Development and conservation of common property resources in rural areas of Karnataka
Community Toilet and Bathing Complexes
It was decided to provide Community Sanitary Complex cum Bathroom with the facility of independent continuous water supply system, electricity supply, hair dryer, dressing room and also with the facility of commode to physically handicapped and aged persons to the SC/ST families where they are concentrated ( 60% and above,) and who do not have place to construct Individual Household toilets, at a cost of Rs.30.00 lakhs per unit – 5 units in every taluk (SCP-3 /TSP-2) will be built during the FY 2017-18 and expenditure will be met out of -SCP/TSP fund.
Action taken for effective implementation of Sanitation Scheme, evaluation report and actions taken on evaluation report etc.
- A baseline survey of families having individual household toilet and not having has been conduced and the details of beneficiaries identified has been uploaded in Panchatantra for information of public.
- Targets have been fixed for Gram Panchayats and they have been directed to select the beneficiaries in the Grama Sabha and it is targeted to construct 12.89 lakh toilets in the year 2016-17.
- The details of incentive paid to the beneficiaries is uploaded in the IMIS of Central Government for information of public.
- Social Audit is being conducted to ensure that the beneficiaries have constructed toilets and using them.
- With a view to make payment of incentive for construction of HILL directly to the account of beneficiaries. payment through e-FMS system has been developed and introduced in all the 30 districts and payment is being made through this system to all eligible IHHL beneficiaries.
Capacity building activities
To ensure effective implementation of SBM, training programmes are being organized for the officials of Gram Panchayats, non-official personnel like Asha workers, Anganwadi workers, NYKS volunteers, representatives of selfhelp groups, volunteers of Bharat Nirman, r elected representatives etc.
- Officers/officials/Elected representatives are apprised of the implementation process through discussions/meetings via r Satcom media every month.
- Workshops are organized on the implementation of SBM for the elected representatives at the level of GPs, Taluks, r and District levels.
- The officials at the level of Districts are being appointed as Nodal Officers of Taluks and ent rusted with the responsibility of reviewing the progress of implementation and to achieve the target.
village grasslands in Karnataka
With the advancement in wildlife conservation, conservationists started to notice the array of animals living inside these kavals. Since Kavals have kept the natural vegetation without disturbance for centuries, they somewhat give a picture of bygone era surrounded by modern human influences. The existence of grass land fauna like wolf, black bucks, fox etc… in these Kavals are testimony for the health of these grasslands. But unlike many of our PA’S, these Kavals do not come under Forest department and are susceptible to development, since wildlife in these grasslands are not officially recognized. each Kaval is facing its own level of threats and problems.
There is an urgent conservation issue related to the Hesaraghatta grasslands in NW Bangalore. Of all places in Bangalore, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) selects possibly the last remaining grassland to go on a tree-planting overdrive. Using bulldozers, close to 30,000 pits have been dug and most of them planted. The media coverage was helpful and possibly aided in putting a halt to the digging but almost 200 acres of prime grassland is dug and gone — unless the saplings are uprooted and the pits refilled. I visited the site on 27th August and the sight is disastrous.
The BDA and the Forest Dept. did not respond to any of our complaints. Forest Dept. is categorical that birds needs trees (“not even a sparrow exists currently”). A quick look at the attached images will indicate that prime habitat for all the wintering raptors — harriers, tawny eagles, short-eared owls, etc. — is irreversibly gone.
water bodies in Karnataka
Karnataka region was once filled with a network of lakes, ponds and raja kaluves (canals). These Irrigation tanks (lakes) built across the region over hundreds of years have helped harvest rain water and extend water security to lakhs of people during non-rainy seasons. Besides, these lakes and ponds recharged ground water aquifers and evolved into a network of biodiversity rich wetland ecosystems. The maintenance and upkeep of these lakes, and also their reverence, has been an intrinsic part of our local culture and tradition.
Bus stands, stadiums, residential layouts, shopping complexes and palatial houses now rise over several of these lakes and tank beds. Those surviving encroachment, especially in highly urbanized areas, have been reduced to cesspools due to discharge of industrial effluents, domestic sewage and unregulated dumping of solid wastes. Due to pollution and siltation, many lakes are unable to recharge groundwater; and when they do, the water is toxic. In this manner, several thousands of lakes have disappeared increasing water insecurity, and causing unimaginable hardship for lakhs of people.
There are nearly 38,000 big and small tanks still left in Karnataka. Many of them are under threat from unplanned urbanization, encroachment, infrastructure development, pollution and lack of upkeep. As Climate Change threatens long periods of droughts and water scarcity, lakes will form a critical feature to conserve rainwater, and in economical and ecologically viable ways. No other mega-dam or river linking project is likely to provide water security for millions of people, and for generations to come, in the same way that lakes, ponds and wells can. It is, therefore, critical that we must enhance our efforts to ensure these lakes remain, rejuvenate and rehabilitate them to ensure health, economic and ecological security of present and futures generations.
provision of urban amenities in rural areas (pura)
Provision of Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) is a strategy for rural development in India. This concept was given by former president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and discussed in his book Target 3 Billion which he co-authored with Srijan Pal Singh. The genesis of PURA concept can be traced to the work done by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in the early 1990s on Taluka energy self-sufficiency. It was shown in the study that energy self-sufficient talukas can be a new development model for rural India in terms of creation of jobs and better amenities to its population. PURA proposes that urban infrastructure and services be provided in rural hubs to create economic opportunities outside of cities. Physical connectivity by providing roads, electronic connectivity by providing communication network, and knowledge connectivity by establishing professional and Technical institutions will have to be done in an integrated way so that economic connectivity will emanate. The Indian central government has been running pilot PURA programs in several states since 2004. The Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Rural Mission is successor to this mission.
