here is a growing perception in India that these powers are frequently abused and that the compensation provided by the laws is inadequate.’13 Indeed, ‘[i]n most cases, compensation for land acquisition has been paid in cash, based on prices below the prevailing market prices’.14 The compensation amount was paid based on the registered sale value of the land. To avoid the high stamp duties, both buyers and sellers used to underreport the land sale transaction value. The registered value of the land was treated as a market value by the government while determining the award of compensation. Consequently, while acquiring land for public purpose, the farmers were unable to get the actual compensation and instead received lower than market rate prices. ‘Since stamp duties are to be paid on all documents that are registered, high stamp duties have led the transacting parties to either avoid registration through various means including informal agreements or underreport the transaction value.’15 ‘Transaction taxes in land trade being as high as 15 percent in many states limit the trade in land, and deals would be under–reported in value to avoid payment of high rates.’16 ‘However, in most areas where development projects are built, unlike in urban areas trade in land is infrequent.’17 Numerous large dams, power plants, mines, and steel and heavy engineering plants came up on land acquired using the 1894 law, thus causing massive displacement of small farmers, agricultural labour, landless village workers, artisans, and forest dwellers. The issue became complicated when decisions had to be taken on paying the price for the land acquired.18

Even in the developed countries, ‘land is purchased by such enterprises rather than acquired by the state.’19 In the developed countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, Japan, Australia, China and the European Union, there is no provision for acquisition of land for private companies.20 The Standing Committee on Rural Development (2012) observed that:

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It may be seen that in all developed democracies, private purchase of land, not State acquisition, is the norm. There is no provision in their laws for the State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises, nor, by extension, for public-private enterprises.21

Whereas in the developing countries, particularly in India, ‘public purpose is defined as to include virtually every form of enterprise, particularly after the amendments made in 1962 and 1984 in the LA 1894 Act’.22 ‘The government now started acquiring large tracts of land on behalf of private companies categorizing nearly every excuse for private activity as “public purpose” in order to invoke the Land Acquisition Act of 1894.’23 ‘The public perception on land acquisition is generally negative when land is acquired by the government on behalf of the private sector, whose sole objective is seen to be profit maximization.’24 ‘While the LAA, 1894 provides the principal framework for land acquisition in the country, the states have adopted it for application within their respective jurisdiction with amendments that they deem necessary.’25 While acquiring land for the public purpose and company, the government has not made any commitment either for paying the appropriate compensation or framed any rehabilitation policies. Uniform rate of compensation and undervaluation of land was a major challenge while acquiring the land for the railways from the mid-nineteenth century. ‘Most of the early problems relating to land acquisition for the railways were due to these two major irritants— uniform rate of compensation and undervaluation of land.’26 Hence, the people protested against the land acquisition mainly due to ‘… the uniform rate of compensation and the gross undervaluation of land.’27 The same kinds of issues have continued even during the postIndependence period. A large number of displaced people have been left without any rehabilitation and resettlement resulting in a vast threat to their livelihood. The following quotation clearly indicates the magnitude of the problems: An official database of persons displaced/affected by projects is not available. However, some unofficial studies, particularly by Walter Fernandes, peg this figure at around 60 million for the period from 1947 to 2004, involving 25 million ha which includes 7 million ha of forest and 6 million ha of other Common Property Resources (CPR). Whereas the tribals constitute 8.08% of country’s population, they are 40% of the total displaced/affected persons by the projects. Similarly at least 20% of the displaced/affected are Dalits and another 20% are OBCs. The resettlement record is also very dismal. Only a third of the displaced persons of planned development have been resettled.28

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However, it is to be pointed out that 16 acts were passed which had the provisions for the rehabilitation and resettlement since the late nineteenth century.29 Until the mid-nineteenth century, land acquisition for public purposes acts were enacted at the presidency level. From the midnineteenth century, common land acquisition act was enacted at the country level. Prior to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, some central acts enacted for acquiring land for the specific development activities, such as telegraph, tramways and railways.30 Even after the enactment of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, there were several other central acts which had the provisions for land acquisition for specific development activities, such as defence, electricity, forest, coal, etc.31 In addition to the central acts in general and specific acts in particular for land acquisition, states and native governments have enacted their own acts to acquire land for the public purposes not only at the state level but also at the local municipal level.32 For the public purpose, land was acquired either with a separate act33 or under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.34 After the enactment of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, different provinces had adopted and amended the acts,35 some of the Part B states enacted their own acts36 and also separate acts were enacted by the Native States.37 Though several provinces/states enacted their own acts based on the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, they continued to make amendments over the period of time.38 Some of the important questions are: how the land acquisition for public purpose was emerged? How the public purpose concept itself has widened? How the compensation mechanism has been determined? How the rehabilitation and resettlement was made policy? Why the problem has aggravated? These questions have to be captured from the legal point of view from the early nineteenth century to the present in a historical perspective. The other relevant questions are: whether the state is acquiring private property only for public purpose or also for facilitating the profit-driven private institutions and whether the state is paying the compensation based on the actual value of the property or only for a lower value. Why is the state invoking the land acquisition act for the profit-making institutions and why are they not buying on their own at the market price? Further, while acquiring the land for the public purpose, whether the ecology and environmental consequences were thoroughly considered or not? Finally, how these enactments were made in favour of government/companies at the cost of farmers and ecology and environment? Considering the above queries, this chapter attempts to analyse the background of the genesis of the act and its amendments over a period of time and its consequences on the property owners in terms of compensation and rehabilitation. Further, it also captures how

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the state has become an agent not only for the private companies but also for the real estate companies during the post-Independence period. In other words, this chapter attempts to highlight the issues and problems of land acquisition for the public purposes as well as for companies and other profit-making private institutions, and its due impact on property owners in terms of compensation, rehabilitation and negligence of the actual market value of the property and its consequences on the ecology and environment, beginning from the early period till the recent years. Precisely, this chapter attempts to analyse how the land acquisition policies have affected the livelihood options of the farmers without having in place appropriate compensation and rehabilitation measures and how it has had a caustic effect on the ecology and environment for about two centuries—from the early nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century in a historical perspective (1824–2013). This chapter consists of ten sections. The second section gives a detailed background of the Land Acquisition Act (1824–1894). The third section deals with the features of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The fourth section outlines the amendments of land acquisition act for both colonial and postcolonial periods (1894–1984). The fifth section discusses about the provisions of the companies’ act. The sixth section analyses the extent of land acquired and its impact on the environment and livelihood options. The seventh section analyses the various housing policies and emergence of real estate companies. The eighth section deals with the resettlement and rehabilitation policies. The ninth section analyses the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The last section ends with the concluding observations.

BACKGROUND OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT An outset, the East India Company initiated the process of land acquisition in India for the various public purposes from the early nineteenth century. It was initially confined to the presidency level and later on as the country as a whole. During the early nineteenth century, the land acquisition process has occurred mainly in the urban areas and that too only to a limited extent. However, process was very limited during the nineteenth century and, therefore, the results too were limited.

Bengal Regulation, 1824 The Bengal Regulation I of 1824 was the first legislation in India for acquisition of land and other immovable properties for public purposes.

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It is ‘a Regulation for enabling the officers of Government to obtain, at a fair valuation, land or other immoveable property required for roads, canals, or other public purposes.’39 This regulation further states: Whenever it may appear necessary or expedient to appropriate the whole or part of any individual’s landed estate or other immovable property, or anything thereunto belonging for the construction of a public road, building, canal, drain, jail, or for any other public purpose,  then, if there be any hindrance to the purchase of the said property by private bargain, the Officer entrusted with the execution of such public work, or any other Officer, whom the GovernorGeneral in Council may direct, shall proceed to the spot and erect a flag thereon.40

Further, this regulation made provisions for arbitration, power of directing a recourse to arbitrations, combinations of arbitrators, how to be adjusted, how to proceed when the possession is doubtful, and award show to be given by arbitrators, etc.41 This act facilitated the government to acquire land and other immovable properties for developing roads, canals and other public purposes. This act also made provisions for the payment of fair compensation for the land and other immovable properties as acquired.

Bombay Building Act, 1839 Based on the Bengal Regulation, the Bombay Presidency also enacted a separate act to acquire the land for the public purposes in the subsequent years. In 1839, the ‘Regulation of Buildings in the Islands of Bombay and Colaba’ known as the Bombay Building Act (Act XXVIII) that was enacted to acquire land for ‘widening or altering any existing public road, street, or other thoroughfare or drain or for making any new public road, street or other thoroughfare within the islands of Bombay and Colaba.’42

1850 Act Under this act (Act of XLII), railway was pronounced as a public work. For the construction of railway network in different parts of the country, the need for a separate act was felt to acquire land in the mid-nineteenth century. ‘The government could not transfer the land acquired for public works under the existing law (Regulation I of 1824), to a private company for the construction of railways. Nor could railway construction be referred to as public work.’43 ‘On 20 December 1850, an act was passed to address the legal aspects of the problem. It widened

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the scope of the term public work to include railway construction. The act also authorized the executive bodies to take possession of the land marked by the railway company for the centre line.’44 In 1850, it was pronounced that the railways was public works body within the meaning of the Bengal Regulation I of 1824 and thus land was acquired for the construction of railways.

Madras Presidency Act In the Madras Presidency, to facilitate acquiring of land for the public purposes, ‘The Acquisition of Land needed for Public Purposes in the Presidency of Fort St. George’ (Act XX of 1852) was enacted on 27 March 1852. According to this act: whenever it shall appear to the Governor of Fort St. George in Council that any land is needed for a public purpose, he shall make a declaration to that effect in a Minute of Council, and such declaration shall be conclusive evidence that the purpose for which the land is needed is a public purpose.45

Indeed, this act largely adopted the Bengal Regulation I of 1824.

Land for Public Purposes Act, 1857 Land for Public Purposes Act, 1857, was the first act enacted for the acquisition of land for public purposes for the country as a whole. This act repealed all previous enactments of different presidencies relating to acquisition of land for public purposes. Thus, the act was enacted with incorporation of various acts/codes practised in different presidencies/ regions of the subcontinent (Section 1). According to this act, the Secretary to the Government or any authorised officer may take any land for public purpose by declaration (Section 2). After the declaration, the government will direct the collector or concerned officer to acquire the land (Section 3). After taking over the land, the collector has to mark out the area, conduct a survey and prepare the plan. Then the collector has to serve notices to the public, occupier and interested party of the declared property. In the notice, he has to mention about the proposed time and place, not less than fifteen days after the date of publication of notice for meeting with the interested party or their agents (Section 4). Subsequently, the collector has to fix the date of enquiry with the interested person/party to estimate the value of land and the amount of compensation to be awarded. Once the interested party accepted the proposal, the collector will award the compensation that is conclusive (Section 5). If the compensation is not paid at the time of possession,

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then the collector has to pay the amount along with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the time of notice (Section 27). In case, the interested party did not attend the meeting or the collector could not agree with the interested person’s demand, the matter will be referred to arbitrator (Section 6). After the award is referred to the arbitrator, the collector may take over immediate possession (Section 8). If there is any opposition to take over position of land by the collector, he has to apply to Magistrate to enforce the surrender of the land (Section 9). If the amount of compensation was referred to the arbitrator with the written consent of persons interested, the collector may ask the arbitrator to determine the proportion of the award for every one (Section 14). This act laid the foundations for the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, with reference to declaration, acquisition, survey and issue of notices to the public, award of compensation and reference to the arbitrator if any disputes arise.

Land for Public Purposes (Amendment) Act, 1861 The 1857 Act assumed that there may arise difficulties for acquisition of land by the collector or concerned officer after the declaration (Section 3). Within a short span of time, the government realised that it was not that easy to acquire the land even after the declaration. It was felt that the requirement of commissioner of police force is required due to protests from the land owners. Hence, in 1861, the Land for Public Purposes (Amendment) Act, 1861, was amended stating that the collector or other officer has to apply to the commissioner of police to enforce the surrender of the land (Section 2).

Land for Public Purposes (Amendment) Act, 1863 This amendment was made to engage the private persons and companies to carry out various public works. It facilitated the private persons and companies to construct the activities in the land acquired for public purposes and it also made provisions for regulating the construction and use of works. A few years’ experience of the working of the Land for Public Purposes Act, 1857, revealed that the method of settlement of compensation by arbitration was unsatisfactory and there was no provision for appeal against the award of the arbitrators. To overcome these drawbacks, Land Acquisition Act, 1870, was enacted.

Land Acquisition Act, 1870 The Land Acquisition Act, 1870, was enforced on 1 June 1870 and it was extended to the whole of India. According to this act, the local

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government can acquire the land in any locality for public purpose by issuing a notification to be published in the local gazette and also displayed prominently in the locality. After the notification, the government can undertake the survey, set out boundaries and clear any standing crop, fence or jungle of the acquired land. However, the government cannot enter into any building or in any enclosed court or garden attached to a dwelling house without giving a notice at least seven days in advance (Section 4). While taking over the land, the government has to pay for all necessary damage to the property. In case any dispute arises regarding the amount, the concerned officer refers the matter to the collector and his decision is final (Section 5). In case of emergency, fifteen days after the publication of notice by the collector, possession of any waste or arable land needed for public purpose or for a company, which is free from all encumbrances, can be taken (Section 17). For the public purpose or for a company, land can be acquired by the local government and that declaration should be issued under the signature of the Secretary of the Government or authorised officers. However, no such declaration shall be made by the government unless it assures the compensation amount to be paid out of public revenue, municipal fund or by a company. The declaration has to be published in the local official gazette which consists of the name of the district or other territorial division, the purpose for which the land is required, approximate area of land, plan of the land and its place of availability. The said declaration would be conclusive evidence for the requirement of land for a public purpose or for a company (Section 6). After the declaration, the local government has to direct the collector to take an order for the acquisition of land (Section 7). The collector has to issue a public notice at convenient places. The notice must state that the government intends to take possession of the land and that the claims of compensation for all interests in such land may be made to the collector. Further, the notice also should provide the particulars of land and all persons interested in the land to appear in person or agents before the collector at a particular time and place. The collector also has to send the notice individually to the occupiers (Section 9). In the meeting, the collector has to enquire about the value of land and expected compensation amount with the interested persons and to inform the affected party compensation that will be paid (Section 11). If no claimants attended the meeting or if the collector is unable to agree with persons interested and arise conflicts regarding title, rights and claims on the property collector may refer to the court (Section 15). After referring to the court decision, the collector may take possession of the land which is absolutely government property and free from all encumbrances (Section 16). While determining the

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amount of compensation, the collector has to take into consideration: the market value, damages to the property, his earnings and change of his residence. If the collector and persons interested agree to the compensation amount in the presence of witness, award will be made by the collector (Section 14). In addition to the actual compensation amount, the collector has to consider payment of compensation of 15 per cent of the market value for compulsory acquisition of the property (Section 42). If the compensation is not paid at the time of possession, the amount has to be paid with the additional 6 per cent interest rate. For acquisition of land for companies, the company has to get the consent of the government and also execute the agreement (Section 47). Then, the local government may authorise any officer of the company to exercise the preliminary investigations for acquisition of land (Section 46). The government has to satisfy itself that the land is required for construction work and that it would be useful for the public before it gives consent for the proposal (Section 48). The agreement has to be published in the Gazette of India and also local official gazette (Section 50). The importance of this act is that it has laid down a detailed procedure for acquisition of land and also provided definite rules for the determination of compensation amount and also made provision to a civil court for determining the amount of compensation. The 1870 Act made provisions for acquisition of land for the companies that would be useful for the public and listed the detailed procedures to be followed. In a nutshell, prior to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a prelude of acts laid down the procedures to acquire land, determination of compensation and appeal for the compensation and also made provisions for the emergency clauses to acquire the land.

FEATURES OF LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894 The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, came into force on 1 March 1894. This act was extended to whole of India except in the Part ‘B’ states, such as Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala, Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Travancore-Cochin. At the initial stage, if the government felt that the land is needed or likely to be needed for any public purpose,46 a notification has to be published in the official gazette and the collector has to display public notice containing the substance of notification at the public place. Subsequently, the notified land has to be taken over by the government. While taking over the land, the officer has to pay for the damages. In the case of disputes regarding payment for damages, the concerned officer has to refer to the decision of the collector or any other chief revenue officer (Section 5).

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Once the government ensures the sources of compensation amount for the land to be paid by a company or public revenue office or a local authority, a declaration shall be made under the signature of a Secretary to the Government or authorised officer (Section 6). The declaration should consist of location of land in the district or other territorial division, the purpose for which it is needed, its approximate area, and a plan of the land and the place where such plan may be inspected. There should be conclusive evidence that the land is needed for a public purpose or for a company (Section 6). After the declaration, the government shall direct the collector to take orders for the acquisition of the land (Section 7). The collector has to display notices at convenient places on or near the land to be taken, stating that the government intends to take possession of the land, and that claims to compensation for all interest in such land may be made to him. The notice should consist of the particulars of land and all persons interested in the land to appear personally before the collector at a specified time and place (Section 9). For emergency purposes, the government can direct the collector to acquire the land after expiration of fifteen days of notification to take possession of any waste or arable land needed for public purposes or for a company, which is absolutely free from all encumbrances. However, at the time of taking possession of land the collector has to pay compensation for the standing crops and trees (Section 17). If the award of compensation is not acceptable, the person interested has to submit an application to the collector requesting that the matter to be referred to the court for determination of award. In that application the grounds on which the person interested want to refer the court has to be mentioned explicitly. If the person has already represented to the collector, he has to write to the collector within six weeks from the date of the collector’s award. In other cases, the representation has to be made within six weeks of the receipt of the notice from the collector or within six months from the date of the collector’s award, whichever period shall first expire (Section 18). While determining the amount of compensation, the court has to take consideration of market value, damages to the property, his earnings and change of his residence. If the collector and persons interested agree the compensation amount in presence of witness, award will be made by the collector (Section 23). In addition to the actual compensation amount, the collector has to consider payment of compensation of 15 per cent of the market value for compulsory acquisition of the property (Section 23). If the compensation is not paid at the time of position, the amount has to be paid with the 6 per cent interest.

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For acquisition of land by companies, the company has to get the consent of the government and also execute an agreement (Section 39). Then the local government may authorise any officer of the company to exercise the preliminary investigations for acquisition of land (Section 38). The government has to be satisfied with the company’s proposal that there is a need for construction work that would be useful for the public before giving consent (Section 40). The agreement has to be published in the Gazette of India and also local official gazette (Section 42). The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, has precisely laid down the comprehensive procedures to acquire land for the public purposes: (a) preliminary notification (Section 4); (b) declaration of notification (Section 6); (c) notice to persons interested (Section 9); (d) enquiry and award (Section 11) and (e) possession (Section 16).

AMENDMENTS IN LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894 Though the Land Acquisition Act was enacted based on the various acts at the Presidency-level as well as country-level enactments from the early nineteenth century, it has undergone several amendments both during the colonial and postcolonial periods. ‘So far, the Act has been amended 17 times. Various sections of the Act have also been amended from time to time by the State Governments to meet their specific requirements.’47 The amendments are discussed in the following sections encompassing both colonial and postcolonial eras.

Colonial Period The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, has undergone several amendments during the colonial period which include: Act 9 of 1910, Act 4 of 1914, Act 10 of 1914, Act 17 of 1919, Act 38 of 1920, Act 19 of 1921, Act 38 of 1923, Act 16 of 1933, and adapted and modified by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.

Indian Electricity Act, 1910 The Indian Electricity Act, 1910, has made a major amendment in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. This act made provisions to acquire the land at the state level by the individuals with same conditions as that for the companies. The Indian Electricity Act, 1910, has made a provision to facilitate the individuals to acquire land for their undertakings at the state level. This is a first instance which seeks to engage the individuals to acquire land to develop their undertakings.

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Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1921 This act has made provisions in the ‘forms of award’ as well as to appeal in the Supreme Court based on the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. In Section 26 ‘forms of award’, the following sub-section (26[2]) was inserted: Every such award shall be deemed to be a decree and the statement of the grounds of every such award a judgement within the meaning of section 2, clause (2) and clause (9) respectively of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).48

Under Section 54, a clause was inserted to facilitate the provisions to appeal in the Supreme Court regarding the compensation.

Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1923 As per the original act, there is no provision to object the acquisition but only provision to pay for damages. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1923, has made provisions for raising objection to the notification and also after hearing it, the collector has to forward the same for the final decision of the government. The amendment has provided opportunities for the landowners to submit their viewpoint. At the same time, this amendment has also made a provision to acquire the land on an emergency basis, for which there is no need to get the viewpoint of the landowners. Further, this amendment has also provided for consent from the government based on the report. Under Sections 40 and 41, there was another amendment to provide for more clarity on giving of consent by the government either based on the report of the collector or on the report of the officer making such an inquiry. This amendment, on the one hand, provided an opportunity to the owner to make objections at the time of notification and, on the other hand, it also introduced the emergency provision which facilitates ‘no hearing’ objections options. However, this amendment seeks a detailed report by the government before giving consent for the acquisition.

Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1933 This amendment was made largely to facilitate the industries and the industrial workers; the company is authorised to survey and to construct the dwelling houses for workers. It sought to obtain land for the erection of dwelling houses for workmen employed by the company or for the provision to build various amenities. Further, it also emphasised that the work should be completed within the stipulated time and insisted on maintenance for the public purpose.

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Over fifty years of the colonial rule, several amendments were made to the act, such as facility to raise an objection against the notification, to appeal in the Supreme Court for the award of compensation, etc. Other amendments introduced were emergency provisions for a detailed report by the government before giving consent for the acquisition of lands and the provisions for the industries and residential purposes for the industrial workers.

Postcolonial Period During the post-Independence period, the government made several amendments, such as Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1962, Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967, and the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984. Indeed, the post-Independence government has continued to follow the same act without any substantial changes in the provisions of the act for about one and half decades. However, minor changes were made based on the Adoption of Acts and Ordinance Order, 1948. This order made provisions to use the words ‘all the Provinces of India’ instead of ‘the whole of British India’. Then, in 1950, under the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for the words ‘the Provinces of India’, the following words—‘the whole of India except Part B States’—were used. In 1956, under the Adaptation of Laws (No. 2) Order, 1956, for the words ‘except Part B States’ the following words— ‘all the territories which immediately before the 1 November 1956 were comprised in Part B States’—were used. Thus, only a few words were replaced under the adoption of laws order during the initial decades of Independence. In 1956, the seventh meeting of the Statute Revision Section of the Law Commission decided to take up the revision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. In 1958, ‘the Report of the Law Commission on the Law of Acquisition and Requisitioning of Land’ was submitted. The Law Commission suggested several improvements but they were not implemented. In addition to this, the following amendments were made during the post-Independence period.

Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1962 This amendment was made largely to acquire the land not only for the companies alone but also for the associated activities of the companies. To facilitate completion of the building or work for a company within the stipulated time, additional provisions were made to engage the companies. Unless or otherwise stated, there exists a prior agreement with the companies by the government that sale, mortgage, gift or lease cannot be entertained. Further, this amendment was also restricted to the private companies, acquisition of land for the erection of dwelling-

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houses for workmen employed by the company or for the provision of amenities directly connected with those companies. Further, this amendment stated that land was not to be acquired for private companies other than government companies, such as the railways. This amendment also made provisions to make new rules and also listed the procedures for that. Further, under this amendment, validation of certain actuations provisos was inserted. Accordingly, except any judgment decree per order of any court, every actuation of land for a company made or purporting to have been made before 20 July 1962, every such acquisition and any proceeding, order, agreement or action in connection with such acquisition, shall be deemed always to have been as valid.

Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967 In Section 6, ‘Declaration that land is required for a public purpose’, subsection (1), the following proviso was inserted under this amendment: and different declarations may be made from time to time in respect of different parcels of any land covered by the same notification under section 4, sub-section (I) irrespective of whether one report or different reports has or have been made (wherever required) under section 5A, sub-section (2).49

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984 The amendments made in 1984 in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, made no differentiation between acquisition for a state purpose and acquisition for a private enterprise or state enterprise by amending Section 4 of the original act to insert the words ‘or for a company’ after ‘any public purpose’. The courts have interpreted this amendment to mean that any notification of acquisition issued under Section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a public purpose or for a company. This opened the floodgates to acquisition of land by the state for companies. And this in turn has unleashed the tribal and rural backlash that has caused the current decision of the government to replace the 1894 Act with an altogether new Act.50 The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, has made several major amendments, such as the definition for the ‘corporation owned or controlled by the state’ and for ‘public purpose’, additional provisions for the award of the collector, timeframe to make an award, provisions for the correction of errors, power to call for records, special powers in cases of urgency, matters to be considered in determining compensation, redetermination of the amount of compensation on the basis of the award

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of the court and payment of interest. To facilitate the above, additional provisions were initiated at the section and clause level. This amendment has provided for detailed definitions for the terms: ‘corporation owned or controlled by the state’ and for ‘public purpose’. In Section 3, ‘Definition’ after clause (c), the following clause (cc) ‘Corporation owned or controlled by the state’ was inserted, and also for ‘public purpose’, a detailed explanation was incorporated. This amendment gave additional powers of the collector to make a decision on the award and additional provisions for the timeframe for the award with the said amount. If the persons interested in the land made any demand in writing collectively to the collector and he is satisfied without any enquiry, he can award the land. The determination of compensation for any land shall not in any way affect the determination of compensation in respect of other lands in the same locality or elsewhere. The amendment was made to deliver the award within a period of two years from the date of the publication of the declaration and if not, the entire proceeding for the acquisition of the land shall lapse. Further, the collector was empowered to correct any clerical or arithmetical mistakes in the award or errors arising therein either on his own motion or on the application of any person interested or a local authority within six months of the award. The government was empowered to call for records of any proceedings and/or orders of the collector to ensure the legality or propriety of any findings before the award was made by the collector. At the same time, the government should not pass any order or direction without hearing the viewpoint of the concerned persons. In cases of urgency, special power was empowered to the collector to pay 80 per cent of compensation for the land based on his own estimation. Except on account of any stay or injunction by the order of any court, the court can award 12 per cent of the compensation in addition to the market value for the period of commencing on and from the date of the publication of the notification, whichever is earlier. If the compensation is paid in excess, the collector can ask for refund of the excess amount by applying to the court within one year period of time and if it exceeds more than one year, an interest of 15 per cent can be claimed from the beneficiaries. A provision was made for ‘[re]-determination of the amount of compensation on the basis of the award of the Court’. Accordingly, if the court allows the applicant any amount of compensation in excess of the amount awarded by the collector, the persons interested and those who are aggrieved by the award of collector, those who had not made an application to the collector within three months from the date of the award, the court requires that the amount of compensation payable to them may be re-determined on the basis of the amount of compensation awarded by the court. To ensure the payment of compensation on

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time, a provision was inserted, i.e., ‘payment of interest’ interest rate was increased to 9 per cent and if the compensation was not paid or deposited within a period of one year from the date on which possession is taken, 15 per cent additional interest was to be paid. Stipulating that, the provision of ‘Company may be authorised to enter and survey’ to acquire land for its requirements was omitted. The amendments in the act during the post-Independence period had facilitated in four aspects which include: definitions, companies, compensation with interest and additional powers to the collector. The amendment in the definition had widened the scope of public purpose to accommodate the various components. This amendment was facilitated to acquire the land not only for the companies but also for the associated activities of the companies. Further, additional provisions for the award of compensation, timeframe to make an award and its interest rate were provided. These amendments also provided additional powers to the collector in the form of special powers to be exercised in the cases of urgency. To be precise, the amendments in the Land Acquisition Act during the post-Independence period had provided a wider scope to acquire land for a public purpose, granted companies with the timeframe for payment of the compensation and conferred additional powers on the collector.

Amendments at the State Level Under the Constitution, the states can make their own laws to acquire land for the public purposes. Hence, different states have enacted several acts for acquiring land for different public purposes. The procedures followed in several acts to acquire the land are different. Like the central acts, different states have made several amendments to these acts both during the colonial and postcolonial periods. Various sections of the act have also been amended from time to time by the state governments to meet their specific requirements. The amendments are largely procedural in nature with little or no substantive changes.51 The amendments are largely confined to the following aspects: preliminary notification, survey before initial notification, public purpose, and criteria for determining market value, compensation rights for cultivators, reference to court, and compensation in the case of dispute.52

LAND ACQUISITION FOR COMPANIES Until the mid-nineteenth century, land acquisition for public purposes did not include companies. In 1850, the Bengal Provisions

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widened the scope of the term ‘public work’ to include railway construction. In the subsequent acts, the word ‘company’ means mainly referred to railway companies. The Companies Act of 1866 was the first comprehensive act enacted in India. The acquisition of land for companies is not of a recent origin and the practices existed or were recognised under the Land Acquisition Act, 1850, and thereafter. In the land acquisition act, several provisions were made to acquire land for companies during the colonial and postcolonial periods. In addition to that, there were separate rules for the process of acquisition of land for the companies.

Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963 To acquire land for the companies under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the Central Government has made rules for the guidance of the state government and the officers of central and state governments. These rules are known as the ‘Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963’. Under these rules, ‘Land Acquisition Committee’ has to be appointed to advise the government on all matters relating to or arising out of acquisition of land within a month. The committee’s term may be extended but it should not exceed more than two months, subject to the request of the committee which must provide sufficient reasons for extension. Whenever a company makes an application to the appropriate government for acquisition of any land, the government shall direct the collector to submit a report to it on the following matters: (i) that the company has made its best endeavour to find out lands in the locality suitable for the purpose of acquisition; (ii) that the company has made all reasonable efforts to get such lands by negotiation with the person interested therein on payment of reasonable price and such efforts have failed; (iii) that the land proposed to be acquired is suitable for the purpose; (iv) that the area of land proposed to be acquired is not excessive; (v) that the company is in a position to utilise the land expeditiously; and (vi) where the land proposed to be acquired is good agricultural land that no alternative suitable site can be found so as to avoid acquisition of that land.53 While holding an enquiry with the company, the collector has to consult the senior agricultural officer to get information about the following details of proposed land by the company: whether the proposed land by the company is good for agriculture or not; whether

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the approximate amount of compensation is likely to be paid to the land shall be acquired from the company or not; and whether the company offered a reasonable price as compensation for the land or not. At the same time, the collector has to give reasonable opportunity to hear the viewpoints of the person interested. Soon after holding the enquiry, the collector has to submit the report to the appropriate government and a copy of the same has to be forwarded by that government to the committee. After consulting the committee and referring other reports and execution of agreement, the appropriate government shall make the declaration. These rules were largely in the favour of the companies, especially in terms of the compensation and rehabilitation although to a very limited extent.

EXTENT OF LAND ACQUIRED AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND LIVELIHOOD Land acquisition for the public purpose threatened not only the private land owners’ livelihood but also the ecology and environment since the early nineteenth century, particularly during the post-Independence period.

Extent of Land Acquired under the Act Since Independence, land resources have always been acquired for public purposes. Land resources can be broadly classified into two categories—private property and common property resources. The acquisition of land for the public purposes affects the role of private property as well as the environment by alienating the forest and other common property resources. Walter Fernandes mentions: Studies show that around 25 million hectares have been acquired during 1947–2000 through it, more than half of it is communityowned. Much more land is being taken over after liberalisation for private profit. The policy on the SEZs stipulates that only half of the land they get has to be built up. The rest can be used for real estate speculation at a high profit. People’s displacement is the consequence of such ‘national development’.54

‘Large infrastructure projects, including dams, ports and mining, environmental conservation projects, and designation of large areas as tax-free Special Economic Zones (SEZs), have been responsible for the displacement of millions of rural families, most of whom have not

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received rehabilitation’.55 According to the Human Rights Status Report 2012: Not taking into account displacement due to armed and ethnic conflict, India is estimated to have the highest number of people displaced annually as a result of ostensible ‘development’ projects. Independent experts estimate the number of those displaced by such projects since India’s independence (1947), stands between 60 and 65 million. This amounts to around one million displaced every year since independence. Of these displaced, over 40% are tribals and another 40% consist of Dalits and other rural poor. The vast majority of the displaced have not received adequate resettlement.56

It shows that a large extent of land was acquired for various development activities and a huge number of people, largely belonging to the weaker sections, were displaced.

Effects of Acquiring Lands in Different States It is not only that a few states have this problem; invariably, almost all the states have the same problem. For instance, in Assam, 19 lakh persons were deprived of their livelihood in the name of development during 1947–2000, more than half of them were tribals. In West Bengal, they exceed 70 lakh. Most of them were poor and have been impoverished further and deprived of their culture and identity that is linked to their land and livelihood.57 Walter Fernandes states: For example, by official count Assam used 3.9 lakh acres for development projects in the period 1947–2000 and displaced 4.2 lakh persons. The reality is 19.1 lakhs were displaced from 14.1 lakh acres of land. The 15 lakh persons ‘evicted’ from 10 lakh acres do not exist. Tripura changed its land laws in 1960 to recognise only individual land and alienate the tribal community land. The tribes lost 80,000 acres of their land because of it immediately, 32,000 acres more to the Dumbur dam in the 1970s and over 60,000 acres for other projects. That displaced over 1 lakh people and resulted in tribal insurgency. Meghalaya has displaced some 1,10,000 tribals from common land without rehabilitation. Similar is the fate of the 1,50,000 tribals displaced in Mizoram.58

In Jharkhand, the development-induced displacement from 1950 to 1990 affected 74 lakh tribal population, of which only 18.45 lakh (25 per cent) have been resettled.59 Invariably, a large number of people

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have been displaced due to the various development programmes in different states.

Impact on the Environment Forest resources are one of the major causalities while acquiring the land for the various development/public purposes, particularly during the post-Independence period. In other words, a large extent of the forest was diverted for various development activities during the period. According to the Ministry of Forest and Environment (2004), about 4.3 million hectares forest land was diverted for various development activities between the period 1952 and 1980. Of which, about 0.5 million hectares of forest land was diverted for river valley projects; 0.134 million hectares for industries and townships; 0.061 hectares for infrastructure development; and 1.008 million hectares for miscellaneous purposes.60 According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the rate of diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes were to the tune of 150,000 hectares per annum between 1950 and 1980. Until 1976, the forest sector was in the state list. Accordingly, the state governments decided to divert the forest land for various development-related activities. In 1976, the Central Government issued guidelines to states to consult the Government of India prior to diversion of land, which is more than 10 hectares for any development project. Even after enactment of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, a large extent of forest land was diverted for the various development activities; about 9.55 lakh hectares have been diverted between 1980 and 2004.61 According to the Ministry of Forests and Environment: ‘Since its enactment in 1980 till 31st December, 2007, about 16,939 developmental projects involving 11.56 lakh hectares forest area have been granted forestry clearance.’62 The recent years ‘forest clearances’ offered by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) clearly indicated towards this. In the month of July–August 2008 itself, final forest clearance has been granted to over thirty-five projects encompassing an area of 4,544.396 hectares.63 The forest land was thus diverted for various development purposes, such as defence, dispensary/hospital, disputed settlement claims, drinking water, encroachment, forest village conversion, hydel, irrigation, mining, railways, rehabilitation, roads, schools, thermal, transmission lines, village electrification and wind power. About onethird of the diverted forest land was classified as ‘encroachment’. In other words, the tribals and other forest-dwellers occupied land was shown as ‘encroachment’ by the forest department. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act, 2006,

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most of these may be regularised in different states. For regularisation purposes, total diversion of forest land till June 2008 was 776,882.52 hectares. The next highest diversion was under the category of ‘others’ meant for individuals and other private bodies. A little less than onethird of the diversion of forest land was meant for mining, hydel and irrigation projects, in almost equal extent.64 It is to be pointed out that only a meagre percentage of forest land was actually diverted for the development activities, such as for drinking water (0.16 per cent), railway (0.16 per cent), school (0.22 per cent), village electrification (0.02 per cent). The forest land was, therefore, diverted largely to the private and commercial interests than for the actual development purposes even after the enactment of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. However, after enactment of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the rate of diversion of forest land for non-forestry purpose came down to less than 38,000 hectares per annum, as per the Ministry of the Forest and Environment records. Except in the case of a few states, invariably, every state has diverted the forest land for various development activities after enactment of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Between 1980 and 2003, 8.73 lakh hectares of forest land was diverted for various development activities of which, about 3.73 lakh hectares, that is 42.70 per cent is from Madhya Pradesh. About four-fifth of the total forest land was diverted between 1980 and 2003 from seven states—Madhya Pradesh (42.70 per cent), Maharashtra (9.16 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (8.70 per cent), Gujarat (6.41 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (5.07 per cent), Kerala (4.67 per cent) and Karnataka (4.18 per cent).65 In the subsequent years also, a large proportion of the forest land was diverted for various development purposes. According to the Ministry of Forests and Environment: ‘Since its enactment in 1980 till 31st December, 2007, about 16,939 developmental projects involving 11.56 lakh hectares forest area have been granted forestry clearance’.66 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, resulted in drastic reduction in the rate of diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes; it was about 1.65 lakh hectares per annum during the twenty-five years period from 1951 to 1952 and it has reduced to approximately 36,300 hectares per annum since then.67 Forest land has been under immense pressure due to its diversion for non-forestry purposes; i.e., for development and for individuals and companies, particularly during the post-Independence planning regime. For instance, in Tamil Nadu, about 74,893 hectares of forest land was diverted for other purposes between 1947 and 1977 of which, 40,612.50 hectares (54.27 per cent) was meant for individuals, private bodies and rehabilitation of non-tribals in the forest areas. About 34,280.71 hectares (45.73 per cent) of forest land was diverted

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for various other development programmes during the same period.68 Likewise, the forest land was diverted either for the individuals or for private bodies and various development projects in different states of the country.

Impact on Livelihood Since the last decade of the nineteenth century, a large number of people have been displaced for various development activities through the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. ‘The 1894 act has been the central tool for mass displacement of people from their sources of subsistence and culture, more so since the policy of globalisation was introduced’.69 Since Independence, on a massive scale land resources have been acquired for various development activities resulting in the displacement of million without proper compensation package and rehabilitation measures. Studies show that around 25 million hectares have been acquired during 1947–2000 through it, more than half of it communityowned. Much more land is being taken over after liberalisation for private profit. The policy on the SEZs stipulates that only half of the land they get has to be built up. The rest can be used for real estate speculation at a high profit. People’s displacement is the consequence of such ‘national development’.70 Large infrastructure projects, including dams, ports and mining, environmental conservation projects, and designation of large areas as tax-free Special Economic Zones (SEZs), have been responsible for the displacement of millions of rural families, most of whom have not received rehabilitation.’71

In India, it is estimated that some 21 million to 42 million people have been displaced by dams and reservoirs during the post-Independence period.72 Since Independence, a large number of people have been displaced and a large proportion of them belong to the SC and ST categories. According to Human Rights in India: Status Report 2012: Not taking into account of displacement due to armed and ethnic conflict, India is estimated to have the highest number of people displaced annually as a result of ostensible ‘development’ projects. Independent experts estimate the number of those displaced by such projects since India’s independence (1947), is at between 60 and 65 million. This amounts to around one million getting displaced every year since independence. Of these displaced, over

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40% are tribals and another 40% consist of Dalits and other rural poor. The vast majority of the displaced have not received adequate resettlement.73

A large number of people have been displaced due to various development activities, such as dams, mines, industries, wildlife sanctuaries and other purposes. The total number of people displaced between 1950 and 1990 was about 213 lakhs, of which nearly onefourth of them were rehabilitated and three-fourths of them were left non-rehabilitated. It is to be pointed out more than three-fourths (77 per cent) of them were displaced due to irrigation dams and reservoirs; 12 per cent mines; 6 per cent industries; 3 per cent wildlife sanctuaries and the rest of 2.3 per cent for other purposes.74 Unfortunately, a large proportion of the displaced people belong to the weaker sections, viz., SCs, STs and OBCs. Of the total number of displaced people (213 lakhs), about 85.30 lakh people, i.e., about 40 per cent, belongs to the ST category. Of the total number of the displaced tribal people, one-fourth was rehabilitated and the rest of three-fourths were not rehabilitated in the past four decades between the years 1950 and 1990.75 A large number of private and common property lands were acquired for various developmental activities and private companies resulting in a formidable threat to the environment and to a large number of people mainly belonging to the SCs, STs and OBCs during the post-Independence period.

HOUSING POLICIES AND EMERGENCE OF REAL ESTATE COMPANIES Until the Seventh Five-Year Plan, the government has developed housing schemes mainly for weaker sections, government employees and slum clearance to name a few. The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990) envisaged ‘the major responsibility for house construction would have to be left to the private sector’ and government has to facilitate ‘the development of suitable housing sites on a large scale’. It emphasised that the government has to undertake land acquisition and development in urban areas for housing and the construction activities has to be left to the private sector. In other words, ‘the Government has to play an active role through developing the necessary delivery systems in the form of a housing finance market and taking steps to make developed land available at right places and at reasonable prices.’ The National Housing Policy was also pronounced during this plan period.76 The Seventh FiveYear Plan opened up the private sector in the housing sector which has

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led to phenomenal growth of real estate sector during the last three-anda-half decades. After the liberalisation, real estate has emerged as one of the prominent sectors in our economy both in terms of employment and its contribution to the GDP. ‘The real estate sector is a major employment driver, being the second largest employer next only to agriculture.’77 ‘About 250 ancillary industries such as cement, steel, brick, timber, building materials etc. are dependent on the real estate industry.’78 ‘The term ‘real estate’ is defined as land, including the air above it and the ground below it, and any buildings or structures on it. It covers residential housing, commercial offices, trading spaces such as theatres, hotels and restaurants, retail outlets; and industrial buildings such as factories and government buildings. Real estate involves the purchase, sale, and development of land, residential and non-residential buildings. The main players in the real estate market are the landlords, developers, builders, real estate agents, tenants, buyers etc.’79 ‘The Indian real estate market is still in its infancy, largely unorganised and dominated by a large number of small players, with very few corporate or large players having national presence.’80 ‘Supply of urban land is largely controlled by state-owned development bodies like the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Housing Boards leaving very limited developed space free, which is controlled by a few major players in each city.’81 During the last two decades, the private lands were acquired by the government for real estate companies largely in the urban areas which has led to protests from the farmers in different parts of the country.

RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION POLICIES Since Independence, the government initiated several development programmes that displaced a large number of people but it never had a policy for the resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced people at the national level. Due to the Supreme Court’s observation, the United Nations, the World Bank and other factors, the government has decided to formulate the resettlement and rehabilitation policies.82 Since the 1980s, though the government is contemplating to formulate a policy for the displaced people, it has failed to come out with an appropriate policy.83 However, some states and central ministries have their own policies and guidelines for resettlement and rehabilitation.84 Indeed, the ‘National Policy on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Project Affected Families, 2003, is the first policy at the national level for the affected people. Subsequently, a comprehensive ‘National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007’ was introduced.

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National Policy on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Project Affected Families, 2003 The policy recognises the need to minimise a large-scale displacement to the extent possible and also emphasises upon the importance of rehabilitation and resettlement that has not only directly affected people but also the dependents for their livelihood to protect the displaced 500 families or more in plain areas and 250 families in hilly areas, Desert Development Programme (DDP) blocks and areas mentioned in Schedule V and VI of the Constitution. The objectives of this policy are: to minimise displacement and to identify non-displacing or least displacing alternatives; to plan the resettlement and rehabilitation of Project Affected Families (PAFs) including special needs of Tribals and vulnerable sections; to provide better standard of living to PAFs; and to facilitate harmonious relationship between the requiring body and PAFs through mutual cooperation. To carry out the above objectives, the government has to notify the administrator and commissioner once it has decided to acquire the land for any project. This policy has also laid down the procedures to be followed for declaration of affected zone, carrying out survey and census of project-affected families, assessment of government land available and land to be acquired for the purpose of resettlement and rehabilitation, preparation of draft scheme/plan for rehabilitation and resettlement and its final publication. This policy was envisaged to minimise the displacement problem and at the same time emphasised the need to provide appropriate compensation and rehabilitation to the displaced people both in plain areas and special areas as well as different social groups. However, this policy has not dealt with the issues which made adverse impact on the affected families’ economic, environment, social and cultural needs that have to be assessed and addressed in a participatory and transparent manner.

National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 This policy has been envisaged to minimise the displacement of people, the total area of land and the acquisition of agricultural land for the projects simultaneously it emphasised the need to provide appropriate compensation and rehabilitation to the displaced people in a transparent manner. The objectives of the policy are: (a) to minimise displacement and to promote as far as possible, non-displacing or leastdisplacing alternatives, (b) to ensure adequate rehabilitation package and expeditious implementation of the rehabilitation process with the active participation of the affected families, (c) to ensure that special care is taken for protecting the rights of the weaker sections of the

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society, especially members of the SCs and STs, and to create obligations to the State in their treatment with concern and sensitivity, (d) to provide a better standard of living, making a concerted effort for providing sustainable income to the affected families, (e) to integrate rehabilitation concerns into the development planning and implementation process and (f) to facilitate harmonious relationship between the requiring body and affected families through mutual cooperation. This policy also emphasised that the government has to ensure that the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is conducted for a new project or expansion of an existing project, which involves involuntary displacement of 400 or more families in plain areas, or 200 or more families from tribal or hilly areas, DDP blocks or areas mentioned in the Schedule V or Schedule VI to the Constitution. The SIA should consider the impact of the project on public and community properties, assets and infrastructure. It also emphasised that along with SIA, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study shall be carried out as per the provisions of any law, rules, regulations or guidelines. The government has to call for public hearings, if both EIA and SIA studies are required for the project affected area. To examine the SIA report, the government has to constitute an independent multidisciplinary expert group. If both EIA and SIA are required, a copy of the SIA report shall be made available to the agency prescribed in respect of EIA by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and a copy of the EIA report shall be shared with the expert group. This policy envisaged appointing an Administrator and Commissioner for rehabilitation and resettlement for the project and his functions and duties have to be defined explicitly. Even if the number of affected families is less than the prescribed number, the government has to make adequate administrative arrangements for their rehabilitation and resettlement. The declaration of the policy, baseline survey to be carried out, census for identification of the persons and families likely to be affected, assessment of government land available and land to be arranged for rehabilitation and resettlement, declaration of the resettlement area or areas, preparation of the draft rehabilitation and resettlement scheme or plan and its final publication should be published in at least three daily newspapers, of which two should be in the local vernacular. A copy of the notification should be affixed on the notice board of the concerned gram panchayats or municipalities and other prominent places in the affected area and the resettlement area. Every such survey shall contain comprehensive information about the affected families and should be completed within a period of ninety days from the date of declaration. After completing the surveys, a notification has to be issued to reach all persons likely to be affected.

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A draft of the details of the findings of the survey should be published and objections and suggestions invited from all persons likely to be affected. After thirty days of the notification of the draft survey and after incorporating the objections and suggestions, the report should be submitted to the government. Within forty-five days after receiving the report, the government should publish the final details of survey in the official gazette. After the completion of baseline survey and census, the administrator has to prepare a comprehensive draft scheme/plan for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families after consultation with the representatives of the affected families including women and the representative of the requiring body. The draft scheme or plan may be made known locally by wide publicity in the affected and resettlement areas and should be discussed in gram sabhas in rural areas, and in public hearings in urban and rural areas where gram sabhas do not exist. The consultation with the gram sabha or the panchayats at the appropriate level in the Scheduled Areas under Schedule V of the Constitution shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. In the cases of involuntary displacement of 200 or more ST families from the Scheduled Areas, the concerned Tribes Advisory Councils may also be consulted. The Administrator shall submit the draft scheme or plan for rehabilitation and resettlement to the government for its approval. In the case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, the government has to obtain the consent of the requiring body and has to make sure that the requiring body has agreed to bear the entire cost of rehabilitation and resettlement benefits and other expenditure before approving it. After approving the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme or plan, the government shall publish the notification in the official gazette. Land compulsorily acquired for a project cannot be transferred to any other purpose except for a public purpose and if not utilised for a period of five years should be taken over by the government. Even if it is transferred to the private sector, public sector or joint sector, 80 per cent of any net unearned income shall be shared amongst the persons from whom the lands were acquired. The rehabilitation and resettlement benefits shall be extended to all the affected families. Any affected family owning house may be allotted free of cost a house site to the extent of actual loss of area but not more than 250 square kilometres in rural areas or 150 square kilometres in urban areas. In urban areas, houses of up to 100 square kilometres carpet area may be offered in a multi-storeyed building complex. Each affected below poverty line family without homestead land residing in the affected area continuously for a period of not less than three years

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are entitled to a house of minimum 100 square kilometres carpet area in rural areas, or 50 square kilometres carpet areas in urban areas. If the affected family is not interested to take the house, it shall get a suitable one-time financial assistance and the amount shall not be less than what is given under any programme of house construction by the Government of India. Each affected family owning agricultural land in the affected area and whose entire land has been acquired or reduced to the status of marginal farmers, agricultural land or cultivable wasteland to the extent of actual land loss subject to a maximum of one hectare of irrigated land or two hectares of unirrigated land or cultivable wasteland should be provided, if government land is available in the resettlement area. In the case of irrigation or hydel projects, the affected families shall be given preference in allotment of land-for-land in the command area of the project, to the extent possible. Such lands may be consolidated, and plots of suitable sizes should be allotted to the affected families who could be settled there in groups. In case a family cannot be given land in the command area of the project or the family opts not to take land there, such a family may be given monetary compensation on replacement cost basis for their lands lost, for purchase of suitable land elsewhere. In the case of irrigation or hydel projects, the state governments may formulate suitable schemes for providing land to the affected families in the command areas of the projects by way of pooling of the lands that may be available or, otherwise, could be made available in the command areas of such projects. In the case of irrigation or hydel projects, fishing rights in the reservoirs shall be given to the affected families. In the case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, the stamp duty and other fees payable for registration of the land or house shall be allotted to the affected families and due expenses shall be borne by the requiring body. In case of allotment of wasteland/degraded land and agricultural land in lieu of the acquired land, the affected family shall get a onetime financial assistance not less than `15,000 per hectare and `10,000 respectively for land development and agricultural production. Each affected family having cattle shall get financial assistance of not less than `15,000 for construction of a cattle shed. Each affected family shall get a one-time financial assistance not less than `10,000, for shifting of the family, building materials, belongings and cattle. Each affected person who belongs to the group of rural artisans, small traders or selfemployed persons shall get a one-time financial assistance not less than `25,000 for construction of a working shed or shop. In the project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, at least one person per nuclear family should be given employment opportunities; training for the affected persons; scholarships and other

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skill development opportunities to the eligible persons and preference to the affected persons or their groups or cooperatives in the allotment of outsourced contracts, shops or other economic opportunities coming up in or around the project site; and preference to the landless labourers and unemployed affected persons during the construction phase. The affected families who have not been provided agricultural land or employment shall be entitled to avail rehabilitation grant equivalent to 750 days of minimum agricultural wages. If the requiring body is a company, option may be given to the affected family to buy 25 per cent of their rehabilitation grant amount in the form of shares or debentures and it may be extended up to 50 per cent by the government. In cases where the acquisition of agricultural land or involuntary displacement takes place on account of land development projects, in lieu of land-forland or employment, such affected families would be given site(s) or apartment(s) within the development project, in proportion to the land lost, but subject to such limits as may be defined by the government. In the case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, each affected family shall get a monthly subsistence allowance equivalent to 25 days of minimum agricultural wages per month for a period of one year from the date of displacement. Further, the project authorities shall, at their cost, arrange for annuity policies that will pay a pension for life to the vulnerable affected persons subject to a minimum of `500 per month. If land is acquired in cases of urgency, each affected family which is displaced shall be provided with transit and temporary accommodation, pending rehabilitation and resettlement scheme or plan, in addition to the monthly subsistence allowance and other rehabilitation and resettlement benefits. In the case of linear acquisitions, in projects relating to the railway lines, highways, transmission lines, laying of pipelines and other such projects, wherein only a narrow stretch of land is acquired for the purpose of the project or is utilised for right of way, each affected family shall be offered by the requiring body an ex-gratia of payment not less than `20,000, in addition to the compensation or any other benefits. In this case, the landholder becomes landless or is reduced to the status of a ‘small’ or ‘marginal’ farmer; other rehabilitation and resettlement benefits should be extended to such affected families. The affected families may be given the option to take a lump sum amount in lieu of one or more of the benefits. In case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body which involves involuntary displacement of 200 or more ST families, a Tribal Development Plan (TDP) shall be prepared to lay down procedures for settling land rights and programme for development of alternate full, fodder and non-timber forest produce

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(NTFP) resources on non-forest lands within a period of five years. The concerned gram sabha or the panchayats in the Scheduled Areas under Schedule V of the Constitution or Councils in the Schedule VI Areas, shall be consulted in all cases of land acquisition including in cases of urgency before the issue of a notification. In the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and other relevant laws, consultation shall be in accordance with the provisions of the act. In cases of involuntary displacement of 200 or more ST families from the Scheduled Areas, the concerned Tribes Advisory Councils (TACs) may also be consulted. Each affected family of ST category followed by SC category shall be given preference in the allotment of land-for-land, if the government land is available in the resettlement area. In the case of land being acquired from members of the ST category, at least one-third of the compensation amount due shall be paid to the affected families at the outset as first instalment and the rest at the time of taking over the possession of the land. In the case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, each affected family of the ST category shall get an additional one-time financial assistance equivalent to 500 days of minimum agricultural wages for loss of customary rights or usages of forest produce. The affected ST families will be resettled, as far as possible, in the same schedule area in a compact block, so that they can retain their ethnic, linguistic and cultural identity. The resettlement areas predominantly inhabited by the STs shall get land free of cost for community and religious gatherings. In case of the affected families of the ST category, if the resettled habitation’s out of the district, they will get 25 per cent higher rehabilitation and resettlement benefits in monetary terms. In the case of irrigation or hydel projects, the affected STs, others traditional forest-dwellers and SC families having fishing rights in a river or pond, or dam in the affected area shall be given fishing rights in the reservoir area of the irrigation or hydel projects. The ST and SC affected families enjoying reservation benefits in the affected area shall be entitled to get the reservation benefits in the resettlement area(s). The affected ST families, who were in possession of forest lands in the affected area prior to the 13 December 2005 shall also be eligible for the rehabilitation and resettlement benefits. In all cases of involuntary displacement of 400 families or more in plain areas, or 200 families or more in tribal or hilly areas, DDP blocks or areas mentioned in the Schedule V or Schedule VI to the Constitution, and comprehensive infrastructural facilities and amenities shall be provided in the resettlement areas. All affected families shall be provided basic infrastructural facilities and amenities like drinking water, electricity, schools, dispensaries, and access to the resettlement sites even if there has been involuntary displacement of less than 400 families

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in plain areas. While shifting the population of the affected area to the resettlement area, the Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement must ensure that the entire population of the village or area to be shifted belongs to a particular single community as far as possible. They should be resettled in a compact area, so that socio-cultural relations and social harmony amongst the shifted families are not disturbed and SCs affected are resettled in the areas close to the villages. In the case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring body, the requiring body will be responsible for development of the defined geographic area on the periphery of the project site as decided by the government, and will be required to contribute to the socio-economic development of the areas contiguous to its area of operation. For this purpose, the requiring body will earmark a percentage of its net profit or, in case no profit is declared by the requiring body in a particular year, for that year, such minimum alternative amount as may be determined by the government after consultation with the requiring body, to be spent within the specified zone. The requiring body will carry out the developmental activity within this zone in close coordination with the Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement. For the grievance redressal mechanism, this policy introduced the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at the project level to monitor and review the progress of implementation of the scheme or plan of rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families, and to carry out post-implementation social audits. This policy also suggested a Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at the district level, under the chairpersonship of the district collector, for those who are not covered at the project level. The policy also proposed to appoint an Ombudsman (a trusted intermediary) for time-bound disposal of the grievances arising out of the matters covered by this policy. In case a project covers an area in more than one State or Union Territory where the project affected families are or had been residing, or proposed to be resettled, the Central Government in the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources) shall, in consultation with the concerned States or Union Territories, appoint the Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, the Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, a common Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee, and the Ombudsman for the purposes of this policy. A National Monitoring Committee, to be chaired by the Secretary, Department of Land Resources was formed for reviewing and monitoring the progress of implementation of rehabilitation and resettlement schemes or plans. Further, it also suggested that for each major project, Oversight Committee for rehabilitation and resettlement in the Ministry/Department shall be established. In addition to that

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a National Rehabilitation Commission shall be set up by the Central Government with the power to exercise external oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families.

THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT ACT, 2013 The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, has come in to force after the amalgamation of three bills: Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 and Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2011, and the recommendations of Standing Committee on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011. Based on the Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, the Central Government has introduced the new bill ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013’, and it was passed by the parliament on 29 August 2013. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013 was introduced to ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and gram sabhas established under the Constitution, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to the owners of the land and other affected families and provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired or are affected by such acquisition and make adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and resettlement and for ensuring that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development leading to an improvement in their post-acquisition social and economic status and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Under this act, the government can acquire land for its own use, hold and control, including for Public Sector Undertakings and for public purposes except (thirteen acts) the enactments relating to land acquisition specified in the Fourth Schedule. They are: (a) for strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces, including central paramilitary forces or any work vital to national security or defence of India or State police or safety of the people; (b) for infrastructure projects like transport, energy, water sanitation, communication, and social and commercial infrastructure

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excluding private hospitals, private educational institutions and private hotels; (c) for projects involving agro-processing; (d) for projects for industrial corridors or mining activities, national investment and manufacturing zones, as designated in the National Manufacturing Policy; (e) for project for water harvesting and water conservation structures, sanitation; (f) for project for government administered, government aided educational and research schemes or institutions; (g) for project for sports, healthcare, tourism and transportation of space programme; (h) for any infrastructure facility as may be notified in this regard by the Central Government and after tabling of such notification in the parliament; (i) for project for project affected families; (j) for project for housing, or such income groups, as may be specified from time to time by the appropriate government; (k) for project for planned development or the improvement of village sites or any site in the urban areas or provision of land for residential purposes for the weaker sections in rural and urban areas; (l) for project for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to persons residing in areas affected by natural calamities, or to persons displaced or affected by reason of the implementation of any scheme undertaken by the government, any local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by the State; (m) for public purpose under public private partnership projects, where the ownership of the land continues to vest with the government; (n) for public purpose, the private companies can acquire the land with the prior consent of at least 80 per cent of the affected families and (o) for public purpose under public private partnership projects can acquire the land with the prior consent of at least 70 per cent of the affected families. To ensure transparency in the land acquisition process, this act included an important provision to consult the concerned local bodies— panchayat, municipality or municipal corporation, as the case may be at the village level or ward level, in the affected area. Further, this act made provisions to publish various notifications and surveys—Social Impact Assessment (SIA), rehabilitation and resettlement plan—in the local language for the panchayat, Municipality or Municipal Corporation, and in the offices of the district collector, the sub-divisional magistrate and the tehsil. These are to be published in the affected areas and uploaded on the website of the government. This act emphasised that if the government intends to acquire land for a public purpose, it shall consult the concerned local bodies of the affected area and carry out a SIA study, in such manner and date as may be specified in the notification and publish it in newspapers and also be displayed in the local bodies besides uploading the same in the website of the government. Adequate representation has been given to the representatives of different levels of local bodies at the stage of carrying

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out the SIA study. The government shall ensure the completion of the SIA study within a period of six months from the date of its commencement. While preparing the SIA study to prepare a Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP), listing the ameliorative measures required to be undertaken for addressing the impact for the above specific components, a public hearing is held at the affected area, after giving adequate publicity about the date, time and venue for the public hearing, to ascertain the views of the affected families. The government shall ensure that the SIA report and the SIMP be published in the affected areas. The SIA report shall be made available to the Impact Assessment Agency authorised by the Central Government to carry out environmental impact assessment. The government shall ensure that the SIA report is evaluated by an independent multidisciplinary expert group. If the expert group opines that the project does not serve any public purpose or the social costs and adverse social impacts of the project outweigh the potential benefits, it can recommend for abandoning the project. If the government proceeds with the acquisition, against the expert group recommendation, then, it shall ensure that its reasons for doing so are recorded in writing. If the expert group opines that the project will serve any public purpose and the potential benefits outweigh the social costs and adverse social impacts, it shall make specific recommendations regarding the absolute bare-minimum extent of the project needed and emphasising that there are no other less displacing options available for the project to be recorded in writing. The recommendations of the expert group shall be made available in the local language to the local bodies and the affected areas. The government shall ensure that there is a legitimate and bona fide public purpose and that the potential benefits and the public purpose outweigh the social costs and adverse social impact. It must also ensure that only the minimum area of land required for the project is granted and there is no unutilised land which has been previously acquired, before taking a decision. The government, after examining the report of the collector and expert group on the SIA study, recommends the project which would ensure minimum displacement of people, minimum disturbance to the infrastructure, ecology and minimum adverse impact on the individuals affected. The decision of the government shall be made available in the local language to the local bodies and other government offices and affected areas. While recommending the project, the government has to ensure that all procedures are followed in the process of acquisition. For the safeguard of food-security, this act made provision that no irrigated multi-cropped land shall be acquired. Even in an exceptional case, only a certain percentage of total irrigated multi-cropped land of

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the district as notified by the government can be acquired for public purpose. In that case, an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes or an amount equivalent to the value of the land acquired shall be deposited with the government for investment in agriculture for enhancing food-security. It is also suggested that the proportion of the agricultural land for all projects in a district and state should not exceed the total net sown area as prescribed by the government. However, the above provisions shall not apply in the case of projects that are linear in nature like railways, highways, major district roads, irrigation canals, power lines and the like. According to this act, if the land is required or likely to be required for any public purpose, a notification to that effect along with details of the land to be acquired, a statement on the nature of the public purpose involved, reasons necessitating the displacement of affected persons, summary of the SIA report and particulars of the Administrator appointed for the purposes of rehabilitation and resettlement shall be published in the official gazette, in two daily newspapers of which one shall be in the regional language, and the notification should be displayed in the affected area, local bodies and in the offices of the District collector, the subdivisional magistrate and the tehsil and on the website of the government in public domain. Subsequently, the content of the notification has to be sent to the concerned gram sabha or sabhas, municipalities and the autonomous councils to discuss the issues at the meeting. After issuance of notice, the collector has to undertake and complete the exercise of updating of land records as prescribed within a period of two months. After the notification the government will take over the land. After the preliminary notification, the Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement shall conduct a survey and undertake a census of the affected families. Based on the survey and census, the administrator has to prepare a draft Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme, which shall include particulars of the rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements of each land owner and landless and the requirement for the resettlement area, a list of government buildings, details of the public amenities and infrastructural facilities and the time limit for implementing scheme. The draft scheme shall be made known locally by wide publicity in the affected area and discussed in the concerned gram sabhas or municipalities and also public hearing shall be conducted after giving adequate publicity about the date, time and venue for the public hearing at the affected area. On completion of public hearing, administrator has to submit the draft scheme along with a specific report on the claims and objections raised in the public hearing to the collector. The collector shall review the draft scheme with the Rehabilitation and Resettlement

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Committee at the Project level, and with his suggestions, submit it to the Commissioner Rehabilitation and Resettlement for approval. After the approval of the Commissioner, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme is to be made available in the local language to the local bodies and the offices of the district collector, the sub-divisional magistrate and the tehsil, and thereafter it has to be published in the affected areas, and uploaded on the website of the appropriate government. After considering the report, if the government is satisfied that any particular land is needed for a public purpose, a declaration shall be made along with a resettlement area for the purposes of rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected families, under the hand and seal of a secretary to such government or of any other officer duly authorised to certify its orders. The collector shall publish a summary of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme along with the draft declaration. The collector shall make an award within a period of twelve months from the date of publication of the declaration and if no award is made within that period, the entire proceedings for the acquisition of the land shall lapse. However, the government shall have the power to extend the period of twelve months and such decision to extend the period shall be recorded in writing and the same shall be notified and be uploaded on the website of the authority concerned. The assessment and determination of the market value must be based on the registration of sale deeds or agreements to sell or the average sale price for similar type of land situated in the nearest village or nearest vicinity area or consented amount of compensation as agreed upon in case of acquisition of lands for private companies or for public private partnership projects, whichever is higher. While determining the amount of compensation, the collector shall take into consideration, the damage sustained by the person interested due to the acquisition of any standing crops and trees, severing such land from his other land, injuriously affecting his other property, moveable or immoveable, in any other manner, or his earnings, compelled to change his residence or place of business, the reasonable expenses incidental to such change, diminution of the profits of the land between the time of the publication of the declaration and the time of the collector’s taking possession of the land and any other ground which may be in the interest of equity, justice and beneficial to the affected families. This act proposes the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Award in a detailed manner. In every resettlement area, the collector shall ensure the provision of all infrastructural facilities and basic minimum amenities as specified in the Third Schedule. The collector shall take possession of land after ensuring that full payment of compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements are paid or tendered to the entitled person(s) within a period of three months for the compensation

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and a period of six months for the monetary part of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements listed in the Second Schedule. These infrastructural entitlements shall be provided within a period of eighteen months from the date of the award. In case of acquisition of land for irrigation or hydel project, being a public purpose, the rehabilitation and resettlement shall be process completed in six months prior to submergence of the lands acquired. The collector shall be responsible for ensuring that the rehabilitation and resettlement process is completed in all its aspects before displacing the affected families. However, in cases of urgency, on the expiration of thirty days from the publication of the notice, the collector can take possession of any land needed for a public purpose and such land shall thereupon vest absolutely in the government, free from all encumbrances and the compensation award of the collector’s decision will be final. Even in the case of emergency, restriction should be made to the minimum area required for the defence of India or national security or for any emergencies arising out of natural calamities or any other emergency with the approval of the parliament. The collector shall not take possession of any building or part of a building without giving to the occupier thereof at least forty-eight hours’ notice of his intention to do so, or such longer notice as may be reasonably sufficient to enable such occupier to remove his moveable property from such building without unnecessary inconvenience. Before taking possession of any land, the collector shall tender payment of 80 per cent of the compensation for such land. An additional compensation of 75 per cent of the total compensation shall be paid by the collector in respect of land and property for acquisition of which proceedings have been initiated. However, no additional compensation will be required to be paid in case the project is one that affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security and strategic interests of the state or relations with foreign states. According to this act, as far as possible, no acquisition of land shall be made in the Scheduled Areas and even if such acquisition does take place it shall be done only as a demonstrable last resort. Even for the last resort, consent should be obtained from the panchayats or the Autonomous Districts Councils, in all cases of land acquisition including acquisition in case of urgency, before issue of a notification. In case a project involving land acquisition requires involuntary displacement of SC or ST families, a Development Plan shall be prepared, laying down the details of procedure for settling land rights due and restoring titles of the STs as well as SCs on the alienated land by undertaking a special drive together with land acquisition. The Development Plan shall also contain a programme for development of alternate fuel, fodder and nontimber forest produces resources on non-forest lands within a period of five years. In the case of land being acquired from members of the SCs

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or STs, at least one-third of the compensation amount due shall be paid to the affected families initially as first instalment and the rest shall be paid after taking over of the possession of the land. The affected families of the STs shall be resettled preferably in the same Scheduled Area in a compact block so that they can retain their ethnic, linguistic and cultural identity. The resettlement areas predominantly inhabited by the SCs and STs shall get land, to such extent as may be decided by the appropriate government free of cost for community and social gatherings. The affected STs, other traditional forest-dwellers and SCs having fishing rights in a river or pond or dam in the affected area shall be given fishing rights in the reservoir area of the irrigation or hydel projects. Where the affected families belonging to the SCs and STs are relocated outside of the district, they shall be paid an additional 25 per cent, rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to which they are entitled in monetary terms along with a one-time entitlement of `50,000. All benefits, including the reservation benefits available to the STs and SCs in the affected areas, shall continue in the resettlement area. Where the community rights have been settled under the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, the same shall be quantified in monetary amount and be paid to the individual concerned who has been displaced due to the acquisition of land in proportion with his share in such community rights. The commissioner shall be responsible for supervising the formulation of rehabilitation and resettlement schemes or plans and their proper implementation. He is also responsible for the postimplementation social audit in consultation with the gram sabha in rural areas and municipality in urban areas. Where land proposed to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres, the government shall constitute a Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee under the chairmanship of the collector, to monitor and review the progress of implementation of the scheme and to carry out post-implementation social audits in consultation with the gram sabha in rural areas and municipality in urban areas. Other than the government, government company and association of persons or trust or society is purchasing land through private negotiations beyond the prescribed limit by the state, they have to pay the rehabilitation and resettlement costs. If any person is purchasing land beyond the prescribed limit by the state through private negotiations, he shall file an application with the district collector notifying him of: (a) intent to purchase; (b) purpose for which such purchase is being made and (c) particulars of lands to be purchased. Based on the recommendation of Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme Commissioner, the collector shall pass individual awards.

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This act also proposed to establish a National Monitoring Committee/ State Monitoring Committee to monitor and review the progress of implementation of the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme. For the purpose of providing speedy disposal of disputes relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement, one or more authorities to be known as ‘the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority’ will have to be established by notification. No civil court (other than High Court under Article 226 or Article 227 of the Constitution or the Supreme Court) shall have jurisdiction to entertain any dispute relating to the land acquisition and no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of any such matter. Any objection regarding measurement of the land, the amount of the compensation, the beneficiary, the rights of rehabilitation and resettlement under Chapters V and VI or the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested, has to represent his grievances through the written application to the collector and within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of application make a reference to the appropriate authority. In case, the collector fails to make such a reference the applicant may apply to the authority, requesting it to direct the collector to make the reference to it within a period of thirty days. The Requiring Body or any person aggrieved by the award passed by an authority under Section 70 may file an appeal to the High Court within sixty days from the date of Award. If the High Court is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period, it allows him to file the appeal within a further period not exceeding sixty days.

CONCLUSION Since the early nineteenth century, the colonial government acquired land mainly in the urban areas for the various development purposes. The enactments were largely confined at the presidency level. Since the colonial government did not pay much attention to the development activities, the extent of land acquisition was very limited until the midnineteenth century. Soon railway construction was also included as a public work. For the country as a whole, a common land acquisition act was enacted during the mid-nineteenth century. The land acquisition act became essential since the land and survey settlement were done and ownership was given to the farmers during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Subsequently, additional provisions were made for the compensation through the court instead of arbitrators. Finally, the Land Acquisition Act was enacted in 1894. During the colonial period, the land acquisition act has undergone several amendments which

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made provisions to approach the Supreme Court for compensation, raise objections against the land acquisition, to enable emergency acquisition and acquire land for not only companies but also the company workers. After Independence, the government has made several major amendments which facilitated the inclusion of several activities in the category of public purpose, additional provisions for the award of the collector, timeframe to make an award, provisions for the correction of errors, power to call for records, special powers in cases of urgency, matters to be considered in determining compensation, and redetermination of the amount of compensation on the basis of the award of the court and payment of interest. Until the early twentyfirst century, the Land Acquisition Act was in favour of government and companies and it has not addressed the issues and problems of farmers’ resettlement and rehabilitation and also the ecology and environment. Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, the government has acquired a huge extent of land for the various development activities undertaken by private concerns. The government here has acted as a mere agent to acquire land for the private companies. At the same time, the government has not ensured the rehabilitation and resettlement and appropriate compensation mechanism for the affected people. After the liberalisation era, privatisation and globalisation, land acquisition for the development activities has declined whereas for the companies, it has progressively increased. Since the early 1990s, the government policies have undergone a sea change in favour of privatisation and multinational corporations. On the one side, the common property land, particularly forest land, was diverted for the various development purposes which created revolts in the tribal areas. On the other, farmers land was acquired for the private commercial interests in the name of public purpose. This resulted in series law and order situation arising in different parts of the country. Consequently, a series of protests from the farmers have erupted in different parts of the country. Owing to these developments, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, has come into force. It seems that the provisions of the act, while limiting the public purpose ensure the comprehensive procedures for the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement and appropriate compensation mechanisms in consultation of local people. These may reduce the authoritarianism of the state in favour of the affected people. While ensuring the livelihood options of the affected people, the pressure to sustain the common property resources in general and forest in particular for a safe future should be of paramount importance or else, the above frames would prove to be a great threat to the ecology and environment.

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NOTES AND REFERENCES 1

Abhirup Sarkar, ‘Development, Displacement, and Food Security: Land Acquisition in India’. In The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy, edited by Chetan Ghate (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 313–314. 2 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 2011–2012, The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (ThirtyFirst Report) (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, May 2012), 9. 3 Quoted in the Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 9. 4 Smritikumar Sarkar, ‘Land Acquisition for the Railways in Bengal, 1850– 1862: Probing a Contemporary Problem’, Studies in History 26, no. 4 (2010): 104. 5 Smith Goldwin, ‘British Empire in India’, The North American Review 183, no. 598 (1906): 340. 6 Sarkar, ‘Land Acquisition for the Railways in Bengal, 1850–1862’, 104. 7 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 10. 8 Ibid., 11. 9 Ambrose Pinto, ‘Fillip to Land Transfers Land Acquisition Bill, 1988’, Economic and Political Weekly 33, no. 49 (1998): 3107. 10 Sanjukta Ray and Patra Shreemoyee, ‘Evolution of Political Economy of Land Acquisition’. In India Infrastructure Report 2009 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009), 42. 11 R.S. Gae, ‘Land Law in India: With Special Reference to the Constitution’, The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 22, no. 2 (1973): 317. 12 Sebastian Morris and Ajay Pandey, ‘Land Markets in India: Distortions and Issues’. In India Infrastructure Report 2009 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009), 13. 13 Sarkar, 2009, 1. 14 B.K. Sinha, ‘Draft National Policy for Rehabilitation: Objectives and Principles’, Economic and Political Weekly 31, no. 24 (1996): 1453. 15 Morris and Pandey, ‘Land Markets in India: Distortions and Issues’, 16. 16 Sebastian Morris and Ajay Pandey, ‘Towards Reform of Land Acquisition Framework in India’, Economic and Political Weekly 42, no. 22 (2007): 2084. 17 Arul Menezes, ‘Compensation for Project Displacement: A New Approach’, Economic and Political Weekly 26, no. 43 (1991): 2466. 18 Ray and Patra, ‘Evolution of Political Economy of Land Acquisition’, 41. 19 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 16. 20 Ibid., 11–12. 21 Ibid., 12. 22 Ibid. 23 Ray and Patra, ‘Evolution of Political Economy of Land Acquisition’, 43. 24 Nirmal Mohanty, ‘Eminent Domain Powers: Rationale, Abuse, and Way Forward’. In India Infrastructure Report 2009 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009), 45. 25 Videh Upadhyay and Chandrima Sinha. ‘Regulatory and Policy Regime of Land Acquisition: A State-level Perspective’. In India Infrastructure Report 2009 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009), 51.

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26 Sarkar, ‘Land Acquisition for the Railways in Bengal’, 135. 27 Ibid., 138. 28 Planning Commission, Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas (New Delhi: Government of India, 2008), 15. 29 Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011. 30 Report of the Law Commission on the Law of Acquisition and Requisitioning of Land, 1958. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 The Works of Defence Act, 1903; Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956; the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. 34 The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885; The Indian Railways Act, 1890; Indian Forest Act, 1927; The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948; Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950; Delhi Development Act, 1957; The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. 35 Report of the Law Commission on the Law of Acquisition and Requisitioning of Land, 1958. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 38 Ibid. 39 Titles of the regulations passed in the years 1824–1828, http://wbsl.gov.in/ bookReader.action?bookId=20630#page/30/mode/1up. 40 Titles of the regulations passed in the years 1824. 41 Ibid. 42 Bombay Building Act (Act XXVIII), 1839. 43 Sarkar, ‘Land Acquisition for the Railways in Bengal’, 114. 44 Ibid., 115. 45 Madras Presidency Act XX of 1852. 46 This act also has not defined the term public purpose. 47 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 1. 48 Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1921. 49 Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967. 50 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 1. 51 Upadhyay and Sinha, ‘Regulatory and Policy Regime of Land Acquisition’, 60. 52 Ibid., 51–52. 53 http://www.nlsenlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/LAndAcquisition-Companies-Rules.pdf. 54 Walter Fernandes, ‘Development-induced Displacement and Human Rights’, Seven Sister’s Post, 24 November 2011. 55 Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN, Human Rights in India: Status Report 2012, New Delhi, 7. 56 Ibid., 4. 57 Fernandes, ‘Development-induced Displacement and Human Rights’. 58 Ibid. 59 Prakash Louis, ‘Marginalisation of Tribals’, Economic and Political Weekly 35, no. 47 (2000): 4088.

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60 Ministry of Forest and Environment, 2004. 61 Ibid. 62 Ministry of Environment and Forest, Annual Report 2007–08 (New Delhi: Government of India, 2008), 64. 63 Government of India, Committee on State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms (New Delhi: Ministry of Rural Development, 2008), 118. 64 Ibid., 120. 65 Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 395, dated 5 December 2003. 66 Ministry of Environment and Forest, Annual Report 2007–08, 64. 67 Ministry of Environment and Forest, Annual Report 2011–12, 65. 68 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Environmental History of Tamil Nadu State, Law and Decline of Forest and Tribals, 1950–2000’, MAS 41, no. 4 (2007): 739. 69 Pinto, ‘Fillip to Land Transfers Land Acquisition Bill’, 3109. 70 Fernandes, ‘Development-induced Displacement and Human Rights’. 71 Working Group on Human Rights in India, 7. 72 World Commission on Dams, Displacement, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Reparation, and Development, WCD Thematic Review, Social Issues I.3 (Cape Town: World Commission on Dams, 2000), 1. 73 Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN, Human Rights in India: Status Report 2012 (New Delhi: WGHR, 2012), 4. 74 Walter Fernandes, Tribals Displaced: The Price of Development (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 1997). 75 Ibid. 76 Planning Commission, Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–90) (New Delhi: Government of India), Chapter 12. 77 Planning Commission, Tenth Five-year Plan (2002–07) (New Delhi: Government of India), 829. 78 Ibid. 79 Ibid. 80 Ibid., 830. 81 Ibid. 82 Sinha, ‘Draft National Policy for Rehabilitation’, 1454–1455; Medha Patkar, ‘The People’s Policy on Development, Displacement and Resettlement: Need to Link Displacement and Development’, Economic and Political Weekly 33, no. 38 (1998): 2432. 83 Ramaswamy Iyer, ‘Towards a Just Displacement and Rehabilitation Policy’, Economic and Political Weekly 42, no. 30 (2007): 3103. 84 National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Project Affected Families, 2003.

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7 ELECTRONIC WASTE AND THE ENVIRONMENT1 The electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in different parts of the world. The electrical and electronics equipment growth rate in India has undergone a sea of change since the last quarter of the twentieth century. During the 1980s, the government policy has encouraged the white goods that have led to the growth of consumer appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, etc. Since the early 1990s, the government gave priority for the information and communication technologies and that has led to the growth of computers, mobile phones, etc. In addition to this, technological advancement in the electrical and electronic equipment has led to the disposal of the old one. For instance, in the late 1980s, we have used big floppy, in the 1990s, we have used small floppy, in the early twenty-first century, we are using CDs and for the last few years, we are using pen drive. In other words, within twenty-five years, we have changed three to four types of models quickly to store information. This kind of technological advancement/ innovation is taking place in the field of electrical and electronic products. On the one hand, the lifespan of the electrical and electronic products is short and added to that, on the other hand, spurt of technological innovation is leading to the disposal of the old, outdated products. While encouraging the electrical and electronic products, no serious measures have been initiated to control the generation of e-waste by the government. Whatever little measures were initiated by the government have not made any serious impact either to control or manage e-waste. Further, e-waste has become a global concern because many components of the above equipment are toxic and nonbiodegradable in nature. It has resulted in posing a grave threat to natural resources and public health in the existing circumstances. Given the scenario, this chapter attempts to analyse the nature and trends of e-waste in India and its impact on the environment and ecology during the last three and half decades (1980–2015). Further, it also attempts to capture the e-waste management initiatives and their impact over the years. It argues that whatever the little measures that have been initiated to control e-waste have not made any notable impact on reducing the threat being caused to the natural resources 202

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and public health. Precisely, therefore, this chapter attempts to analyse the trend of e-waste and its impact on the environment and ecology, and the measures taken to control e-waste and its impact over the last three and a half decades in India (1980–2015). This chapter is divided into nine sections. The second section gives the meaning, definition and its components of e-waste. The third section analyses the growth and development of electrical and electronic goods in India. The fourth section focuses on the longevity of e-waste goods. The fifth section studies the trends of e-waste in India. The sixth section focuses on the ecological and environmental consequences. The seventh section recounts the e-waste controlling measures. The eight section discusses about the features of e-waste rules and the last section ends with concluding observations.

E-WASTE MEANING, DEFINITION AND ITS COMPONENTS The term ‘electronics’ encompasses a wide range of home and business electronic goods, including televisions, monitors, computers, computer peripherals, audio and stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, telephones, fax and copy machines, cellular phones, wireless devices, etc. Household appliances, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators and toasters, can also be considered as electronics. Electronic waste, ‘e-waste’ or ‘Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ (WEEE) is the waste material consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliances. At the global level, the term e-waste or WEEE means electronic waste. There is no specific definition applicable at the global level. However, different countries have defined the term e-waste/WEEE. Precisely, e-waste is consumer electronic equipment that are no longer wanted by the users. It is to be pointed out that the European Union Directive and Basel Convention have developed a comprehensive definition for the e-waste at the beginning. However, the European Union Directive definition is widely accepted by the most of the western countries.2 As per EU Directive, e-waste is defined as: ‘Electrical or electronic equipment which is waste including all components, subassemblies and consumables, which are part of the product at the time of discarding’. The ‘electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘EEE’ is broadly classified into ten categories: (a) large household appliances; (b) small household appliances; (c) IT and telecommunications equipment; (d) consumer equipment; (e) lighting equipment; (f) electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools); (g) toys,

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leisure and sports equipment; (h) medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products); (i) Monitoring and control instruments and (j) automatic dispensers.3 Large household appliances include large cooling appliances; refrigerators; freezers; other large appliances used for refrigeration; conservation and storage of food; washing machines; clothes dryers; dish washing machines; cooking ovens and stoves; electric hot plates; microwaves; and other large appliances used for cooking and other processing of food; electric heating appliances; electric radiators; and other fanning; exhaust ventilation and air conditioning equipment. Small household appliances include: vacuum cleaners, carpet sweepers, other appliances for cleaning, appliances used for sewing, knitting, weaving and other processing for textiles, iron and other appliances for ironing; mangling and other care of clothing; toasters, fryers, grinders, coffee machines and equipment for opening or sealing containers or packages; electric knives, appliances for hair-cutting, hair drying, tooth brushing, shaving, massage and other body care appliances; and clocks, watches and equipment for the purpose of measuring indicating or registering time scales. The IT and telecommunications equipment include centralised data processing, mainframes, minicomputers, printer units, personal computing like personal computers (CPU, mouse, screen and keyboard included), laptop computer (CPU, mouse, screen and keyboard included), notebook computers, notepad computers, printers, copying equipment; electrical and electronic typewriters, pocket and desk calculators; and other products and equipment for the collection, storage, processing, presentation or communication of information by electronic means; user terminals and systems, facsimile, telex, telephones, pay telephones, cordless telephones, cellular telephones, answering systems; and other products or equipment transmitting sound, images or other information by telecommunications. The consumer equipment consists of radio sets, television sets, video cameras, video recorders, hi-fi recorders, audio amplifiers, musical instruments, other products or equipment for the purpose of recording or reproducing sound or image, including signals or other technologies for the distribution of sound and image other than by telecommunications. Lighting equipment comprises luminaries for fluorescent lamps with the exception of luminaries in households; straight fluorescent lamps; compact fluorescent lamps; high intensity discharge lamps, including pressure sodium lamps and metal lamps; low pressure sodium lamps; and other lighting or equipment for the purpose of spreading or controlling light with the exception of filament bulbs. The electrical and

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electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools) include drills, saws, sewing machines, equipment for turning, milling, sanding, grinding, sawing, cutting, shearing, drilling, making, holes, punching, folding, bending or similar processing of wood, metal and other materials; tools for riveting, nailing or screwing or removing rivets, nails, screws or similar uses; tools for welding, soldering or similar use; equipment for spraying, spreading, dispersing or other treatment of liquid or gaseous substances by other means; and tools for mowing or other gardening activities. Toys, leisure and sports equipment, such as electric trains or car racing sets, hand-held video game consoles, video games; computers for biking, diving, running, rowing, etc.; sports equipment with electric or electronic components; and coin slot machines. The medical devices (with the exception of all implanted and infected products) include radiotherapy equipment; cardiology, dialysis, pulmonary ventilators; nuclear medicine; laboratory equipment for in-vitro diagnosis, analysers, freezers, fertilisation tests; and other appliances for detecting, preventing, monitoring, treating, alleviating illness, injury or disability. The monitoring and control instruments include smoke detector, heating regulators, thermostats; measuring, weighing or adjusting appliances for household or as laboratory equipment; and other monitoring and control instruments used in industrial installations (for example, in control panels). The Automatic dispensers include automatic dispensers for hot drinks; automatic dispensers for hot or cold bottles or cans; automatic dispensers for solid products; automatic dispensers for money; and all appliances which deliver automatically all kind of products.4 India has come out with its own definition. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests Guidelines (2008): E-waste comprises of wastes generated from used electronic devices and household appliances which are not fit for their original intended use and are destined for recovery, recycling or disposal. Such waste encompasses wide range of electrical and electronic devices such as computers, hand held cellular phones, personal stereos, including large household appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners etc.5

E-waste sources can be broadly classified into two categories, i.e., domestic (dismantling/retrofitting of obsolete e-products and manufacturing process) and imported (scrap dismantling/reprocessing and donations.6 The composition of WEEE/e-waste is very diverse and differs in products across different categories. It contains more than

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1,000 different substances, which fall under ‘hazardous’ and ‘nonhazardous’ categories. According to UN Environment Programme (UNEP): [I]t consists of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, glass, wood and plywood, printed circuit boards, concrete and ceramics, rubber and other items. Iron and steel constitute about 50% of the WEEE followed by plastics (21%), non-ferrous metals (13%) and other constituents. Non-ferrous metals consist of metals like copper, aluminum and precious metals like silver, gold, platinum, palladium, etc. The presence of elements like lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, and hexavalent chromium and flame retardants beyond threshold quantities in WEEE/E-waste classifies them as hazardous waste.7

Precisely, different types of discarded electronics by the user known as end-of-life electronics products, electronics waste, e-waste or WEEE.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC GOODS IN INDIA Since Independence, the generation of electricity has undergone a phenomenal growth that has led to the growth of electrical and electronic products, particularly since the last quarter of the twentieth century. In the 1980s, the government has encouraged the white goods that have led to the growth of consumer appliances—washing machines, refrigerators, televisions sets, etc. In the 1990s, development in the information and communication technologies has led to the growth of computers, mobile phones, etc. Let us see the nature and trend of the electrical and electronic goods/products in India.

Computer and Related Products The number of computers (desktops, laptops), printers (dot matrix, inkjet, laser), uninterrupted power supply, other peripherals (keyboards, monitors) and networking products (hubs, modem, Network Interface Controller or NIC8 and their sales are progressively increasing over the period (Table 7.1). For instance, in 2000–2001, 18.82 lakh personal computers (desktops and notebooks) were sold and it has increased to 80.35 lakhs in 2009–2010. Likewise, the servers, different types of printers, UPS, other peripherals and networking products have also increased manifold during the last decade, i.e., 2000–2010 (Table 7.1).

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64,090

1,881,640

1,670,880

2,293,643

3,035,591

3,809,724

5,046,558

6,341,451

7,344,306

6,796,107

8,034,556

2000–2001

2001–2002

2002–2003

2003–2004

2004–2005

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2005–2006

2006–2007

2007–2008

2008–2009

2009–2010

383,597

393,951

374,700

441,316

472,000

399,000

346,000

316,000

346,000

325,000

Dot Matrix

Printers

812,310

751,683

783,607

608,991

717,000

636,000

591,000

486,000

428,000

43,000

Inkjet

525,882

472,022

442,286

443,200

325,000

142,000

100,000

93,000

60,000

71,000

Laser

2,324,480

1,518,433

1,620,738

2,172,290

1,208,413

954,260

645,654

465,501

375,458

398,195

UPS

5,756,923

5,333,717

5,579,000

4,639,000

3,669,000

2,749,000

2,380,000

1,704,000

1,914,000

Keyboards

5,754,091

5,490,425

5,589,959

4,637,000

3,642,000

2,786,000

2,387,000

1,704,000

1,888,000

Monitors

Other Peripherals

9

Sources: MAIT, IT Industry Performance Annual Review: 2009–2010; MAIT, IT Industry Performance Annual Review: 2005–2006.

101,827

119,591

122,178

90,189

89,161

49,165

53,330

56,544

50,880

Server

PCs

Year

161,602

159,178

245,141

144,117

113,894

373,553

Hubs

238,744

202,358

266,370

594,028

772,550

661,022

Modems

Networking Products

3,454,721

3,912,191

3,795,271

3,646,145

1,801,854

1,983,069

NICs

Table 7.1: Trends of Sales of PC (Desktops and Notebooks), Networking Products, UPS and Other Peripherals in India, 2000–2010

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Telephone The number of telephones has increased tremendously during the last two to three decades. At the time of Independence, the total number of telephones in this country was about 8 lakhs and it has increased to 10 lakhs in 1951, 33 lakhs in 1961 and 98 lakhs in 1971. In the subsequent decades, the growth was very high: for instance, 215 lakhs in 1981, 507 lakhs in 1991, 3,629 lakhs in 2001 and further it has increased to 9,837 lakhs in 2005.10 The large number of telephone connection has also contributed to the generation of e-waste in this country.

Mobile Phones Since the last decade of the twentieth century, the number of mobile phone connections has increased tremendously. For instance, in 1995, there were 0.3 lakh of mobile phones in our country and the figure has increased to 2.2 lakhs in 1996, 3.39 lakhs in 1997, 8.82 lakhs in 1998, 12 lakhs in 1999 and 18.84 lakhs in 2000. Since the twenty-first century, the number of mobile phones has increased progressively from 35.77 lakhs in 2001, 64.32 lakhs in 2002, 64.32 lakhs in 2002, 129.98 lakhs in 2003, 337.01 lakhs in 2004, 522.10 lakhs in 2005, 930.40 lakhs in 2006 and 1,651.1 lakhs in 2007.11 Since the longevity of the mobile phone is very short (four years), a high rate of growth has also added considerably to the e-waste in recent decades.

Televisions In India, television was launched in Delhi on 1 November 1959 and later in Mumbai in the year 1972. From 1961 to 1971, only one television relay centre was there and covered only 5 per cent of the country’s population.12 During this period, only a small number of households was covered under the television programme. In 1962, only forty-one licenses were issued whereas they increased to 44,855 in 1971.13 However, from 1976 onwards, the number of television relay centres has increased and the proportion of the population under the television coverage has also simultaneously increased. For instance, in 1976, only nine television relay centres were operating in our country and they were covering only about 20 per cent of the population. From 1982 onwards, television programmes were relayed through satellite. Till 1983, there was moderate growth both in terms relay centres (42) and coverage of population (26 per cent). From 1984 onwards, there was a tremendous growth both in the number of relays centres and coverage. Precisely, the number of relay centres was 166 in 1984 and it has increased to 921 in 1997 and then proportion of population

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covered under the television was 30 per cent to 87 per cent for the same period.14 As on 1 December 2006, there were about 1,397 transmitters (1,241 national channels, 152 news channels and four metro channels) were in operation in the country and they covered about 91 per cent of the country’s population.15 According to MAIT and GTZ estimates, the trend of television sale has increased from 7.6 million in 1995 to 17.0 million in 2007.16 According to the 2001 Census, 60,649,623 (31.6 per cent) of the households had television sets of which, 26,149,263 (18.9 per cent) households were in rural areas and 34,500,360 (64.3 per cent) households were in urban areas. At present, as per latest estimates there are 120 million households in India having television sets. Out of this, there are about 71 million household subscribers of cable television services. Over 220 cable and satellite channels are being made available for regular viewing.17 According to the 2001 Census, about 35 per cent of the households were having the radio sets, 31 per cent television sets and only 9 per cent of the households were having the telephone. In the rural areas, this percentage was about 32, 19 and 4 respectively. Contrastingly, in the urban areas, this proportion was relatively high—45, 64 and 23 per cents respectively (Table 7.2). According to the NSSO Report No. 489: Housing Condition in India, 2002, about 62.5 per cent of the households’ own radio, transistor, tape-recorder and other music devices. The lower income groups’ households are having higher proportion of these devices as against the higher income groups. In other words, higher income groups’ households are shifting towards the audio and video devices. On the whole, about 36 per cent of the households are having television of which, only half of the households are connected with cable network.18 It clearly indicates that the growth rate of electrical and electronic products has progressively increased in our country during the last three decades. Table 7.2: Number of Households Having Radio, Transistor, Television and Telephone in India Particulars

Total

%

Rural

%

Urban

%

Total number of households

191,963,935

–

138,271,559

–

53,692,376

–

Radio, transistor

67,415,133

35.1

43,539,732

31.5

23,875,401

44.5

Television

60,649,623

31.6

26,149,263

18.9

34,500,360

64.3

Telephone

17,549,991

9.1

5,218,884

3.8

12,331,107

23.0

Source: Census of India 2001, Tables on Household Amenities and Assets, Government of India, New Delhi.

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LONGEVITY OF ELECTRONIC GOODS The lifespan of electronic goods is short and varied from product to product. The lifespan or end-life of products is estimated differently for different products. According to the UNEP, the life span of personnel computer, monitor and laptop is five to eight years, printer five years, mobile phone four years, television eight years and refrigerator ten years.19 According to Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) study, the lifespan of a computer is seven years and television refrigerator and washing machine fifteen years. It clearly indicates that the lifespan of electronic goods is four to fifteen years at the maximum. The short lifespan of the electrical and electronical equipment has led to increasing quantities of e-waste.

GROWTH OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN INDIA As we have seen, the growth of electronic products has increased progressively while its lifespan is short and that has led to increase of e-waste in recent decades. In 2005, the total WEEE generation in India excluding imports estimated to be 146,180 tonnes per year based on selected EEE tracers’ items which is expected to exceed 800,000 tonnes by 2012.20 The quantity of e-waste has increased progressively over the last three decades. According to the UNEP estimates, about 275,000 tonnes of e-waste was generated from TVs, over 101,300 tonnes from refrigerators, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 4,700 tonnes from printers and 1,700 tones from mobile phones.21 It was further estimated that e-waste will be increased in manyfold for the different products by 2020.

MAJOR WEEE GENERATION STATES The total WEEE generation in India has been estimated to be 146,180 tonnes per year based on selected EEE tracers’ items. This figure does not include WEEE imports.22 Though the e-waste generation is spread over different parts of the country, the following ten states generate a large quantity of e-waste, viz., Maharashtra (20,270.59 tons), Tamil Nadu (13,486.24 tons), Andhra Pradesh (12,780.33 tons), Uttar Pradesh (10,381.11 tons), West Bengal (10,059.36 tons), Delhi (9,729.15 tons), Karnataka (9,118.74 tons), Gujarat (8,994.33 tons), Madhya Pradesh (7,800.62 tons) and Punjab (6,958.46 tons).23 Even among the major WEEE generation states, only a few cities have generated a huge amount of e-waste, viz., Ahmadabad (3,287.5 tones),

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Bengaluru (4,648.4 tones), Chennai (4,132.2 tones), Delhi (9,730.3 tones), Hyderabad (2,833.5 tones), Kolkata (4,025.3 tones), Mumbai (11,017.1 tones), Nagpur (1,768.9 tones), Pune (2,584.2 tones) and Surat (1,836.5 tones).24

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests Guidelines (2008), e-wastes contain over 1,000 different substances, many of which are toxic and potentially hazardous to the environment and human health.25 In the absence of suitable techniques and protective measures, recycling e-waste can result in toxic emissions into the air, water and soil, and pose a serious hazard to health and the environment.26 Apart from recoverable materials, such as plastic, iron, aluminum, copper and gold, WEEE also contains significant concentration of substances that are hazardous to human health and the environment. Land filling of e-waste can cause leaching of heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium, and lead, in the land and groundwater.27 The processing of e-waste is largely carried out in an informal sector, which is unregulated and does not follow basic environmental norms. The processes adopted by the sector are rudimentary in nature causing extensive damage to environment and human health. Pollutants reported in WEEE are arsenic, asbestos, barium, brominated flame-proofing agents, cadmium, chrome, cobalt, copper, lead, liquid crystal, lithium, mercury, nickel, polychlorinated biphenyls, selenium, silver, tin and zinc.28 E-waste constituents and their effect on health in general and desktop components and their effect on health in particular.29 If WEEE is incinerated, the presence of flame inhibitors and chlorine elements in plastic casings of electronics can result in the formation of highly toxic dioxins and furans.  Several toxic chemicals and spent over acids after the extraction process are dumped off and drained in the underground aquifers to avoid cost implications of effluent treatment and drainage.  It shows that the e-waste not only affects the health of the workers directly but also the entire world of natural resources due to the lack of e-waste management.

ELECTRONIC WASTE CONTROL MEASURES Until the early twenty-first century, e-waste management issues have not received any attention either from the government or from any

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other agencies. Indeed, currently India does not have any dedicated legislation dealing with e-waste. Laws having a bearing on e-waste include topics like the environment, water, air, municipal waste and hazardous waste. Indeed, the e-waste problems in India have been analysed since 2003 in conjunction with the Swiss e-waste programme. India’s e-waste recycling industry is mainly confined to the informal sector and the regulating mechanisms have been futile.30 According to the UNEP, there are three barriers to transfer the e-waste technology in India, viz., policy and legislation, technology and skills and business and financing.31 According to the UNEP, the policy and legislation barriers are as follows: (i) India currently does not have any dedicated legislation dealing with e-waste. (ii) Laws having a bearing on e-waste include topics like the environment, water, air, municipal waste and hazardous waste. E-waste handling is currently regulated under the Hazardous Waste Management and Handling rules. (iii) Application procedures to obtain export licenses for the shipment of some special fractions of e-waste to state-of-the-art smelters abroad are unclear. (iv) Application of the Basel Convention is unclear. (v) High level of corruption in law enforcement. (vi) No definition of roles and responsibilities of stakeholders. The technology and skills barriers include: (i) E-waste recycling sector dominated by the informal sector. (ii) Low technologies are applied by low-skilled workers, resulting in high health and environment risks, including open-sky incineration and wet chemical leaching of metals. (iii) No proper solution for hazardous fractions contained in e-waste. The business and financing barriers are: (i) Logistics, especially collection and transport, are the main challenges for the formal recycling sector. (ii) Difficulties to access the materials and direct competition with the informal sector. (iii) All costs, including collection, transport and disposal of hazardous fractions at the charge of the recyclers. (iv) No secure financing of non-profitable recycling operations.32

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The government of India has not initiated any specific act to control the e-waste but some measures were initiated in other acts to control the e-waste problem. For instance, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, is one such act.

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,33 has emphasised upon ‘the protection and improvement of environment and the prevention of hazards to human beings, other living creatures, plants and property.’ Under this act, Section 3(1) states that the Central Government shall have the power to take all such measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of the environment and preventing, controlling and abating environmental pollution. Section 3(2)(vii) emphases upon laying down procedures and safeguards for the handling of hazardous substances. Under Section 5, the Central Government has the power to issue directions for (a) the closure, prohibition or regulation of any industry, operation or process; or (b) stoppage or regulation of the supply of electricity or water or any other service. Further, under Section 6(2), the Central Government has power to make (c) the procedures and safeguards for the handling of hazardous substances; (d) the prohibition and restrictions on the handling of hazardous substances in different areas. Section 8 says that no person shall handle or cause to be handled any hazardous substance except in accordance with such procedure and after complying with such safeguards as may be prescribed. Under Section 25 (2)[b], the Central Government has the power to make the procedure in accordance with and the safeguards in compliance with which hazardous substances shall be handled or caused to be handled under Section 8.

Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules34 Based on the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, was formulated on 28 July 1989. According to the rules, occupiers generating hazardous wastes given in the list shall take all practical steps to ensure that such wastes are properly handled, i.e., collection, reception, treatment, storage and disposed of without any adverse effects to human health and environment Rule (4). Rule (4) states: The occupier generating hazardous wastes listed in column (2) of the Schedule in quantities equal to or exceeding the limits given in

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column (3) of the said Schedule, shall take all practical steps to ensure that such wastes are properly handled and disposed of without any adverse effects which may result from such wastes and the occupier shall also be responsible for proper collection, reception, treatment, storage and disposal of these wastes either himself or through the operator of a facility.35

Under Rule (22), grants will be provided for the collection, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. Before hazardous waste is delivered at the hazardous waste site, the occupier or operator of a facility shall ensure that the hazardous wastes is packaged in a manner suitable for storage and transport and the labelling and packaging shall be easily visible and be able to withstand physical conditions and climate factors (31). Import of hazardous wastes from any country to India shall not be permitted for dumping and disposal of such wastes. However, import of such wastes may be allowed for processing or re-use as raw material, after examining each case on merit by the State Pollution Control Board or by an officer authorised in this behalf (38). Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules were amended in 2000: At present there are approximately 9,000 units in the country which utilize hazardous wastes and nearly 10,000 authorizations for import of hazardous waste were made by the government. Till now, not a single waste disposal site has been located in the country so far.36

Hence, the Supreme Court has directed that no import should be made or permitted to be made by the Government of any hazardous waste material which was already banned under the International Basel Convention or to be banned by the convention hereafter with effect from the date specified therein. Based on this, the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, was amended in 2000. Accordingly, ‘Import of hazardous wastes from any country to India and export of hazardous wastes from India to any country for dumping or disposal shall not be permitted.’37 Under this Rule, the biomedical wastes covered under the Biomedical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998; wastes covered under the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000; and the lead-acid batteries covered under the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 were also covered. Under this Rule, import or export of hazardous wastes or substances containing or contaminated with such hazardous wastes is prohibited. Further, this rule emphasised that:

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(1) Every occupier seeking to import hazardous wastes shall apply to the State Pollution Control Board/Committee 120 days in advance of the intended date of commencement of the shipment in Form 6 for permission to import hazardous wastes along with an application fee, as may be prescribed by the State pollution Control Board/ Committee to the Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board/ Committee or any officer designated by the Pollution Control Board/ Committee.38

It also emphasised that ‘[a]n occupier importing hazardous wastes listed under Open General License of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade is required to be registered with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in accordance with the procedure laid down under rule 19.’39 In addition to this, both state- and central-level institutions were given responsibilities to control the wastes. Under this rule, it is mandatory for any person handling hazardous wastes to obtain authorisation of the State Pollution Control Board for collection, reception, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of such wastes. Precisely, until 2010, e-waste was regulated/controlled under the provisions Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

FEATURES OF THE E-WASTE (MANAGEMENT AND HANDLING) RULES, 2010 Till 2010, e-waste management was dealt with under the provisions of Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules of Environmental Protection Act, 1986. There is no specific act or rules were enacted to handle the e-waste. Based on the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010, the government is making pioneering effort to handle the e-waste. This rule brought under its purview each and every entity who is associated with the IT and telecommunication equipment and consumer electrical and electronic and goods. These rules shall apply to every producer(s), distributor(s), collection centre(s), refurbisher(s), dismantler(s), recycler(s), consumer(s) or bulk consumer(s) involved in the manufacture, sale and purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components of IT and telecommunication equipment and consumer electrical and electronics. The rules cover the following IT and telecommunication equipment centralised data processing: mainframes, minicomputers, personal computing; personal computers (CPU with input and output devices), laptop (CPU with input

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and output devices), notebook, notepad etc., printers including cartridges, copying equipment, electrical and electronic typewriters, pocket and desk calculators. And other products and equipment for the collection, storage, processing, presentation or communication of information by electronic means, user terminals and systems facsimile, telex, telephones, pay telephones, cordless telephones, cellular telephones answering systems, and other products or equipment of transmitting sound, images or other information by telecommunications. The consumer electrical and electronics category includes television sets (including LCD and LED), refrigerators, washing machines, and air-conditioners. Under the Rule (4), the producer responsible has to collect the e-waste during the manufacturing process and send it either for recycling or disposal; they have to collect the product at the ‘end of life’ and ensure that it has to reach the registered refurbisher or dismantler or recycler; they have to establish a collection centre either individually or collectively; to meet the cost, they have to make provisions for financing and organising a system either individually or collectively; they have to provide contact details of distributors and authorised collection centres to consumer; and they have to distribute e-waste awareness information along with the equipment. Under the Rule (5), the distributors are responsible to collect the e-waste from the consumers and transport either to the producer or authorised collection centre. Under Rule (6), refurbisher has to collect e-waste generated during the process of refurbishing and send the waste to producer or authorised collection centre or dismantler or recycler. E-waste collection centre’s responsibility is to ensure that the e-waste collected by them is stored in a secured manner till these can be sent to the producer or refurbisher or registered dismantler or recycler. Under the Rule (7), consumer’s responsibility is to ensure that the e-waste is deposited with either the distributor or collection centres. The bulk consumer responsibility is to make sure that the e-waste is deposited with the distributor or authorised collection centres or refurbisher or registered dismantler or recyclers (8). Under the Rule (9), dismantler’s responsibility is to ensure that the environment and health should not be affected and they have to ensure that the dismantling facility. Further, they have to ensure that dismantled e-waste is segregated and sent to the registered recycling facilities for recovery of materials and the non-recyclable/non-ecoverable components are sent to authorised treatment storage and disposal facilities. The recycler/reprocessor responsibility is to ensure that residue generated thereof is disposed of in a hazardous waste treatment storage disposal facility (10). Under this rule, except consumer, all others have to register with the State Pollution Control Board have to submit an

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annual returns statement to the above board on or before 30 June of every year. In addition to that, they have to keep the records related to the handling of e-waste. Thus, the e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010, regulate not only the producers but also recyclers and other intermediaries, viz., distributors, refurbishers, bulk consumers and dismantlers. However, the e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010, shall come into force with effect from 1 January 2012.

CONCLUSION While encouraging the electrical and electronical products during the last three and half decades, the government has failed to manage the e-waste that has resulted in ecological and environmental degradation. Whatever little measures were initiated to control the e-waste management have not made any serious impact and that has led to the threat to the natural resources as well as public health. Due to the technological advancement in the consumer electronic appliances industry, the old and outdated products turned into wastes and their numbers are increasing alarmingly. Thus, this chapter, therefore, argues that the tremendous growth of e-waste during the last three and half decades, without a proper e-waste management rules in place, has caused a sizeable damage to the ecology, environment and public health.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1

The earlier version of the chapter was presented at a national seminar on ‘E-Waste Management and Recycling in India-Issues and Challenges’, organised by the Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, 17–18 March 2011. 2 UNEP, E-waste: Volume I: Inventory Assessment Manual, United Nations Environment Programme (2007), 12. 3 Ibid., 12–16. 4 Ibid. 5 Ministry of Environment & Forests and Central Pollution Control Board, ‘Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management of E-waste’ (Delhi, 2008), 1. 6 A. Jain, ‘E-waste in South Asia’, paper presented at the ‘3R South Asia Expert Workshop’, organised by Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan; Asian Development Bank, UNEP, held International Center for Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal, 30 August 2006–1 September 2006, 3. 7 UNEP, E-waste: Volume I, 12.

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8

It is a  computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network and it also known as a network interface card. 9 MAIT, IT Industry Performance Annual Review: 2009–2010, New Delhi, 28 July; MAIT, IT Industry Performance Annual Review: 2005–2006, New Delhi, 29 June. 10 http://www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=14353& ptid=19282&level=4. 11 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Annual Report, 2006–2007, Government of India, New Delhi; Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Annual Report 2006–2007, Government of India, New Delhi, and Information Economy Report 2005, 2006. 12 http://www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=6071&ptid=276& level=3. 13 http://www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=291578&ptid=19279& level=4. 14 http://www.indiastat.com/india/ShowData.asp?secid=6071&ptid=276 &level=3. 15 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Annual Report, 2006–2007 (New Delhi: Government of India, 2007), 67. 16 Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) and German Technical Cooperation Agency [Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit] (GTZ) ‘“E-waste Assessment in India”: A Quantitative Understanding of Generation, Disposal & Recycling of Electronic Waste in India’, November 2007, 42. 17 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Annual Report 2006–2007 (New Delhi: Government of India, 2007), 65. 18 NSSO Report No. 489: Housing Condition in India, 2002: Household Amenities and Other Characteristics. 19 UNEP, Recycling: From E-waste to Resources, 2009, 41. 20 Ministry of Environment and Forests, The Hazardous Wastes, 1. 21 UNEP, Recycling: From E-waste to Resources, 2009, 44. 22 Jain, ‘E-waste in South Asia’, 3. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 25 Ministry of Environment & Forests and Central Pollution Control Board, Guidelines, 2008, 1. 26 Alastair T. Iles, ‘Mapping Environmental Justice in Technology Flows: Computer Waste Impacts in Asia’, Global Environmental Politics 4, no. 4 (2004): 76. 27 Amit Ray, ‘Waste Management in Developing Asia Can Trade and Cooperation Help?’, The Journal of Environment & Development 17, no. 1 (2008): 6; T.V. Ramachandra and Varghese K. Saira, ‘Environmentally Sound Options for E-wastes Management’, Envis Journal of Human Settlements, March 2004. 28 www.umweltbundesamt.de. 29 For details, see T.V. Ramachandra and Varghese K. Saira, ‘Environmentally Sound Options for E-wastes Management’, Envis Journal of Human

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Settlements, March 2004; Charles W. Schmidt, ‘e-Junk Explosion’, Environmental Health Perspectives 110, no. 4 (2002): A190. 30 UNEP, Recycling: From E-waste to Resources, July 2009, 65. 31 Ibid., 65–66. 32 Ibid. 33 Ministry of Environment and Forests, The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. 34 Ministry of Environment and Forests, Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989. 35 Ibid. 36 http://nihf w.org/ND C/D o c ument ationS er vices/L egislations/ HAZARDOUSWASTE.html (downloaded on 21 December 2010). 37 Ministry of Environment and Forests, Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2000. 38 Ministry of Environment and Forests, Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2002. 39 Ibid.

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8 COMPLEXITY OF LAND, POPULATION, THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT This chapter discusses the complexity of conflict between land, population, the environment and development in India, in a historical perspective. This chapter is divided into nine sections. The first section deals about the landless communities and their living conditions. The second section analyses the trends of agricultural labourers. The third section deals about people living in the forests and the impact of conservation initiatives on their livelihood from the late nineteenth century onwards. The fourth section deals with the trend of landholding patterns. The fifth section analyses as to how the development projects have displaced the people from land and the initiatives that were made to compensate and rehabilitate them. The sixth section analyses to what extent the forest was diverted to various development measures. The seventh section deals about how the political economy played around landless people, tribals and the people who had lost their land due to various development projects during the post-Independence period. The eighth section deals with how the population, the environmental concerns and issues of development of the people was addressed during the post-Independence period and the last section ends with the concluding observations.

LANDLESS COMMUNITIES AND THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS During the precolonial period or at the time of colonial annexation, the Scheduled Castes (SCs) people lived as slaves, bonded labour or attached labour invariably in different parts of the country.1 Even in the varna system, they were not brought under any one of the four varnas. But their services were used for a wide range of production-related activities of economy and even in cultural and religious traditions. Their numerical strength accounts for almost one-fifth of the total population and they inhabit virtually in every village in the country. Even within the villages, they are located in the lowest strata of the main village are totally isolated from the villages. They have been continuously exploited 220

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not only during the precolonial period but till the end of colonial rule in one or the other form in different parts of the country. Sadly, it continues even till date. Despite several social movements that arose in the early nineteenth century, they failed to address the SC problems. However, since the early nineteenth century, several leaders not only from SC category but also from other castes have raised their voice against the exploitation of SCs in different parts of the country. The prominent leaders of those times were Sri Vaikunda Swamikal (1809–1851), Jotiba Phule (1827–1890), Ayothidas (1854–1914), Sri Narayana Guru (1856–1928), Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945), Ayyankali (1863–1941), Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (1879–1973) and Bhimrao Ramji  Ambedkar  (1891–1956) among scores of others. Though several SC leaders and nationalist leaders addressed the problems faced by the SCs, until Independence, however, no constructive development measures were initiated by the colonial administration. Even though some measures were eventually taken, those confined only to a particular region. In other words, until the end of the colonial rule, the socio-economic conditions of the SCs have not changed and have remained just as they were in the late eighteenth century. It is evident from the census enumeration that they were classified as agricultural labourers. While the Census Report of 1871 had classified their occupation as labourers, reeling under poverty, in the subsequent decades also there was no perspective change in their lives. One of the earliest colonial records, ‘Socio-Economic Conditions of Chengalput Paraiahs’ (SC), in 1892, states that the people of this community were ‘… always badly nourished; clad, if at all, in the vilest of rags; eaten up with leprosy or other horrible diseases; hutted like pigs; untaught; unearned for, and unpitied.’2 The condition was more or less similar in the districts adjoining Madras and elsewhere in the Madras Presidency during the nineteenth century at a time when there was no state intervention to promote their or even other communities socio-economic advancement. Of course, their conditions are not much different in other parts of the country. At the time of early Independence, the conditions of the SCs were narrated by Keer: Their social disabilities were specific, severe and numerous…. They were forbidden to keep certain domestic animals, to use certain metals for ornaments; were obliged to wear a particular type of dress, to eat particular type of food, to use particular type of footwear, and were forced to occupy the dirty, dingy and unhygienic outskirts of villages and towns for habitation where they lived in dark, insanitary, and miserable smoky shanties or cottages … were denied the use

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of public wells, and were condemned to drink any filthy water they could find. Their children were not admitted to schools attended by the caste Hindu children. Though they worshipped the gods of the Hindus, observed the same festivals, the Hindu temple were closed to them. Barbers and washermen refused to render them service.... As they were illiterate, ill-treated and untouchables to ages, all public services including police and military forces were closed to them…. Thus being deprived of social, religious and civic rights, they had no chance of bettering their conditions, and so these untouchable Hindus lived the life of a bygone and dead age, dragging on their miserable existence in insufficient accommodation, insanitary surroundings and social segregation.3

In other words, the SCs were faced with extreme forms of discrimination due the caste system and untouchability, which is evident in the wide inequality between the SCs and other communities. The post-Independent India’s governments have made several provisions in the Indian Constitution for the socio-economic development of the SCs. Article 46 of the Constitution provides that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society and, in particular, that of the SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Reservation in educational institutions has been provided in Article 15(4) while reservation in posts and services has been provided in Article 16(4), 16(4A) and 16(4B) of the Constitution. Of course, B.R. Ambedkar was instrumental for the inclusion of these provisions. Based on the constitutional provisions, the Central Government and the state governments have made several programmes/schemes to uplift the SC peoples’ living conditions. Invariably, in different rural development programmes, the share of the SCs has been earmarked. Indeed, it is missed opportunities for the SCs. The land reforms were not implemented which led to their detriment. However, if they were implemented, the SCs would have got their due share in the process of distribution of lands. Despite the constitutional provisions, acts, programmes and schemes, and the vision of Ambedkar for the SCs’ developments, nothing concrete has been achieved. In other words, the above-mentioned intervention mechanism did not make any impact on their political and socio-economic development. Even though the SCs were given political empowerment in Lok Sabha and other the local bodies, the elected representatives of the SC category have nevertheless failed to address their community’s problems and have always stood by their party line rather than being guided by their

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community’s interest. Consequently, the living conditions have also not improved when compared to other communities. In other words, populist schemes of each successive government were only aimed at consolidating the SC vote-bank, and in the process, prevented transformation of their socio-economic conditions.4 Nonetheless, all these provisions, unfortunately, were sacrificed for sheer political survival and popular political vote-bank politics. Consequently, over the last seven decades, their living conditions have hardly improved.

TRENDS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS As we have discussed in the previous section, certain communities have engaged as agricultural labourers during the precolonial period and the other communities were also added to this category since the early colonial period. For example, to some extent, the tribal communities have become an agricultural labourer’s category due to the establishment of tea and coffee plantations in different hills and elevated ranges in different parts of the country since the second quarters of the nineteenth century. Since the mid-nineteenth century, population has steadily increased and the concurrent proportion of agricultural labourers has also increased remarkably. For example, at the close of the nineteenth century, about 16 per cent of the population was classified as agricultural labourers in the Madras Presidency. Since the late nineteenth century, the proportion of agricultural labourers has gradually increased in the subsequent decades and it has reached about 29 per cent at the end of colonial rule. Since the colonial government did not make any efforts to secure the structural transformation or to protect and promote the agricultural labourer communities, their proportion has continued to increase during the entire colonial period. In fact, the colonial government policies have led to the large-scale growth of agricultural labourers over the one and half centuries. Since the second quarter of the nineteenth century, establishment of the coffee and tea plantations have displaced a large number of the tribals.5 Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century when the reserve forest was introduced, the natural right of the tribals to clear the land was curtailed. At the same time, the tribals’ land alienation was not prevented. Consequently, a large number of the tribals lost their land and have become agricultural labourers at the end of the colonial rule.6 In addition to the agricultural labourer communities, colonial policy had also added a sizeable proportion of the tribal communities into the agricultural labour category.

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In addition to these agricultural labour communities, the postcolonial government has further added others under this category. The land acquisition exercise for the various development activities has displaced a large number of the cultivators and converted them into agricultural labour communities without any rehabilitation and resettlement policies in place for their social security.7 Consequently, the proportion of the agricultural labourers has increased during the post-Independence period. In 1951, about 28.09 per cent of the agricultural workers were classified as agricultural labourers and it has increased to 55 per cent in 2011. In other words, the agricultural labourers have almost doubled within the seven decades of the post-Independence period. In addition to the government policies, population growth too has compelled million to join the agricultural labour category. Unfortunately, the government policy towards a large segment of the population has ended with providing some kind of subsidy based on a type of subsistence strategy, without any supporting constructive development measures. Consequently, these agricultural labourers’ category has remained dominant in the poverty-stricken group.

IMPACT OF EXTERNAL INTERVENTION, CONSERVATION INITIATIVES AND TRIBALS LIVELIHOOD In the Indian subcontinent, about one-tenth of the population is tribals and is living in the elevated hilly ranges. They were not noticed by the colonial administration until the early nineteenth century. Invariably, in different hill ranges, the tribals were inhabited since the ancient period. For example, Val Vil Ori, a philanthropist, ruled the Kolli hills during the Ancient period.8 The Kalrayan hills were not noticed by the colonial administration till the second quarter of the nineteenth century.9 The tribals lived in the hilly areas and maintained their livelihood from within the forest resources with limited interaction with the people of the plains. Precisely, nearly one-tenth of the population of the Indian subcontinent has lived in the isolated hilly ranges, until the end of the colonial era without any integration process. After Independence, the postcolonial government was also not concerned about these isolated tribal people until the last quarter of the twentieth century. During the Fifth Five-Year Plan, the Government of India has introduced the tribal sub-plan. Under this plan, 193 Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDPs), 253 Modified Area Development Projects (MADPs) and ninety-three Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) were identified and various development measures have

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been initiated in different parts of the country. Under this programme, various infrastructural facilities have been developed but, in reality, these programmes facilitated the non-tribals to settle in the erstwhile tribal areas.10 In other words, wherever the infrastructural facilities were developed in the hilly areas, the non-tribals alienated the tribal lands and the state also has encroached on the tribal lands for tourism development projects, and has further aggravated the situation. The tribal land alienation acts have been enacted in different states but only after the land alienation process was completed.11 Providing the infrastructural facilities was the political economy of the last quarter of the twentieth century and facilitating them to access the forest resources during the early part of the twentieth century. To be precise, while restricting their livelihood options during the colonial period, the postcolonial policies have either displaced them from their livelihood options and the government initiative have pushed them further into deep forest and finally they were compelled to move into the forest due to populist vote-bank politics.

TREND OF LANDHOLDING PATTERN Since Independence, more and more areas were brought under cultivation. For example, in 1960–1961, about 131,500 thousand hectares of land brought under cultivation and it has increased to 159,592 thousand hectares in 2010–2011. In other words, about 28,092,000 hectares of additional land was brought under cultivation within fifty years from 1960–1961 to 2010–2011 (Table 8.2). Despite bringing more area under cultivation, holdings have greatly increased in the marginal categories. In 1960–1961, about 41 per cent of the total number of holdings was under the marginal category and it has increased to 67 per cent in 2010–2011. In other words, more than two-thirds of the holding have come under the marginal holdings. Likewise, the other categories, viz., small, semi-medium holdings have also increased over the last five decades, while, the number of large holdings has declined drastically. Though the number of small and semi-medium category increased and their proportion share to the total number of holdings has not increased, it has, however, declined from 22.3 per cent and 18.18 per cent in 1960–1961 to 17.9 per cent and 10 per cent in 2010–2011 respectively. The number of holdings for both medium and large categories declined from 13.5 per cent and 4.7 per cent in 1960–1961 to 4.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent in 2010–2011 respectively (Table 8.1).

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35,908

2010–2011

22.5

6.7

 

67

40.7

%

35,244

16,000

 

24,705

10,900

Number

Small

22.1

12.2

 

17.9

22.3

%

37,705

26,200

 

13,840

9,200

Number

23.6

19.9

 

10

18.8

%

Semi–Medium

33,828

40,100

 

5,856

6,600

Number

%

21.2

30.5

 

4.3

13.5

Medium

Large

16,907

40,400

 

1,000

23,000

Number

Sources: Agricultural Census Report (various years); Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Census Report, Delhi: Government of India.

88,000

1960–1961

 

92,356

Area

19,900

2010–2011

Number

Marginal

1960–1961

Year

Category of Holdings

Table 8.1: Category-wise Distribution of Operational Holdings in India, from 1960–1961 to 2010–2011 

10.6

30.7

 

0.7

4.7

%

159,592

1,314

 

137,757

48,900

Number

Total  

100

100

 

100

100

%

(in ’000 both number and hectares)

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The area under marginal, small and semi-medium category has increased from 6.7 per cent, 12.2 per cent and 19.19 per cent in 1960–1961 to 22.5 per cent, 22.1 per cent and 23.6 per cent in 2010– 2011 respectively. The share of the medium and large holdings in comparison has declined during the same period. Precisely, 85 per cent of the land holdings belonged to the marginal and small categories which occupied about 45 per cent of the total cultivated area.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM LAND During the post-Independence period, the various development projects, such as dams, mines, industries, wildlife and others have displaced a large number of people.12 According to Fernandes and Paranjape, about 213 lakh people have been displaced due to the development projects between 1951 and 1990. Of the displaced people, 164 lakh by large and medium dams; 25.5 lakh by mines; 12.5 lakh by industries; 6 lakh by national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; and 5 lakh by various other projects. Among the developmental projects, dams have accounted for more than three-fourths (77 per cent) of the total displaced people in India, during the first four decades of the post-Independence period. For irrigation and hydroelectric projects, about 3,634 dams (major and medium) have been constructed during the same period. On the whole, about 25.5 lakh people (12 per cent) due to mines; 12.5 lakh people (5.9 per cent) due to industry; 6.0 lakh people (2.8 per cent) were displaced due to wildlife; and the rest of 5 lakh people (2.3 per cent) due to other development projects during the first four decades of the postIndependence period (Table 8.2).13 Of the displaced people (213 lakh), only 53.8 lakh people, which forms about 25 per cent, have been resettled during this period. In other words, about 25–30 per cent of the displaced people in different types of development projects have been resettled. The rest, i.e., 159.2 lakh displaced people, which forms about 75 per cent were neither resettled nor rehabilitated.

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25.5

12.5

6.0

5.0

213.0

Mines

Industries

Wildlife

Others

Total

100

2.3

2.8

5.9

12.0

77.0

% of Development Projects

53.80

1.50

1.25

3.75

6.30

41.00

Development Projects Resettled (in lakh)

25.0

30.0

20.8

30.0

24.7

25.0

% of Resettled Development Projects

159.20

3.50

4.75

8.75

19.20

123.00

Backlog (in lakh)

Source: Fernandes and Paranjape, Tribals Displaced: The Price of Development.14

164.0

All Development Projects (in lakh)

Dams

Type of Projects

75.0

70.0

79.2

70.0

75.3

75.0

Backlog (%)

85.39

1.25

4.5

3.13

13.30

63.21

Tribals Displaced (in lakh)

40.9

25.0

75.0

25.0

52.2

38.5

% of all Displaced Persons

21.26

0.25

1.00

0.80

3.30

15.81

Tribal Displaced Persons Resettled (in lakh)

25.0

20.0

22.0

25.0

25.0

25.0

% of Tribal Displaced Persons

Table 8.2: Total Number of Persons and Tribals Displaced by Various Developmental Projects in India during 1951–1990

64.23

1.00

3.50

2.33

10.0

47.40

79.0

80.0

78.0

75.0

75.0

75.0

Backlog Backlog of Tribal (%) Displaced Persons

(in lakh)

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Of the displaced people (213 lakh), 85.38 lakh, which forms about 40.9 per cent belongs to the tribals, and 25–75 per cent of the tribals were displaced invariably due to different types of development projects during the first four decades of free India. Of the displaced tribals, little more than one-fifth of them were resettled in different types of the development projects during the same period. In other words, about 64.23 lakh tribals were displaced due to the various development projects, which amount for about nearly 80 per cent of people who were left unsettled during the post-Independence period. Precisely, around 213 lakh people were displaced, of which only one-fourth was resettled and the rest of them were left unsettled, of the displaced people more than 40 per cent of them were tribals.

DIVERSION OF LAND FOR VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS For the various development projects, apart from private land, other common property resource including forest land was diverted during the post-Independence period. Private lands and forests were diverted for the various development purposes along with the establishment of tea and coffee plantations since the early nineteenth century, and the forest lands were given off to the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities since the early part of twenty-first century.

Forest Land Since the onset of the early nineteenth century, forests and elevated hill ranges were diverted to establish several tea and coffee plantations in different parts of the country.15 Since Independence, a large extent of the forest land was diverted for the various development projects by the state governments. Between 1950 and 1980, on an average about 1.5 lakh hectares of the forest land was diverted for the various development purposes.16 Before 1980, the forest was a State Subject. Until the 1980s, the Central Government did not have any power to regulate the diversion of forest for the various development activities. Due to the indiscriminate cutting and diversion of forest land, forest was brought from State List to Concurrent List through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976.17 Based on the constitutional amendment, the Government of India has enacted the Forest Conservation Act in 1980. This act promulgated that without consulting the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the

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Government of India, the states cannot divert the forest land and it has also laid down that an equal level of afforestation has to be achieved. Between 1980 and 2016, 21,885 diversion cases occurred which involved about 897,698.40 hectares (Table 8.3). Consequently, diversion of forest land has declined to around 24,936 hectares per annum between 1980 and 2016. Many states, such as Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have diverted reserve forest on a massive scale. Most of the development activities during the modernisation process of the post-Independent India. Despite the constitutional amendment, diversion of forest land continues unabated even today. Table 8.3: State-wise Number of Cases and Total Area Diverted for Forest Land under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in India (25 December 1980 to 25 July 2016) States/UTs

Number of Cases

Land Diverted (in hectares)

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

91

2,435.73

Andhra Pradesh

345

24,891.78

Arunachal Pradesh

192

32,167.21

Assam

240

2,956.47

Bihar

147

5,526.96

Chandigarh

31

89.36

Chhattisgarh

422

84,475.02

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

149

275.03

Daman and Diu

1

3.95

Delhi

15

42.21

Goa

81

2,022.85

Gujarat

1,306

63,964.41

Haryana

2,698

5,933.85

Himachal Pradesh

1,416

12,675.87

Jammu & Kashmir

7

656.45

Jharkhand

320

21,791.57

Karnataka

683

43,273.79

Kerala

224

40,747.34

Lakshadweep

0

0.00

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Land, Population, the Environment and Development States/UTs

Number of Cases

Land Diverted (in hectares)

Madhya Pradesh

996

245,978.53

Maharashtra

1,394

60,001.21

Manipur

34

3,015.07

Meghalaya

96

767.95

Mizoram

23

6,237.24

Nagaland

0

0.00

Orissa

478

48,535.22

Pondicherry

1

0.96

Punjab

3,390

63,371.73

Rajasthan

652

25,674.94

Sikkim

350

2,628.59

Tamil Nadu

437

2,421.87

Telangana

226

22,299.08

Tripura

296

7,832.60

Uttar Pradesh

871

19,029.30

Uttarakhand

4,166

41,662.34

West Bengal

107

4,311.92

India

21,885

897,698.40

231

Source: Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 221, dated on 2 August 2016.

Private and Common Property Land Private lands and other common property lands were diverted for various development activities since the early part of the nineteenth century. These diversions were undertaken at the presidency level, albeit on a small scale. Since the mid-nineteenth century to till the end of the colonial rule, thousands of hectares of land and common property resources have been acquired for the development of the railway network. However, other development activities were very limited during the colonial period. Since Independence, to a large extent private and common property lands were diverted for various development projects. For instance, in 1950–1951, about 9.36 million hectares, which constitute about 3.29 per cent of the reporting area was classified as the land under non-agricultural use, and it has gradually increased to 26.4 million hectares in 2010–2011. The growth rate between 1950–1951 and 2010–2011 was about 182 per cent (Table 8.4). In other words, the land under non-agricultural use category has increased nearly threefold within seven decades.

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Table 8.4: Land under Non-Agricultural Use in India, 1950–1951 and 2010–2011  (in million hectares) Year

Area

Percentage

1950–1951

9.36

3.29

1960–1961

14.84

4.97 5.42

1970–1971

16.48

1980–1981

19.6

6.44

1990–1991

21.09

6.92

2000–2001

23.75

7.78

2010–2011

26.4

8.59

Source: Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016.18

Restoration of Forest Rights Act While emphasising the environmental protection, the popular vote-bank politics of political parties in power paved the way to divert the forest land and resources ever since the early twenty-first century.19 The Government of India has enacted the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest-Dwelling Communities (Restoration of Forest Rights) Act in 2006. This act extended various privileges to the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities to access the forest resources without any restrictions. It also has empowered to initiate various development activities and the responsibilities were given to the local communities. As on 31 March 2017, 45 lakh claims were made and about 30 lakh hectares of forest land was allotted under the ownership rights.20 Populist vote-bank politics paved the way not only for the ownership rights but also provided the access of forest resources. Until 2005, the non-tribals in the tribal/hilly areas were portrayed as an encroachers/exploiter. However, after 2006 they have recognised them as forest-dwelling communities and were entitled to ownership rights as well as the right to access the forest resources. The extent of the diversion of forest land was very limited until the onset of colonial period. Especially, after Independence, these diversions took on mammoth proportion until the 1980s and it has considerably reduced in the subsequent decades. But it has further aggravated with the popular politics from 2008 onwards led to the provision of ownership rights and forest rights to the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities in the India.

POLITICAL ECONOMY PLAYED AROUND LANDLESS PEOPLE, TRIBALS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THE LAND The condition of the agricultural labour communities was pathetic and deplorable and no attempts were made to address their problem until the

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last decade of the nineteenth century. In fact, the various SC leaders have started addressing their problems during the last phase of the nineteenth and early phase of the twentieth centuries. Since the early twentieth century, other leaders like Periyar and nationalist leaders like Gandhi began to address the problems of these agricultural labour communities. Consequently, in the early 1940s, the Indian Nationalist Congress (INC), Agricultural Wing, proposed land reforms. If the land reforms were implemented, the landless agricultural labourers would have owned some land for their livelihood and sustenance. However, after Independence, the feudal dominated elected representatives hindered the land reforms, particularly distribution of surplus lands. Though the INC proposed to consolidate the landless agricultural labour community during the anticolonial movement, they have remained dependents even in the post-Independence period. In other words, in the electoral democratic majority, land-owning communities did not agree to share their property. Consequently, for the landless agricultural labourers owning land became a distant dream and it seems that it will end like that in future.

SCHEDULED TRIBES The political economy of tribal development in the late 1970s and restoration of forest rights act in 2006 have to be looked at from a historical context. To regain the tribal vote-bank the Congress Party that had lost in early 1970s, introduced tribal development strategy during the Fifth Five-Year Plan and enjoyed their support until the early 1990s and again, when the Congress Party lost its support during the late 1990s and the early 2000, it seared the enactment of Restoration of Forest Rights Act, 2006. The vast array of tribal development strategies in the late 1970s has secured the tribal vote-bank for the Congress and the party has sustained it over a one and half decades until it started losing during the late 1990s. Since the forest and tribal economy are inter-linked, the political economy of the tribal development politics is a pivotal one. The tribal development strategy that was initiated during the Fifth Five-Year Plan period has not made any positive impact on the socio-economic transformation of the tribals.21 Consequently, the tribal socio-economic conditions deteriorated and their means of livelihood declined across the country. The economic transformation of the tribals too has not occurred as nearly half of the tribal workforce turned into agricultural labourers. The deterioration of the tribals economic status was mainly based on two factors. First, a large number of tribals were displaced due to various development projects during the post-Independence period.

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And, second, the tribal land alienation by the non-tribals. Since the Fifth Five-Year Plan, various infrastructural facilities were developed in different hill regions which facilitated easy accessibility to the tribal areas. Consequently, a large number of non-tribals got settled in the tribal areas and alienated the tribals from their lands. The prohibition of tribal land was largely initiated after large-scale alienation has already taken place. Hence, a sizeable proportion of cultivators has lost their lands and thus became agricultural and other wage labourers. Efforts to transform the socio-economic conditions of tribals have not only failed but also adversely affected their means of livelihood. On the one side, the forest department has withdrawn the livelihood options and, on the other hand, various development projects and nontribal settlements have led to the displacement of tribals from their own land. Hence, the tribal people have lost their faith in the development strategies and as a result, the Congress Party subsequently lost its support base of the tribals. The Congress Party lost its tribal vote-bank in the 1999 and 2004 parliamentary elections. To regain the confidence of tribals vote-bank, the Congress Party has introduced the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, as a rectification measure for the historical injustice. Precisely, the political economy of both tribal development strategies and restoration of forest rights acts were initiated to restore the lost vote-bank by the Congress during the early 1970s and late 1990s and the early 2000 respectively.

DISPLACED PEOPLE During the colonial period, the land acquisition method for public purposes was very limited; hence there was not much problem. On the one hand, the colonial administration acquired only a very small extent of land and on the other hand, due to the low density of population a large extent of land resources was unutilised. Of course, the public purpose was largely confined to roads, water supply, drainage systems, schools, etc. The political economy of the Congress government during the 1980s has extended the incentives and facilities to the private sector which has led to serious consequences for the private land resources in the subsequent decades. On the one hand, the amendment in the land acquisition act has facilitated the inclusion of large number of private enterprising activities, and as for public purposes on the other hand, the housing policies were opened up to the private sector.22

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During the 1980s, the political economy of these two important policies, viz., Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, and housing policies in favour of private sector resulted in a series of implications for the private land resources. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, has provided a detailed definition for the ‘corporation owned or controlled by the state’ and for ‘public purpose’. In Section 3, ‘Definition’ after clause (c) the following clause (cc) ‘Corporation owned or controlled by the state’ was inserted; and also, for ‘public purpose’ a detailed explanation was incorporated. The amendments made in 1984 in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, ended any differentiation between acquisition for a state purpose and—acquisition for a private enterprise or—state enterprise by amending Section 4 of the original act to insert the words—or for a company after—any public purpose. The courts have interpreted this amendment to mean that any notification of acquisition issued under Section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a—public purpose or for—a company. This opened the floodgates to acquisition of private land by the state for companies. And this in turn has unleashed the tribal and rural backlash that has caused the current decision of the government to replace the 1894 Act with an altogether new act.23 The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990) has envisaged ‘the major responsibility for house construction would have to be left to the private sector’ and here government has to facilitate ‘the development of suitable housing sites on a large scale’. It has emphasised that the government has to undertake land acquisition and development in urban areas for housing and the construction activities were to be left to the private sector. In other words, ‘the Government had to play an active role through developing the necessary delivery system in the form of a housing finance market and taking steps to make developed land available at right places and at reasonable prices.’ The first one has impacted on the process of acquiring private land and common property resources in general for private and company interests and the second one, largely affected the private land for private and company commercial motives in the name of public purpose. This policy actually facilitated the private sector to acquire private land for the commercial gains in the name of public purpose. These two initiatives during the 1980s led to severe protests from the farmers in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, particularly in the non-Congress Party ruling states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odissa, paving way for the enactment of Fair Compensation of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Congress has taken up this issue and turned into a saviour of the farmers to regain the farmers vote-bank in the non-Congress ruled states.

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CONFLICT BETWEEN POPULATION, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT Given the background in the early section, the question of how to manage the environment and secure development in the face of increasing population as well as longevity of the people in the country is an important fundamental question for both development economists and the political executives and it needs to be addressed adequately. Three decades back, the Bourdaland Commission emphasised upon methods to preserve the environment for the future generations. It is important to preserve our natural resources for the future generations and there is no doubt about. However, the question is how to ensure the sustainability is an important question that remains to be answered! Of course, in certain sectors, such as non-conventional energy, efforts have been made during the post-Independence period. Given the natural resources and optimum level of population, both environment and development and its sustainability can be maintained. Whereas, given the finite natural resources and high rate of population growth posed challenges in terms of both the environment and development. The situations become more unmanageable when the resources are unequally distributed/controlled. For example, in India over the 85 per cent of the land resources are controlled only by the 45 per cent of the landed area. About 15 per cent of the households are controlling about 55 per cent of the cultivated area. In fact, merely 5 per cent of the households’ control one-third (33 per cent) of the cultivated area. This wide and unequal distribution of land resources is now a major challenge to ensure the development and sustain environment. Land acquisition for the development projects has affected a large number of marginal and small farmers more than that of the semi-medium, medium and large farmers. Against this background, the development projects have largely benefitted the semi-medium, medium and large-scale farmers; for example, in terms of electricity, irrigation projects, warehouses, storage, marketing facilities, etc. In other words, about 40 per cent of the households constitute agricultural labourers for whom irrigation, dams, electricity related development projects are merely meaningless. Most of the irrigation dams and hydroelectric projects developed in the hilly regions have displaced a large number of tribal people.

CONCLUSION This chapter deals with the complexity of land, population, environment and development dilemmas in the India. Historically, certain communities

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lived as agricultural labourers without owing any land. In addition to the traditional agricultural landless labour communities, other communities were also included in this category, which made up 40 per cent of the total work force in the 2011 Census. The people lived in the forests and their livelihoods were curtailed and their land was also alienated extensively during the post-Independence period. In addition to this, the growing population depended solely on agriculture for their occupational needs. This has resulted in the increase of marginal holdings. More than 85 per cent of the small and marginal farmers controlled only 45 per cent of the land area. Further, land acquisition for the development activities mainly affected marginal and small farmers besides diverting the forest areas for these purposes. Further, it also captures how the political economy played around the landless people, tribals and displaced people. This chapter has thus aimed to capture the complexities of land, population, the environment and development from the landless, tribals and displaced people’s perspective, and as how the political economy of environment and development has taken place at the cost of the landless agricultural labourers, tribals and displaced people for the interests of the rich, feudal lords and upper castes in the Indian subcontinent.

NOTES AND REFERENCES Dharma Kumar, Land and Caste in Southern India: The Conditions of Agricultural Labourers in Madras Presidency (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965). 2 G.O. No. 1010, 1010A (Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Archives), 2. 3 Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1954), 1–2. 4 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar Vision on India’s Development: Post-Independence Experience’, Journal of International and Area Studies 1, no. 1 (2019): 142–169. 5 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations: Decline of Environment and Tribals in Madras Presidency during the 19th Century’, IESHR 41, no. 4 (2004): 465–488. 6 Velayutham Saravanan. ‘Tribal Land Alienation in Madras Presidency during the Colonial period: 1792–1947’, RDC 6, no. 1 (2000): 73–104. 7 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Land Acquisition Act in India: Impact on Environment and Livelihood, 1824–2013’, NMML Occasional Paper no. 46 (New Delhi: NMML, 2014), 1–58. 8 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Genesis of Hill Inhabitants in Tamil Nadu: A Review’ (mimio). 9 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Colonial Commercial Forest Policy and the Tribal Private Forests in Madras Presidency: 1792–1881’, IESHR 40, no. 4 (2003): 403–423. 1

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10 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Impact of Welfare Programmes on the Tribals in Tamil Nadu: 1947–1991’, RDC 3, no. 1 (1998): 90–108. 11 Saravanan, ‘Tribal Land Alienation in Madras Presidency’, 73–104. 12 Saravanan, ‘Land Acquisition Act in India’, 1–58. 13 Fernandes and Paranjape, Tribals Displaced: The Price of Development (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 1997), 24–32. 14 Ibid. 15 Saravanan, ‘Colonialism and Coffee Plantations’, 465–488. 16 Ministry of Forest and Environment, Forests and Wildlife Statistics in India, 2004, Government of India, New Delhi. 17 Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976. 18 Government of India, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016 (New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, 2017), 352–353. 19 Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Political Economy of Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006: Conflict between Environment and Tribal Development’, SAR 29, no. 3 (2009): 199–221. 20 See Velayutham Saravanan, ‘Forest Rights Act, 2006: Failure of Law or Governance?’ (unpublished paper). 21 Saravanan, ‘Political Economy of Recognition of Forest Rights’, 199–221; Saravanan, ‘Impact of Welfare Programmes on the Tribals’, 90–108. 22 Saravanan, ‘Land Acquisition Act in India’, 1–58. 23 Report of the Standing Committee on Rural Development, 2011–2012.

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9 CONCLUSION The main objective of the manuscript is to analyse the environmental history of India for the modern India in a comprehensive manner from the late-eighteenth century to that of early twenty-first century, in a historical perspective. India’s environmental history literature is largely confined to forestry and wildlife and again concentrated mainly on only a certain phase of the colonial era. Aspects other than forestry and wildlife of the environmental history received very little attention. Unfortunately, the post-Independence environmental history did not receive the due attention. Consequently, an attempt has been made to study the subject comprehensively, over a period of time ranging from the late eighteenth century to the early twenty-first century. Until the colonial intervention or even during the early phase of the colonial period, India’s economy predominantly depended on traditional agriculture and largely geared to meet the people’s subsistence. The agricultural production process was labour-intensive with some support of cattle resources. Only the traditional technology was employed in the production process. Due to low density of population, the land brought under the cultivation was very limited. Further, the land resources were used for the other non-agricultural purposes also which were very limited. Owing to low density of population, traditional agricultural production processes and lack of other infrastructural facilities, only a limited extent of the land was brought under the utilisation/cultivation. Consequently, large extents of the land resources were left unutilised. Since the early nineteenth century, land-use pattern in the Indian subcontinent has changed in the non-arable lands, particularly in hill ranges due to establishment coffee and tea plantations. In other words, except for the plantation’s development in the highlands, there was no change in the land use-pattern until the mid-nineteenth century. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the common property lands were converted into the arable lands due to the large-scale agricultural expansion and extension of irrigation facilities in different parts of the country. Since the mid-nineteenth century, railway network was gradually developed which destroyed a large extent of the forest not only to lay down the timber plates but also to manufacture coaches, berths and for fuelwood. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, more 239

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and more areas were brought under the reserve forest while the forest resources have been exploited for the commercial purposes at the cost of the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities’ livelihood. During the post-Independence period, the pressure on land and other natural resources has increased due to the explosive nature of population growth, agricultural expansion and the development of infrastructural facilities. Green revolution technologies further accentuated agricultural expansion and extraction and exploitation of the natural resources. Consequently, the land-use pattern has also changed remarkably. In other words, increasing proportion of common property resources were brought under the utilisation process. At the same time, thousands of hectares of land were brought under the nonagricultural use and the area under cultivation increased at the cost of other common property resources. Since 1985, the land-use policies emphasised upon efforts to bring the non-arable lands, particularly permanent pastures and other grazing lands, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves, and cultural wastelands for utilisation in different parts of the country. Precisely, more and more common property lands have been brought either under cultivation or under development purposes, while the fallow land has increased due to lack of water, rainfall and other natural calamities that invariably occurred in different parts of the country during the post-Independence period. During the precolonial period and the early phase of the colonial period, the population density was low and the requirement was mainly confined to subsistence livelihood levels. Since the colonial period, the colonial administration has designed different strategies to enhance the land revenue while they were never really concerned about India’s population. Consequently, famines and other epidemic diseases occurred frequently which resulted in the loss of a large number of lives during the colonial period. In other words, death rate, birth rate and infant mortality rates were high and the longevity after birth was also low during the colonial period. To be precise, over the period of 200 years, the colonial administration was never concerned about the interest of the people of Indian subcontinent and their main agenda was how to extract the resources. There was no change in the population growth for over two centuries of colonial era. After Independence, the governments gave priority to protect the people by providing food grains through the expansion of agriculture and generating employment opportunities through various poverty alleviations programmes and hence sought improve the infrastructural facilities, such as schools, hospitals, roads, drinking water supply and household amenities. Consequently, death rate, birth rate and infant mortality rate have declined, and longevity after birth has increased remarkably during the post-Independence

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period. At the same time, the question of environment and ecological damage has not received due attention over the six decades of the postIndependence period. Until the colonial intervention, forest resources were used by the people without any restrictions for their livelihood. However, since the beginning of colonial era, the foreigners had exercised control over the forest resources by imposing restrictions on the people and exported the forest resources extensively to different countries. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, forests were brought under the reserve forest purview while restrictions were imposed on the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities. While imposing restrictions, the colonial policy was continuing to be a guiding force for the commercialisation of the forest resources. After Independence, the government did not launch any major initiatives to protect the environment besides of course adopting the various colonial acts during the first three decades post-Independent India. Since the forest was a state subject, a vast extent of forest area was diverted for various developments’ activities by the different states during the post-Independence period. In fact, till the 1970s, the other environmental aspects also did not gain much attention. Even after the 1970s, these acts were controlled/regulated only to some extent. Further, the technological advancement in the agrarian sector has made serious impact on the ecology in terms of soil fertility, declining water quality, etc. The post-Independent India’s environmental history issues were multi-faceted and they were largely neglected during the early decades. In other words, within the three decades of securing Independence, a large extent of forest was diverted and other common property lands were quickly reduced to negligible proportion. Adding to that, the political economy of the tribals and other forest-dwelling communities further worsened the environment-related problems. Without realising the importance of environment, the common property resources were ruthlessly exploited in the early period. The vote-bank politics of political parties further aggravated the India’s environmental concerns. Since the early nineteenth century, the colonial government acquired land mainly in the urban areas for various development purposes. In fact, these enactments were largely confined only at the presidency level. Since the colonial government did not pay much attention for the development activities, the extent of land acquisition was very limited until the mid-nineteenth century. Soon railway construction was also included as a public work. For the country as a whole, a common land acquisition act was enacted during the mid-nineteenth century. Land

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Acquisition Act became instantly applicable since the land and survey settlement was held and ownership was given to the farmers during the third quarter of the nineteenth century. After Independence, the government has made several major amendments which facilitated the inclusion of several private activities in the category of public purpose. Until the early twenty-first century, the Land Acquisition Act was in favour of government and companies and it has not adequately addressed the issues and problems regarding farmers’ resettlement and rehabilitation, and the ecology and environment. Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, the government has acquired a huge extent of land for the various development activities to be undertaken by private concerns. The government here acted as a mere agent to acquire the land for the sake of private companies. On the one side, the common property land, particularly forest land, was diverted for the various development purposes which caused revolts in the tribal areas and, on the other hand, farmers’ land was acquired for the private commercial interest in the name of public purpose. Finally, the Right to Fair Compensation and the Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, have come into force. While ensuring the livelihood options of the affected people, the pressure to sustain the common property resources in general and forest in particular for a safe future should be of paramount concern, failing which the above frames would prove to be a great threat to the ecology and environment. In addition to the constraint of the natural resources, the modern electrical and electronic waste problem too has further aggravated the environmental crises not only from the quantity of the waste but its impact on the natural resources. Thus, population growth, agricultural expansion, technological advancement and development of various infrastructural facilities have further aggravated the complexity of conflict between land, population, environment and development for more than two centuries of India’s environmental history.

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GLOSSARY 16 annas 1 rupee 64 paisa 1 anna candies One candies equals to forty bullas or puddies or 7,248 cubic inches cash It was a lowest money measurement crore Ten million fanam Eighty cash equal to one fanam maund One maund equals to 82.286 pounds Star Pagodas One Star Pagoda was equal to forty-five fanams or 3,600 cash

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INDEX A air-polluting industries, 15, 130 Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji, 221, 222 Ayothidas, 221 Ayyankali, 221

B Bengal Presidency, 96, 99, 100, 115 Bengal Regulation, 158, 162–164 Bombay Presidency, 103, 163 Bourdaland Commission, 236

C Calicut, 11 Chandragupta, 4 chemical fertilisers, 15, 130, 132 Chennai, 83, 211 Cleghorn, 103 coal mining, 100 coffee plantations, 22, 82, 83, 93, 96, 103, 114, 223, 229 commercial crops, 82, 83, 108, 124 commercialisation of forests, 89, 108 common property resources, 3, 14, 16, 20, 27, 49, 82, 130, 150, 152, 155, 160, 176, 198, 231, 235, 240–242 conservation of forests, 4, 89 constitutional amendment, 50, 134, 136, 145, 154, 158, 229, 230 consumer appliances, 16, 202, 206 Court of Directors, 92, 99, 100 Cropland, 1–6, 8, 21

D Deforestation, 3–7, 11, 21, 103 developed countries, 7, 86, 159 developing countries, 7, 12, 21, 157, 160

displaced people, 16, 160, 181–183, 227, 229, 237 droughts, 20, 26, 27, 49 dyeing and bleaching industries, 132, 149

E East India Company, 13, 22, 64, 92, 100, 157, 162 electronic waste, 14, 16, 17, 202, 203, 210, 242 eminent domain, 157–159 Environment (Protection) Act, 213, 215 environmental history, 15, 89, 130, 132, 155, 241, 242 environmental impact assessment, 184, 192 epidemics, 9, 53 expansion of agriculture, 24, 82, 86, 90, 140, 240

F famine, 1, 14, 20, 21, 26, 27, 49, 52–55, 58–62, 85, 86, 240 Fernandes, Walter, 160 Food and Agriculture Organization, 1 Forest Department, 94, 102, 104, 121, 124, 178, 234 fundamental right, 158

G Gibson, 103 gram sabhas, 185, 190, 193 green revolution, 15, 30, 50, 130, 132, 134, 136–140, 150, 154, 240 groundwater, 13, 16, 84, 85, 130–132, 137–141, 155, 211 Grotius, Hugo, 157

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Index

H

P

Hardin, Garrett, 10 hazardous wastes, 213–215 heath, 99 housing policies, 152, 162, 234, 235 Hunter, W.W., 23, 64

panchayats, 77, 184, 185, 188, 195 Pastoral, 3, 5, 8, 15, 132, 153, 154 pharmaceutical industries, 15, 132 political economy, 16, 17, 133, 150–152, 155, 220, 225, 230, 234–237, 241 population explosion, 10, 12, 14, 20, 29, 130, 155 Primitive Tribal Groups, 153, 224 public purpose, 16, 152, 157–176, 178, 185, 190–195, 198, 234, 235, 242 Phule, Jotiba, 221

I Industrialization, 7 infant mortality rate, 12, 14, 61, 62, 80, 81, 86, 240 information and communication technologies, 16, 202, 206 Integrated Tribal Development Projects, 224 iron-making industries, 98–100, 115

K Kalrayan hills, 224 King’s Navy, 90–92 Krishna River, 13

L land acquisition act, 16, 151, 152, 158, 160–162, 165–175, 180, 197, 198, 234, 235, 241, 242 land utilisation, 27, 28, 30, 35, 133 Lok Sabha, 151, 222 Lord Dalhousie, 100, 103

M Madras Presidency, 23, 53, 55, 58, 94–103, 124, 164, 221, 223 major irrigation projects, 21 Malthus, Thomas Robert, 1, 10 mechanisation, 7 migration, 5, 11, 14, 81 Modified Area Development Projects, 224 mortality rate, 12, 14, 59–62, 76, 80, 81, 86, 240

N Narayana Guru, Sri, 221

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R railway network, 22, 49, 62, 83, 100–102, 119, 163, 231, 239 Ramasamy, Erode Venkatappa, 221 Raychaudhuri, T., 22 real estate companies, 162, 182 reforestation, 6 rehabilitation policies, 160, 162, 182

S Srinivasan, Rettamalai, 221 Salem and Baramahal regions, 21, 53, 94 sandalwood, 82, 90, 91, 94, 103, 108–112, 124 Second World War, 5, 62, 121 slums, 14, 130–132, 140, 155 social impact assessment, 184, 191 State Pollution Control Board, 147, 148, 214–216 sugar-boiling industries, 91, 99 Supreme Court, 159, 170, 171, 182, 197, 198, 214

T tanneries, 15, 132, 149 tea plantations, 49, 82, 91, 97, 114, 223, 239 teak plantation, 93 Thomas Munro, 99

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Index

259

trade and commerce, 82, 85, 90 trends of green cover, 15, 132, 134 tribal development, 150, 151, 187, 224, 233, 234

Vasco da Gama, 11, 85 Vedic tradition, 4

U

wastelands, 29–31, 34, 35, 50, 99, 240 water polluting industries, 15, 142 Western Ghats, 90, 91, 95, 109, 110 wildlife, 5, 89, 124, 130, 144–146, 154, 181, 227, 239 Williams, M., 4, 5, 124 World Bank, 182

urban environment, 15, 132 urbanisation, 8, 14, 15, 21, 64–66, 70–73, 85, 130–132, 140, 155, 190

V Vaikunda Swamikal, Sri, 221 Val Vil Ori, 224 varna system, 220

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W

Y Yamuna River, 13, 131, 150

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Velayutham Saravanan is Professor and Former Director, Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Earlier, he had a short stint at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, as Director of the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies. He was also associated with the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, and Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow. Author of several books, such as Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India, 1792–1947 (2017), Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India (2018), Water and Environmental History of Contemporary India (2020) and Colonialism and Wildlife: An Environmental History of Modern India (forthcoming), and editor of History and Sociology of South Asia (2015–2019), he had published several articles and presented papers at both national and international academic fora.

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