South Asia Regional Workshop – BhubaneswarMarch, 16-18, 2006
Key-note Address on
“Sustaining Rural Livelihoods: Access & Mobility-Community Based
Initiatives”
By
Prof S L DhingraTransportation Systems Engineering
IIT Bombayhttp://www.iitb.ac.in/~dhingra
Environment
SocialPhysical
Abiotic – Nonliving things & processes
Biotic – Organisms and biological processes
Ecological - Interaction between above two types
Personal – Specific Individuals
Interpersonal – Interaction of group of individuals
Institutional – Dynamics of social system e.g. legal, political & religious Institutions
Introduction
Problem Domain
Human Activities
Exploitation of Natural Resources
Increasing Industrialization &
Urbanization
Pollution
Promotion of sustainable development & human welfare
To avoid serious & irreversible environmental damage
Protection of natural resources & ecological components
To take care of social aspects
Improved environmental design of the proposed projects
Objectives
Sustainable Development Concept
Stability achieved for both social & physical systems
by satisfying present needs without compromising
need of future generations
Our transportation decisions and investments today
should expand, and not limit to the economic,
ecological, and social choices available to future
generations
Elements of Sustainability
Ecological
To preserve dynamic ability of biophysical system
Social
To stress on elimination of poverty & protect rights
of future generations
Economic
To focus economic welfare
Moving Towards Sustainability
Smoother traffic flow and reduced congestion
Reduced fuel consumption
Reduced emissions
Encourage use of public transport
Improve highway safety
Reduced delays and increased efficiency
SPARTACUS System
SPARTACUS – System for Planning &
Research in Towns and Cities for Urban
Sustainability
Funded by European Commission
Tested in : Helsinki (Finland), Bilbao
(Spain), Naples (Italy)
Essentially adds Environmental &
societal parameters in old
system (Source: http:// www.ltcon.fi/spartacus/ )
Old System
SPARTACUS System
Environment Society
Spartacus System
1000 m2/1000 inh./aERCMConsumptions of
construction material
%pointsERLCLand coverage
1000 t/1000 inh./aERMOConsumption of mineral
oil productsConsumption of
natural resources
t/1000inh./aEAOCEmissions of organic
Compounds from transport
Meq/1000inh./aEAATEmissions of acidifying
cases from transport
t/1000 inh./a(tonnes per th.
inhabitants / annum)
EAGTEmissions of
greenhouse gases from transport
Air Pollution
Environmental indicators
%pointsSESSegregation
- SEJNJustice of exposure to noise
-SEJDJustice of exposure to CO
-SEJPJustice of exposure to particular
Equity
#1000inh./aSHTITraffic injuries
#1000inh./aSHTDTraffic deaths
%pointsSHENExposure to noise in the living environment
%pointsSHENExposure to carbon monoxide in the living
environment
%pointsSHEDExposure to nitrogen dioxide in the living
environment
%points
SHEPExposure to particulate matter in the living
environment
Health
Social indicators
Spartacus System (cont…)
Economic indicators
ECU/capita/aTotal benefits
-
SOVC
SOAC
Vitality of city centre
Accessibility to the centre
SOPT
Level of service of public transport and
slow modes
--
-
SOTT
SOAS
Total time spent in traffic
Accessibility to services
Opportunities
Social indicators
Spartacus System (cont…)
During
Construction
Operation
ImpactsImpacts
Travel
Economic
Social
Environmental / Ecological
Impacts During Construction and Operation
Purpose of Technology Transfer
How the Benefits like economic, social, political etc.
and the ongoing projects in Rural India, their
strengthening /empowerment can bring in total
transformation of Rural India
Role of Provision of Rural Connectivity and Accessibility
Rural people can have easy access to trade, education, health and employment
Villages situated near roads are more prosperous than those situated far from roads
Similarly for the same distances, 23% of workers in villages take to non-agricultural activities compared to 16% and 12% at 5 & 8 kms distances respectively
Even overall well-being, measured by mobility and ownership of assets and amenities, improves by 32% through proximity to the road
NGO’s – Technical Educations’ Role
Adoption of districts for Provision of facilities like
Employment (creation of jobs of perennial nature),
Transportation & communication,
Water supply/energy,
Management training of rural youth, and
Sustainable projects for quality of life.
Suggestions for Funding for T & C projects
Financing of Rural Transportation Projects
Cess on Marketing Societies like Food Corporation
of India (FCI)
Punjab Model using cess on agricultural produce
by marketing societies to raise funds on perennial
basis for rural road construction and maintenance
Growing fruit trees on the roadside for the purpose
of generation of employment and beautification
Increased mobility and vehicle ownership through
rural connectivity
Establishing co-operative vehicle maintenance
workshops for cluster of villages by vocationally
trained school children
Identifying the tourism and Heritage/Historically
potential villages
Suggestions for Funding for T & C projects
Village Level Transport
Pedestrian based transport activities take up a huge
proportion of the active working day
Differential burden on women – collecting firewood
and water
Need for better transport and transport infrastructure
Improvement of accessibility and mobility by the
drivers of the villages.
Impact of Rural Transport and Poverty Alleviation
The most immediate poverty-alleviating effect of
road investment is the local employment created in
both improvement and maintenance
Enhancing labour-based methods in these
investments will lead to short-term employment
generation
Roads act as a catalyst to development
Impact of Rural Transport on Agriculture
Cultivation of bigger areas
Utilization of more fertile, though remote, soils
Production of heavier and better crops and cash
crops
Increased utilization of fertilizers and manure
Reduction in spoilage at crop harvest time
Better marketing
Social Impacts of Rural Transport
Education Attendance levels low in schools due to lack of
access Teachers not attracted because of remoteness
Health Better access to hospitals Mobile health centres
Social Impacts of Rural Transport
Empowerment Labour based construction methods provide useful
cash supplement Training in necessary skills is required
Improved access to markets and towns More involvement of rural folk in the cash economy Better access to urban markets leads to marginal
savings on transport costs
Increased Production Better access to markets leads to increase in farm
and agricultural production
Increasing Demand for Rural Transport Services
Interconnectivity of rural infrastructure
Improving the flow of information through
telecommunication
Provision of rural markets and storage facilities
Complimentary investments to rural transport
interventions
Increased employment through increased access
Improved agricultural production: better living
conditions and increased demand of various
services, like hospitals, markets, banks etc.
Training for operators, mechanics, drivers to help
reduce maintenance costs and reduce accidents
Fostering a strong entrepreneurial culture to
maximize the use of assets
Increased employment through increased access (cont…)
Changes in transport regulations to allow use of less conventional vehicles, bringing new services
Providing subsidies for plying vehicles in local areas
Tourism identifying tourist attractions in villages Bread and Breakfast stops
Plantations in adjoining areas: employment generation and environmental improvement
Better living conditions in villages will reduce migration to urban areas
Job Creation Estimates
Workshops 1 workshop for 5 villages and 5 people per workshop
implies 1 lakh new jobs
Local plying of vehicles 3 drivers per village plying vehicles locally imply 3
lakh new jobs
Plantations 5 people working per village imply 5 lakh new jobs
Job Creation Estimates (contd..)
Tourism 3 bread and breakfast stops per village with 3 persons
in each imply 9 lakh new jobs Impetus to rural handicraft industry and cottage
industry products
Conservative estimate of 64 lakh new jobs
Jobs hence created are perennial in nature
Vocational Training to Supplement increased employment opportunities
Vocational training to be introduced for 9th, 10th,
11th and 12th classes
Training in all aspects, plus specialization in some,
like mechanics, gardening, cooking etc.
Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), IIT Bombay
Technological inputs of IIT Bombay to Rural
development
Involved in design and development of technologies to
rural areas
The current working areas of CTARA include farm
machinery, food processing, low cost housing,
renewable energy, water management, rural industry
etc.
District level Resource Management and training by
CSRE based on GIS, GRAM++ package.
Centre for Rural Development and Technology, IIT Delhi
Support activities such as academic activities, R & D and pilot scale evaluation of rural technologies and technology transfer
Objectives: Identify problems of the rural sector requiring science
and technology inputs and solve within the paradigm of sustainable development
Generate a sustainable technology base by blending appropriately modern with traditional knowledge
Orissa Project (Project SANJOG)
Covering a cluster of 17 tribal villages under Chadeyapalli Gram Panchayat of Daspalla block in Nayagarh District of Orissa
Activities includes construction of village road using largely labour-based technologies, promotion of suitable IMTs including bicycles, launching community bus service, etc.
It is a rural development model to address the access and infrastructure needs of the rural and tribal
communities based on community centred approach
PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas)
Announced by The President on the eve of 54th
Republic day of India, aims at providing amenities
similar to urban areas to the rural people
Cluster based approach to achieve uniform
development for rural
PURA is to be implemented in 4,130 rural clusters
across the country in the next five years
PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas)
Creating following types of connectivity within them: Road, Transport and Power
Electronic (IT, Telecom)
Knowledge( Educational Training Institutes)
Market Connectivity
Warana Co-operative, Maharashtra
One of the forerunner of successful integrated rural
development resulting from co-operative movement
Major activities involved are: Provide computerized facilitation booths in 70
villages, which are linked up to control computer network
Provide Tele-education to both primary and Higher Education institutes by developing IT centres at most popular points
IIT Madras model for district level IT education implementation can be a good model
Bio-Diesel
Transesterfied vegetable oil derived from oils of plants & animals
Plant sources – Mahua, Jatropha, Neem, Castor etc.
Similar to diesel fuels with same physical characteristics
Biodegradable fuel, devoid of sulphur and low in emissions
Neat bio-diesel has 13% less energy than diesel fuel hence 7 % Neat bio-diesel has 13% less energy than diesel fuel hence 7 %
loss of power loss of power
Disadvantages
Bio-Diesel – The Next Generation Sustainable Fuel
Bio Diesel is a substitute for, or an additive to, diesel fuel that is derived from the oils and fats of plants, like Sunflower, Canola or Jatropha
Bio Diesel is a renewable domestically produced liquid fuel that can help reduce the countries dependence on foreign oil imports
Production of Bio-diesel fuel will also boost the rural economy which will bring more enthusiasm in more than one billion lives in the area
Also it will provide technological and employment generation focuses for the rural sector. Use of eleven million hectares of wasteland for Jetropha cultivation can lead to generation of minimum twelve million jobs
Approach of Other Organizations
PMGSY aims at Total Transformation of Rural India
and road connectivity should do it to a large extent
Planting of fruit trees, flowers and medicinal
plants on road side. This will generate employment
and revenue for panchayats
Punchayat Raj’s and NGO could join hands to
provide sustainable maintenance of rural roads
Some of the villages with special heritage
characteristics could start Rural Tourism
The Centre proposes to electrify 62,000 villages
through grid power, during the 10th Five-Year Plan
(2002-07) under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodhaya
Yojana
electrified through decentralized plants based on
biomass, gasification of biomass, hydro power,
solar energy, wind energy etc.
Approach of Other Organizations (cont…)
Biomass is and will remain central to any strategy
for determining a rural energy solution
To have at least one model rural road in each
district/ taluka
40,000 villages have been targeted for
electrification. This may be taken up through solar
power lighting, Intelligent Street lights, etc.
Huge allocation for rural infrastructure is significant
for accelerated development as well as rapid
improvement of quality of life in Indian villages
Approach of Other Organizations (cont…)
Providing Rural Amenities in Urban Areas (PRUA)
Process could be reversed for all the measures to
provide rural amenities in urban areas
Conclusions
NGO’s and Technical Educations’ can adopt districts for provision
of facilities to generate employment
Overall integrated measures will generate funds with panchayats
to provide sustained maintenance to roads and generate gainful
rural employment
In Budget 2006, as many as 40000 villages have been targeted for
electrification, this may be taken up through Solar Power Lighting,
Intelligent Street lights, etc.
Production of Bio-diesel fuel will provide technological and
employment generation focuses for the rural sectors
Rural connectivity can generate a number of jobs in terms of self-
employment resulting into advancement of livelihood in rural India,
leading to Transformation of Rural India