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Reaping Scarcity : The Process of Drought and Marginalisation in Western Orissa.
By
Sohini Sen Gupta
April 1998
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Contents
Acnowledgement
1. Introduction
Pg 2-4
2. Characteristic of Drought Areas
3. ‘This Business of Drought Relief
4. About the Paper
Pg 3-3
5. About the Area: Hills, Plains, Forests and River Systems
Pg 3-4
6. About the People
Pg 4
7. Political Administration between 1850-1900
Pg 4-5
8. Of Surplus Generation and Land Alienation : Agriculture, Railroads, Revenue Systems;
Trade and Tribal Assertion between 1830-1930.
Pg 5-12
8; 1 Landuse and Agriculture;
Pg 5-6
8.2 British Land Revenue System and the Institution of Gountia
Pg 7-8
g.3 Alienation and Uprising
Pg9-M
8.4 Trade, Pauperizatio, Surplus Production and Railways
Pg 11-12
9. The Scarcity of1899-1900
Pg |2-14
9.1 An analysis of the Causes of the 1900 Drought annd it’s relevance to the
present context.
._______Pg 14-15
10. Drought was here to stay
Pg 15-19
11. The Political Economy ofTank Irrigation in West Orissa[
Pg 19-23
12. The Politics of Government Relief programs
13. Case Studies
14. Anex
Pg 24-34
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1. Introduction
The phenomenoirof droughtis associated witfr monsoon failure and die consequentrwater scarcity
in popular belief. This manner of thought lends it a mantle of inevitability. Visions of vast stretches
of arid tracts, heat cracks wrinkling agricultural land and'dried'up wells and ponds and helpless
farmers, as the aftermath complete die association. The emotion it arouses is one of despair and
helpfessness at what seems to be the ultimate vagary of nature ratherthan one oftanger against the
social organisations of man and as a manifestation occuring out of indiscriminate manipulation of
nature.
The occurrence oTDrought with a periodic familiarity irrsome parts ofthe country in the present
century, has it’s roots in a complex set of factors emerging, out of our social, economic and
political context in the recent past. That, drought has occured in areas so dissimilar to each other as
far as physical features are concerned, is indicative of the fact that, it’s occurence cannot be blamed
on natural factors alone. “ The commonly made correlation between failiure and variation in
rainfall and drought is simplistic and inadequate. Drought occurs whenever and wherever the
links in the water cycle^are broken or destabilised” (refr 14)
Theoritically drought can be classified into four categories based on die nature of destabilisation or
break in the water cycle. “The special situation when rains donot arrive in time or in adequate
quantities is... one form of drought, metereological drought..... Deforestation and Hydrological
destabilisation in the mountain catchme nts of rivers can make rivers and streams dry up in the
post monsoon period. In such situations we can have surface water drought inspite of adequate
rainfall.....Soils can lose their effective moisture conserving capacity through a complex of
diverse processes and the consequent land aridisation could he described as soil water
drought;.....The mining of ground water can create an almost irreversible ground water
drought even under conditions of normal rainfall and good soil condition. Rainwater, Surface
water, Soilwater and Groundwater droughts are ecologically\connected:'\rs^.\^)
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The disbalance in the equilibrium between the various
components of a dynamic water system
causes water scarcities and aridisation in some places and flooding and water logging in others.
Annual precipitation is the single important source of renewal dnd recharge of water in surface and
groundwater bodies. In a destabilised context; widi the other recharge mechanisms breaking doxyn,
or extinct, a single variation in rainfall, would catapult the situation into one of acute water
scarcity: Th& Metereological department in India defines the drought “as a situation occuring in a
metereological subdivision in a year when the annual rainfall is less than 75% of the normal.
When the deficiency of rainfall is above50% of the normal, itis termed as a severe drought"
(refz-29)
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In tropical weather conditions, fluctuation in annual rainfall are a~normal phenomena. India as a
country therefore has existed with monsoonal variations as a! part of it’s climatic reality. “The
frequency of recurrence of drought as 25% deficiency in rainfall has been analysed by Jodha.
According to him 13.2% of India’s total geographical areahds a drought frequency of less than
three years. Similarly 11:6%, 36.5% and 30:9% of India’s ai^ea have a drought frequency of 3,
4 and 5 years respectively. ”(refil4)
Not all fluctuations in every point in time had translated themselves into a drought. Communities
living in tropical zones had also evolved suitable cropping patterns and systems of water use that
were J>oth sustainable and enabled them some amount of protection aj^ainst monsoonal aberrations.
The appropriateness of the processes was due to typical landuse practises that had inbuilt
mechanisms of water conservation.
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Drastic changes in landuse practises has led to rapid ecological degradation creating arid zones in
good rainfall areas. A case in point is the Doon valley, where limestone quarrying in the last three
decades have dried up perennial mountain streams and converted them into carriers of monsoon
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flood water. Limestone served as aquifers storing natural water. Extensive Limestone stone mining
by Cement factories are resposible for the transformation of the unique and fertile ecological
system of Coastal Saurashtra into saline desert. The meleolitic Limestone acts as a natural aquifer
which recycles fresh water and is the check against salinity ingress along the Western Coastline of
Gujarat. In Kolar district of Karnataka, the massive spread of Eucalyptus plantation and excessive
groundwater mining to irrigate cash crops like grapes and vegetables have created aquifer droughts.
/
Changing the species composition of upland watersheds by displacing natural forest with
commercial monoculture plantations have caused surface water drought. The drought prone-ness of
the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, is a contribution of the monoculture of Pine and Eucalyptus
which has displaced the natural forest in the upper catchment. A classic example which wraps up
the case is the “drying up of Cherrapunji” till recently the place which recorded the highest
quantum of annual rainfall in the world. “With the destruction of the mixed natural forest in the
upper catchment the above 12000mm of rainfall in Cherrapunji, instantly run off accentuating
theflood situation in Bangladesh and as soon as the monsoons is over, the springs and streams
start drying up and water scarcity haunts the one time wettest spot on earth. ” (re: 14)
Modernisation was followed by redefining agricultural practises whose foundations were laid on
external dictates of quantitative productivity and in the ignorance of micro realities. While local
practises were termed primitive and non-productive, vast areas, irrespective of landtype, were
brought under single crop systems. The shift was in almost all cases to a more water intensive crop.
Intensive irrigation practises followed; to sustain the productivity of the crop leading to imbalances
in the water cycle. Further rainfed cultivation with it’s inbuilt mechanisms of drought resistance
suffered from neglect due to lack of financial and institutional support and gradually decayed.
Changes in cropping pattern also increases the chances of crop failii re as the soil cannot cater to
the high water demand of the new crops. Agricultural land is also depleted due to intensive
cropping, soil erosion and increasingly deficient in organic nutrients. Simultaneously, the upper
catchments of the mountains, hills and ghats were denuded of vegetation, which hitherto held one of
the most significant recharge mechanisms for perennial streams which would feed into surface
water bodies. Deforestation in the upper catchments would bring about changes in the micro
climate leading to variations in rainfall pattern. High rate of run-off from denuded uplands would
gradually silt up the low lying surface water bodies reducing their storage capacity . Exploitation
of grounwater in low rainfall areas in the absence of recharge mechanisms created ground-water
drought in many parts of the country.
The seemingly abundant nature of water resources had led to tmbriddled and irresponsible human
4 interference
and created the conditions of scarcity. As the degree o? renewability decreased and
water attained the status of a scarce resource even in high rainfall areas. The economics and
politics of it’s control started defining it’s availability and use rather than more appropriate factors
of sustainability and ecological wisdom; establishing the inevita rility of drought.
From the wide range of the causality of drought it is appa ent that the phenomenon leads to
marginalisation as one of it’s direct impact. To explain this further. When appropriate and
sustainable landuse practises are sacrificed in the name of surplus production, profitability and
short term economic gains, a whole system of production and way of life associated with it ,
diminishes in status through calculated neglect and ultimately goes extinct. The section of the
community who form the intrinsic part of such systems are the primary losers. As their system
declines in credibility and their resources are appropriated in the name of development, by an
economically stronger minority backed by modem institutional support, the process of
marginalisation gains foothold. From there on, while the rich ga n from the yield oriented , resource
intensive production system in the short term, the poor face the consequences of drought. The
practises which usher drought also destroy the coping capacities of people to survive the
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consequences of it. Each occurrence leads to further deterioration in their scope of entitlements and
leads to a crisis of survival. Marginalisation therefore, is not only the cause but also the
consequence of the phenomenon of drought.
2. Characteristics of Drought areas
Despite the large diversity in causal factors, there are underlying threads of similarity between
areas which show extreme vulnerability to drought. The indicators in these situations are
intertwined in a complex maze of caise, effect relationship. The following discussion attempts to
look at a few of these critical factors.
1. Drought prone areas tend to have low agricultural productivity. The absence of largescaie,
widespread, systematic sources of irrigation. The limited spread of green revolution package of
HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides. Adherence to traditional and diverse landuse practises.
More emphasis on subsistence orienteld dryland farming and a variety of crops grown traditionally
under rainfed conditions.
2. Larger size of average landholding with more number of marginal, owner cultivators. Mostly
single cropped areas raising kharif crop. More area iunder low Value crops. Lower per hectare yield
of water intensive crops like Paddy. High dependence; on rains and consequently, greater chances of
crop failiure in low or erratic rainfall years.
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3. Agriculture as the primary source of livelihood through marginal holdings or wage labour.
Agricultural season has enormous significance for subsistence. Disturbances in the agricultural
cycle due to rain failiure causes crisis. Other modes of livelihood involving dependence on forest or
pasture land. These cannot meet even supplementary subsistence demands when irreversible
ecological degradation has taken place in these systems.
4. Lower growth of population, higher rates of migration, Higher rates of morbidity and mortality,
due to recurrent scarcity condition and persistent undemutritionl. Low density of population.
3. ‘This Business of Drought Relief
Drought is closely associated with ‘the spectre of scarcities. All
.11 scarcities are not the natural or
inevitable outcome of drought. Infact from the numerous instances in the recorded documentation
of lasti 00 years it is quite apparent that drought acts as a trigger in the occurrence of largescaie
famines and scarcities. The nature of manifestation of the events that follow is dictated by the
existing socio-economic and political relations in thecontext. Irifact drought results in a dramatic
presentation of the inherent and endemic problems in the system!.
The causes of Drought are only natural if described as nature’s backlash to unbriddled and
unsustainable human interference. The outcomes, in terms of massive human suffering, as a
consequence of drought, is definitely human made. Till the begining of this century, even localized
crop failiure would translate into famine situations. Following one or two seasons of erratic
monsoon, rainfed agriculture would suffer
~ .losses. «...
Small ard marginal- farmers
dependent on
agriculture for subsistence would not be able to fulfill the consumption requirement of their
families. Agricultural wage labourers would suffer as the agricultural cycle gets disrupted.
Purchasing power would fall drastically, and at the same time their dependence on the market
would increase. In the absence of state interference monopoly traders would create artificial
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scarcity while hoarding foodstock, food prices would rise in unprecendented scale. To meet survival
needs the vulnerable group of small owner-cultivators, landless agricultural labourer, rural artisans
would undertake distress sale of assets, migrate in search of wage opportunities, depend on
kinship network, gather forest produce for consumption. If these limited alternatives are unable to
meet their subsistence needs, large populations would undergo starvation after stages of
undemutrition. Following the first rains, after tile bad season, epidemics would claim it's victims
from among the survivors.
The victims of drought are always among the groups occupying the most disadvantageous
position in the socio-economic hierarchy. It has been well argued that the translation of droughts
into famines is related to largescale entitlement failiures rather, than actual scarcity of food.
aThe entitlement of a person stands for the set of different alternative commodity bundles that
the person can acquire through the use of the various legal channels of entitlement open to
someone in his position.... In a private ownership market economy, the entitlement set of a
person is determined by his original bundle of ownership (what is called his ‘endowment*) and
the various alternative bundles he can acquire respectively from each initial endowment,
through the use oftrade and production
A person has to starve if his entitlement set does
not include any commodity with enough food A person is reduced to starvation if some change
either in his endowment (eg alienation of land, or loss of labour power due to ill health), or in
his exchange entitlement mapping ( eg fall in wages, rise in food prices, loss of employment,
drop in the price of goods he produces and sells), makes it no longer possible for him to
acquire any commodity bundle with enough food. ”Re: Amartya.Sen, Food, Economics And
Entitlements. Pg 53.
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State intervention in drought relief is in the nature of organising largescale Public Works Program
which generates employment to create purchasing power among the vulnerable groups which would
enable them to regain their food entitlement to a certain extent and keeping the food availability
situation stable by releasing supply from it’s buffer stock through the public distribution system.
To keep food prices stable, the state discourages private monopoly in foodtrade and hoarding of
food by traders by declaring ban on interdistrict food exports in critical months. Over the years the
above strategies have been used in combination with the dynamic political forces in the shape" of
opposition to the ruling party and the press and media coverage generating and shaping public
opinion, to avert the translation of seasonal crop failiures due to drought into largescale disasters.
Dreze in his cas^study on the 1972-73 drought in Maharashtra \Uites about the
“...high standards of effectiveness which the relief system is \capahte of achieving. Againsfthe
background of a dramatic and prolonged collapse of agricultural production and food
availabillity, massive programs of income generation through public employment succeededln
attracting considerable amount of food into Maharashtra, in a situation where the public
distribution system had proved unequal to the task offitting the initial gap between availability
and requirements...The effectiveness of relief measures largely explains why this devastating
drought caused relatively little damage irjterms ofexcess mortality, nutritional stress ancfasset
depletion........ the crucial role played by public pressure, cash relief, and public works in
averting a tragedy. Public pressure from political parties, the media, voluntary agencies, and
last but not least -affected population themselves galvanized the g< wernment into action at an
early stage and kept it on it’s toes throughout the crisis. ”(pg155, ilreze.J, Famine Prevention
In India)
Public Action plays a critical role in ensuring that the Government delivers relief and delivers in
time to avert serious crisis. Appropriate institutional mechanisnJs notwithstanding in the absence of
public pressure results in imperfect, inadequate implementation of relief measures. Corruption is
rife and the large financial outlays on shorterm relief measures spawns local mafia consisting of
local contractors, politicians, traders who reap rich harvest from the scarcity by siphoning
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resources meant for relief. Being such a profitable enterprise, strong lobbies press for the official
declaration of drought, whose ctamourings can be heard louder than the affected population, coping
with their misfortune. Besides money for state relief measures, assistance from foreign aid agencies
flows into the area creating a resource glut in the shortterm whose ultimate utilisation is not in
many cases for the purposes it was assigned for. Flaws in implementation due to ineptness of the
agencies involved coupled with inapropriateness of die relief, and interference and cash siphonir g
by vested interest groups are quite common. The affected communities are not consulted at any,
stage unless as acts of tokenism and they are merely recipients or “beneficiaries” of the relief
package offered them. There are two distinct fallouts of this. The Community which has
experienced die phenomenon of drought frequently andean anticipate thefallouts, relies on thepractises emanating out of years of coping with crisis. Since the^ also have experience of state relief,
they rely more on the alternative means. An illustration of this could be the low attendance in a
publicworks program because of th edelay in implementation by which time most of theaffected
population had migrated. Shortenn relief cannot redress the* critical factors which go into die
creation of drought. While it serves the purpose of averting i immediate catastrophe, procedural
delays, faulty impfementation and misappropriation oF moniy, takes away the edge from the
intervention. Tn chronic drought prone areas a routine of short-term relief actually perpetuates
dependency among die local inhabitants and creates vested interest groups, the profitability of
whose enterprise is derived out of large spendings on draught relief works. The longterm
debilitating impact of relief oh a population can include Tow ielfworth and a sense of distrust in
hitherto trusted practises of self preservation, inlocal inhabitants. Relief afterall comes inall hues
and ideologies and often dosed with dollops of morality from the ‘patron*, whether the state or other
agencies which devalues local practises and situates the disaster in the immediate local context and
as a function of * illiteracy’, ‘primitive culture’ etc. The overwhelmingly ‘we know better than them
attiude of relief coupled with actual ignorance of thecontext, it’s people and the causahty of
drought have crippled local initiative to cope with the disaster and question the processes of
‘development’ which perpetuates and entrenches disentitlement. The government functionaries are
accountable to their higher -ups, political functionaries are accountable to their parties, voluntary
agencies moreoften then not accountable to their funders, in-ebuntry or over-seas, the community
does not figure in the relief business except as an inanimate recipient of ‘benefits’ or as ‘'portraits* of
human suffering’ etched dutifully bythe media. The much needed public action, the most important
component of a successful relief operation is elusive under the constant perpetuation and
reinforcement of the myth of helpless victims of a disaster,mute spectators of their losses.
Communities in drought prone areas can predict the ocurrenbe of a drought and take decisions
regarding the best possible options in their command. Practises evolved over the years of, for
instance, reducing dietary intake during tliedifficult months in die agricultural cycle before harvest,
rriJ areas, storing food ration^ consisting of dried forest products,
seasonal migration to double cropped
While xological degradation and regional
etc, are <all evidence of dynamic coping mechanisms.
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imbalances created by modem agriculture have increased the incidence of drought, it has
simultaneously reduced the scope of indigeneous coping mecha nisms. Irresponsible Relief breaks
the back of people by defining and eventually converting them into victims.
(The above arguement ir not against all drought reliefperre. Many of which hawplayed critical rote in preventing the transhtnon
of droughts into disasters. It only investigates thej remises of the nature of most relief operations seeks to outline the inadequate' of
shorterm measures in addressing disasters like drought which have a predictable outbreak and a longdrawn manifestation .
footnote )
4. About the Pyer
Based on the above theoritical premises this paper primarily looks at the socio-political-economiyhistorical-ecological causes behind the frequent occurrence of c rought and it s typical manifestation
in selected districts, located in the Western part of the state of Orissa. This area including the
districts of Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi in Orissa, covering a geographical area of
23988 sq km has a population of over 40 lakhs according to 1991 census. The frequent ocurrences
of drought in Western Orissa was almost a non issue till Kalahandi district acquired certain
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notoriety followingRajivGandhi s visit in 1985 to Komna block (now in Nuapada district), followed
by the media uproar over the starvation deaths in the area. This has resulted in the mythification of
drought in Orissa superimposed on the background of enormous human suffering, blurrs the
causality of drought entrenched in the system and most important, does injustice to the initiative
and dignity of the local people who are not faceless, voiceless and incapacitated victims of drought
as commonly depicted.
This paper attempts to trace the history ofoccurrence ofdrought in the area and establish linkages
with changing land utilisation pattern, water technologies, deforestation, revenue administration,
improved communication etc over a period of 150 years and their contribution to the processes of
marginalisation. The report has depended heavily on the vast archival documentation of British
land revenue administration, as well as various editions ofthe' district gazetteer on reconstructing
the past. The substantiation of the analysis and conclusions drawn, have come from the living
memory of people and experiences of communities in over sixty villages in Western Orissa,
travelled between April ‘97 and March ‘98 during the author’s involvement in Oxfam’s Drought
Intervention Program in thesame period.
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5. About the Area : Hills, Plains, Forests and River Systems;
The significant physical feature of the area is that the Eastfem ghat runs throughout the four
districts in an irregular manner. The area of Western Orissa can be categorised as an area of
relative isolation from a historical- geographical perspective. It can be located roughly between the
great Chattisgarh plain to the west and the Mahanadi delta to the east of it, the uplands of Orissa
highlands to the north and the Eastern ghats to the South. The terrain is rugged and described as “a
mass ofjungles and hills” in early 1900.
The South -Western portion of Bargarh district comprising ofthe Borasambar tract, (the present
Padampur tahsil) consisted of a set of uneven hill systems and undulating land. The most important
among them being the Gandhamardan range, with an average ht. 2000-3000 ftruns along the
Southern boundary of Borasambar, separating Bargarh plains ahd Borasambar tract from Bolangir
basin. To the northeast the Phuljhar range separates Padampuh tahsil from Raipur district. The
eastern part or the Bargarh plains, is closer to the Mahanadi basin, were open plain areas drained
by the tributaries ofAung and Tel river. The Western and Southern portion of Bolangir district are
also rugged and isolated with hill ranges running in various dirfections having considerable forest
cover once. The North and East has some flatter land drained by the tributaries of Tel river From
the border of Borasambar and Nuapada district, starts the valley of Jonk river. Towards the west of
Nuapada all along the length of th* district are outcrops of hiHs stretching down to Simabeda
plateau bordering MP on the west. To the south of Jonk valley^ lies the Sundar- Udanti valley of
Nuapada. Kalahandi district with Nuapada to the Nortwest and Titlagarh subdivision of Bolangir
district to the northeast, consists of hill and forested areas towards the Northeast and flatter valleys
of Sundar, Tel, Ret and Haiti towards the Wesf.
The areas
in Forest
a.wo was
wao rich
HU1.JU
ruiebL resources, remnants of
or it are found today, conserved or protected in
isoiated patches, severely degraded in most places. The forest a/e a combination of dry and moist
deciduous^ type. The principa£categories according to species are, Sal forests. Teak forests.
Bamboo forest, dry mixed forests. The species growing in association with Sal1 are
are Sahaj, Dhaura,
Bija, Kendu, Char, Senha, Gambhar, Jamun, Halland, Sissool Karla, Amla, Semel,, Siali and
Mango. In Bargarh district Sal and mixed forests with Bamboo> [predominate.
ipredominate. Teak
Teak fore
forests appear
in stietches in Nuapada and Bolangir districts. Village forests ;and agricultural land abounded in
Maixua, Neem, Mango, Date palm, Char, Ber, Custard Apple and other fruit and Timber trees.
Today, Sal or Rengal as it is called locally, are rarely seen in open forests <or even protected
forests. Their erstwhile
- j can belocations
identified from the Secondary growths of associated
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species. The natural Teak forest belt of MP extends into the present Nuapada district. These have
been severely degraded and displaced in some places by government monoculture plantations of
Teak.
The most fertile and closely cultivated land of the area are found in, the Bargarh plains to the west
of Mahanadi, drained by Danta and lira, the two tributaries of Mahanadi and to the south east of
Borasambar tract (present Padampur subdivision), on the valley of Aung river, in Bargarh district.
Hie best cultivable land of Bolangir district lies to the Northeast, on the valleys of Aung, Tel,
Lanth and Sukhtel. In Nuapada district, the Jonk valley and the plain area drained by Sundar Udanti system form the best cultivable land. In Kalahandi district the plains of Jayapatna and
rt^j^onstitute the most fertile land.
The early settlements ofimmigrant agriculturists from the neighbouring districts took place near the
fertile plain areas drained by these river systems. The principal caste among them were the Kulthas,
whose movement has been in a westerly direction from their place of origin. Brahmins also moved
westwards, they were often brought in groups in different periods by the ruling Chauhan kings.
Kurmis and Agharias were the two communities that had moved eastwards from Madhyapradesh.
Kulthas, Kurmis and Agharias were the main agricultural comunities of the area who occupied high
social status in the hindu caste hierarchy and gradually gained prominence over the tribal
agriculturists, namely, Binjhal, Gond, Saonra and Kondhs. The prosperity of the former can be
directly correlated to the decline in influence and status of the I latter. The Brahmins were fewer in
number but easilily among the more prosperous. During the begining of the colonial rule they were
both agriculturists as well as traders and moneylenders. The Other castes which gained economic
prominence were the Telis, Mali and Mehers. Telis were the traditional oil pressers of the
community , many of them took to settled agriculture, some sections among them were traders in
Turmeric etc and hence are known by the name of Haldia Teli even today. The Mehers were the
traditional weavers community. Many of them became landlords and money lenders. The lower
castes included Dorns, Chamars, Ghasis, Ganda. Caste hierarchy existed in most villages with the
lower castes relegated to their caste specific services. This Was a practise even in villages with
tribal headmanship. Many of the Binjhals, Gonds and Kondhs wear t ie sacred thread and consider
themselves in high position in the hindu caste system. The muslims are vey few in number. Most of
them are descendants of the Islamic traders from Kutch who were; a wandering community of
traders coming into the area seasonally to trade in grains, clothes and animal hide. The Manvaris
who today form one of the most prosperous migrant community, came in first with the opening of
the branchline of Bengal-Nagpur railways in 1898. The next influx was the decade of the second
world war, 1930-1942, with the opening of Raipur-Vizianagiram branchline, when grain trade.
Timber trade and kendii leaf trade attracted besides the Marwajri, also the Gujarati and sikh trader
community in large numbers.
7. Political administration between 1850-1900
Prior to independence the area was divided into a number of political administrative units under
zamindaries and smaller kingdoms; feudal in nature. For our discussion we shall confine ourselves
to the period starting exactly 150 years, ago. Maratha dominion1 was on the decline and the British
were establishing their stronghold. Between 1803 and 1818, the Patna state was in a process of
exchange between the British and the Marathas. In I8T8 British rule was confirmed and in the
period between 1818 and 1861 it formed a part of Bengal - Bihar provinces. In 1861, Patna state
was included in the Central Provinces. It was also during this period that the British acknowledged
Patna as a feudatory state. The first land revenue settlement iunder
1 ’ the ~
• • ’ took
• place
•
• —
British
in
18'71.
Kalahandi came under Durbar rule when the province of Nagp
jptir lapsed to British crown in 18^3.
In 1882 the British appointed a political Agent based in Bhaw;
vanipatna , to manage the estate. The
first summary land settlement took place in 1883.(add Similar details about Sambalpur districty. In
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Sambalpur district which was first included in the Southwestern frontier of Bengal provinces and
Later got included in the Central provinces, die first land settlement was undertaken in 1849 which
could be continued only in 1872 , in the intervening years fee district was in throes of fee uprisings
of 1857.
Sambalpur district had IT zamindaries, out of which 13 were held by Gond and Binjhal zamindars.
Kalahandi consisted of 6 hill zamindaries held by fee relatives of fee ruling Chauhan dynasty.
Patna state had two estates held by fee relatives of Patna Maharaja, 5 heriditary estates held by tJie
Gond feakurs, 5 Binjhal estates held by Binjhal chiefs and 8 Khondh mahals.
The two largest zamindaries of Sambalpur district, Borasambar and Phuljhar were both held' by
tribal chieftains, Binjhal and Gond respectively. Binjhals, Gonds and Kondhs were fee three main
tribes inhabiting fee area even prior to fee arrival ofthe Chauhan kings in fee 15th century. In fee
begining of British administration their numbers were higher , their concentration more in some
places fean other. In the Western zamindari of Borasambar comprising fee present Padampur
si bdivision and fee southern portion bordering Patna state, there was a high concentration of
Binjhals. In fee Bargarh plain areas to fee east of Borasambar and fee west of Mahanadi , there
was a high concentration of Gonds.There were also large population of Gonds in Khariar zamindari
area and fee Phuljhar estate. The Kondhs predominated in fee western and Southern portions of
present Bolangir district and fee hill tracts and plain areas of Kalahandi. In 1899 the three main
divisions of Patna state were Bolangir, Kondhan and Binjhalty.
It is often made out that the hilly and forested areas were inhabited by the considerable tribal
population of the area. However this is not entirely true. The plain areas of Bargarh tahsil and the
Jonk river valley area to the north of present Nuapada district were inhabited by Gonds who
practised settled cultivation.
8.Of Surplus generation and Land alienation : Agriculture, Railroads,Revenue Systeips,
Trade and Tribal Assertion between 1830 - 1930
On the doors of the British land revenue administration in the central Provinces, can be laid one of
the pricipal responsibilities for bringing about certain irreversible socio- economic and ecological
changes in the area. Infect as we proceed further it would became evident that not only were crop
patterns altered, the introduction of railroad and trade in foodgrams and timber led to massive land
alienation from the dominant tribal community by selective promotion of immigrant cultivators
from the plain areas and ushered in the first major scarcity situation in the region in less than three
decades of following the altered systems of cultivation.
8.1 Landuse and Agricutture
When the British revenue administration embarked upon the fTist settlement operations, much ofthe
area was inaccessible and covered with dense forests. The undulating topography of the area
demanded that agricultural land be classified into accordance to their comparative location.
O’Malley ini909 defined it as follows.
a At land consists of high lying land on the watershed, ie, upland which are dependent on
moisture for rainfall..i..these are often sandy and cultivated with oilseeds, cotton and pulses.
The term Mai is usedfor the stopes which are terraced to catch the surface drainage coming
down from the uplands. The toyver terraces are wider and deeper than the above.,,, the term
Berha denotes land towards the bottom of the depression ivhich receives drainage from from
the stopes on either side and also from the drainage line betyveen them.........Bahai is the term
line..,. The
best-----------------bahal lands are
used for flat land at the bottom of the depression or drainage ----------------1secure from crop failiure. Tyvo
served by the yvidest and largest irrigation reservoirs and $0 are
<
other classifications are Khari and Bari lands. Khart is a te\•rm usedfor land situated near the
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village site which receives drainage of the streets and the washings from the houses, when
under irrigation it^s called kharipani Bari denotes vegetable garden, generaly occupying high
lands close to the village homestead, enriched by village drainage,(Pg 107-108) .
The type of land determined the cropping pattern. While the lbwiying land were cultivated with wei
crops like Paddy, the uplands were kept for dryland crops including Pulses like Mung, Biri, Kulath
Rahad, coarse grains and oilseeds especially Rasi or Sesame. Certain varieties of hardy; dryland
Paddy were also grown in combination with pulses and fibre crops on the uplands. Paddy was
mostly sown broadcast till about the last quarter of 19th century.
There was a wide range of Paddy varieties with different duration periods which determined their
suitability for Fand types. Hence the broad classification of “At dhan”, “Mai dhan”, “bahal dhan”.
Generally, short duration Paddy was grown on uplands, requiring less moisture and reaching
harvesting stage within 45-60 days of sowing. The Bahai varieties of Paddy were typicalfy long
duration as the comparatively secure low lying land had adequate water retention capacity to
support the long growth period of 120-160 days. Besides paddy, Coarse grains like Kodo, kutki,
Gurji, Jhari, Suan etc were also grown over large areas. Thelse in addition to their shorter growth
period in comparison to Paddy, also required less water, iDryland Paddy in combination with
coarse grains and Maize and Bajra, ensured optimum food supply, even in years of erratic rainfall.
Vegetables were grown on what were known as “Bari” land or fenced off kitchen gardens in the
homestead plots. Sugarcane was grown for manufacture of jaggery. In Sambalpur district
Sugarcane was grown on the village common land called “barbha” land in Summer months .
Rice is the staple crop occupying 82% of khalsa area in Sambalpur and 81% in Bargarh
Khalsa, 56% in Bargarh zamindari areas and 71% in Sambalpur zamindaris. The lbw
proportion in the Bargarh zamindaris is attributed to the fbct that after the famine of1900, the
aboriginals substituted Kutki (Pdnicum Psilopodium) which ripens at the end ofAugust and is
not so dependent on the rainfall. This crop however is again going out of fashion. In the
Sambalpur zamindaris the areas under rice has also fallen off slightly, because the aboriginal
races have been driven from the lower lands and now cultivate Til or Sesamum largely. The
greater part of the rice is sown broadcast, only 4% being transplanted, though proportion rises
as high as 8% in the Bargarh plains.Maize of good quality is grown in Borasambar... Other
cereals are not of much importance with the exception of millets which are a favourite crop
with the aboriginal races. Of these the most largely grown dre Kodo (Paspalum Scrobiculatum)
and Kutki, small grasslike millet grown on upland, which taken together occupy 34,377 acres.
Kodo sown broadcast in the begining of monsoon and redped in August. Til pricipal oilseed
crop. It is sown on uplands and is commonly the first crop taken from newly broken land
where itgives a large yield. It is also grown on poor soil. Of late years it9s cultivation is
decreased in the Bargarh plain, where uplands are exhausted, but has increased in the other
parts of the district. Cotton cultivation was on the decline in 1900, Due to exhaustion of
uplands esp in the open tracts, all available manure Iras used in rice and sugarcane
cultivation. Cultivation is nowhere important except in Borasambar... where lower slopes of
forest clad hills are rich in vegetable sill. (1909, OfMalley) I
Best Cultivation is in the northern part of the state. The principal crops grown are Rice,
Oilseeds, Pulses, Sugarcane, Cotton and Til, There is considerable amount of shifting
cultivation in the South and the West ofPatna State, ThefoUr kinds of Paddy represent 58% of
the total cropped area of the state, Paddy is mostly sown broadcast. Millets, Gurji, Jhari,
Kodon, Mandia, Kongo, Jawar, Makai cover 41% of the cr?pped area, (1910, CH XIX, Patna
State, LEB, Cobden Ramsay)
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While this was broadly the system followed in the plain areas, in the hill tracts tribal communities
mainly the Kondhs were also practising shifting cultivation or "dongaria chas" or ,cPddu chas”. The
pricipal crops grown by them were coarse grains, turmeric, various roots and tubers, rices, pulses
and oilseeds. Land was fertile and plentiful and production sufficient for the maintenance of local
population. Forests on the upper catchment enriched the uplands with organic detritus. Cultivation
was primarily rainfed. Irrigation was provided through tanks, dugwelTs and hill streams.
The Khondhs were the sole occupants of the inaccessible hill tracts. Their principal crop is
Mandia. Turmeric is also grown on a smalT scale. They supplement their resources from the
jungle. No khondh appears to be in anyway hardupforfood. The hill Khondhs bring a variety
ofproducts such as Turmeric, Chillies, Tobacco, Oilseeds and Kandiit to exchange with salt,
clothes etc. (1910, ChXI, Kalahandi State, LEB. Cobden Ramsay)
The basic immunity to scarcities which fee area enjoyed till aliout 1850’s was probably due to fee
typical nature of agriculture feere. Firstly fee crops were ' so diverse feat there was a wide
difference between their moisture requirement. Since mixed cropping was practised, it was ensured
feat if some crops perish due to water shortage at critical periods, other would survive.
Crops evolved under local climatic patterns had inbuilt resistance to fee erraticity of monsoons and
could withstand variations, ie bofe excess as well as deficient rainfall. Secondly, intensive cropping
had not taken hold and land was fertile, due to forests in fee upper catchment. Water retention
capacity of soil must have been more due to fee practise of organic manuring Finally fee
dependence of fee majority of inhabitants belonging to fee tribal community was as much on
cultivation as on forests. During even normal rainfall years feeir subsistence on Summer and rain
months would be entirely based on forest, in which fee Mahda flow er formed one of fee primary
components of feeir staple food. The traditional forms of protective irrigation methods was another
component in fee prevention mechanism. However fee politics of ownership and usage underwent a
change which shall be discussed in detail in fee next section.
As long as fee tribal community maintained feeir stronghold on land and cultivation remained
mainly for local consumption, feere were sufficient protective mechanisms inherent in fee livelihood
systems against rainfailiures in fee area. For, looking at fee rainfall data of fee then Bargarh tahsil
(present Bargarh district), for instance, one discovers feat pattern of erraticity of annual rainfall
was as much' evident a 100 years ago as today.
8.2 British Land Revenue System and the Institution of Goiintia
To substantiate this arguement, we would have to trace the Ichange in ownership of land from
tribal to non-tribal, rise in intensive cultivation for surplus generation and trade, in turn creating
demand for land and gradual clearing of forests, catalysed by the rising revenue demands and the
introduction of railways in 1896. Infect the opening of the branchline of Bengal- Nagpur railways
in 1896 and the subsequent drought oF 1897-98, is a landmark in the history of scarcity of the ar$a
in the following years to come.
The British with their primary concern of maximising the revenue returs from the ex-states and
zamindaris embarked upon the first series of settlement operations. Their first interference was in
the system under which several villages were held revenue free under various service grants. Next,
they tried to bring under settlement operations all those village; and areas which were hitherto left
unassessed due their inaccesibility. Most important of all they brought about changes in the system
of village headmanship or “gountiahi”.
As detailed in tie Bihar and Orissa gazetteer of
Sambalpur; “ Under native rule the revenue of the raja was obtained from the customary rents or
revenues paid from the khalsa or state lands. In khalsa the village headman called the gaontia were
responsible for the payment of the liimpsome assessed on the village for a period of years.
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according to a lease which was periodically revised and renewed. The amount of assessment was
recovered from the cultivator and the headman was remunerated by holding a part of the area free
of revenue.The headmen were occassionally ejected for default in the payment of revenue and the
grant of a new tease often made an oppoitunity imposing a fee (nazrana) which the gountia paid in
great part from his profits and didnot recover from his cultivators.”
The same system was also operational in the neighbouring states of Patna and Kalahandi. Though
the British had anexed all the three states by 1850, it took another two decades before they could
implement new revenue systems. Between 1850 and 1870, a large number of villages had already
been alienated from the original tribal gountias, in many cases due to their inability to pay the
amount of nazrana each time the lease on their villages expired]
From an account by O’Malley, " The original settlers who cleared the forests were looked upon
by other cultivators as the headman among tribes of strong tradition. During Maratha rule a
system of auctioning villages or giving them out to favourites after deposition of long
established headmen became rather widespreatL.it was during the later years of Maratha rule
that the village headman as the heriditary incumbent began to be displaced by the lessee or the
thekedar. Practically everywhere the headman became responsible for the payment of land
revenue of the entire village to the state, "(ref: 10)
in Sambalpur and Patna states, immigrant Hindus used this opportunity to displace the original
leaseholder, usually tribal, from the Ullage. In many cases the tribal leaseholders were tricked into
giving away their entitlement. Ft was a part of the privilege of the gountia to hold the best cultivated
land in the village, called “Bhogra jami”. The gountia was also entitled to free abour from the
tenants under the system of “Beth Begari”, which was utilisecl not only for cultivation of Bhogra
land but also the construction of irrigation tanks over their lands. When the tribal gountias who
owed their position from the virtue of being the original settlers or “khuntcata” (meaning fofpst
clearers), lost their gountiaship, they also lost the entitlement oh the best lands of the village. Since
it was customary for the gountia to settle the other tenants ini the village, the caste of the gountia
also determined the caste composition of the tenant body of fhe village. With the tribal gountia
losing his right over tire village, the entire community often disappeared from those villages. In such
a manner, the villages with the best cultivable land were first alienated, with the tribal community
withdrawing further in to the forest.
The British not only raised revenue demands for all the estates!, but also brought under assessment
the hitherto revenue free “Bhogra” land of the gountia. hi Patna state in 1876 the land revenue
demand rose to R$.37398 from Rsj> 8792, in the begining of British administration. By 1895, the
revenue demand was Rs. 76900. In Sambalpur district, the annual rentals on khalsa villages was
raised from Rs. 89796 to RS: 110414 in 1876. In the settlement of 1885- 1889, revenue went up Jo
RS. 152406. By 1906, the revenue demand was Rs. 171992. In 1921 the annual rentals rose upto
Rs.804080.
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8.3Alienation & Uprisings
The first series of land alienation was already over by the time the British established their land
tenure systems. The areas which attracted the non - tribal cultivators where the plain areas of
Bargarh tahsil, the fertile areas to the northeast of present Bolangir district, (namely areas under
Agalpur, Loisinga, Bolangir and Deogaon blocks), the plains of Nawapara and Kalahandi. The
principal among the settlers were the Kulthas, Brahmins, Agharias and Telis. The first grains of
resentment sprouted with tribal assertions and uprisings in many part of the state between 1850 and
1880. The fact that many of the zamindars and estate holders belonged to the Gond, BinjhaF and
Kondh communities, ensured that the confrontation got military support from them. The
British during all these cases had supported the non tribal component of the struggle.
In 1869, the Kondhs in Patna state had risen in rebellion against the state. Between 1857 and
1870, the Gonds in the Bargarh plains put up a strong resistance. In 1882 there was the infamous
Kondh melee in Kalahandi. All the uprisings were as a mark of reasserting their rights over their
land. They were infact a fight for land ertitlement and were aiined against the immigrant cultivator
community of the Kulthas in most of the cases. Similar instances had occured earlier in the
Phuljhar estate where the resident Gonds had risen against ihe spreading power of the migrant
Kurmi cultivators. In the long battle known as Gondmaru, tanks all over the state are said to have
turned red with the blood of the slain. Even today Gonds in Pltuljhar do not consume die water of
these tanks. These uprisings were manipulated by the disgruntled relatives of the ruling Chauhan
family into a support for their aspirations for the throne. The assertions were suppressed brutually
and violently with the assistance of the military might of the British. Contrary to the popular
assumption that all these battles in the period of 1857 and thereabouts, were nationalistic in nature
and waged against the British by a united local population, thise were in reality, manifestations of
internal disputes over land among the original settlers and thfe later arrivals, in which the British
chose to take the side which appeared to be more profitable for them. A direct proof of this is the
“Kondh melee” which took place in Kalahandi in 1882, exactly 15 years after the Raja settled a
group of Kultha cultivators in the state. An excerpt from the chapter titled
“Repression of aboriginal” from F.W. Dewar rs report on Land Settlement 1906, goes as
follows : a On other aspect of recent history ofSambalpur is the gradual breaking of the power
of the aboriginal owners of tile soil: The part played by the district then a portion of
Southwest frontier, in the operations against the Khondhs and the Kols... In the internal
struggles for throne under Rani Mohan Kuman the chief supporter of the discontended
pretenders were always Gond and Binjhal zamindars who foiind their privileges threatened and
their lands encroached Upon by the Hindu favourites of the queen. Later the Gonds of Bargarh
rose, led by a Gond zamindar who had been ousted in 1821 in favour of a Kultha. From 1857
to 1864, the chiefs of insurrection were Gonds and Binhals who fearedfurther losses under the
British settlement. Since that date the most imoprtant rising of aboriginals against the Hindus
was a massacre of the immigrant Kulthas by Kondhs in in 1882 in the Kalahandi feudafory
states... The aggression of the Hindus is continuous and successful”.(pg7)
The first systematic settlement operations were undertaken by the British in 1871 in Patna state and
1872 in Sambalpur. Settlement operations were not undertaken1 in Kalahandi till about 1883 due to
the general inaccessibility of the terrain. Under the settlement operat ons, the terms and conditions
of the gountiahi lease was redefined. The new settlement demanded that all payments were to be
made in cash. Till 1875 the gountia continued to enjoy his “Bliogra” land rent free. After 1885 the
gountia’s Bhogra land was brought under assessment, also ndwly broken or “Chirrol” land were
assessed for rent. The Gountia was allowed to hold on to his Bhogra land revenue free upto a
maximum of l/4th of the revenue paid by the raiyats.
A combination of new revenue demands and the increased might of the Kultha and Brahmin
communties, coupled with the brutal suppression of tribal uprisings broke spirit of the community.
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They were not only losing their traditional hegemony in the area but also losing out on basic
entitlements.
Allusions of this are found in the Land Settlement Report by Dewar in 1906. “ In the census of
1891, the aboriginals numbered 35% of the total population. But they are in many parts being
pressed out by the Hindus, and, between 1891-1901, while the population of the distrct rose by 4%,
their number rose only by 3% and now amount to only 33%; Tile Binjhals and Kondhs show the
most decline.”(pg8) In the same period. Brahmins increased liy 9%, Kulthas by 13% and Agharias
by 20% (mostly by immigration). According to the account of 1906, in the khalsa tracts of the
Bargarh plains, comprising of 950 gountias, 775 were non tribals. It goes on to tabulate, 691
villages were held by Kulthas, 575 by Brahmans, 241 by Agharias, while only 275 were held by
Binjhals and 386 by Gonds. Also among the principal tenant body, the kulthas numbered the largest
at 14043, while Binjhals numbered only 2282.
j
With the changing composition of village headmanship and the composition of the tenant body, the
agricultural practises too were undergoing a change. Large areas were were brought under Rice
cultivation. Crop diversity reduced, the uplands suffered frorri degradation due to deforestation on
the catchment. In 1896 when the Beng al- Nagpur railway line was opened, rice trade receivecj a
tremendous boost. The cost of production was low in the are£ and rice was cheap. Gountias and
large tenants made huge profits from rice trade. Profitability |was derived to a certain extent from
the large individual holdings and cheap labour cost. Many of .the Binjhal, Saonra and Gonds were
swelling the ranks of either permanent farm labour or resorting to wage labour in sowing and
harvesting season in addition to working on their own marginal holdings. The gountias in
prosperous villages made a killing utilising the free labour o^his tenant working on the best lands
as well on construction of irrigation tanks.
“The Gonds are principally engagedin agriculture and the^bulk of them are farm servants and
field labourers, but they include some of the leading zamindars and many of the gountias...the
Binjhals, a great majority ofthem are cultivators, and the rest are usually farm hands andfield
labourers. They are not such good cultivators as Kulthas and Agharias hut are not inferior to
the Gonds. Those who have settled in the plains have taken to improved methods of rice
cultivation and in the hills and jungles they have the reputation of being skillful dahi
cultivators ie clearer ofjungles and being the hardiest offOrest races. Here they are managers
or proprietors of villages and the majority are independent cultivators, but in the plains they
are mostly farm servants, field labourers or jhankars. (1909,
alley)
While the settled cultivators consolidated and expanded their holdings, the tribals were pushed into
the margins of the estates. Indebtedness and landlessness ivas rife among them. Many of the
Binjhal and Gond zamindars were poorer than the Kultha or Brahman gountias in the plain areas.
One of the classification made by Dewar regarding the composition of tenant body during die
settlement period of 1902-06 is illustrative of that. According to him, among the classes of tenants,
“9% were well to do with large holdings. Most important among them was the gountia who
holds the best land of the village revenue free. 40% of the raiyats were substantial tenants who
hud extended their holdings and on an average hold 19-15 acres. 40% raiyats were moderately
well off including semi aboriginals who had failed to extend their holdings. They had small
stocks and moderate debts. The tenant remains sufficiently solvent but has little margin for the
accidents of famine, cattle disease or deaths in the family. U%o were tenants in reduced
circumstances, deeply indebted or with mortgaged holdings, having the same status as day
labourers. This category includes the real aboriginals whose holdings are insufficient to
provide a full livelihood and who eke out cultivation by collecting forest produce.99 (ref: 11)
Between 1885 and 1900 the price of agricultural produce c uadrupled in Sambalpur and Patna
t" t
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states. Simultaneously, as much as 10% of total land changed hands. The number of land related
litigations showed a rapid rise after 1894. As Dewar mentions in his report , a It would indeed
have been surprising if in a district were the Hindu cultivator was already in open competition
with the aboriginal, a sudden doubling of prices of produce had not accompanied by much
transfer of land”. He goes on to give an example from Bargarh tahsil where, 7.5% of total
landholdings changed ownership between 1891 and 1906.
in the Lakhanpur, Sohella and
Kurkuta groups of villages many aboriginal gountias still remained in possession in the last
settlement (1891) have since been ousted by Kulihas and Brahmans.” (ref: II) An account
written in 1910 about Kalahandi mentions that, good land and most of the villages are held by
Brahmin and Kulihas. Kulthas predominate in the northeast and Brahmins in the Southwest.
Kultha and Brahmin gountias are well to do persons of the locality, own fertile land hut the
condition of tenants under them is generally poor. Besides having large areas of land under
them they also do money and paddy lending business. Oppression of tenants by Kultha and
Brahmin gountias was a common feature in Kalahandi befdre.. ”
8.4 Trade, Pauperization , Surplus Production and Railways
Before the introduction of railways the districts were landlocked. Women constiuted the majority of
retail merchants. All trading except in cattle was done by women. Wholesale grain dealers were
Brahmins, Cutchi Mohammedans and Manvaris. The Cutchi Mohammedans were seasonal
migrants and would trade in small amounts and leave the district till the next season.
“The women are the real retail merchants ofthe district...it is the women, wives and relatives of
farm labourers and cultivators, who do the rice husking, buying up grain in small quantity,
husking it at home and selling it at the weekly village markets.At these the trade is in grain,
cloths, tobacco, oil, trinkets and cattle, and all trading is dohe by vociferous women, young and
old.... The wholesale grain dealers are local Brahmins who are growers. Kutchi mohammedans
and Marwaris banias. They buy grain and sell imported cotton thread, salt, tobacco, kerosene
oil and cloth. The Kutchi trader is usually a migrant, coming in at harvest time to buy grain on
a small capital, with quick returns and small profits and leaving the district in spring. He is a
pioneer in trade and penetrates to the remotest tracts, but though he is in much evidence at the
village markets he does not now command the bulk of the grain trade. Of late years the number
of settled Marwari traders in Sambalpur town, Jharsuguda and all the large villages have
greatly increased. Between 1891 and 1901, their no.rose from 1223 to 2867. They do business
wholesale... a trade which is greatly extended since the coming of the railways is the export of
hides. This is worked by the Mohammedan dealers. ” (ref: 11)
The introduction of railways brought with it settled communities of traders. Marwaris by then were
commanding the bulk of trade in forest produce, such as Timber and Kendu leaf. In Kalahandi,
there was a spurt of trading activities between 1905-1907, when tlie average price of commqn
agricultural produce like, Rice, Wheat, Sesame, Mustard, Gram, Kodo, Mandia, Arhar increased.
The estate which did not produce any exportable surplus till jl 856, was by the early part of ZOth
Century, exporting grain and forest produce. Traders settled in Junagarh and Bhawanipatna
conducted brisk trade in purchase of grain and sale of cloth. In N10 the state was well connected
with surface roads to Sambalpur via Patna and Sonepur states The Raipur - Vizianagaram branch
line finally materialised, in 1930.
The introduction oftailways led to the export of tabour from ttiis area to the tea gardens of Assapi.
More than 30000 people, most of them tribals emigrated to >kssam between 1891-1900. That the
British revenue administrations point of view on this phenomena was one of “good riddance”can be
ascertained from the following statement, “ The emigrants to Assam are chiefly thriftless
aboriginals, unable or unwilling to compete in cultivation with the Hindus.... The emigrants to
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the state both from feudatory states as well as British districts are steady cultivators, who have
been attracted by the light rent of the district and the opportunity to exploit forest land”. ( fef:
11)
8.5 The Scarcity of 1899-r900
In the begining of this century the area comprising of the present Bargarh, Bolangir and Nuapada
district faced a scarcity of devastating proportions for the first time in it’s history of existence. The
area was then under the political administrative unit of the central Provinces. In the report of the
General Review of Administration of Chattisgarh Feudatory States, in 1899, the phenomena was
described as the <c worst monsoons and the most serious failiure of crop that has been experienced
in the Chattisgarh feudatories within the memory of man”. From the reports and documents of that
period it was apparent that the extert of monsoon failiure and the subsequent severity of cro Foss
was much more in the Western states of the Central Province^ (present MP). In the Eastern states
(present West Orissa), the crisis was more in the nature of failiure of enitlements of a sizeable
section of people in 1900, that is the year that followed the drought year of 1899.
The drought of 1899-1900 was a culmination of a series of short failiures that had been occurring
from 1896 onwards. Between 1896 and 1900, the rains shovJed maximum fluctuation in the peak
kharif months between August and September. When the rain^ ceased in mid-season, the maximum
damage was to the long duration low lying or bahal Paddy which by then covered the best lands in
the plain areas. While the prosperous farmers could save most of their crop by cutting the
embankments of irrigation tanks close to their land, the marginal holders lost almost their entire
crop of rice. In the plain areas the marginal holdings consisted of the most inferior land with no
irrigation facilities. In the forested tracts and closeby, the tribal communities could harvest their
dryland crops to a certain extent. The crisis started with the shortening of the period of agricultural
season. Permanent farm labourers were discharged and other agricultural wage labourers did not
find employment. Smaller farmers did on their own what they!would have hired others to do uncjer
normal circumstances. The crunch came when prices of foodgrains spiralled to hitherto unknown
heights and there was severe food crisis in the area. Distressed migrants from the Western states
were pouring into the area which had gained a reputation! of plenty. Prosperous tenants and
gountias hoarded foodgrains in panic of being looted by hungry hoards. After the onset of
monsoons of 1900, epidemics ensued and hundreds died i of Cholera. Organised relief was
introduced for the first time. To people who were not used to living off dole, the concept of relief in
the form of free food distribution, soup kitchens etc were alien and unacceptable. British authorities
had a lot of difficulty in persuading the scarcity affected peopl i to avail of relief measures.
Some glimpses from the documentation of that period would tlijrow light on how the brief failiure of
rain and the consequent drought, attained nightmarish proportion.
^In Patna State, the best cultivated land was in the northern part of the state. Principal crcps
were Rice, Oilseeds, Pulses, Sugarcane, Cotton and Til. Considerable amount of shifting
cultivation was practised in the South and the West. The four kinds of Paddy (At, Mai, berna
and Bahai), represent 58% of the total land area of the state. Paddy is mostly sown broadcast.
Millets, Gurji, Jhari, Kodon, Mandia, Kongo, Jawar and Makai covered 41% of the cropped
area. The Southern and Western parts of the tract are liable to suffer on any untimely
distribution of rain or early cessation of rains. These tracts are inhabited by the aboriginals.
Kondhs to the south and Binfhals to the West. They are ihdifferent cultivators and make po
atempt to secure regular crops through irrigation dams or reservoirs. In 1899, when the rains
ceased in August, the people in the northeast were able to secure 65% of the crops while in the
south and the west only 30% was secured. The rainfall was 43.3”, 9” below average in 18991900 kharif season. Between August and September, rainfall had ceased. Kondhs and binjhals
had raised a good crop of Gurji and Mandia. By the end of September^ food prices started
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rising. Most people didnot have reserve stocks in command. The earlier two years people had
sold their surpluses. Rice had to be imported from Kharagpur at prohibitive prices. Mandia
was imported from Ganjam. After close of monsoons, relief work, mostly in the form of tank
excavation were reopened. One of the great difficulties to cope with was rendering of relief to
the aboriginal races whom nothing would induce to tak^ on regular pick and spade work.
Rs.21904 was spent on state relief work, exclluding the amount spent by zamindars andprivate
persons. ” (ref: 10)
In Sambalpur district the situation was slightly different. The Productivity which even on nonpal
years was skewed in favour of the Eastern plains to the right of Mahanadi,in comparison to the
forested , hilly areas of the primarily tribal dominated Borasambar and Phuljhar zamindaris to the
far west, appeared in greater contrast in the drought year of 1899-1900. In the Borasambar and
Phuljhar estates the crop was less than 20%, while in the east it was moderately good. In 1899 the
recorded rainfall in the drought affected Bargarh tahsil of Sambalpur district was 41”. The
distress from the crop failiure which affected the local oppiilation differenttially depending upon
their landholdings and access to irrigation, was compounded by the unprecedented price rise of
foodgrains. An account from the Sambalpur district gazetteer bf 1909 is illustrative of the fact.
i{In 1899 the rice crop failed all over the west and southwest part of the district. Small
cultivators had lost all their crops even in villages where the richer men using their irrigation
tanks had saved half their harvest. The small cultivator Joon had to buy. But a price of 16
Seers formerly considered a scarcity price was now a norniat rate and when that rose to 12 or
10 Seers famine conditions were established. Meanwhile the richer men attracted by previously
unequalled prices had soldfor export much too soon and most of the surplus grains had left
the district. Later even in the stricken tracts there were large stocks, but gountias and tenants
held them back. The climax was reached in 1900 When no faith could be put in the second
harvest. Matters were worse in the remote western zaminddris. Here only 15 years ago, normal
price after harvest had been 70-80 Seers a rupee. It went to 6 Seers in August 1900. Rice had
been rushed out on the railways in October , November, December, January. Ton for Ton an
exactly equal amount had from April to August to be railed and carted back, inferior grains
and at double the price. The financial loss fell on the labouring classes, the small cultivators
chiefly aboriginals and the government, "(ref: T0^
In 1900 a series of dacoities broke out in the Patna State and ater spread to Sambalpur. The gangs
were led by binjhats who conducted raids on the granaries of prosperous tenants and gountias and
distributed the spoils among the jjoor, from their hideouts n the inaccessible caves in the hills
tracts of Borasambar zamindari. Meanwhile the consequences of the drought was ;also that the
(
marginal farmers could not retain their seed stock for the neit kharif sowing season. In 1900 the
However-----------in the Binjhalty
and the KondhailT rpargc'inas, the sowing was 25% and
rainfall was; good. ---------v---- j------------------.
affected
40% of the normal. Kalahandi was not affected by
by the
the faikine
famii of 1899 -1900. The state was
was created due to unnatural hike in prices of
however in grip o epidemics and artificial scarcity
y ----------------------------------foodgrains. The present Nuapara district, then a part of Khariar zamindari in Raipur district of
MP, was severely affected. Kalahandi exported mandia to Khariar zamindari during 1900.
Mortality due to epidemics was high in patna and Sonepur states
9.1 An Analysis of the Causes of the 1900 drought and itys relevance in the present content.
i
18
If one takes a look at the series of events that precipitated the drought of 1900 and the crisis that
followed subsequently, the following pattern
would emerge.
Of the Agricultural Community^ the
In the fifteen years that preceded 1900, settled landowners ar generally possessed of resources
cultivators in the plain areas, mostly non tribal suficlenl to slave of actual distress, and the
Kulthas, Telis, Agharias and Brahmans, had same maybe said of a large proportion of
consolidated and expanded their holdings. tenantry in the plain tracts, whenever
Land was closely cultivated with rice and aboriginal tribes contribute substantially to the
irrigated through tanks in the upper reaches. tenant body or whereas in Chattisgarh. the
Labour was cheap and the price of rice thus distinction between the small tenant and field
produced, had an attractive export value, once labourer is very slight, there will be found a
die railway commenced. In good rainfall years, large number ofresource less tenants with little
the production was good, trade- flourished and oir no crediot to carry them over a long period
substantial landholders became prosperous. of scarcity and famine. Farm servants in
Besides cultivation they also undertook money ordinary years are in favourable position, but
and paddy lending business and trade of forest when distress becomes acute all but the well to
produce and timber. Simultaneously the do employers turn them off, and they go on to
process of marginahsation had reached it’s swell the large labouring population out of
limits in the plain areas. There was a visible work. The field labourers who at the best of
class of resource poor marginal farmers who - times can reckon on only casual employment
swelled the ranks of day labourers during peak are the worst of all when the crops fail. These
agricultural seasons, in addition to an can as a rule count on field labour during the
increasing number of landless destitutes, rains. There are intervals between the sowing
mostly from among the tribal people. These and weeding and between Weeding and
produced primarily
for househhold level Harvesting when the demandfor labour is lack,
consumption
and
supplemented
their but their employers or village banias will give
subsistence through wage labour in Summer a little credit and they can save part of their
season. This larger section of people with earnings to tide them over the difficult period.
comparatively lesser proportion of land were From the middle ofApril to the middle ofJune
the hardest hit due to erraticity of monsoon. is the hardest period. With the harvest of
Rain failiure would directly affect their Mahua (Bassia latifolia), and if the crop is
consumption needs due to inadequate favourable, they can lay by enough to carry
production and curtail possibilities of them not only over this period but to supply
supplementing income by ending the them with food when the employment is slack
agricultural season prematurely.
In the in the rains. When crops fails as completely as
ensuing period would come severe food crisis. they did. in the year 1899-1900, not only are
People did not have food in their own harvest earnings isufficient but emplyment is
granaries and did not have the money to buy rigidly curtailed. ”
food from the market. In. such a situation source 1 Report on the Famine in Central
prices rose in an unprecedented manner. The Provinces, 1899-1900.
railways had given an impetus to intensive
cultivation, which had bred land grabbing, individualization of agriculture and monetization of a
consumption oriented production system. The prosperous farmers had not only sold all their surpfus
from the earlier season, they also held back the remaining stock. The district faced severe food
crisis even when the major food surplus producing areas had reaped a 70% harvest. In the forested
tracts where peop e were still practising dryland cropping and thus could save some of the coarse
grain production, there was partial dependence on market for food. In the plain areas where
diversity in cropping pattern had suffered a blow from the rising profitability of rice trade, most of
the marginal holders too were growing rice mainly, on inferior land compared to the richer tenants
or the gountia. While the latter could save their rice harvest through tank irrigation the former lost
almost the total crop. Also, in the plains, the forests which had been under the agriculturists axe for
1 o
19
some years and the volume of generation of forest produce was not adequate to supplement
subsistence needs of people. The culmination of the disaster was evident in the next season when
most of the marginal landholders in the kondh and Binjhal tracts left their land unsown because
they cold not recover even the seeds. Money and Paddy lending business flourished and the process
of land alienation received a further push. The drought of 1900 broke the backs of the original
inhabitants of the area, already suppressed and marginalised, they were pushed further down.
Birthrates fell and he proportion of tribal people came down in the district population. .
Different people responded differently to the drought of 1900. Large, well to do tenants, brought
their bahal land under closer cultivation. Tank building 'was undertaken with furious energy. At
lands were totally neglected and as a result dryland farming received a tremendous setback, also
crop diversity suffered. The tribal people however in many places substituted rice with Kodon,
Gugi, Kutki and other short duration dryland crops. However At land was losing fertility due to
rapid denudation of forests in the upper reaches. Wetland Rice cultivation retained it’s stronghold
and thenceforth people would spend all their energy and resources to devise means to expand their
holdings, increase productivity and protect their rice crop against failiures without addressing the
other critical factors of deforestation, appropriate cropping pattern, soil fertility etc. Further all
these solutions were for the landed. There were no remedies presented for the dispossesed and those
in the process of alienation and pauperization.
The increased cost offood has produced greater industry on the labourer and poor cultivator
and the opportunity to trade and profit has tempted the richer and more industrious to a
greater effort. The demand for land has become keener. ...Ifs cultivation closer and better...
There is a gradual breaking up ofcommunal life and in a few cases undesirable accumulation
of land and capital in the hands of the money lender. The main result of stirring up
competition has been the establishment of a very large class of substantial cultivators by habit
thrifty and industrious with adequate holdings, good stock, and savings suffcient to allow for
individual employment and extension. The distinction between such men and the lower class of
semi-aboriginals with debts and small holdings is much more clearly marked than formerly.
(1906, Dewar)
9.2 Drought was here to stay
In the next 50 years, the the situation worsened. Land distribution became more and more skewed
and inequity had come home to roost. With improved communication, roads and railroads, the
remaining forests were clear felled. Cultivated area expanded under demographic and migration
pressures. Land was gradually getting exhausted. The rice boom continued till about the second
world war period. By then Marwari and Gujarati trades people had established themselves in large
numbers in well connected areas like railroad towns. The prime Teak forests in the southwest of
present Bolangir district in the T itlagarh subdivision extending into Khariar zamindari and the Sal
forests in the Borasambar tract were totally exhausted during this period. Till then, there was virgin
forests that could be cleared and area to expand into;! interior tracts were being opened yp.
Independence came ad estates were abolished. Anticipating such a step, many zamindars had
already sold most of their land. Therefore prime land was retained either by the original family or
sold to bidders with capital. Land ceiling act even when implemented later in the seventies could
only salvage waste land or scrub forests for distribution among the landless and the marginalisedThe equation started changing drastically after the introduction of Green revolution package of
HYV seeds, chemical fertiliser and canal irrigation in the area. With the completion of Hirakud
dam in the 50s, the productivity standards became a compjarative between the rainfed and irrigated
agricultural systems. The profitability of large tenants in ^the ran fed area had been maintained till
then, by a combination of four factors, largeholdings, fertility of soil ,supply of cheap labour and
access to protective irrigation. Rice trade had brought about a certain amount of homogenisation in
the cropping pattern, but tribal people and marginal holders had continued to grow two to three
*
20
crops of coarse grains along with rice. With green revolution in the canal areas, crop diversity was
dealt a fatal blow. Incursion of improved varieties of rice in the rainfed areas ensured that the
indegenous Paddy varieties with it’s inbuilt capacity to resist drought, would be replaced for
shorterm gains. With improved communication, the wagerate went up. People hitherto engaged as
only local agricultural labour, started migrating. Community agricultural practises such as tire one
in which the tenants lent a sickle and plough to the gountia during harvesting and sowing, weeding
seasons got discontinued,with tire tenants concentrating on making their own land yield. Irrigation
tanks with their ambiguous ownership were falling into disrepair and served less land than before.
For sometime the yields were raised with improved varieties and chemical fertilisers,but it son
reached a saturation point. And from a shorterm economic point of view, the rainfed rice was no
match for the canal irrigated one. The boom was over. In the intervening period there were a
number of scarcities. In 1965 there was another drought ' For the first time the big farmers felt the
pinch of scarcity.
If one looks at the quantum of rain that fell in the kharif seasons of 1900, 1965, 1982, 1987 and
1996, there is not much difference. Peoples vulnerabilities however have been increasing steadily.
The dependency pattern of the local population determines the their ability to tide over crisis. The
original inhabitants had devised a system of land classification, appropriate cropping had evolved,
the subsistence was intrinsically linked to their understanding and usage of land, water and forest
resources in the area. When land got concentrated with a minority with radically different livelihood
practises, the pattern of usage of resources altered. Sorhe section of the original population who
were able got incorporated within the new system, others retreated into inaccessible tracts where
they continued to follow their own practises. When the next crisis occured people found their
original coping mechanisms to be dysfunctional. Since these were intrinsically linked to typical
landuse practises and availability of forest, none of which worked as before, subsistence needs
could not be fulfilled using the communities own capacity. The concept of external assistance or
relief was introduced. Relief measures brought gratification of immediate needs but failed to look
into the flaws in the propagated systems of individualized agriculture, trade, deforestationjand
alienation which were breaking down community capacity to deal with the vagaries of their
ecological system. Community dependencies were diverted to the market for wages and food and to
the government for relief, both abstract external agencies on which they had no control and this
alienated them further from their own natural systems, t:o which now, they too lent their axes. As
the contexts changed the simultaneous diversification in livelihoods did not take place. The state
failed miserably to deliver both modem education and healthcare, which could have lent a
semblance of control on the external system. New vulnerabilities were created, old ones got
entrenched. The ecological systems too were losing their -enewability.
In Western Orissa average annual rainfall is above 1200mm. Drought is still manifested as frequent
aberrations in rainfall during the peak kliarif season lasting from June to September leading to crop
failiure. The majority of the people live in villages and are dependent upon their marginal holdings
and on agricultural wage labour for subsistence. Agriculture for the majority of marginal farmers is
subsistence oriented though a large portion ofthe product reaches the market in the form of distress
sales. Cropping pattern has changed drastically. Most people in the rainfed areas cultivate
iimproved
-r '
* / and* use chemical
’
’ fertiliser. ”
.
varieties
of Paddy
Here and there people still do soipe
' s as
traditional croptypes, but more as an exception or lack of capital to procure government seeds
they are called/vieids are poor and the crop prone to frequent failiures. In the plain areas of
- forest
- diss
- ppeared.• —
Nawapara and Rargarh and Bclangir, the
has
There are very few trees; on
on field
field
bunds and people suffer from f lelwdod crisis. In places, they cannot grow certain crops due to non
ailability of natural fencing material. In the erstwhille
-availability
erstwhils forested tracts the Mahua trees provide
some employment in Summer months. The flowers and seeds are sold at low rates to traders. No
longer they are used for household consumption. Varioub forest produce collection provide a wage
.............................
' ’ venture
' ! in t^iis
labour option of 20-30 days in Summer. But Agriculture
has become a risky
21
primarily undulating country with the upper slopes of land cleared off natural vegetation, leading to
high rates of soil erosion on uplands , sandcasting on lowlands during the rains when high speed of
the large volume of water flows over it. Depleting the upland of it’s top soil cover, diminishing
fertility as no organic decayed matter is deposited on it. In the most drought prone tracts of West
Orissa there is a high rate of nm off due to the gradient of the land. Which implies that, even
though large volume of water passes over it, none can be retained by the land.
During the time of indepenence most of this land was already in a highly depleted state In such a
situation they got a new lease of life through the usage of green revolution methods, HYV and
chemical fertilizers and canal irrigation. The resulting hike in yield was misleading as land was
depleted. Today this degradation is highly visible in areas where canal irrigation has not Substittifed
tank irrigation and crop failiures are common on the slightest aberrations of monsoon. Change in
cropping pattern has also had a tremendous impact on soil'fertility and scarcity.
1. In 1946-56, tire total cropped area in Kalahandi was 37% of the total geographical area. In
1976-77, the cropped area rose to 48% of tlie total. By 1993-94 the area had dropped to 39%. In
Patna state, total cropped area in 1937 was 57.7% of the total arsa. In 1965-66 the cropped area of
Bolangir district came down to 50.7% of the total. By 1993-94, the area had risen marginally to
53%. In undivided Sambalpur district total cropped area declined from 44% in 1961-62 to 39% in
1^-94.
2. While total cropped area showed a slight decline in all the three district. Area under rice had
expanded in all the areas and area under coarse grains have declined.
During the Final settlement of the ex-sfate of Kalahandi, in 1946-56, out of the total cropped area
of 908975 acres, including both zamindari and khalsa areds; 473644 acres or 52% of the total area
was under Paddy while, 268445 acres was under coarse grains like Maridia, Jhari, Kodo, Gurji,
Suan etc. The percentage of cropped land under coarse^ grains was as high as 36% in the exzamindari areas. The ex-state of Patna had 43% of total cropped area under Paddy in 1937. During
the same period the area under coarse grains was 11%. Till the middle of sixties, area under coarse
grains was around 10 % in Bolangir district while in Kalahandi area had come down to 10% of die
total cropped area. By 1996 the area under coarse grain was less than 2% of the total cropped area,
(refer to anexure I, tables)
3. Tn the Hirakud command area the area under HYV rici had increased at die Cost of traditional
paddy varieties. In undivided Sambalpur district, area uhder HYV paddy increased from 12058
acres in 1965-66 to 126599 acres in 1969-70. Double cropped area increased from 87000 acres to
226000 acres during the same period. The major increases were under relatively water intensive
e^-ops.
Though Paddy was not new to the area , what is is the growth ofHYV monocultures. Yhough
the Command Area Development Authority is keen | to change the crop mix, a sort of
landlocking h as occured; the regimen of water regulation in the canals leaves the farmer little
choice hut to adopt the watering pattern of the dominant crop. Moreover the marshy
conditions ofthe lowlands prevents cultivators from shifting to other crops. ( ref: 12)
While Hirakud command area combats with increasing amount of waterlogging in the low lying
lands, (in 1974, 5.7% of the total area surveyed in Sambalpur district fwas water logged way back
in 1974) the unirrigated blocks face drought and aridisation.
4. Consumption of chemical fertilisers have increased expc nentially with the rise in canal irrigation,
(refer Anex I, Tables)
i
22
5. The proportion of cultivators to agricultural labourers have increased in irrigated areas, (refer
Anex I, Tables). Land Alienation increases with the rise in canal irrigation. In the hirakud
Command area much of the land has been alienated from the local inhabitants, who have proceeded
to swell the proportion of landless wage workers.
6. The distribution of land holding remained highly skewed in favour of a minority of middle and
large farmers, (refer to anex I, table iii)
As long as people maintained a diversity in agricultural practises they were never completely
dependent on any one season or any one crop in particular for survival. The superiority of rice as a
staple food and the gradual disappearance of other cereals from the diet has in a way hastened
disentitlement. Rice had a market and thus could be sold if not eaten. Hence people grew only rice.
Other cereals Kodo, Gurji, Mandia etc, could be eaten bu^ had no market. Mahua which formed a
part of regular diet of almost all people in the area during the rain months has presently found it’s
use only in the manufacture of liquor. Groundwater j has not been exploited in the area.
Groundwater too behaves in a erratic manner and in the absence of recharge mechanism can only
be good for one time use (finite). Landholding is highly iniquitous still and the rate of land
alienation high following the same distinctive pattern as it had 100 years ago. In some areas the
tribal community were settled in the worst possible land, i Whole villages situated in the degraded
uplands. Migration has been coping mechanism for the last 30 years or so. Rates of permanent
migration are highest in the erstwhile forested areas now completely denuded. The other means of
livelihood are Kendu leaf collection, Kendu bush pruning, Bamboo cutting, collecting Mahua fruits
and seeds, Siali (Piasal) leaves for plate making, char ieeds, woodpiles to be sold as fiiel, hill
broom, Sal seeds etc. These are very low income activities and strictly seasonal, none of these
substances are used by the people who collect them) Two other comparatively modem routes of
migration has been, 1) to the brick kilns in Waitair to the br ck kilns in Jamnagar, Rajkot and
Gurdaspur, 2) summer paddy harvest in the Hirakud command area. Private mines offer another
wage labour option.
10. The Political Economy of Tank irrigation in West Orissa
In the districts of West Orissa every village has a network of tanks. In an area were water was
plentiful during the rain months but flowed away almost immediately due to the undulating nature
of the landscape, the design of these earthen tanks were most appropriate for retaining surface
water for use in dry months. They were constructed chiefly by throwing strong earthen
embankmets along drainage lines. A series of such restricition ensured maximum utilisation of the
surface flow. Further the standing water in each structure recharged the low lying tanks and
ultimately the dugwells on the the underlying agricultural land.
There are various versions as to the origin of the technology of tank construction in West OrisSa.
The most popular notion holds, that settled agricultural cdmmunity of Kulthas who migrated to the
area around the later half of I St century and early 19th century, were expert tank diggers and
brought with them the unique design of tank building. However this is refuted both by the existence
of ancient reservoirs and the living memory of the tribal people, Binjhals, Kondhs and Gonds, who
were the original inhabitants of the area and and whose ancestors they say, had evolved the design
ofthe tank based on the topography of land. Long before the middle of I Sth century a section oftye
tribal community had already developed area specific modes of irrigation systems. In the hill areas
and plateaus, hill streams and perennial springs were used for cultivation of a variety of foodgraiqs,
fruits and vegetables all year round. In the undulating ansas, earthen embankment across drainage
lines would create the tank like water reservoirs, further down in the plains, shallow wells v/^re
i
23
used in association with wooden lifts for irrigation. The Kondhs, Gonds and Binjhals the three main
tribal communities of tlie area had been already using these irrigation methods when settled
agriculturists started coming in the area in large numbers from the eastern direction.
When the British entered the scene, some ofthe plain areas of the otherwise rugged and hilly terrain
had already been cleared for cultivation. These areas were found occupied by the section of the
tribal community who had taken to settled
cultivation. The east of present Bargarh
An Ordinary' irrigation tank known as a Kata is
district, along the valley of Ong and it’s
constructed by throwing a strong earthen embankment,
tributaries, the north of Nawapara district,
slightly carved at either ends, across a drainage line,
along the valley of Jonk the northeast of
to hold up ah irregidarly shaped sheet of water. The
Bolangir district along the valleys of Ong
undulations of the country usually determines it's
and Tel rivers. Under the Marathas some
shape as that of a long isosceles triangle of which the
amount of dispossession had already taken
dam is the bhse. It commands a volley, the bottom of
place, whereby many a tribal headman
which is the bahal land and sides are mal terraces. As
lost his village to non tribal immigrants
a rule there is a cutting high up the slope near on? end
due to the inability to meet the sudden
of the embarikment . From this the water is led either
unprecedented revenue demands on his
by a small channel or Tai, or from field to field along
estate. As mentiored before, the changes
the terraces, down which it finds it's way to the lower
in the gountiahi system, accompanied by
land: Such tanks can can supply water to an area of
high revenue demands laid the foundation
30- 300 acref
of intensive agriculture in this area. The
proliferation of tank building was closely
Munda is an embankment of smaller size across a
associated with this phenomenon. Each
drainage channel. Embankments of this sort are very
gountia had to undertake tank construction
common and can be constructed by the raiyats
in his village. This was recognised by the
themselves for the benefit of their own holdings.
British administration as improvement
being made to the village production
The Bandh Is a four sided tank excavated below the
system and the gountia as a reward was
Kata, from which it derives water by percolation. They
consequently granted a protected status
are almost invariably used for drinking purposes. They
meaning that he would not be evicted
add to the irrigated area by spreading percolation and
arbitrarily from his village.
by rendering^ it possible in years of drought to empty
Secreteriate Letter number 44436-212 the irrigation tanks completely.
dated 22/7/1889, issued by the
officiating commissioner^ Chattisgarh Source : Sambalpur District Gazetteer, 1971.
division shows that, “The position of
Gountia untill recently been merely that of a thicadar whose lease was for a term ofyears only
and who had no absolute claims to the renewal of that lease at the end of the period Untill the
opening out of the country created a demand for the land, this position was not one of
hardship. To meet this change the chief commissioner bad ordered that a protected status will
be given to gountias who have, a) been 20 years or more in the possession of their villages b)
been actual reclaimers of the village or c) spent largelyon tanks and settlement of raiyats.
(source: 7)
Tank irngation took root. Almost every village had systems of tanks along drainage lines. Pad^dy
would be be cultivated on lowland in the command area if the tank during the kharif season and
Sugarcane during Summer. The tanks were built inmany iases with the free labour of the tenants
under the “Beth Begar” system. E specially in cases of the “khamar” villages, ie villages exclusively
for the maintenance of raja or the zamindar’s household, gountias of all the villages within the stafe
would have to supply tenants who would provide free labour for the construction of tanks. Many
of these huge tanks exists and can be seen even today. The discretion of water distribution from
the tanks rested with the gountia. Usually it was land belonging to his household (called bhogra
i
i
24
land) which was located nearest to the tank. So in in any case ihe primary benefit from the tank
water was availed of by tlie gountia. Instances of sugarcane cultivation in summer on common land
irrigated by tank was also there in the then Sambalpur district. Since the water was shared by all
the tenants , the responsibility for the repair and maintenance of the tanks also rested with the entire
tenant body. Desilting tank bed and repairing embankments were undertaken regularly by the tenant
body. An element of coercion definitely existed as the gountia had the right to dispossess the tenant
of his land.
The next important change came with the “opening out of the area” as the British put it with tlie
introduction of the branch line of Bengal - Nagpur railways to Sambalpur. Rice cultivation received
an phenomenal boost. There was a massive scurry for land. Within the next 10 years a prosperous
tenant body arose flush from the profits of rice export. While all possible land was being brought
under paddy, there was also a rush to build private tanks to ensure sustained production incase of
rainfailiure. In this period large tenants started building their own tanks. The number of tanks rose
in each village for assured water was a prime necessity for stable production. Not surprisingly the
composition of this group of prosperous tenants was entitely non tribal. Tank irrigation had been
totally coopted by the non tribal immigrants in the best areas and the tribal community was forced
towards the edges of the estate, in the more difficult, forested terrains. By then many of the tribal
gountias had lost their villages and thus rights over the best land underlying the tank. Alienation of
land also meant loss of right to use tank water for irrigation.
In 1909, 112,515 acres in the khalsa areas ofundivided Sambalpur district were irrigated with
tanks compared with 73105 acres, 20years ago. There are now 5572 tanks in the khalsa. The
advance is most striking in the Bargarh tahsil, where tanks have increased from 1697 to 2965
and wells from 204 to 6034. It is reported that 60% of the bahal land, 30% of the berna and
12% of the Mai land are irrigated (1909, O'Malley)
By 1922, irrigated area in Sambalpur district had increased to 2,21,347 acres. There were 12,282
tanks and 24,611 wells in 1922, in comparison to 8600 tanks and 14,907 wells in 1906. During the
same period cropped area in Sambalpur had gone up by
7%. In Patna state there was 131, 744
by!417%.
acres of irrigated land in 1937, in comparison to 83211' acres in 1919. At the time of the fipal
settlement of 1946, Kalahandi had 5497 tanks which irrigated 95592 acres of land in the khalsa
and zamindari areas. This constituted 12% of total cultivated land in the khalsa area and 8.9% of
total cultivated land in the zamindari areas. By 1965-66, Only 53,799 acres were irrigated by tanks
in Bolangir district. In the same period tank irrigated area in undivided Sambalpur district had also
decreased to 1,48,097 acres of land. By the early seventies the land under tank irrigation in
Kalahandi had decreased to 1^787 acres.
The expansion of tank irrigation thus coencided historically with rice trade, railways^and alienation
of land from the original setlersof the area. What followed was massive clearing of forest by the
|i cropping pattern.
pattern Crop diversity was
land hungry immigrant settlers and a drastic change in
retained only on the uplands and in tribal cultivation in the more forested tracts.
\
1899-1900 were severe scarcity years. The recorded raiAfall data of the past century in this area,
n shows erratic distribution of monsoon esp in tlie main agricultural months between June and
September. However droughts were unknown before 189$. Using their irrigation tanks the richer
tenants and the gountias could save almost 65% of their crops. The marginal landholders with no
for
protective
lost their entire crop. The drought had a class as well as a cas|e
facilities
L—rirrigation
. I areas lost their crops while their
colour to it. The tribal people in the margins of................
well Settled
their traditional dryland crops,
counterparts in the more interior forested tracts could still raise
i
non
tribal
immigrants had happened
Down south in Kalahandi district where settled agncultu e by
later, the 1900 scarcity did not have any effect.
I
25
In 1896-97 nearly 800,000 acres where irrigated. In 1899-1900 every acre that could he
watered required it, but tanks did not fill up and wells gave out, and irrigated area dropped to
350,000 acres. (1900, Report on the Famine in the Central Provinces)
After this drought in the begining of this century, tank building was undertaken with maniacle
energy. The kharif paddy was to be protected at any cost from the vagaries of monsoon.
Interestingly most of the relief work undertaken during the 1900 drought year by the rajas,
zamindars as well as richer tenants and gountias included tank digging as the primary activity.
While private tanks were being built in tire holdings of prosperous tenants , the maintenance of
gountia’s tank was suffering. With tlie restrictions on the bethi system and the growing indifference
of tenants , tanks were falling into disrepair. The gountia tad to spend considerable amount for the
maintenance of tanks. There were also frequent disputes regarding the distribution of tank water.
I
The chief subject of village disputes for some years has been water rights and rights in the
common land which formerly grew Sugarcane. It is o\vlng to the rise in rice profits that the
irrigation tanks are not now habitually reserved for Sugarcane irrigation on common land
during hot weather. In this respect the tenants as a body suffered from the change in custom.
They get for their rice crop much less water than goes to the nearest land of the gountia and
they have to irrigate their Sugarcane expensively from the well. The former grievance is voiced
loudly in years ofshort rainfall. But it is a fact that thi burden of maintaining public tanks in
repair has fallen more on the gountia and the old custom of subscription is shirked by the
raiyat. (Pg 206,1906)
Sometimes the tanks were deliberately allowed to get silted up so as to convert it into highly fertile
farmland. These practises were not encouraged by the British revenue administration. Tank
irrigation by it’s very nature was for the more privileged among the agriculturists. The tribal
community depended more and more on dugwells and wooden lifts for irrigation and hill streams
wherever possible. It so happened that in many cases the ancient reservoirs built by their ancestors
were in the possession of non tribal immigrants.
Just after independence confusion reigned as regards thi ownership of these tanks. Many of the
tanks have been registered under “Jalchar”, which basically meant public ownership. However,
individual gountias who had financed the construction of the tanks did not wish to relinquish their
ownership over it. In Kalahandi district all water reservoirs existing from before the settlement of
—w Z.
..Z— r
- M.
3 were kept under government khatian.
1922 and which were in use
for Zl.-.L-o
drinking water
purposes
irs
excavated
by
tenants
in
their
holding!
after
the settlement of 1922 have been
Water reservoirs —----------- j -------recorded under the names ofthe tenants concerned and rerits had. been assessed on therp.
By 1950s with the completion of Hirakud dam, canal irrigation started gaining round1 as superior
irrigation method. Tanks however were still being used for irrigation. Most of the »large tanks were
transferred to the panchayat. The change in ownership did not take place simultaneously all*1 over
the erstwhile owners.
The
the place. In many places they continued to be called bjy the lame of
<-----------------maintenance of the tanks suffered. In the next ten years, many of them silted up and subsequently
could irrigate less and less land during the kliarif season. Zarnindari and gountiahi had been
abolished and so had been the custom of “Bethi” ori free labour. Wage rates had gone up.
Individuals could no longer afford to maintain private irrigation structures.
In the canal irrigated areas, tanks lost their importance except as sources for bathing and providing
drinking water for cattle. In rainfed areas, tanks still rei nained the only source of irrigation. Rain
failiures occurred frequently and people depended more and more on the government to maintain
their tanks.
fSome money was periodically spent under various cash for work programs on
construction of new tanks and maintenance of old ones . Especially during the scarcity years relief
I
I
26
money was majorly spent on the repair of the tanks. The subsequent benefit due to the generation of
irrigation potential though minor, was availed chiefly by the erstwhile gountia s household in the
village. Although they no longer owned the tank, they definitely owned the land underlying it. Many
of the land owned by the erstwhile kings and zamindars had also been sold off prior to the
implementation of the ceiling Act. Many of these lands too were situated under huge tanks. Thus
government spendings on the maintenance of tanks, over the years also benefitted the prosperous
sections of the community. In the rainfed areas of West Orissa, bahal land under tanks are still
changing hands.Wherever new tanks are constructed the land underlying it acquires higher
economic value and sold out to the monied bidder during distress years. Immigrants continue to buy
land in the area, and one can even find 30-60 acres of land, underlying an old tank and giving two
Paddy crops under their ownership in rainfed areas.
In areas where minor irrigation structures have been built by die government the land in the
command area of the canals have been systematically bought up by the socially and economically
higher section of the community.
Government spendings have no accountability and each year massive amounts are leaked away
from the budget meant for either repair of old tanks or construction of new ones. In this process
too; the stakes of the community are divided. The middle or large farmer wants the government to
expend it’s resources on either constructing a new tank or enhancing the capacity of the existmg
ones. But the major section of landless and marginal holders who would not derive any irrigation
benefit from the tank are only interested in the wage labour earnings from the earthwork sanctioned
on the tank. Therefore in the leakages in government spendings, they too play a minor role. In
western Orissa it has become an established practise, where every year the government sanctions
some money on doing tankworks and people get employment in lean months. Less than 30% of^he
money sanctioned is actually spent on the works and people doing wage labour on piece rated basis
where I unit is equivalent to 10’xTO’xI’ of earthwork , invariably do six inches and take wages for
a foot.
Lately, the usage and distribution of tank water has become major bones of contention in many
villages. The dispute takes one particular form when it is between the landed and the landless. The
landless or marginal holders with no land in the command area object to the cutting of the
embankment to irrigate kharif crop in scarcity years because they would rather retain the water for
bathing, drinking and domestic use of humanbeings and cattle while the landowner is more keen to
save his kharif production. The second kind of dispute is again between those who want to do
pisciculture in the tank versus those who would rather raise a summer crop in the command arep.
Another factor which has brought about the change in the jpattem of utilisation is the large number
of diesel and kerosene pumps which the prosperous farmers now use to lift water from the tanks,
not only to water the kharif Paddy but also to cultivate Sugarcane or Groundnuts in Summer.
In conclusion, their technlogical appropriateness notwithstanding, there is a danger in identifying
the revival of Tank irrigation as the panacea of drought and water scarcityr in West Orissa. The
inequity associated with tank irrigation has taken newer forms
--- ,but nevertheless exist. Primarily
* 3 are highly skewed in favour of
because the ownership of bahal land underlying most o d tanks
icially
and
economically
superior
classes
in
the
community.
Also
with all other factors remaining
so<
‘
1
only
nly
hasten
the rate of land alienation.
unchanged, new tanks if appropriately located would
stage
of
history
Lishered
intensive
rice cultivation, wci^ld
Finally, tank irrigation which had in one 1 ,
promote shift towards water intensive hybrid mono cropping at the cost of diverse dryland farming
still prevalent in tf e area.
■£ ~ >| I I
111C
If yyi
3,|Jll|y
L/C41AV4*
4V4A1V*
VifcWA a y ***73
•—
——
j
11. The Politics of Government Development Programs, Organised Relief and Voluntary
Sector in West Orissa.
o
27
The state of Orissa is identified as one of the more underdeveloped states of the country. It has low
literacy rates. High maternal and infant mortality rates, Idw agricultural productivity, few
industries and malaria claims hundreds of lives every year. Like many other parts of the country,
there is an internal imbalance within the state, between the relatively prosperous coastal area and
the neglected inland namely the western region situated in the scattered uplands of the Eastern
Ghats. The area was basking in relative obscurity ’till ‘the district of Kalahandi rose to infamous
heights following the media hype over an incident of sale of girl in the drought year. (Quote from
Sainath). After the 1899- 1900 drought which affected almost the entire Central India, scarcity
following rainfaiiilure asnd crop loss has occurred in this region with relentless periodicity, in
1935, 1965, 1975-77, 1987-89, 1992-93, 1995-96.
1
Drought was a reality. However the articulation of it’s causes and the prescription for it s
prevention and cure are coloured by the considerable lobby of interest groups, for whom die
declaration of drought spells economic bonanza. The decision results in numerous soft gains for the
major players in fee region. The Soil Conservation Department, fee single important implementor
of water conservation related DPAP programs, fee local contractors, fee politicians and of late the
voluntary sector. The Government Relief programs in fee event of a major drought serves generally
as conduits for channeling funds into powerful lobbies. To substantiate fee argument we shall trace
the basic pattern of Government approach to relief in fee event of Drought.
Rainfailiure is recorded, losses are assessed through crop cutting exercise, State asks Central
assistance. Money is made available from fee Calamity relief Fund. District administration
implements relief programs. Involves primarily Cash for Work or Food for work programs and
controls movement of foodgrain in fee open market, plus' makes additional provisions through fee
public distribution system. Delay in Implementation' and Faulty implementation. Hurried
implementation, faking of muster rolls, creating white elephants of useless unproductive structures,
roads feat lead no where. Innumerable relief agencies hre in the fray. Replicating Government
programs, wife appropriate results in rare cases, mostly ^ddirig to fee mistakes. In fee villages pf
the soil Conservation department is the object of ridicule. Any useless earthen
west Orissa,
<
* unlikeliest
— *' * of places b
structure resembling a tank- -in the
i s sure to be built by them. Government
______________
■
____
"
*
,
>
it
’
s
Works in the!996-97 Drought year lived upto to L‘_ well established reputation of wasteful
iding, delay in payments, useless structures. Travelling through Bohgomunda Block of Bokngir
.._j accentuated by the dusty anti
and treeless landscape,local groups pointed
district, where drought was
out
noless
than
foursarthen
structures
where
the
govenment
agencies have claimed to have spent
UllL 11U1U55 LA 1 dll XVL11 vaiuivu
w
--------- >----Rs. 1.5 to Rs.21akhs. They had just scraped fee top 6” of Soil from fee site and dumped thejarfe'I on
fee existing bunds.' Only 10 days of employment; was generated. In Badabanki Villageof Turekela
.. district., The
T.._ “Block” had
started the construction of a tank. The area lay it’s
block, in Bolangir
1------innards^of wh'itechalk and half exposed tree roots, with large termitehill like pillars, evidence of
somework being done. People had not received full payment long after the work was closed. In
Khuripani village of Patnagarh block, Bolangir district the Ubiquitous “Block" as people say,
constructed a water harvesting structure which does not hold a single drop of water and still has
standing Odl
Sal trees
in several stages of decay. -------Sal or
Rengal as it is known locally has become
LIWO 1*1 Svrvim
the area and this particular grove was protected by the village
almost extinct in it’s natural form in fee
community In Luhakhan village of Padampur block til Bargarh district, some excavation was
dlUd, VY1U1
1UIV 1VJU1UU
——
-------------------- J
——
,
going on in private agricultural land. In thecourse of our conversation with the people working
there wegot to know, that the next day would be the last day ofwork. The budget for the tank was
declared as Rs.50000. At the wagerates which the people were workmg, the number of people and
the
the sevendays
sevendays of
of work,
work, the
the expenditure
expenditure worked
worked out
out to
to only Rs.8000. In Baitalbhanta ^ag®0*
Paikmal block, tlie Watershed program under DPAP has resulted in the excavation and bund
raising of private tanks belonging to four orfive well to do farmers who didnot alloys' others fo
physically lift
lift water tosave
tosave their
their natch
patch of
of groundnut
groundnut crop. In the months following the!996 khant
28
harvest failiure. West Orissa was in welter of activities. Relief agencies were everywhere. Outdoing
eachother in their efforts. In one particular instance, the Tank Excavation work funded by one such
agency had hightumover of people after one week of work, it so happened that the panchayat
started work in the same village. In a number of villages in Paikmal and Padampur blocks of
Bargarh district. Cash for work Drograms took off late, in the months of April and May, by which
time people were otherwise engaged in their seasonal cycle of activities consisting of Mahul and
Chahar fruit collection following which they migrate to the Hirakud command area forthe Paddy
harvest every year. So when the relief fell into place there were no takers from among die
community. From villages of Anchalpur, Chandipur, villagers had already left in truckloads for far
off destinations like Gurdaspur early in the season. Takeri by contractors to work in brickkilns and
construction sites. Families in Sundhimunda village migrate to places like Jamnagar in Gujarat to
work in construction sites. TTi’e established migrating routes in the area are systematically
followed by the communities as a way of coping with increasingly erratic monsoons and
unproductive agriculture.
Case Studies
1. Agalpur ; remains of past glory
I
The Ong river travels eastward forming a wide valley on the borders of Bargarh and Bolangir
district. Agalpur block of Bolangir district forms the eastern half of this valley. Famed to be highly
fertile, Agalpur was among the best cultivated areas of Bolangir district.
The Ong river, flowed with a thin trickle, snaking along tire wide sandy beds with large rocks and
boulders towards the western course, in the month of March. Summer was round the comer and the
banks were parched and brown with patches of vivid green, a few instances of a spring or Summer
crop. In the village of Babuphasar, large landholders belonging to tire Kultha community were
raising Summer crops of Groundnut using the water of|Ong through lift irrigation. There were
only a few Gond or Binjhal households in the village. None had land. The next village Babupalh
was also a Kultha village. The pricipal crop they cultivated was paddy. Traditional varieties of
Paddy were no longer grown as they didn’t yield much. People with larger landholding grew a few
bAhal varieties for household consumption. Land in their village was fertile they said and the
average per acre yield of Paddy was as high as 20-25 bags in goos rainfall years. But rains have
been failing frequently and the kharif paddy dies. 1996 Was a bad year for the area when most of
the bahal Paddy died due to lack of adequate rains in August and September. This year the harvest
rotted in field whbecause of excessive rains between November to January. The smaller farmers
cultivate vegetables like Onions, Chillis, Tomatoes and :Brinjals on the Bar land using well water
and Tenda for irrigation. In the well on the bari land, water was visible at 10’ from the ground
level. Even in 1996 drought the wells in the village did not dry. In comparison to the wEstem
blocks of Bargarh district, Agalpur seemed to be drier with very few trees on agricultural land.
Even the common trees like Mahua, Sahaj, Arjun, char were not to be seen. The uplands were bare
in
and yellow in colour bearing marks of high degradatioh. The phenomena was more apparent
apparent in
Agalpur
block.
The
Gondpalli. It was the only completely tribal village, inhabited by Gonds in
on upland.
families and 100 acres of arid
village seemed to be situated on
u*™— The
— village
---- o- witii 45
- Gond
-and degraded upland. There were no tanks in the village and no trees. Cultivation even during
the ----land was
kharif season was unsure because
I----- — —
— bad Gomndwater cannot be accessed as one
encountered rocks under 10’. Not a single Mahua tree was visible in the village. The oldestt man jn
the village does not remember any trrees in the forest even when he$ was a little boy, 80 odd years
settled near the forest about 200 years ago after being
ago. The Gonds according to him came tand
---------------------driven away from the more fertile areas by the Kulthis. The village was chronically drought
wage labour on the lands of
affected and almost the entire population subsists on iGagricultural
----- :—----------------------------------- to
Kultha farmers in the nearby villages. Entire households migrate to the neighbouring blocks to
rdrying and preliminary processing of K sndu leaf, twice a year, once during t|ie
work in the
1
I
29
plucking season in late Winter, and second time during the processing season in Autumn.
There
was no possibility to raise any Summer crop in the village. On the bank of the Ghensali Jor, a
minor tributary of Ong, some families belonging to the Pondhra comunity were cultivating
vegetables, mainly onions, Chillis and Tomatoes by digging shallow wells and using a Tenda to lift
the water. Cartloads of Sugarcane were coming from Rengali. Rengali village was once the
“khamar” village of the Agalpur zamindar. Generally villages with the best lands were kept as
“khamars” for the exclusive use of the zamindars household. Sugarcane was watered by private
wells of individual farmers. All the cane growers used diesel pumps for lifting water rather than the
more traditional tEnda. Sugarcane is supplied to the Sufear factory at Deogan. The zamindar sold
the village to a Kultha. An old Kultha farmer on being asked about his village hadli had remarked
that if it wasn’t fit to live in Rengali, it wasn’t fit to live anywherelse. Beyond Agalpur, the villages
of Dudka and Roa th were getting canal irrigation from a medium irrigation project at Salebhatta.
These villages were dominated by Agharia cultivators, next to the Kulthas they were the most
prominent and prosperous agrcultural community of the area. Agharia farmers from Roath had
acquired large landholdings in the neighbouring village of Mabulpalli, whose residents belonging to
the Teli and Goud community now wored the lands of the Agharia.
The prcipal characteristic of Agalpur block was the almost negligible tree cover. Agricultural field
bunds were narrow and had scattered Neem trees or thorn scrubs of Acacia variety. The villages
with best lands were under the occupation of Kultha and Agharia farmers. None of these villages
had more than a few households of adivasis, Gond, Saonra and Binjhal, all landless and subsisting
on agricultural wage labour. Wherever they had land like in Gondpalli for instance, it was of poor
quality. Traditional Paddy varieties are not grown in the area. Improved and high yielding Paddy
crop has established it’s position. Crop diversity is far lower in comparison to the other areas of
Bolangir district. Mung is widely grown as a spring crbp. Irrigated areas raise a double crop of
Paddy and are mostly owned by middle farmers belonging to Kultha or Agharia families. In tire
unirrigated aeras uplands are highly degraded and the bahal lands too are prone to crop failiure in
low rainfall years. Tanks no longer served as protective irrigation mechanisms in Agalpur.
2. Scarcity, Relief and Captive Vote banks in Bijepur
Bijepur block consists of some of the most arid areas of Padampur subdivision. The almost flat
landscape is devoid of trees. Land closely cultivated and fertile once, appear parched and degraded.
The unembanked uplands especially were degraded, sandy and scattered with rocks and stones.
Before 1840, Bijepur zamindari was held by a Gond alid the area had a high Gond population.
Later the zamindari was given to a Kultha in return for military services rendered towards the
suppression of a tribal uprising. The larger villages with better land in Bijepur today are mostly
held by farmers belonging to the Kultha community. Gonhs, Gouds and Binjhals are foundI in lesser
number in some marginal villages. Located on the western side of the Bargarh plains, Bijepur was
once famed for it’s good cultivation. Almost every village has network of tanks and bahal land is
is
under Paddy crop. During the rice boom of 1890’s, majoi* expansion of cultivation took place. But
the “at” or the upland were degraded even then due to missive deforestation. The settlement report
of 1906, mentions the degradation of uplands in Bijepur.
“So recently as thirty years ago, goodforests covered vdde areas in the West of the plains and
patches of Jungle covered all the higher ridges. These t iave now entirely disappeared Much of
the old forest land has been brought under cultivation but most of it lies too high and is too
rough and indented in surface to furnish good tilth. Great areas now lie idle covered with small
and all but useless scrub. Deforestation must in time tell against the natural fertility oj the
Villages in Bijepur suffer from severe fuelwood crisis. Situation people say were worse twenty
»
I
30
years ago when old trees had gone and the thorn scrubs had not come up. Traditional Paddy has
been replaced almost everywhere with high yielding and improved varieties. Chemical fertilizers are
used by bigger farmers. Proximity to the canal irrigated areas of Bargarh has ushered in this
practises. Yields are poor, between 15-20 bags on good land. Bahai Paddy fails every other year.
A major section of population of Bijepur, including marginal holders, eke existence through
agricultural wage labour in the neighbouring canal irrigated areas. There has emerged over the
years a large group of people who meet their subsistence needs by doing wage labour on various
earthworks happening in the area. The creation of professional earthworkers out of subsistence
farmers, is the legacy of organized relief, first introducecl by the British and later continued by the
independent state, in die frequent scarcity years. Over the years a large number of relief agencies
and the state, have generated voluminious quantities earth to provide employment to people in lean
months and scarcity years. Most ofthe resultant structures, tanks usually, do not serve any purpose
besides wage labour generation, and stand like prehistorii behemoths in the dusty landscape.
Agriculture does not have too many takers in Bijepur. The state Government had till now not
attempted any longterm regeneration processes that would address the root cause of scarcity. The
soil Conservation department spends lakhs of rupees every/ year to create large damlike structure.
These are erected almost anywhere they find open spac& and are seen as conduits for largescale
fmancial misappropriation.
4
An example of this, is the so called watershed program undertaken by the District Rural
Development Authorities under the Drought Prone Areas Program in Balanda village. The
implementing agency was the soil conservation Department and the project period was between
1996-2000. The project was to benefit 6 other villages besides Balanda. Balanda is a village with
population over 1200 and over 400 ha of land. Exactly 50% of the population was landless. $T
and SC constituted little less than 50% of the total community in the village. The village has 21
Tanks. Most of the land is of poor quality. Ground water'can be accessed at 25 foot. The only crop
raised is the kharif Paddy. According to the people in the village the sole activity under the
Watershed program, till then, had been, to generate a week or so of earthwork. The tangible result
has been the deposition of a few inches of earth on existing bunds of old, private tanks. At the
village level a committee of 12 has been formed. The president of te committee was a local
contractor. People were not aware of the total sanctioned budget of the program, neither were they
in the know of the total money exp<3nded on such works !in 1996. Some of the eartliwork has been
done on absolutely derelict tanks lying on sandy waste lands. Some places, they had been gouged
out of private agricultural land. There was no evidence of any Watershed techniques or approaches
in the haphazard, disconnected earthworks. About two rrieetings had taken place in the village and
some grains or seeds had been distributed. No one knew jfor what purpose. The case of Balanda is
typical of the kind of activities undertaken by the government to alleviate the condition of the
scarcity affected people of the area.
I
In 1996, rainfall ceased in the middle of the kharif season. There was widespread crop failiures
and drought was declared. A number of relief agencies of various hues and allegiance, religious and
political embarked with the mission of delivering relief ini the area. The front organisations of RSS
and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad played major role in aistributing gratiuous relief of Seeds and
grains etc. Simultaneously, a vicious circle of rumours started making it’s rounds that the
“Christian” Charity organisations were converting the local people into Christianity in return for
digging tanks or doing other relief work in their villages. Allegations and counterallegations spread
like wildfire and irf the villages people were divided on their opinions. Long years of dependency on
external relief had created an unquestioned acceptance of relief Of anykind and from any source.
The abject dependency on relief has been so debilitating frat in 1996, even in places where water
was available under 6-8’ of surface level, people waited far the relief agencies to come and dig out
water in their village, o Religious revivalism in the guise of relief added another dimension to the
i
i
31
scarcity of 1996-97. That the BJP scored a victor)' in the area in the 1998 elections was ofcourse
incidental. Relief without acountability has not only killed peoples abilities to cope with the
scarcities but has also paved the way for political manipulation of people into creation of captive
vote banks.
3. Foot of the Hilts and Margins of Land; Alienation m Borasambar tract.
In the early part of this century Borasambar or the present Padampur subdivision of Bargarh
district was considered among the wild,forested and inaccessible tract of the area. The
Gandhamardan system along with isolated outcrops of the Eastern ghats run diagonally across the
erstwhile Birijhal zamindari spanning more than 50% of the total geographical area of present
Bargarh district. The settlement report of 1906, describes Borasambar as.
Bounded by high hilB on the north and South and the western portion is a mass of hills and
glens. Besides the hills, the chief natural feature of Borasambar is the Aung river which rises
in the south east corner, cuts a great semi circle to the north and runs eastward in a widening
valley. The eastern portion is the best agricultural part of the estate. Ifs soil contains some
river silt and is enriched by hill drainage. In the hilly tracts chiefly inhabited by aboriginals,
agriculture is in a backward state.
The expansion of settled agriculture and the first movement of non tribal people, westwards fi om
the Bargarh plains had taken place between the last quater of 19th century and the early part of
this century. The evidence of this can be found from the instances of villages where the gountia has
changed from tribal to non-tribal. In almost all the villages of Borasambar zamindari, the original
Binjhal, Saonra or Kondli gountias have been replaced by1 Kulthas, Telis, Mali, Agharia, Brahmin
and Meher communities.
Marjetpalli is a small village on the foothills of Gandhamardhan toward the northeastern edge.
One of the border villages of Bartunda panchayat, before the hillrange rises steeply. Forest produce
collection was a major source of livelihood in thevillage. The pricipal occupants of the village are
Binjhals, Saonras, Gouds and Harijans. There are large number of Mahua trees, some as high as
30’. Mahua fiowers constitute the principal item of collection in the Summer months. Some flowers
grown in many houses. Oil extraction in the village is still done thru’ a crude distillation process
using earthen pots with tiny holes and bamboo pipes. Most of the agricultural land were upland
reclaimed from forest,( at and tikni as they say) with t!ree growth and scrub, uneven full of
pebbles, stones, rocks and bodlders Cultivation is not intensive in the village and there is high
dependence on wage labour. The forest on the hill sides still appear dense, occassional stark , bare
patches notwithstanding which has exposed the underlying sheet rock. There is a disquieting
presence of a contractor in the village, involved in stone quarrying and timber smuggling. People
were telling us about how even 6-7’ Bija trees are beint systematically stolen from the village
forest. People were also telling us about the unfortunate experience during “Balco hatao’movement
to save the Gandhamardan from Bauxite mining. As to h6w all the leaders chickened out and got
involved in mainline politics, and people in the frontline hid to face police brutuality. When asked
whether they would fight again if the need arose to protect the Gandhamardan, they said if need
arose they would as their survival was inextricably linked to the hills. However it would be difficult
this time to place trust in external leadership. Maijetpalli is also a typical example of the process
of marginalization of the tribal community in the area. The settlement is not more than 70 years
old. The old man in the village (he was the oldest) told us that the village was settled two years
before his birth. The village is settled close to the foothills of gandhamardan. There are about 80
odd households maybe less. Each witha fenced in backyird with Raxi, Semi and Castor (Jara).
I
I
32
Village has good tree cover, remnants of forest visible everywhere. Summer cropping constitutes of
vegetables in backyards for household consumption. Land quality poor for cultivation. Unit
families have couple of acres of degraded forest land. Uneven, rocky with thin top soil cover and
exposed roots. 'Fhere is a high rate of sand casting when rain water streams flow down at high rates
from the hills. The hills have large denuded patches, undelying sheet rock is exposed. The
agricultural land has huge standing trees and dense undergrowth of kendu, paisa, char and mahul.
People do scattered patches of traditional variety of short duration, upland Paddy (sarian, Kulian
etc) on unembanked at and tikra land. Paddy is cultivated broadcast. Yield is very poor, 4-6 bags
per acre and that too often withers. Due to land topography, surface drainage rate is high. After
heavy rains the top soil gets washed off and the land is completely dry. The lowlying lands
belonging to villages located doyvnstream get all the water. The form of cultivation is traditional
and there is high dependency on the forest. In scarcity years, people are affected more due to lack
of agricultural wage labour options than due to crop failiutes.
There is an interesting story associated with the pathan gountia of Bartunda. The village originally
had a Gond gountia and there was a sizeable population of gonds in the village. The gountia had to
travel about 50 odd kms through deep jungles to deposit revenue with the zamindar at Padampur. A
Pathan whose name of Ghasi Khan Gointa had come to the village to trade in cloth and rice. Ghasi
Khan had horse and offered to help out toe gountia by taking toe revenue to the zamindar on his
behalf. In Padampur the pathan conspired with the zamindar’s emissaries and became the gountia
himself. Till today a litigation is going on over the ownership of more than 60 acres land in
Bartunda village among the descendants of toe Gond and toe Patoan. Most of toe gonds have left
toe village and disappeared.
On the other side of the Gandhamardans, in the area bordering Khaprakhol block of Bolangir
district, in the foothill villages, people cultivate small patches o “ short duration paddy in Summer,
irrigated by the perennial springs. In Dhaulibahal village about 20 acres’can avail of the spring
water to grow short duration (60 days) Paddy in Summer. Dhaulibahal rests close to the lower
slopes of Gandhamardan. It is a small village with total' land of about 100 acres. The land isas
rocky with thin soil cover but very fertile due to the proximity of forest. The village has a mix of
Binjhal and Kultha population. The earlier gountia was a Binjhal, the later one was a Kultha. The
old Binjhal woman added another dimension to the understanding of internal displacement of local
population. Her father -in-law was the gountia of Jagalpat village in Gaisilat block who was
dispossessed by a Brahmin family, 50 years ago. The' entire family left the village in an an
impoverished condition. They came to Dhaulibahal and worked as halia (permanent farm servant)
on the Kultha gountias land for subsistence. At the cross Mads we met two people from Amrakhol
village. One of them was a supervisor for the bamboo cutters. The natural Bamboo forest in the
Gandhamardan hills are leased to the Orient Paper mills belonging to the Birla group of companies.
Cane cutting in the hills involves a precarious climb up the dongar and coming down with a bundles
of cane as a headload. Provides wage labour for the summer and spring months for the villages
close to the hills. But as he was telling us, the groves are getting thinner and the quality of cane is
also on the decline. There are hardly any conservation measures that have been taken up. Twenty
years ago in this area. Tigers roamed and forest was close to the village.
All the way along the foothills towards the Southern edge of Gandhamardans, vast stretches of
forest has been cleared. The countryside was rugged, the and looked broken and cut with ravines,
vegetation was mostly scrub with occassional trees, even Mahul trees were rarely to be seen. The
terrain was badly deforested. Double cropping was possible only due to semiperennial springs
probably deriving out of Harishankar nalla. Some agricultural land were, highly fertile due to the
continuous wash of organic matter from remaining forest and watered by the semi perennial springs
of the hills. Most of the villages here in Khaprakhol block, were once strongholds of Kondhs who
are also the heriditary priests of the Nursimhnath and Har shankar temples on the Gandhamardans.
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33
The best lands today are under the ownership of middle and large Kultha farmers. Improved
varieties of Paddy with libral dosage of chemical fertiliser are raised twice a year. Most of the large
trees including fruit trees like Mahua etc have been felled. The Kondhs are very few in numbers. In
villages like Bhanpur, Turla and Nadupalla, the erstwhile, Binjhal estates, even the Kondhs and
Binjhals wherever they have land, have not retained traditional agricultural practises.
A few villages towards the northern and Southern edge of Gandhamardan system have enjoyed a
certain amount of immunity from drought due to the presence of the perennial streams. Most
cultivable land in these areas are today in non -tribal hands and there is a continuous process of
alienation. As the protective cover of forets near the foothills fell to the axe and the “Bauns
company” as the people call the Paper mills, cut a trail going 2000’ - 3000’ high all the way to the
top of the hills, the remaining trees are fast disappearing. With the natural Bamboo forests being
hacked rampantly and the Bauxite companies eyeing the high grade deposits on the flat topped hill,
the sensitive ecological system of the Gandhamardans are. in danger. The hill system commands the
micro climatic pattern of a largs area and determines crucial aspects of soil fertility and rainfall.
The natural resource base forms the direct livelihood source of a large number of local population,
whose immunity to scarcity is associated with the proximity of the habitat to the Gandhamardan.
The close subsistence link has created the sense of ownership which has enabled local communities
to launch resistance against the bauxite mining companies. Destabilisation of the Gandhamardan
systems could turn vast areas into arid deserts.
4. Irrigation: Oldand neyv
Purena is a big village lying in the North western side! cf Padampur block towards, Jagdalupur
border in MP. The first reference to Purena we had from the district agricultural office at Barikel
which caters to the requirements of padampur division consisting of six agricultural blocks;
namely, Padampur, Paikmal, Bijeypur, Gaisilat, Jharbandh and Sohella. All these blocks are under
similar agro climatic zone and cultivation is primarily rainfed. Purena village has the reputation of
housing some progressive farmers (we were told) who were adopting modem methods of
agriculture and were also showing keen interest to try out new varieties of croptypes and seeds and
also a variety of irrigation methods.
i
According to the 1981 census, Purena had the largest acreage cf irrigated land in Padampur block.
It had low forest cover. Total area of Purena was given ds 651.14 ha. Area irrigated by source was
222.17.ha and unirrigated land was 376.76 ha. Area unddr foretf was 1.22 ha.
Purena seemed to be an old’ village, could be more than two hundred years old. The village
community consists of 50% people of the Teli commuriity and 50% Saonra tribal people. Land
distribution is highly skewed infavour of the Teli community. There are ten big farmers in the
village with individual landholdings of Over 50 acres each, and all belong to the Teli community.
THe Saonras have marginal holdings or are landless. Hie original inhabitants or settlers who were
responsible for clearing the forest and settling the 'village1 were almost certainly Sawras or Binjhals
as is the case in almost all villages in this area which was a portion of the erstwhile'Binjhal
zamindari of Borasambar. The Telis Came later. Infact there is dispute even today on the identity of
the original gountia or headman of the village. The gountiaship of the village had changed hands
thrice. The original gountia was a Saonra, later ones arb Telis. It seems that the gountiaship had
probably changed during the British reign when many tribal heads of villages lost headmanship due
to the inability to folfill the revenue demands of the date. Once a gountia became a defaulter,
anybodyelse could takeover that post by paying the dues to the state. Between the 1850 to 1900
many villages went to nontribal gountias in this manner. The non tribal comunities not only
supplied the gountias but also went on to form the more prosperous category of raiyats in times to
come. That such a phenomena had occured is very apparent from the present situation in Purena.
34
The Teli and tlie Sabar reside in two distinct paras in the village. The former looking bigger and
prosperous houses the landed Telis, the latter belongs to the landless and impecunious Saonras.
There are three old Muras in the village. These probably served tlie purpose of protective irrigation
during kharif season and could probably support rabi and summer crops in the command area. All
three were private to begin with. During one of the settlements probably just before independence
tlie ownership was transferred to government khata. The present descendant of tlie last gountia is
presently engaged in a legal wrangle with the government as to the ownership over one of the
muras. One of the muras known by the name of “Kurmi Mura” seems to be under the best
condition as far as maintenance is concerned. It’s ownership has been with the panchayat and
repair, maintenance works take place occassionaly. Water from the minor irrigation project at
Sanplahar has been diverted to it enhancing it’s capacity for irrigation. Using the water from this
tank a number of big farmers are able to raise summer paddy in a small area of land. Second mura
called the “Teli mura” is the disputed one is largest covering 27.46 acres of land. The utilisation of
water in irrigation is negligible. Ths land in the comatid area doest not seem to be c losely
cultivated. During ‘96-97 agricultural season, when rains failed there was a big dispute when the
gountias family cut the embankment to save the crop. The present battle people said was more for
the land than for the water utility of the Mura. Once the ownership issue is settled they would
probably want to convert it into agricultural land. Earlier they said. Sugarcane was cultivated
extensively on the command area of the tank. The third: mura which is known by the name of
“mahajan ghar mura” is indistinguishable in appearance from the nearby land. It once covered an
area of 16 acres, 'fhough the outline can be made out asjthe embankment still stands overgrown
with trees the storage space or what would have been the Submerged area is totally silted over ;md
has come at level with the neighbouring land. Only the slightly saucer like depression of the land
and the profusion of water weeds mark the area as having been a water reservoir once. This mura is
still under private ownership. The owning family seemed qiiite keen that the state take over the Link
and effect some improvement in it. The land in the command area belongs mostly to this family of
telis known as the mahajan ghar. Besides the tanks, some big farmers are also using deep bore
wells for irrigation. This is fairly new option , not more tlian two years old and not very successful
at places. Especially because the groundwater behaves quite erratically within short distances in
this area and One encounters sheet rock after 25-3’0’.
Paddy is the principal kharif crop. After talking to the VAW and some other farmers in the village
it was apparent that very little of indigenous paddy is cultivated in this village. The 60021 vanety
which yields 60 bags per acre under farm conditions yielded 34 bags in one of the farmers land in
this village. The land looked closely cultivated. Very little tree cover in the village. Mahua and
other trees non existent on raiyati land. Practically no forest. All the dryland agriculture has been
discontinued, no one Cultivates coarse grains like Kodd, Gurji, Mandia etc in the village.
Dineshwar Sahu is one of the progressive farmers. He has large land holding. One set of holdings
inthe command area of the “Kurmi mura” utilising water kharif paddy. The other set of land with
barbed wire around them and a big iron gate, watered by deep bore well. He was cultivating
groundnuts and mung as summer crops. He also raises seeds for the district agricultural dept. He is
one of the most prosperous farmers in the village. On enquiring about the present landed property
of tlie original Saonra gountia of be village, they said, that the direct descendant works as a
watchman in Dineshwar Sahu’s farm.
Kadalimunda: Kadalimunda was a small village with a lirge Saonra population. According to the
circle VAW almost all the land in the village was getting irrigated from the Minor irrigation Project
at Saanplahar. However this was not the case: The gountia was a Bhoidar. The ex- mantri of the
Borasambar zamindari, was given some land and settled in this village. Even today his family has
the maximum land in the village The water from the Sanblahar irrigation project has been diverted
I
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35
to a mura belonging to the Bhoidar. Hie land in it’s command area also belongs to the same family.
Of the total land getting irrigation benefits, 50% land belongs to the Bhoidar’s family and the rest
belongs to the others in the community. Even so total irrigaticn is no where close to the VAW’s
figures. According to him the entire village land was irrigated by the Sanplahar project water. The
village has very low tree cover. The village is more than 100 years old. Primary crop is Paddy. All
government improved varieties , very little of hardy localvariet’es of crops even among the tribals.
No coarse grain cultivation what so ever. Groundnut is cullivated in a big way. In the MIP
command area a few acres of short duration Paddy (Lalat mostly), groundnuts and Sunflowers.
Whereas the large farmers in neighbouring Purena has given up on Sunflowers due to inadequate
marketing facilities, the small and marginal farmers in Kadalimunda continue to cultivate , without
benefitting much from it. So much so last year they had to consume all the harvest themselves as
there are no processing facilities nearby and no market for the un processed Sunflower seeds. The
introduction at high subsidy has been a part of the govemmenmt schemes. Gountia’s family hold
more than 60 acres of land. About 200 acres belonging to him has been distributed to the landless
in the village under the ceiling act. Village had low tree cover even 50 years ago. Mahul and other
forest produce collection was not a subsidiary occupation here. We had a most interesting
encounter with an old man, belongs to the Kultha caste and used to be an Amin in the Barpalli area
and earlier in ex- Sonepur state. He came to settle in this village 12 years ago and had bought up
land in the MIP command area from a Saonra.
The MIP structure at Sanplahar village has a submergence area of 40 acres. In the command area
could be seen beds of germinating Paddy, brilliant green in the diminishing light before sunset. The
land however was clearly uneven, rocky, haphazard tree growth, open surfaces seemed espec ally
degraded where there was little soil or tree cover. The land being cultivated belonged to Loharpalli
village. Loharpalli has 75% tribal population and 25% other castes. The gountiaship had reverted
more than 100 years ago from a Binjhal, who were the Original settlers to a Kultha. Most of the
good cultivable land also changed hands from the tribals tro the non-tribals, who were numerically
fewer. Sannplahar village too had seen the replacement o^ a Binjhal gountia with a Kultha gountia.
The construction ofthe MIP had led to the submergencfe of agricultural land of Sanplahar and
Loharpalli villages. Sanplahar had lost more land, good bahal land they said. While people in
Loharpalli are getting some benefit from the MIP, in terms of irrigation, Sanplahar gets no benefit
from the project. Though cash compensation has been Apparently given there is a great deal of
discontent in Sanplahar regarding tliC project.
As far as the drought was concerned the perception of people vary. The big farmers did not seem to
have felt the pinch till about 1965. This is almost unanimously declared by the big farmers one met
all over the districts. The most commonly stated reasons were erratic rainfall and lack of stable and
systematic irrigation facilities. The second in line reasons were degradation of land due to extensive
clearing of forests.
Instances of land alienation in the command areas of Minor Irrigation Projects are commonly
encountered. The Upper Sukhtel MIP on Sukhtel river, in Mohurundi village of Khaprakhol
block, irrigates almost 50% cultivable land in Kapsipalli village. Total agricultural land in the
village was a little more than 500 acres. About ten to fifteen years ago, a group of Kulthas had
started buying up land in the village from the Binjhal and gond inhabitants. Today 100 acres of
land, irrigated by the MIP water and growing a double !crop of paddy belongs to one of them,
Sudershan Pradhan. The gountia of tie village who was a feinjhal, is among the landless.
i
i
Jaipur Village is located in one of the most picturesque!parts of Padampur block. Close to the
gandhamardans, the land of the village is like a valley draiiled by the perennial strams from the hills
and fringed by dense forest all around on the uplands. THe majority of the population in the village
are Binjhals. The Teli gountia who replaced the original Binjhal gountia, drove away all the
I
36
binjhals from the village mainland and asked them to cultivate the foothills after clearing the
forests. All the land near the village as the gountia’s till recently. About 5 years ago minor irrgation
department started the preliminary v/orks to bund one of the hill streams for irrigation purposes.
Three years ago twenty Agharia families from MP came into the village and bought up land from
the gountia in the command area of the MIP. In addition to them, Kultha familes from the nearby
Dhaulibahal villages have also bought land in the command area.THe Binjhals still travel more
than 10 km to reach their marginal holdings on the foothills of the Gandhamardan.
5. Water disputes and reassertion of community rights.
Khuripani is a small village in the Patnagarh block of Bolangir district. It is one of the border
villages with considerable tree co/er even today. The tfongars at whose foothills the village is
situated is covered with trees and constitute the reserve forest areas. Most of the agricultural land
has large, 20’ - 40’ high, Mahul trees. In the village forest and in the boundary of protected forest
there are 60’ high Mahul, Sahaj, Bija, Karla trees. The really big ones are few. Mostly 10-20 years
old. Most of the old Rengal trees are gone. Surprisingly the only Rengal trees are now found in the
village forest area outside the reserve forest line, all new growth, not more than 10 years old.
Khuripani has a Teli gountia. The community is a mix of Saora, Binjhal, Gond and Kondhs. It is a
border village near the hill forest. A high proportion; of agricultural land is of the “At” and
“Tikra” varieties, (At means upland and Tikra means a small hill). 'The at and tikra lands are
unembanked with considerable tree growth on them. Paddy is not grown on them. The bahal land
lies under the old tank in the village. Most of the bahal land is under the ownership of the Teli
gountia. When Kharif rains failed in 1996-97, Khuripani witnessed a major dispute over the usage
of the Tank water. While the gountia wanted to cut the dmbankments to save his kharif Paddy, the
rest of the community wished to retain the water for household use in Summer months. Since the
ownership of the tank has been transferred to the panchayat, the gountia approached the tahsildar
with the request to cut the tank bunds for irrigation purposes. Even after permission was granted,
the community didnot allow him to use the Water for irrigation. Considering that was the only tank
in the village, on which people were dependent on for bathing, washing clothes and drinking water
for cattle, their right over usage came first.
A similar incident happened in Jaring, reputed to be one of the foremost agricultural villages of
Bijepur block. The village has a population of over 200(1 and Over 500 acres of land. The majority
community are Kulthas and Harijans, with a few Binjhal households. While the Kulthas are all
landed, the Harijan population is completely landless. Tlie soil of Jaring is very fertile and subsoil
water is within 6-7’. Individual farmers cultivate their land using wells and diesel pumps. The
summer crops are Sugarcane., groundnuts and Mung. THe principal crop is the Kharif Paddy.
Jaring has an old reservoir built during the zamindari times. Being the “khamar” village of the
zamindar, the land in the command area of the tank was owned by the Bijepur zamindar. Just
before the abolition of estates, the zamindar sold the land to Kultha fanners. In 1996-97, kharif
season when the rains failed, the Harijan people in the village did not allow the Kultha farmers to
cut the bunds of the “mura” to irrigate the dying kharif i’addy As a result , paddy crop withered
over 60 acres of land.
I
Another form of dispute arose in Sahajpani village of padampvr block The village has a majority
of Saonra population. Almost all are small to marginal holders. Twenty years ago Agharia families
from the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh had bought up the best bahal lands in the village
underlying the old tank. In the Summer of 1998 , the Agharia wanted to cut the embankment to
water his 20 acres of Paddy crop. The Sadnras who had released fish spawn in the tank after taking
a pisciculture contract from the panchayat, did not allow them to cut the bunds, since the
fingerlinggs would escape with the water. The farmer had. to resort to the more expensive option of
using a diesel pump to irrigate his Summer Paddy.
37
This form of dispute over wateruse in scarcity years, is generally between the landed and the
landless. The proportion of landless are growing in every village and since most of them are
availing of wage labour option even outside their villages, they are no more as dependent on the
landed fanner for subsistence as before. Further with increasing cost of fann inputs and constant
danger of crop failiure in the rainfed context and the increasingly fragmented land, the landed body
no longer commands the same might as before. All these factors together have lent voice to the
landless in matters of water usage, which was hitherto a domain of the landed.
Ii
6.Across the border, in Ph'uljhar
The erstwhile Pliuljhar zamindari is a part of the Raiptir district of MP. Phuljhar was a Gond
zamindari. However te incursions of settled agriculture had been extensive in the area due to the
flatter terrain and alluvial nature ofthe soil. As a description in the 1906, settlement report goes,
“ Phuljhar an area of 787 sqmiles, it is cut offrom the district proper by a wide belt of hills. It
is indeed completely surrounded by hills, but consist chiefly of a central flat plain which has
black alluvial soil This exceptional feature has caused the land to be very fully occupied and
closely cultivated. AS the main road to Raipur passes through the estate, the trade facilities are
good and cultivation as of late years extended considerably into the hills. It s chief
disadvantages are that it loses from it’sflatness the irrigation facilities which are so fully used
in Bargarh tahsil, and that it shares the uncertain rainfall of the Raipur district... ”
On the way from Padampur to Saraipalli, the landscape kept changing. T^he terrain remained
uneven with scattered clumps of hills and outcrops, however number of trees on agricultural land
grew fewer. Also hill slopes were stark and absolutely denuded. As one crossed lakhmara the last
outpost of Padampur block, there appeared to have been some fenced attempts at regeneration of
what seemed to be remnants of scrub forest. Mahul trees also became less and less as we
approached some villages. The land was flatter, closely cultivated , with narrow field bunds. The
uplands were absolutely bare, vast expanses of rock, sand and gravel with wisps of grass and small
growths of tenacious kendu and paisa. An extremely arid looking countryside with thorn trees, date
palms, very few and vast expanses of bare higlands and distant hills. Compared with the
borasambar tract, this was ecological degradation at it’s j^eak. Tanks appeared in vilages with large
Banyan or Pipal trees on the bunds. No sign of utilization for a summer crop. Not even vegetable
patches were visible. The ground water table was low' solid rock underneath. Wells were not
feasible they said as there was no ground water even at 250 ft. Lowlands are intensively cultivated,
high lands are degraded, barren. Soil erosion rate must be! very high. Villages looked bigger, houses
cemented with TV antennae and two wheelers in profusions. Use of stone in construction of houses
boundaris and threshing grounds and straw thatching yfards. Mechanical process of winnowing,
numerous tractors. The practise of making “pura” , (baskets made out of twisted Paddy straw in
which harvested paddy is generally stored in the more traditional villages in West Orissa) seemed
largely absent. Paddy was stocked in sacks and gunny bags. Signboards of schools, panchayat
buildings, govmt. Works and political slogans all in Hindi. People are by and large bilingual.
Large Kultha settlement in the border villages. They haVe held large villages as gountias. There is
also a sizeable population of gond, Binjhal and Saoras. Largely in the category of agricultural wage
labourers. Process of marginalization has reached ft’s culmination. There were very few
independent adivasi cultivators in this region. In Pondrapada for instance there is a distinct
cultivators pada and a wage labourers pada. The latter residents are adivasis.
Pondrapada was a Kultha village. Land was apparently vbry fertile here. RAinfall was good, due to
<
38
the proximity of Shisupal range of hills. Ramfall has decreased m the last 50 years the
Here
also they said the pinch of scarcity was felt after 1965 by big fanners. Their maner of estimating
decrease in rainfall was thru this statement. The land on which their fathers grew Bhulu and Sapn
(long duration paddy-160 days), can now support only, IR-36 (120 days). Clearly the wa er
retention capacity of the soil is decreasing as well as the absolute rainfall. The v l age
network of three large tanks apparently sufficient to provide protective irrigation facilmes for the
primary kharif crop of paddy. The tanks apparently are as old as the settlement itself. The area is
single cropped. Crop diversity seemed much lesser than die neighbouring Sorasambar tract Ab
80% population in the village live outside and hold some form of job or the other The major
cultivating families have a supplementary income other than agriculture. They mvest substantia ly
in land and sell most of their produce. There are stones abort the Gond insurrections agau st
Kurmis in the area. There are tanks in tire areas were soiled weapons were cleaned after a battle,
Gonds till today donot use the water from such tanks.
AnnexI
References
1. F.C ; Bihar and Orissa
Gazetteer, Sambalpur. 1932.
District
2. LEB.
Cobden
Ramsay;
Bengal
Gazetteer. Feudatory States of Orissa. 1910.
3. The
General
Review
of
the
Administration of Central Provinces, fdr the
Calendar Year, 1899.
4. Womack. A, Report of the Administration
of Feudatory States of the Central Provinces
for the year 1900.
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Feudatory Stats of Central Provinces for the
Year 1904.
6. Ramdhyani. Report on the Land Tenure
and Revenue Systems of the Orissa and
Chattisgarh States. Vol I, II, III.
7. Das, Final Report of the Land Revenue
Settlement in Kalahandi District, Ex-StateKlialsa Areas, 1946^-56.
8. Final Report on the Land Revenue
Settlement of the Patna State, 1937.
9. Final Report on the Survey and
Settlement of the Kashipur, Karlapat,
Mahulpatna & Madanpur Rampur, ExZamindaris in the district of Kalahandi,
1963.
10. O’Malley.
LSS;
Bengal
Gazetteer, Sambalpur, 1909. *
District
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Settlement of Sambalpur district, 1906.
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Valley Projects. A case Study of Hirakud,
Ukai and 1GNP, EPW, Feb 1998
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TK,
Monsoon
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and
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A
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I
19. 'Report of the Visit of the Official Team
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21. Orissa District Gazetteer, Sambalpur.
1971
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24. District Statistical Handbook. Bargarh,
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28. District Statistical Handbook, Kalahandi,
1989-90
29. Report on the Development of Drought
Prohe Areas. National Committee on
Development of backward Areas. 1988.
30. Document of the World Bank, Orissa,
Water Resources Consolidation Project, Nov
20,11995.
31. Thakkar H, Parikh A and Singh,
Community,
Community
Based
Organisation, Oxfam and Drought Mitigation
in West Orissa, 1998 (Draft Report)
32 Nayar.Janaki, Many Faces of Drought,
EPW, May 3rd, 1986.
33. GO, Fighting Drought, EPW,May 3rd,
1986
34. Ilaiah.K, Andhra PradeslrDrought Wosening Situation, EPW. 24th May, 1986
35. Shiva.V & Bandopadhayay.J, Diought,
Development and Desertification, EPW,
AugI6th, 1986
36. Nadkami.M.V, Backward Crops inIndian
Agriculture. Economy of Coarse Cereal and
Pulses, EPW, Sept 20th, 1986.
37. IC, Maharashtra, The Silent Drought,
EPW, 10th Jan, 1985.
38. Mathur.K, Jayal.G.N, Drought, Policy,
and Politics. The Need for a Longterm
perspective. Sage Publication.
39. Dreze.J, Sen.Amartya, and AtharHussain
(ed). The Political economy Of Hunger.
SelectedEssays, WiderStudies in
DevelopmentEconomics.
I
■^1
Annex II
Area & Population
of
Area in sq km No.
villages
1208
5831.6
Bargarh
1792
6551.5
Bolangir
659
8197.4
Kalahandi
2205
3407,5
Nuapada
51057
156000
Orissa
Table i)
District
No. of
towns
3 ____
4 ____
3____
2____
123
Population
in c000 no.
1207
1231
1131
469
31660000
source : 1991 census
% age of % age of ST
SC
19.56
18.44 _
22.06
15.39
35.95
13.09
28,88
17.01
22.21
16.20
ref: 21
Table ii) Landuse pattern
Total area under Area under reserve forests Total cropped area in ‘00 ha
District
under operational holdings
______ in sq km_ ____________
forest in sq km
574,45 (10%) '_ 2972___________________
1859.42 (32%)
Bargarh
_____________ _
1080.83 (16%) j_______ 2972
1647.49 (25%)
Bolangir
3150
_______________
___
1449.03(18%) i
3851.12 (47%)
Kalahandi
1321
_______ ______
1121.69 (33%)
Nuapada
52958
26351
55223
Orissa
ref: 21
Table iii) Landholding Pattern
no. in ‘00
1996
area in ‘00 ha_____ __
%of
Large
Margina % of Small %of Semi i % of Medi % of
District
land
<10
land
u
mediu: land
land
1-2
total
1
ha
4-10
2-4
ha
holdings land
ha
ha
%
of
%
of
total
total___
8.2
1
26,2
8.6
20.3 | 29.7
28___ 22,4
13.3
42_____
Bargarh
8,6
1
27.0
8.4
20___l 29,8
26___ 20.7
45_____ 13.7
Bolangir
10.75
L4
30
10
23.6 I 30.4
18.8
28.2
9.9
Kalahandi 35.7
ref: 21,25,26,23.
I
. In Bargarh district, Area under 1,15800 , small aijd marginal holdings (>l-2ha) 106400 ha
whereas 16,100 medium and k rge holdings ( 4-10 ha and above) cover an area of 102400 ha.
48% marginal farmer household. 7% are middle to lai^ge farmelrs. 31% of total households are
landless in Bargarh district. 32804 holding are held by ST households; 71% of total ST holdings
are in the Small to marginal category. 30% of the total ST household are landless.
• In Bolangir district, 124300, small and Marginal holdings cover an area of 102600 ha whereas
16,600 medium to large holdings cover an area of 105900 ha.
246200. 50% marginal farmer household. 7% middle to large farmers. 37% landless households.
26% of ST hh are landless. 68% of total ST holdings are in small. Marginal category
. In Kalahandi district , 159200, small and Marginal holdings cover an area of 144700 ha
whereas 25600 medium to large holdings cover an area of 163100 ha. 49.7 % marginal. 8% large
farmers. 35% landless households. Between 1980 to 1986, number of marginal holdings increased
by 26% The area under them increased only by 19%. During the same period, the numbei of
medium to large holdings increased by 9% and the area coverd by them also increased by 9%. By
1986, there were 180,000 ha under holdings over 4-1C acres and above, while only 43700 acres
under marginal holdings.
Table iva) Cropping Pattern 1996
Area in ha
Ragi
Maize
Area under
District
Rice_______
0.01
247440(86%)
Bargarh
’
1:92
0.69
214390
Bolangir
(72%)
2.29
218.84 (70%) 2.36
Kalahandi
1.30 I
98.96 (68%) 0.55
Nuapada
ref: 21
Table ivb) Cropping Pattern 1966-76
Area in acres
Coarse grains/other cereals
Area
District
under
Sambalpur
Bolangir
Kalahandi
Rice
Maize
Ragi
1299598
(67%)
702000
(63%)
641706
(46%)
2003
2065
6964
1118
7
6575
3
35367
30.05 (9%)
77.92 (26%)
Net
Area
sown in ha.
289308
296830
85.28 (27%)
39.93 (27%)
313980
146070
Pulses
Pulses
Total
Cropped
area
Kudo/guiji/jhar
i____
24942
Others
7753
77876.6
19360X)0
94582
5405
187497
1107543
140335
21451
223870
1373320
ref:22
• During 1966-76, the area under coarse grains was about 10% of total cropped area in Bolangir
Lid Kal'ahandfand about 1% in Undivided Sambalpur. By 1996, the area under coarse grams
declined from less than 2%. During the sme period total area under rice and Pulses have gone up.
Table v) Sourcewise Irrigated area in 1996
Minor (flow) IP
Minor (Lift) IP
area in ha
Total
Total
Kharif Rabi
Bargarh
Minor & Medium
IP____
Rabi
Kharif
57000
92000
Bolangir
Kalahandi
6000
32000
1000
2000
13000
20000
3000
5000
5000
9000
3000
5000
11600
0____
24000
61000
Nuapada
9000
1014000
2000 _
5000
2000
4000
2000
18000
302000
181000
District/
State
Orissa
458000
Kharif
16000
Rabi
3000
Kharif
8000
Rabi
5000
66000
416000
6500
0__
7000
1200
0__
6000
ref: 21
12.5% of total Cropped area in undivided Bolangir distr ct is irrigated in kharif
11.2% of total Cropped area in undivided Kalahandi disrict is irrigated in kharif.
18% of total Cropped area in undivided Sambalpur district is irrigated in kharif.
figures do not reveal internal variation, in undivided Sambalpur district, Bargarft area had
more than 40% irrigation from the Hirakud canal systems, so was the case of Sonepur l
Bolangir district.
— ——
*
i
i
-
X
e
Table va) Irrigated Areas in 1965-66 in undivided Bolangir district
From MIP in acres
From Hirakud
system .______
113849
From wells and tanks
canal
District
53799
815
11393
Bolangir
ref: 24
Figures are for undivided Bolangir district comprising of the present Bolangir and Sonepur
districts. In 1937, 131744 acres of land were irrigated by tanks in Bolangir District.
Table vb) Irrigated Areas in 1962 in undivided Sambalpur district
Other
Wells
Tanks
Private
Govmt. Canals in acres
District
sources
canals
138 8 '
10668
148097
113849
351329
Sambalpur
ref: 22
In 1922, 2,21,347 acres were being irrigated by tanks in undivideed Sambalpur district. Tins had
come down to 1,48,097 acres by 1962.
Table vi) Agricultural Production (foodcrops)
1996
Pulses
Rice
District
12.81
585,11
Bargarh
29.04
263.91
Bolangir
35,76
241.71
Kalahandi
16,33
91,97
Nuapada
408.64
6616.89
Orissa
in *000 MT
Oil seeds
Other Cereals/coarse grains
10,87
585.68______________
266.43 _____________
247.16______________
95.89_______________
6791.78
_____
5.02
0,77
3.09
272.90
ref: 21
Table vii) Agricultural Productivity (Rice)
1996
Winter Ride
Autumn Rice
District
19.04
1
11.33
Bargarh
14.74
8.30
Bolangir
13.10
7.51_______
Kalahandi
10.92
6.54
Nuapada
15.48
9.00
Orissa
ref: 21
Table viia) Consumption of Chemical Fertiliser
of Total irrigated area in ha.
Total
Quantity
Consumption in MT
District
Kharif
in Qtls/ha
Summer Rice
26.42
13.40
13.46
11.47
21.09
Rabi
65000
7000
12000
6000
705000
116000 j
27306
Bargarh
24000
|
4342
Bolangir
61000
6117
Kalahandi
18000
1396
Nuapada
1732000
220,000
Orissa
ref: 21
Table'viib) Consumption of Chemical fertilisers in tlie urjdivided districts in 1963-64
Year
‘61-62
District
Sambalpur
i
‘62-63
3508
‘63-64
5713
‘64-65
8716
____
‘65-66
12616
‘66-67
10751
467-68
21602
‘68-69
36930
HA
Bolangir
Kalahandi
ref: 22,23,24
193
274-75
29.5
248
‘75-76
39.5
607
‘77-78
41.7
Table viii) Average Annual Rainfall
Rainfall in mm
District
Bargarh
Bolangir
Kalahandi
Nuapada
1527
1443
1378
1378
Table x) Socio-economic profile of Bargarh district/ comparative analysis between canal irrigated
and rainfed blocks of Bargarh district.
Block
Area in
sq km
182.26
%
of
ST
_27
Net
Propo Forest
Area in Area
rtion
Sown in
ha.
of
cultiva Excludi ha.
tor vs ng R.F
P.F
agricu
Rural
worke
r
11256
644
1.5
Amtabho
na___________ ■____ ;
__
Attabira 404.96|21
0.7
I 4971
355.
369,37 iiM 1.16
Bargarh
370
Barpalli
266.18"
13
_
1.47
z.
5164
1 92355.55 23
3-z^.^^
Bhatli
Bheden
| 362^75 133 | 1.01
935
Total
Bijepur
Gaisilat
Jharband
h______
Paikmal
Padamp u
£______
Sohela
Total
Yieldrat
e
of
Paddy in
Qtl/ha
[
^21
Total
irrigated
land from
all sources
kharif in
ha.
Consu
mption
of
chemic
al
fertilise
r
in
Tonnes
Average
Annual
Rainfall in
mm
4255
534
1447
5240
4062
2404
1957
3167
2894
775
469
632
1559
1494
“1484
1479
1941.7
323,94
354.93
422.97
16
13
19
30
1.29
1.8 1.98
2.09
12439
860
4165
3905
24499
3(0.32
"
16563
21713
18455
4394
18343
3516
21.58'
21539
25642~ 3|5.69.
26343
93,631
121,531 33.56
5563
31.41
22784
4232
14.91
23588
4335
23.62
21791
564.64
488.04
37
24
2.19
1.52
4638
1916
31956
32686
21.21
14.04
10788
6138
1619
953
1447
827
515.11
2669.6
3
_T89
19
23.6 <.1.91
6
2188
t17672
34972
167,777
26.70
20.3!
6447
37,503
1000
908
1140
23038
752
2097
894
1368
ref: 25
1. % of irrigated area against total geographical area : 22%
2. % of Irrigated area against net area sown is 45%. The proportion is as high as 77% in the blocks
irrigated by Hirakud canal Systems (grey shaded ones). And only 22% in the rainfed blocks.
3. The proportion of cultivators to agricultural wage workers rise in the unirrigated blocks where
A
i
there is an average of 2 cultivators for one wage worker, the average reduces to one cultivator for
one wage worker in the irrigated blocks.
|
4. The yield rate of Paddy is a high average of 33 Quintals in the canal irrigated blocks compared
to an average of 20 Quintals per ha in the unirrigated blocks. In places like Gaisilat and Padampur,
the yield is as low as 14 Quintals per ha.
5. Consumption of chemical fertilisers show a steady increase with increase in Irrigation.
J
i
i
Table xi) Socio-economic profile of Bolangir district.
Block
12.29
22.73
21.59
29.38
1.66
1.14
1.42
2.12
1688
9789
13193
1881
16259
16229
15043
12536
319.22 18,56
340.69 ~ 6.62
498.17 ~ 35.65
448.34 ’ 36.86
1.33
2.01
1.51
1.67
3131
478
4589
3678
13807
19132
29983
21493
18.53
19.75
17.62
15.25
3306
3614
5264
3188
359
438
276
326
1267
1725
1177
724
59133 | 32.44
318.03 17.66
1.28
1.84
13544
545
26000
21427’
1754
14.60
5162
3338
330
332
1014
1143
1.79
1.99
1.70
1.79
1796
5944
1748
3932
26510
20087
22.40
14.64
19.85
13.58
1884
1175
3124
860.
54464
284
300
288
284
1220
1234 "
1419
1113.9
%
ST
295.96
388,16
Bolangir
432.01
Deogan
Tentulikhun 204.83
Agalpur
ti_________
Loisinga
Puintala
Belpara
Khaprakho
J______
Patnagarh
Bongomun
da_______
Muribahal
Saintala
Titlagarh
Tureikela
Total
Rainfa
11
in mm
Consu
Yieldrate Total
of Paddy irrigate mption
in Qtl/ha d land of
chemic
from
al
all
sources fertilis
er in
kharif
Tonnes
in ha.
453
13907
27,95
431
4312
17,33
358
3087
21.99
360
2243
18.64
Area in
sq km
of Proportio
n
of
cukivato
r
vs
agricultu
ral
worker
398.75 26.78
459.99 21.13
355.23 21.42
337.36 | 36.8 f
Net Area
Forest
Area in Sown in
ha.
ha.
Excludin
g R.F &
P.F
I
22fe61
16?01
1460
1757
1392
1456
ref: 26
: 8.3%
1. %age of irrigated area from all sources against total geographical area Kharif season. Agalpur is
TheXverage Ts 47% (the highest) in Agalpur block from all sources in
the only block whichn can
can avail
avail ut
of inianuu
Hirakud canal water.
-- ------ . r .. • .
2. The chronic droui
■ also higher (more than 30%) than other blocks
Yield rate of Paddy is as low as 15 Quintals per hectare.
Table xii) Socio-economic profile of Nuapada district
Nfet Area
Area in % of Proportio ”Forest
Block
Sown in
in
Area
n
of
ST
sq km
ha.
cultivato ha.
r
vs Excludin
agricultu g R.F &
P.F
ral
worker
Nuapada
Komna
Khariar
Sinapalli
Boden
ref: 2 7
746.06
651.77
308.87
416.46
338.48
i
39.93
45.33
28.77"
30.72
41.77
1.66
2,28
1.41
1.57
2.79
14454
12805
527
4743
7724
3?369
2^197
10502
25178
17131
Yieldrate Total
of Paddy irrigate
in Qtl/lia d land
from
all
sources
kharif
in ha.
5525
14.93
11297
12.22
5135
12.31
536
17.13
221
13.18
Consu
mption
of
chemic
al
fertil s
er in
Tonnes
385
422
254
226
186
Total
Rainfa
11.
in mm
890.7
1144
845
747 ' 7
1127
>
%age of irrigated area from all sources against total geographical area 6.6%
The coverage is 17% in Knmna block The completion of the Upper Jonk project would bring
another 8000 ha under irrigation in Nuapada. The yield rate of Paddy is very low all over the
district.
♦
Reaping Scarcity : The Process of Drought and Marginalisation in Western Orissa.
Box Items
Box I . Along with the introduction__________________________________________________
19% ofthe Total area ofthe country is in Drought prone areas. 12% ofthe total population live in drought prone areas.
Rajasthan : 56% ofthe total area and 33% ofthe population.
AP: 30% of the area and 22% ofthe Population
Gujarat: 29% ofthe area and 18% ofthe Popuation
Karnataka : 25% ofthe area and 22% ofthe Population, (source :29)
A Block is defined as a Drought affected if the pattern or quantum of rainfall during the main crop season oi the area, makes the traditional
cultivation ofthe main crop of the area hazardous in three years or more out of every ten years. (Re : Report of the National Committee on
the Development of Backward areas). (source:29)
Drought Prone .Areas are classified into four categories.
Arid ; Districts with annual rain upto 375 MM
Semi Arid : Rainfall, 375-750 MM
Sub-Humid : 750 - 1122 MM
Humid : Above 1125 MM (source:29)
The Indian Meterological Departnxait defines Drouet as a situation in a meterological sub division in a year when annual rainfall is less
than 75% of the normal. When deficiency' is above 50% of the normal, severe <drought declared. Definition does not take into account the
critical factor of rainfall distribution across the crop growing season. (29)
The 1987 drought was over 267 districts ofthe country' and affected more than 166 m people. (source:38)
The Telengana and Rayalseema regions of AP suffer from periodic drought. Rayaiseeuw is a completely dry -:rca and was declared drought
affected in the years 1958-62, 1965-70, 1975-77, 1979-85. Between 1900 and 1959, the Ananthapm dxstricl.was.declared drought
affected 11 times. The quantum of annual rainfal has been steadily declining. In one single decade, (1972-32), 1032 sq km of forest land
was denuded in the state. Out ofthe remaining 63971 sqkm, 30% are scrub forest and secondary growth, (source: 34)
In areas like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka, rainfall is so deviant that a drought situation can be shown in any district in any year.
(source:35)
All ilic 11 talukas in Kolar district in Karnataka, was severely affected by drought in 1986-87. (source: 32)
In 1986-87, 60% of the 300 talukas in Maharashtra , comprising nearly 17000 villages were experiencing scarcities. 19.4 million people
and 8.1 million heads of cattle were affected by it. (source: 33)
Box II
Periodicity of Drought in different Meterological Sub divisions
sourc 2: 29)
Meterological
Sub Division
Assam
Recurrence
of
Period of Highly
deficient rainfall
Very Rare. Once ui
15 years.
West Bengal, MP. Once in 5 years
Coastal AP. Kerala,
Bihar. Orissa______
South
Interior Once in. 4 years
Karnataka
Eastern
UP.
Vidarbha. Gujarat.
Eastern Rajasthan.
Western UP, TN,
Kashmir.
Rayalseema,
Once in 3 years
1
-J
I
Telengana.
Western Rajasthan
Once in 2.5 ye< rs
Box III____________________________ _ _____________________ _____________________
Iron Ore Mining in the Western Ghats Wat ershed of Tungabhadra creating Drought by reducing base flows and
increasing silt load of rivers, (source 14)
Flood prone area in India has tripled from 20 mha in 1971 to 60 mha in 1986, inspite of continuous droughts
in the same period, (source 14)
A 1982 report of the Central Groundwater Board marked the districts of Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Nasik, Sangli,
Sholapur in Maharashtra and Chittoor anc Cuddapah in AP, as, negative balance districts. (14)
Areas under diyland agriculture account for 70% of land under cultvation and only 43% of the value added in
the agricultural sector, (source: 38)
*
The advantage of coarse grain is that, critical Unfits of failiure of rainfall below which they cause serious crop
failiure are lower for coarse cereals than for rainf^d rice. Thus where “superior* cereals would not grow atall or
give uneconomic yields, coarse grains do well. Total area under coarse grain was 44.4 mha in 1960-61,
declined to 39.2 mha in 1984-85. Relative to total! food grains it contributed, 31% in 1950-51 and 21%-in 198485. Among coarse grains the proportion of small millets declined from 27% to 9%. (36)
In Dharwar district of Karnataka, HYV Jowar hasj replaced traditional Jowar varieties. In 1965-66, area under
traditional Jowar was 839.12 acres, 1975-76 it wjas 4 acres. Area under HYV Jowar was 99 acres in 1970-71
and 835 acres in 1980-81. HYV Jowar does not allow mixed cropping, is more prone to drought. Fodder
production is reduced. 1986-87 drought resulted in fodder crisis in Dharwar. (source: 14)
Water Requirement of Irrigated Crops(source: 14)
Crop
Water in MM
Rice
950
Ragi
250
Jowar
250
Sugarcane
1250
Wheat
400
Maize
200
In the state of Karnataka area under Sugarcane, Cotton, Coconut and Sunflower has shown steady increase
while area under foodgrains have stagnated during the same period.(source: 32)
In Maharashtra, canal water is preferentially diverted towards Sugarcane fields at the cost of subsistence,
staple food crop even in critical drought years, (source: 33)
Box IV________________________ J____________________________________
Food Production gains after independence have resulted in reduced imports and accumulation of large stocky
leaving net availability, stagnant. (J.Dreze, Famine Prevention in India)
Growth of food and agriculture since independence has been uneven across different parts of India. Irrigated
areas using Green Revolution package exhibited growth in yields and outputs, large unirrigated areas faced
stagnation. Rural incomes and employment in unirrigated areas covering 2/3rd of the total cropped area have
not risen. Huge ecological degradation have caused droughts and crop failiures frequently. pglOl
India has had to cope with the threat of major disasters on three occassions since 1947: in 1966-67, 1972-73,
1979-80. The first of these crises occured in the wake cf countrywide crop failiures for two consecutive years.
In both 1965-66 and 1966-67, all India level of food production was nearly 20% below the average for the
previous five years. In terms of magnitude and geographic spread, a disaster of this magnitude had no|
occurred since the 1899-1900 famine. In Bihar foodgrain production in 1966-67 was 54% of the national
avrage, 1961-65 levels. Officially no starvation deaths occurred...There were non official allegation of starvation
deaths
every possible kind of damage occurred to an alarming degree : hunger, severe nutritional
deterioration, massive loss of livestock, depiction of assets, and possibly substantial excess mortality, pg 101102
In 1972-73 severe drought hit large parts of the country’. Worst affected state was Maharashtra, which
suffered exceptional calamity of three successive drought years from 1970-71 to 1972-73....At the peak of
distress nearly 5 million attended the relief works in Maharashtra.pg 102.
The drought of 1979-80 was short lived, but it’s intensity and geographical coverage were exceptional,
compared with the previous four years foodgrain output fell by 30% in northern India as a whole, and by much
more in individual states. Pg 102-103____________________ __ ________________________________________
source : J.Dreze. Famine Prevention in India.
' JagatsinRhpui' Update 1-31st August-SODO}
1 of 1
Subject; [Fwd: Jagatsinghpur Update l-31st August_2000]
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 15:38:24 +0530
From: coblr <coblr@actionaidindia.org>
To: sochara@vsnl.com
Attention Dr Thelma Narayan,
I hope this is what you wanted.
Regards f
Sunita
Subject: Jagatsinghpur Update l-31st August_2000
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 01.07:361ST
From: "maietry patnaik" <munmunip@hotmail.com>
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Dear All,
Greetings from AAI , Jagatsinghpur .
•4
Please find herewith the attach file contains the "Jagatsinghpur Update
l-31st August_2000”.
Djith Regards
l
SubrcM^ Kujnar Nayak
AAI, Jagatsinghpur.
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li DISASTER
A RAVAGED REGION
After the killer cyclone, disease and famine stalk coastal Orissa.
drinking water by boats. “We lower our
boats east of Ersama and through a creek,
in Orissa
deliver relief materials,” Brigadier R.S.
Rawat, who is in charge of relief opera
tions by the Army, said. An Army team
OASTAL Orissa remained grim two
of 5,000 men planned to clear another
V>weeks after the October 29 cyclonic
road to Ersama via a bridge 5 km away.
storm had devastated vast areas of it. The
Approaches
to the bridge from both
z
v
Vpp
—
death roll mounted by the day as several
affected areas, which had been rendered
sides> are blocked. We are clearing them,”
Rawat said,
inaccessible,t were accessed. The official
The Army also planned to open a 30of
November
15
stood
at
9,524,
toll as c_ . .
bed hospital in Ersama. Three Army hos
the district-wise 1break-up being:
pitals were functioning at Balikuda, Tirtol
Jagatsinghpur 8,119; Puri 287; Cuttack
A
LTHOUGH
the
water
level
had
and
Kendrapara. Two more were to be
392; Kendrapara 242; Nayagarh 3;
Khurda 84; Bhadrak 92; Keonjhar 27; IX receded in most areas, several villages opened in Mahakalpara and Ersama. A
Dhenkanal 50; Jajpur 158; Balasore 48; in the Ersama block ofJagatsinghpur dis- team ofArmy doctors and volunteers from
and Mayurbhanj7. Unofficialestimates trict, such as Padmapur, Bhitarandhari,
Pune, stationed at Balikuda, visited
put the toll above50,000.
Dhinkia, Noagaon, Bagadia, Balitutha, Ersama to treat patients. The Army cleared
According toofficial estimates,1.26 Gandikipur and Kunjakothi - were still
a stretch of 1,712 km of road, subsidiary
crore people in 12-districts have been inundated. Stagnant water and rotting roads and railway tracks; evacuated 24,201
affected. As many as 12.48 lakh houses bodies and carcasses posed a major threat people; treated 16,319 patients; and dishave been damaged, and 15.7 lakh to the survivors. Relief materials were air- tributed 5,922 packets of food and 60,600
in these areas. Unofficial reports kilolitres of water. With the job of prohectares of paddy crop and 32,956 dropped
.
...
„
,
it
-i•
i!■ r
... u. _ a:_e____ _
stated
that
37 villages in Ersama had been viding immediate reliefover, the Air Force
hectares of other crops destroyed.
Moreover, most of the paddy fields have washed away by tidalI waves. Bijay Nayak, operated two aircraft to drop relief mate
been rendereduncultivable
------------ by
y the saline who represents Ersama in the State rials in Ersama and Balikuda, which
water carried 15 km inland by massive Assembly, said: “I am sure that in Ersama remained inaccessible. The Air Force
delivered a daily average of 27 tonnes of
alone more than 20,000 people have died.
tidal waves.
z food materials.
State Revenue Minister Jagannath More than 50 per cent of
r
The Army and volunPatnaik, who is in charge of the relief them are Bengalis who
g teers oforganisations such
operations, told Frontline-. “If immediate came from Midnapore.”
as the Anand Marg, the
P.K. Pani, Additional
steps are not taken, we will be saddled
>
Rashtriya Swayam-sevak
District
Magistrate
of
with a drought-like situation. We are giv
Sangh
(RSS)
and
a strategy Jagatsinghpur, said: “We
ing top priority to developing
(
Christian
missionary
are
unable
to
enter
some
for rabi cultivation.” However, owing to
organisations
were
the large-scale destruction of cattle, the areas in Ersama because
involved in the disposal of
State faces an acute shortage of draught of the overpowering
corpses and carcasses. The
of rotting bodies
animals. The Government planned to stench
5
Government
has
stagnant water. More
procure bullocks from the unaffected and
j
instructed
District
regions ofthe State and also from Andhra than 14,000 hectares of
Magistrates and gram
Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. Tractors, agricultural land there
panchayat chiefs to burn
commonly
employed
in
ploughing
has
been
destroyed
and
not
y
the bodies. “We are pro
■perations in the State, were also being rendered unfertile. We
operations
viding them as much
’ ’ ’ Negotiations
‘ ‘
mobilised.
were on to pro- are staring straight at a
petrol, diesel and other
cure £seeds
---- from Maharashtra and drought.”
material required for
Unofficial
reports
Gujarat. “We have invited horticulturists
this,” Patnaik said. Of the
to help us out in areas where saline water stated that the cyclone
3.5 lakh head of catde
had
claimed
more
than
has ruined the land. We are willing to
killed in the cyclone,
change the pattern of cultivation if nec 5,000 lives in adjoining
about 75,600 have been
Balikuda. The Army
essary,” Patnaik said.
disposed of.
The State government had sought a cleared two roads to
I
Defence
Minister
Central assistance of Rs. 10,000 crores. Ersama. In areas that
George
Fernandes,
who
The Centre granted Rs.200 crores, were inaccessible, Army Chief Minister Giridhar
heads
the
Central
monisupplied
Gamang.
Patnaik said that the assistance extended personnel
SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
was insufficient as rehabilitation work
alone would require Rs.2,500 crores. The
Government plans to approach the
World Bank for low interest loans for
housing, electricity and infrastructural
projects. “One of our top priorities is to
rehabilitate the people who have been
rendered homeless. HUDCO (Housing
and Urban Development Corporation)
has evolved a Rs.l90-crore housing
scheme. We plan to construct cyclone
proof houses,” the Minister said.
63
toring team, announced in Bhubaneswar
ed by the Congress(I) ahead of the
West
Bihar
on November 12 that a cyclone recon
Assembly elections in order to project a
Bengal
struction authority would be formed to
picture of solidarity. “The man who is
Contai«
deal with the current crisis as also similar
irl:
truly the knight in shining armour is
Digha^
calamities that may occur in the future.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.
The authority, comprising representa
ORISSA Bhadrakh « ^Ealasore
Chandrababu Naidu, who is monitoring
tives of both the Central and State gov
Kendrapara
all reliefwork from Hyderabad instead of
Jajpur
ernments, would tackle long-term issues
politicising matters by visiting Orissa,”
Cuttack
arising out of natural disasters.
he said. Apart from sending 2,000 gov
a Bhubaneswar®
Paradip
Meanwhile, other Congress(I)ernment employees to undertake relief
Phulbani
Khurda
•
p
urL
^
ruled States have adopted various dis
work,
Chandrababu Naidu assigned
^,.j=~Jagfysbtghpur
tricts affected by the cyclone. Puri has
experts from different departments, such
Ganjarn
of
been adopted by Delhi, Kendrapara by
as engineering, medicine, and urban
Gopalpur^
Chilka
Karnataka,
Jagatsinghpur
by
development, to the affected areas.
^angal
Lake
Maharashtra, Bhadrak by Rajasthan,
Not all LAS officers were happy with
Jajpur by Madhya Pradesh and Andhra^jlET area affected by
the planning and execution of relief
Keonjhar by Goa. The Orissa
works.
Pratap
Mukhopadhyay,
CYCLONIC STORM
/gSrikakulaiT
Government
insists
that
the
Member, Board of Revenue, and the
KBK
Congress(I) governments would mere
second senior most officer in the State,
ly supplement the relief materials and
said: “A crisis such as this cannot be con
manpower already available and not Parliament in Goa have been asked to trolled from one place. Senior officers
adopt any district. However, Goa’s donate a month’s salary_ to a relief and should have been deployed immediately
Minister for Agriculture
Sanjay rehabilitation fund.
’ affected areas as on-the-spot deci
to the
Bandhekar told Frontline-. “We will adopt
Senior Indian Administrative Service sions had to be taken. Junior officers in
Keonjhar. We will first assess the damage (IAS) officers of Orissa resent the policy of the ranks of District Magistrates and
and then send officials to rehabilitate the adoption. “This will give rise to friction Additional
*
’ ..District
....................
Magistrates often
people.” The Goa government has set up between the administrative officers of hesitate to take them.”
a special cell for relief, and all adminis Orissa and other States,” a senior officer
He said that the disaster was as much
trative officers, Ministers, Members of said on the condition of anonymity. He man-made as it was natural. The persis
the Legislative Assembly and Members of said that this was a political gimmick adopt- tent depletion of forests in the coastal belt
UJ
§
Ct
g
O
r
-J
I
t-
-
~
. • 2--
s
. r: ■ ■:
■*4'. L
'■"
‘wJ
■■ -
In Khandadhar village. The storm brought down innumerable trees and destroyed thousands of houses in coastal Orissa.
64
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
for the last 20 years had
resulted in an ecological
imbalance, he pointed out.
The cyclone had swept away
whatever little forest area was
left and another cyclone of
similar intensity would
occur, he said. “It is a vicious
cycle.” Another senior offi
cer expressed his displeasure
at the way relief materials
were distributed. “Two
truck loads oflemon rice that
came from Andhra Pradesh
was dumped at the Kalinga
stadium and it lay there for
over 48 hours. The rice got
spoilt and had to be
destroyed,” he said. He fur
ther said that more than
15,000 polythene covers
were waiting to be distrib
uted.
g ing medical relief. It
§ deployed eight medical
Si teams, comprising medical
| and paramedical officers
d from
New
Delhi,
o Hyderabad,
Jamshedpur
| and
Durgapur,
in
x Jagatsinghpur,
Ersama,
Astarang, Bhadrak, Cuttack,
Kendrapara and Jajpur.
These medical teams were
also distributing drinking
water. A team of interna
tional doctors supplied med
icines required for one lakh
people for a period of three
months.
The United Nations has
contributed in a big way. It
has already provided medi
cine and relief materials
1
worth $1.8 million. The
United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) has pro
f I *HE port town of
vided 420 tonnes of medi
1 Paradeep almost return
cines and other relief
ed to normalcy with the
supplies. The World Food
clearing of the roads and the
Programme, which had ear
restoration of water supply.
lier promised $200,000, has
As of November 13, five of
increased the grant to
Villagers outside their makeshift home in Paradeep. A spectre of
the eight berths were filled.
$375,000.
The
U.N.
starvation looms over the coastal belt of Orissa.
“We have achieved 50 per
Population Fund will pro
cent utilisation and hope to achieve 100 Wildlife Sanctuary are raiding villages vide assistance worth $170,000. The
per cent within 100 days,” Port Trust such as Chandaka, Andharua, Kantaban World Health Organisation will extend
Chairman Santosh Mahapatra told and Jokalandi.
$ 100,000 in order to set up an emergency
Frontline. He said: “There is marginal silt
surveillance system to control epidemic.
ing of the channels; where there should
<NOTWITHSTANDING the State
The previous Finance Commission
be 14 metres of water there is 12 metres. .. i Government’s claim that no epi had made provisions for a National
But this can be desilted soon. We are wait demic was likely to break out in the Calamity Relief Fund, which would meet
ing for an improvement in power supply cyclone- and flood-affected areas as pre the requirements of a State in the event
in order to load iron ore from the port cautionary measures had been taken, of a natural calamity of “rare severity”.
plant. The damage to the port, estimat cases of gastroenteritis, cholera and diar That fund has long been exhausted, but
ed at Rs.65 crores, has not been much, rhoea were increasing. Official reports the Centre has nevertheless made avail
considering that the port was set up at a stated that 35 deaths had occurred owing able to Orissa more than Rs. 500 crores
cost of Rs.2,000 crores. What has been to diseases and that nearly 5,000 persons by way of financial assistance.
lost are the roofs of some godowns and had been admitted to hospitals. Cuttack
Yet all these efforts may just not be
office buildings, the electrical systems and reported 22 diarrhoea deaths and two enough to infuse life into coastal Orissa.
60 metres of the security wall around the cholera deaths, and 987 people were With the State administration still grap
port.”
afflicted by diarrhoea in the district.
pling with the immediate problems of
Electricity and water supply have
On November 13, a Sadbhabana distributing relief materials and medi
been restored in most parts of Health Care Team from Gujarat, con cines and restoring public utilities, a
Bhubaneswar. The animals in the sisting of 150 doctors, arrived in detailed assessment of the damage to pri
Nandankanan Biological Park did not Bhubaneswar with medicines meant for vate and public property has not been
receive proper food and attention and as distribution in the affected districts. State possible. According to informed sources,
a result a number of camels are reported Health Secretary Meena Gupta said that when such an assessment is finally done,
to have died. The Central zoo authority besides health teams from other States, the financial burden may be awesome. “If
released Rs.20 lakhs for the immediate 311 doctors and 515 paramedical work in the final assessment 10 lakh houses are
needs of Nandankanan. According to ers had been deployed to treat the victims. found damaged, Rs.5,000 crores would
official estimates, Rs.4 crores is required She also said that Orissa had received 106 be needed to repair them at Rs.50,000 a
to get the zoo back on its feet. With the truckloads of halogen and paracetamol house.” This burden is apart from finan
cyclone destroying most of the bamboo tablets and intravenous fluids.
cial requirement to provide infrastructure
shoots - the prime food for elephants The Central Reserve Police Force such as roads, power lines and water sup
herds of elephants from the Chandaka (CRPF) was actively engaged in provid- ply installations. H
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
Iz
13
65
I DISASTER
AFTER THE STORM
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SA
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Fj
CD
d
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In Ersama block of Jagatsinghpur district, rotting bodies and carcasses pose a major threat to
survivors of the super cyclone. (Above right) An aerial view of an inundated township in
Paradeep. (Right) Villagers in Madhyasasan, 40 km from Bhubaneswar, try to mend their hut
with the sparse material available and (far right) a man examining a television
set in Ersama block.
66
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FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
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FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
67
A body lying in
a paddyfield in
Jathibari.
(Below) Bodies
of members of a
family lie
scattered in the
inaccessible
Ersama block.
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One of many bodies
lying unattended.
(Below) Members of
voluntary organisations
pull out a carcass from
a canal in Jathibari
village of Ersama block.
PARTH SANYAL
SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH
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At a health clinic in Jagatsinghpur district. (Above right) After days of
starvation, some villagers enjoy a meal. Several voluntary organisations
arranged to provide food to the victims. (Right) Setting up a make-shift
shelter in Paradeep. (Far right) Paramilitary personnel remove a man
suffering from diarrhoea to a health clinic.
70
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
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FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
fC ■
71
■
Ji
■n
Army personnel
engaged in relief
operations.
(Below) In
Jathibari village
in Ersama block,
volunteers
cremate
putrefied bodies.
PARTH SANYAL
4^^;
' AT
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72
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
I DISASTER
A crippled economy
The cyclone has hit Orissa's already parlous economy hard, and
there are no reliable estimates of the losses in the various
sectors even weeks after the disaster.
SANTANU SANYAL
in Orissa
RISSA’S economy is in a shambles.
VV There is hardly any sector that has
not been hit hard by the October 29
cyclone. No reliable estimates ofthe extent
ofloss were available more than two weeks
after the disaster as the government agen
cies were concentrating their energies on
the distribution of relief materials and the
disposal of bodies. However, preliminary
projections indicated that the impact
could indeed be enormous.
On November 10, poultry farmers
submitted a memorandum to Chief
Minister Giridhar Gamang, drawing his
attention to the damage caused to the
poultry sector. The memorandum put
the loss, which included the destruction
of birds, hatcheries, feed mills and sheds,
at Rs.40 crores. According to preliminary
estimates, more than 1,000 poultry farm
ers, located mostly in the districts of
Ganjam, Berhampore, Cuttack and
Bhubaneswar, lost their means of liveli
hood. Altogether, more than 15,000 peo
ple engaged in this sector have been hit.
The resumption of agricultural oper
ations may take time. The total crop loss
is estimated at Rs. 1,750 crores. The
cyclone left more than 24 lakh hectares
of farm land inundated. About 15 lakh
ha suffered a loss of between 50 and 75
per cent of standing crops. In the absence
of mechanised farming, the loss of
draught animals - more than two lakh
head of cattle have been killed - could
hamper cultivation in future.
Coconut and betel leaf cultivation has
been badly affected. Coconut trees on sev
eral hectares of plantations, mostly along
the coast, came down and betel leaf plan
tations, in the districts of Balasore, Puri
and Bhadrak, were inundated. The State,
which produced a surplus ofcoconuts, will
now have to depend on supplies from
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
to meet its domestic requirement. The
destruction of betel leaf plantations entails
a business loss of Rs.25 lakhs a day in
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack alone. Certain
varieties of betel leaves grown in some
pockets of Balasore district, which are
exported, cannot be produced before six
months.
The cyclone also destroyed vegetable
crops on one lakh hectares - 15,000 ha
each in Puri and Jagatsinghpur, 34,000
ha in Kendrapara and 14,000 ha in
s
$
I
CO
d
What is left of an industrial complex at Paradeep. More than large units, small- and medium-scale industries suffered heavy losses.
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
73
Cuttack. The average crop yield was eight
to 10 tonnes a hectare. The damage to
mushroom cultivation has affected 700
families in Nimapara (Puri district),
Bhubaneswar and Khurda.
SANTANU SANYAL
The State’s rich dairy sector has also
in Paradeep
suffered severe losses. Besides the death of
milch cows and the destruction of dairy
farms, a large number of chilling plants
A | ^HE Paradeep Port Trust (PPT)
JL authorities knew what was coming,
and more than 200 artificial insemination
centres were damaged. At least 500 milk
thanks to the Internet. They lost no time
cooperatives need assistance to restart their
in taking measures according to a con
operations. The Orissa Milk Producers’
tingency plan formulated by the Union
Cooperative Federation (Omfed), which
Government in the wake of the cyclone
collected more than one lakh litres of milk
havoc at the Kandla port two years ago.
a day and supplied it to Bhubaneswar,
“We did not rely much on the fore
Meteorological
Cuttack and Puri, among other places, will
casts
by
the
now depend on supplies of milk powder
Department, which were general in
from other States to maintain normal
nature. Instead, we started surfing the
deliveries. The daily collection of milk
Net and at least two sites gave us a clear
dropped to around 10,000 litres. Omfed
picture of the projected route, moveis likely to procure milk from Andhra
ment and intensity of the impending
Pradesh and West Bengal.
storm. We were on the alert,” PPT
The National Dairy Development
Chairman S.K. Mohapatra said.
Board (NDDB), in association with the
“Having lived in Paradeep for more
Anand
Milk Producers’
Union,
than 30 years, we have learnt one thing:
despatched 200 tonnes of milk powder
never take a cyclone warning signal
and 200 tonnes of cattle feed. The
lightly,” Dilip Misra, PPT Traffic
NDDB also sent vaccines and life-saving
Manager, said.
drugs for animals.
The first priority was to force the
According to the State Small and
berthed ships out ofthe port. There were
Medium Entrepreneurs Association,
six such vessels. Five ofthese were moved
nearly 700 small- and medium-scale
to mid-sea where the effect of the storm
units, which employed about 70,000 to
on them would be less severe. The ves80,000 people, have been devastated in
seis returned to the port after the Navy
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The figure is
declared the navigation channel clear for
expected to rise when information from
traffic on November 6.
A sixth vessel, Spar Opal, which was
other districts arrives. The association has
urged the State government to provide
loading steel coil, refused to sail out. Its
moorings snapped and it was pushed
interest-free loans of up to Rs. 10 lakhs to
from one berth to another, but it sufthe affected units and declare a five-year
moratorium on loan repayment by them.
fered no major damage. As it happened,
the vessel’s onboard satellite telephone
Units with a paid-up capital of more than
Rs. 10 lakhs should be helped with grants
system was the only means of commu
and soft loans, it said. About 400 smallnication Paradeep had with the outside
scale and 24 medium-scale units that sur
world.
vived the cyclone were looted by
Eight vessels were waiting outside
the port for berths. All but one left as
anti-social elements, it said.
soon as the cyclone struck.
In the Paradeep port area, fishing
No piece of major equipment at the
activities have come to a standstill. About
port was damaged. Mohapatra said that
300 fishermen were killed; nearly 60 per
the port authorities did everything possi
cent of the 11,000 country boats were
destroyed, marking a loss of about Rs.24
ble to protect the equipment. The pro
jecting parts of large equipment were
crores. In addition, 2,500 mechanised
boats and 400 trawlers sank, causing a loss
of another Rs.30 crores. About 500
trawlers, mostly belonging to fishermen restored in the 12 affected districts.
from Andhra Pradesh, sank at Paradeep Cesco, an undertaking of AES Corp, of
port. The export ofmarine products from the United States, had planned to give
Orissa has hence suffered a setback.
power connections to all applicants by
November 14. The plan has gone hayT^LECTRICITY supply and telecom- wire. AES Corp, which runs a power dis-LLmunications services are yet to be tribution system in eight districts of
Paradeep’s problems
74
lowered and fastened with bolts and the
equipment was removed to safer places.
However, some losses were inevitable.
For example, the roofs ofthe transit sheds
were blown off. Sea water damaged trans
formers and electric motors. Sand-cast
ing has reduced the depth of the channel
by about two metres: the channel has to
be dredged. Navigational lights are gone,
so are the pylons.
What has caused rhe most concern
is the damage to the railway tracks
between Rahama and Paradeep on the
Cuttack-Paradeep section of the South
Eastern Railway. The movement ofbulk
items such as coal and ore to and from
the port has been hampered. Bulk items
constitute more than 95 per cent of the
port’s traffic. Coastal shipment of ther
mal coal for the Tamil Nadu Electricity
Board (TNEB) and other consumers
could be resumed as nearly 2.5 lakh
tonnes of ground stock was lying at the
port. Thermal coal accounts for seven
million tonnes of rhe port’s total
throughput of 13 million tonnes. The
TNEB’s share in the thermal coal traf
fic is more than five million tonnes.
The problem that coking coal
importers such as the Tata Iron and Steel
Company (Tisco) and Steel Authority of
India Limited (SAIL) faced was even
greater. The imported coking coal lying
at the port premises cannot be evacuated
unless the railway lines are repaired. To
solve the problem, Tisco chanered a vessei to ship it to Haldia for onward movement by
Thus, .part ofthe coking coal
. rail. ~
stock was shifted, though at a cost.
“We estimate the loss of port prop
erty at Rs.80 crores,” Mohapatra said,
pointing out that several private firms
that undertook port projects on contract
had complained of a combined loss of
Rs.20 crores. “We will request the
Centre to provide funds to meet the
additional expenditure,” he said, adding
that the suspension of normal port oper
ations entailed a loss of income of about
Rs.60 lakhs a day.
Orissa, has sought a tariff hike to offset
the losses, estimated at Rs.300 crores,
Cesco plans to appeal to the State government for compensation. If the government declines to oblige it, it will
approach the State-level power regulatory authority, the Orissa Electricity
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
j-*'
that die acid plants would not resume pro
duction immediately. An assessment of
the loss suffered by PPL would take time.
fii/fin
The condition of the equipment would be
known only after power supply was
1
restored, Mishra said.
r
Mishra appealed to the Centre for
j? 11
special assistance. The appeal, it is learnt,
U
*rcs3**M
i
has not gone totally unheeded. The
V
Centre has before it a financial restructuring proposal for PPL. However, the
SJKjfig sanction of grant would depend on the
assessment of loss. As per the proposal,
the accumulated loss of about Rs.256
7* •">
crores would be knocked off from the
•‘W
book ofaccounts. The present equity size
B
Rs.214 crores would be reduced to
Y
PT-—---- Rs.2.14 crores and the loan of Rs.230
crores converted into equity. The inter
est on the loan too has to be waived by
I way of book adjustments. “Once the
7J restructuring plan is implemented, PPL
will start afresh, on a clean slate,” Mishra
At the Paradeep port. Ahead of the cyclone, the port authorities had almost all
said.
the ships moved out of the berths to mid-sea.
The loss suffered by the DAP plant
Rebuilding work to facilitate early leaks in the PPL’s ammonia storage tanks of Oswal Chemicals & Fertilisers is put
resumption of normal operations took a (the plant had released small quantities of at Rs. 100 crores. The two-million-tonne
back seat as the port authorities were
were ammonia in order to ensure the safety of plant, estimated to cost Rs.2,000 crores,
forced to devote themselves to relief the tanks) led to a virtual exodus ofwork- was due for commissioning in
work. A large number of people living in ers. Significantly, only one port employ- November. Now the commissioning has
shanties on port lands and the residents ee died: he lived in a thatched hut, having been deferred until January. Abhay
of villages close to the port were ’badly sublet his official quarters.
Oswal, its Chairman, said that the exact
affected. Moreover, the port authorities
Several fishermen living along the extent of the loss would be known after
had to coordinate the relief work under- Paradeep coast were killed. Although not the insurance company assessed the
taken by various government and non- employed by the port, they used the fish- extent of the damage. The project’s
governmental agencies. For this reason, ing harbour, which is part ofthe port comprime consultant, United States-based
they could not pay continued attention plex. As soon as the cyclone warning was
Jacobs, Humphreys and Glasgow, was
to the work on the Asian Development received, the port authorities had urged
involved in the assessment exercise.
Bank-aided coal handling plant. The the people living in the shanties in the port
The company, Oswal said, did relief
commissioning of the plant will now be area to move under pucca structures. Most work in 180 villages under 47 panchaydelayed by at least six months.
of them allegedly ignored the warning.
ats, with a total population of four lakhs.
Although the Navy deployed seven
“We distributed about 1,000 tonnes of
vessels and cleared the navigation chan ? | ’HE PPL bore the brunt of the foodgrains and we will distribute anothJL cyclone. Its phosphoric acid and sul- er 3,000 tonnes,” he said. Saris, dhotis
nel, work could not resume. Even two
weeks after the cyclone, Paradeep had no phuric acid plants were damaged. Between and materials for shelters had also been
power supply. Since the public sector 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes ofdi-ammonium distributed. The Oswals propose to
Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL) was hit phosphate (DAP) worth about Rs.6 spend Rs. 10 crores on relief work and
badly, the berth dedicated to it did not crores, stored in silos, was destroyed. The have involved their employees from all
receive vessels.
boundary walls of the plant and the town- over the country in the operation. “We
Absenteeism, in view of the cyclone ship collapsed. Attempts were being made have a commitment to the people of the
and the scare of ammonia leaks, was to resume DAP production in November place where we have put up such a huge
another factor that stood in the way ofthe itself. However, H. Mishra, Chairman plant with so much investment,” Oswal
resumption of normal work. Rumours of and Managing Director, told Frontline said. ■
Mi
■
»
Regulatory Commission, with a request
to pass the burden on to the consumers,
Power consumers are angry with Cesco’s
plan. The loss, they say, is largely owing
to the failure of the company to insure its
assets. Some consumers have threatened
to take the matter to the streets. “Why
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
should the consumers and the State government be made to pay for the loss suffered by a private concern,” asked one
consumer. Interestingly, some sections of
the State government are for compensating Cesco suitably and have accordingly
taken up the issue with the Central gov
ernment. (see Column by Jayati Ghosh
on page 76)
The loss to the telecom circle is esti
mated at Rs.50 crores, with a large num
ber of telephone exchanges washed away
and microwave towers - at Nimapara,
Paradeep, Kakatpur and Jajpur- uproot-
75
ed.
■ COLUMN
The local chambers ofcommerce have
estimated the loss to industry, big and
small, at Rs.500 crores. They emphasise
the importance of early normalisation of
the affected units. This process could be
accelerated if an interest holiday is
declared for one year on loans issued by
commercial banks, according to them.
They also want the repayment period
should be extended. Fresh working capi
A multinational company seeking to triple power tariff in already
tal should be made available to industry
at a concessional rate and the requirement suffering coastal Orissa, claiming that the cyclone has hit its
of margin money on fresh loans should
not be insisted upon, the chambers have facilities, which had been left uninsured, raises questions
suggested.
Following the cyclone havoc, the regarding the rationale for and pattern of privatisation in the
Reserve Bank of India and the Union country, and consequent monopolistic practices that impinge
Finance Ministry directed all banks to
provide immediate assistance to the on the lives of ordinary people.
affected people to help them raise new
crops and purchase farm implements, r I TIE cyclone that ravaged the coast of most basic amenities and sometimes even
1 Orissa was one of the worst to affect of the means of survival.
seeds, fertilizers and insecticides. Banks
In the wake of such a major disaster,
and other financial institutions were told the subcontinent in this century. The
scale of devastation that has occurred is the natural expectation is that all sections
to extend loans to rebuild houses.
The State government has sought a unimaginable: already the official death of society, especially those with the
Central assistance of about Rs.350 crores toll is close to ten thousand people, finances to make a difference, would step
to reconstruct about 1.2 million dwelling although the situation has been so dire forward to contribute to the recovery and
units. It has also urged the authorities con- that no formal enumeration of the dead reconstruction effort. This expectation is
cerned to build houses under the Indira has yet been undertaken. More than 20 even higher vis-a-vis large industrialists
Awas Yojana. The Housing and Urban million people are said to be affected, and and multinational companies (MNCs),
Development Corporation (HUDCO) agriculture and industry in the region which are increasingly prone to publicise
their sense of “social responsibility”. This
has announced that it would provide have been ravaged.
Around ten lakh houses are said to is why some recent news reports of the
Rs. 187.5 crores towards the reconstruc
have been damaged, many beyond repair, response of at least one multinational
tion of about 75,000 dwelling units.
Sharda Singh, Chairman and as well as more than 30 lakh kutcha hous company comes as a shock, even to hard
Managing Director of UCO Bank and es, rendering millions of people home ened critics accustomed to expecting the
convener of the State-Level Bankers’ less. Nearly three lakh farm
CL
Committee (SLBC), led a team of senior animals were killed, the extent of
o
bankers and top executives of financial the crop area affected (with
o
institutions to Orissa and held meetings standing
crops
destroyed)
z
with the Chief Minister, the Finance exceeds 12 lakh hectares, and pre
I
UJ
Minister, the Chief Secretary and other liminary estimates of property
CD
senior officials in order to assess the kind loss range upwards of Rs. 1,000
of assistance the banking sector would be crores.
required to provide to raise new crops,
Calamities as extreme as this
rebuild houses and restart businesses and will take years if not decades to
factories in the small and medium sectors, recover from, even in terms of the
The Government at that time did not most minimal reconstruction
have a correct estimate of the losses or the and repair. Quite apart from the
kind of assistance that would be required, enormous loss ofhuman life, simThese aspects are likely to be finalised at ply replacing physical infrastrucan SLBC meeting in the near future.
ture in a State that was already
Another factor causing concern is the one of the most absolutely poor
financial situation of the State govern and backward in the country is a
ment. Doubts have been expressed in cer task of huge proportions. The
tain quarters that the money received for enormity of the requirement of
relief and rehabilitation might actually be providing immediate relief has
used to pay the salaries to government clearly exposed both public and
employees. The critical financial situation private agencies as being inadeof the Government had earlier forced the quate, and lakhs of people in at
Cyclones, power and
social responsibility
RBI to clamp restrictions on overdraft,
The restrictions have since been lifted. ■
76
least nine districts continue to be
in great distress, deprived of the
Linesmen repair power cables in Jagatsinghpur,
two weeks after the cyclone.
FRONTLINE, DECEMBER 10, 1999
- Media
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