Local Actors, Institutions and Land Governance in the Chotiari Water Reservoir, Pakistan

Abstract

Previous studies show that blemished infrastructural development projects dispossessed local population and degraded natural resources to a greater extent in the developing countries. Therefore, this research is aimed at determining how land use decisions affect local habitats and resources. Thus, the data were collected from the recently constructed water reservoir in the southern part of Pakistan, named Chotiari. Our findings show that the project is hampered by the local actors’ nonparticipation in decision-making, deceptive information dissemination by the authorities, misuse of funds, power relations, improper rehabilitation plans and unequal access to natural resources. We paid attention to the actors’ network, land as well as the property rights violations, which have created the conflicts, where the causes of the conflicts of land use super positioned in the light of international rules and laws have also been explained. Thus, it is recommended that, for natural resource governance and land use conflict management, it is imperative to take all stakeholders on board during feasibility of any infrastructural setting. Furthermore, the awareness campaigns regarding the environmental importance and valuation of natural resources must be on the topmost agenda of the government.