Page 2 - 2.Lesson Notes-Sustainable Management, Water for All

People’s participation in Management of Forests

 In 1972, the forest department realized its mistake while reviving the degraded sal
forests of Arabari forest range. Arabari forest lies in Midnapore district of West
Bengal.
 The traditional methods of policing and surveillance were a total failure as they often
led to frequent clashes with local people. It also led to alienation of people from the
conservation programme.
 Forest and land related conflicts in the region were also a major factor in fuelling the
militant peasant movements led by the Naxalites.
 Then came a forest officer; named A K Banerjee; who was a real visionary.
 He involved local people in the revival of 1,272 hectares of forest.
 In lieu of that the villagers were given employment in silviculture and harvest and
were given 25% of the harvest. They were also allowed to gather firewood and
fodder against a nominal payment.
 Due to active participation of the local community there was remarkable revival of the
Arabari Sal forest. By 1983, the value of the forest rose to Rs. 12.5 crores.

Water For All

 Water is very important for us. It is not only required for drinking but also for bathing,
washing, irrigation, industry, construction work and disposal of sewage.
 The consumption of water has increased. For example, a villager requires just 25
litre of water in a day but an urban dweller requires at least 350-700 litre of water a
day.

 The reason due to which we fail to sustain underwater availability are as follows-
1. Loss of vegetation cover.
2. Diversion for high water demanding crops.
3. Pollution from industrial effluents and urban waste.
4. Irrigation methods like dams, tanks and canals.

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