RESETTLEMENT & REHABILITATION

OF PEOPLEProblems & Concerns

Problems & Concerns

We are benefitted manifold times through developmental projects like construction of dams, mining, creation of national parks, etc, but quite often, the native people of the project sites are displaced from their home land.

Causes Of Development Displacement due to Dams.

Displacement due to Mining.

Displacement due to National Parks.

Displacement due to Dams.

Displacement due to Dams. Millions of people were displaced during the big

river valley projects like Hirakund Dam (Orissa), Bhakra Nangal Dam ( Punjab), Srisailam Dam ( Andhra Pradesh), Pond Dam (Himachal Pradesh) and have made refugees in their own home lands.

Case of Tehri Dam (Uttaranchal) on the river Bhagirathi, would directly have an immediate impact on the 10,000 residents of Tehri town and the rehabilitation over here has become much more of a burning issue.

Sardar Sarover Project

Case Study : Sardar Sarover Project Plans to build 30 big, 135 medium and 3000 minor

dams on Narmada River.

Tributaries estimated to submerge 573 villages consisting of about 3 lakh people.

Traumatic experience for the natives.Families disintegrate.Tribals pay the price for the nation’s happiness.

In return, they should be provided with compensation in the form of land, cash or jobs, etc.

Displacement due to Mining.

Displacement due to Mining. Mining operations cover thousands of

land and local people are displaced.

Case Study : Jharia Coal Fields, Jharkhand Major problems caused due to underground

fires and residents are asked to vacate.

Till now, there is no alternative land and rehabilitation package for them.

Latest estimates show that about Rs.18,000 crores will be spent for shifting Jharia 0.3 million people while the cost for extinguishing the fire would be around 8000 crore.

Displacement due to National Parks.

Displacement due to National Parks.

When a forest area is converted into a national park, it deprives the local dwellers of their ancestral rights. As a result, the tribals protest by starting destructive activities.

Case Study : Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary Happened in Kerala. Displaced 53,472 tribal families but till

2003, only 843 families could get the land.

Tribals felt betrayed and have started encroachment into the forest.

This led to violent encounters with the forest officials.

Rehabilitation Issues The United Nations Universal Declaration on

Human Rights [(Article 25 (1)] has declared that housing is a Basic Human Right.

According to the Land Acquisition Right,1894 the government is empowered to serve notice to the people to vacate their lands if there is a need as per government planning.

Provision of cash compensation in lieu of the land vacated exists in section 16 of the Act.

Major Issues Related To Displacement & Rehabilitation

Kinship systems, marriages, social and cultural functions vanish with their displacement.

Loss of identity and intimate link between people and environment is one of the biggest loss.

Displacement of already poor tribes increases their poverty.

Tribes aren’t familiar with market policies and trends.

Rehabilitation Policy There is a need for comprehensive

National Rehabilitation Policy- Land for Land is a better policy than cash settlements of displaced people.

Following objectives should be considered:

Displaced should be rehabilitated within their own environment.

Necessary services should be provided to continue agriculture in the new areas.

Tribals should be provided vocational training and job opportunities.

They should be given modular house designs and necessary help during reconstruction.

Displaced persons should be provided monetary aid and post-resettlement services.

Case Studies In case of Sardar Sarovar Project,

Gujarat Government has decided that each landed oustee shall be entitled to allotment to irrigable land in the state which he chooses for his resettlement.

The area of land = owned by him earlier. Min. land=2 hectares.

The case of Pong Dam is different. The dam was constructed on Beas river in

Himachal Pradesh in 1960, while it was a part of Punjab.

The water is harnessed to irrigate Rajasthan. So Rajasthan agreed to provide land to oustees in the command area of Indira Gandhi Canal.

But only, 16,000 families out of 30,000 families could be settled and that too in desert bordering Pakistan.

There is a need to raise public awareness on these issues to bring the resettlement plans on a humane footing and to honor the human rights of the oustees.