Common lands, being a significant form of natural resource endowment in many developing countries, play a vital role in maintaining the ecological balance, and more particularly in supporting the people, especially the rural poor, in eking out their livelihood. However, the contributions of common lands to the rural economy and ecology have remained unappreciated which has led to the depletion and degradation of these lands. In an attempt to examine the nature and extent of contribution of common lands to household economies, 432 sample households from eight sample villages across four ecological regions in Haryana, northwest India, were surveyed using a structured questionnaire during 1995. We found that common lands still hold an important place in the household economy of rural people of this state. A significant proportion of the sample households obtained substantial biomass resources, income and employment from common lands. The contributions of these lands in terms of variety and extent were many times higher in the households belonging to less developed than developed regions, and those households belonging to poor than wealthy classes. Hence, there is an immediate need to develop effective strategies for the regeneration and sustainable use and management of common lands.
The present paper examines the nature and dimensions of environmental transformation induced by canal irrigation in the arid region of India. The case study pertains to the Indira Gandhi Canal comand area in Rajasthan where the density and area of vegetation cover have increased due to afforestation, and the cultivated area has expanded due to irrigation. Consequently, there has been a perceptible improvement in the structure and fertility of sandy soils, but it would require a herculean effort on the part of the canal authority and local people to reduce soil erosion and siltation in the lower parts of stage I and the entire command area of stage II. Moreover, the water table has been rising rapidly throughout the command area of stage I. About half of the command area and adjoining Ghaggar basin in Ganganagar District will be facing the danger of waterlogging by the turn of the century. The incidence of irrigation-induced alkalization is higher in the lower parts of stage I. Soil alkalinity has appeared within five years of the introduction of irrigation in the interdunal basins and is manifested as a strong salt regime or calcareous pans near surface. This calls for immediate reclamation of the affected area and prevention of its expansion by altering the strategy of irrigation development, by changing cropping patterns, and by providing soil drainage.
Rural people in most of the developing countries are facing an acute shortage of domestic fuel which has led to many socio-economic and environmental problems. In an attempt to examine the nature and extent of the household energy problem, and to suggest certain measures to alleviate it, 432 sample households from eight sample villages in Haryana, north-western India, were surveyed using structured questionnaires during 1995. We find that there has been widespread switching over to low quality fuels (crop residue and dung cake), more time and effort are now spent in fetching fuelwood, biomass fuels have been monetized, and that severe degradation of vegetation cover has occurred. All these changes reflect the acute shortage of household energy in rural areas of Haryana State. It has almost become a crisis, particularly in the Eastern Haryana Region and in poor households. The common lands still provide a significant proportion of household fuel, especially to landless and marginal farming households. Hence, energy plantation on common lands is an immediate, feasible and sustainable solution to the rural energy problem. There is also an urgent need to prevent the wastage of energy by increasing end-use efficiency.
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