Theme 6-7-Community participation in a tribal dominated microwatershed development project in Eastern Ghats- A case study.

Abstract

The convenience of taking the natural boundary of watershed as an unit of development, has resulted in the Govt. of India formulating the 9th plan document laying its emphasis on this approach. The new concept of watershed development aims at alleviating habitat and inhabitants impoverishment through a holistic approach of conservation and sustainable exploitation of natural and human resources, considering both of them as a part of a system, where mutual responsibility and harmonious coexistence matter. In watershed development context, participation must consciously aim to promote equity and sustainability and primarily aims at involvement of the stake holder community in all stages of project Development of human capacity must go hand in hand with technical interventions in any watershed development programme. Under the Integrated Wastelands Development Programme(IWDP) of Govt. of India, the CSWCRTI Research Centre was assigned the task to develop a model watershed at Kokriguda in the Koraput district of Orissa state in the Eastern ghats of India. It is a tribal village inhabited by Paraja tribe,, plagued with multiplicity of problems. To win the faith of the partner villagers and to ensure viability and sustainability of the programme, conventional approaches were reoriented and reinvented, considering the need and priority of the community and the ecosystem. Assessment of village situation by enabling the people was done through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques. Community empowerment through capacity building and revitalization of community structures were emphasized along with strengthening of community resources. All of these, along with typical constraints faced and the approach to be adopted to achieve success under similar conditions else where are discussed in this paper.