Optimal Utilization and Sustainable Development of Common Property Resources Through Private-Public Participation: Reference To Rural India

In the whole debate of ecological suitability of Tehri Dam, the rehabilitation aspect has been found ignored. Keeping in view of the significance of complete rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees, the overall rehabilitation process including rural and urban population is analysed in the present paper. In total, 125 villages will be fully or partially submerged affecting more than one lakh population. More than twenty thousand urban populations will also be rehabilitated. It is expected that around 6000 cores of rupees (at 1993 price level) will be spent. Out of which 13% will be spent on the rehabilitation of the oustees. On the basis of the available information, it is found that only 33% of the rural families and 66% of the urban households have actually received the compensation or taken the possession of the land in the new sites. Non availability of land to the rest of the oustee households has been identified as the peculiar dimension of the rehabilitation process. The resettled households in Dehradun and Haridwar districts are facing the problem of geographic continuity, land owner shiprights and absence of institutional mechanism like panchayati raj institutions in the new settlements. The absence of non-farm employment and non-accessibility to the common property resources are the critical problems, including the availability of drinking water, irrigation, primary health and education, which can be observed seen in the rehabilitation sites. The resettlers are unable to adjust with the new environment including a high level of dependency on the market forces for each and every requirement. The partially submerged population is also facing peculiar problems. They will only be given cash compensation without any other compensatory measures. The ‘upstream cost and down stream benefits syndrome’ is strikingly visible in the rehabilitation process. In the urban resettlement process various issues Iike-the validity of survey, classification of urban households and cut off dates are relevant to mention. The positive externalities of the old Tehri town were completely missing in the new urban rehabilitation site. As a whole it can be tentatively said that the process of rehabilitation has been loosely coordinated and badly implemented. The issues of upstream cost, accessibility to common property resources and customary rights are the neglected aspects in the process. The re-organisation of the institutional frame work and granting land ownership rights to the resettlers and quality of the basic amenities are the other inevitable requirements need proper assessment and implementation. The present process of rehabilitation is largely non-participatory and non transparent, which can only be solved through radical measures. These measures are unlikely to be initiated in the present set of Tehri dam administration.

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The Role of Public Participation in Governance towards Achieving Sustainable Development. Part 1

RUDN Journal of Public Administration ◽

10.22363/2312-8313-2021-8-4-395-404 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 395-404

Author(s):

Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽

Chen Hao ◽

Duncan O. Hongo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Public Participation ◽

Good Governance ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

Government Officials ◽

Political Class ◽

The Public ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

The Government

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.

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Beyond Public Particpation: The disjuncture between South Africa's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Law and Sustainable Development

Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad ◽

10.17159/1727-3781/2008/v11i3a2769 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 105

Author(s):

T Murombo

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Public Participation ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Environmental Impact Assessment ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Development Planning ◽

The Public ◽

Legal Provisions

One of the key strategies for achieving sustainable development is the use of the process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of development activities. The procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA) implements the principle of integration which lies at the core of the concept of sustainable development by providing a process through which potential social, economic and environmental impacts of activities are scrutinised and planned for. Sustainable development may not be achieved without sustained and legally mandated efforts to ensure that development planning is participatory. The processes of public participation play a crucial role in ensuring the integration of the socio-economic impacts of a project into the environmental decision-making processes. Public participation is not the only process, nor does the process always ensure the achievement of sustainable development. Nevertheless, decisions that engage the public have the propensity to lead to sustainable development. The public participation provisions in South Africa’s EIA regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 show a disjuncture between the idea of public participation and the notion of sustainable development. The provisions do not create a framework for informed participation and leave a wide discretion to environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs) regarding the form which participation should assume. In order for environmental law, specifically EIA laws, to be effective as tools to promote sustainable development the laws must, among other things, provide for effective public participation. The judiciary must also aid in the process by giving content to the legal provisions on public participation in the EIA process.

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