CPD-UNFPA
Programme on Population and Sustainable
Development
Paper 6 (Summary)
Impact of Development
Programmes on Environment and
Demographic Phenomena of the Ethnic
Minorities of Chittagong Hill
Tracts
Jyoti Prakash Dutta
INTRODUCTION
The
topography, people, economy and
above all the civil, revenue, judicial
and development administration of
CHT are quite different from those
of the rest of the country. About
96 per cent of the lands of CHT are
either hilly or bumpy on which agriculture
and other land-based activities,
as carried out in the plain districts,
are not feasible. The region is
inhabited by more than a dozen of
ethnic groups or tribes whose proportion
in the total population of CHT decreased
from more than 65 per cent in 1974
to less than 50 per cent in 1991.
The economy is predominantly based
on subsistence agriculture where Jhum cultivation or 'slash and burn'
or 'swidden' agriculture plays a
significant role. The three circle
chiefs or Rajas of CHT play
an important role particularly in
civil and revenue administration
vis-à-vis other apparatuses
of the government which is totally
absent in other parts of the country.
In respect of development administration
as well, two bodies, viz., Chittagong
Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB)
and Local Government Council(s)
- one for each of three hill districts,
created especially for CHT, play
a dominant role.
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Consideration
of the impact of development program
on the natural environment of a
region like CHT is of crucial importance
for ensuring the sustainable development
of the country. Although the environmental
Impact Analysis (EIA), which is
essentially an identification and
study of environmental repercussions
stemming from a development program
or a project, is largely the work
of natural scientists, economists
have a distinct role to play. Development
programs not only spread impacts
on the environment through ecological
linkages, these programs also create
many important environmental impacts
that spread through economic linkages.
Thus, to study the full range of
environmental impacts of any development
program, it is essential to include
not just physical impacts, but also
the ways in which people react and
adapt to the new facility.
But
in the case of CHT, it is observed
that for none of the major development
programs undertaken in the past,
no EIA whatsoever has been carried
out. One such major project is the
Karnafuli Multipurpose Project.
Consequently, the project resulted
in wide-ranging and far-reaching
environmental havocs in CHT. The
immediate fallout of the project
was the creation of a reservoir
comprising a huge area of 663 square
kilometers that submerged not only
40 per cent of total arable lands
of CHT, but also uprooted about
0.1 million tribal people from their
hearth and home, submerged thousands
of hectares of forest land and accelerated
deforestation through enhancing
navigation facilities and implementation
of rehabilitation and settlement
programs for the tribal displaced
by the project. Programs like horticultural
development and afforestation, particularly
through monospecies plantation of
teaks, also have serious environmental
impacts. However, the initiative
of undertaking EIA in CHT has recently
being taken by international donor
agencies like International Centre
for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD) and UNDP.
OBJECTIVES
The
main objective of the study is to
investigate the impacts of development
programs undertaken by different
government and non-government organisations
on the natural environment, demographic
phenomena and quality of life of
the ethnic minorities of Chittagong
Hill Tracts (CHT) at a general level.
METHODOLOGY
The
study was undertaken on the basis
of both secondary and primary data.
Demographic and socio-economic data,
which relates to the demographic
phenomena and quality of life of
the ethnic minorities was collected
through administering a pre tested
structured questionnaire. Data was
collected from 400 sample households,
134 from the Rangamati and Bandarban
districts and the remaining 132
households from the Khagrachari
district. The environmental impact
analysis was carried out mostly
with secondary data published in
various Statistical Yearbooks of
Bangladesh and Plan documents and
data collected from Bangladesh Forest
Industrial Development Corporation
(BFIDC), Bangladesh Fisheries Development
Corporation (BFDC), CHTDB, etc.
and also on the basis of findings
of some relevant studies undertaken
by natural scientists in this regard.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Impact
of Development Programs on Demographic
Phenomena
The overall impact of development
programs on the demographic phenomena
and quality of life of the ethnic
minorities of CHT is not encouraging.
The basic demographic characteristics
and vital demographic processes
observed for the ethnic minorities
of CHT indicate that the tribal
population is growing over time
like that of other parts of Bangladesh,
which has profound implications
for the natural environment of CHT
so far as its sustainability of
development is concerned.
Impact
of Development Programs on Quality
of life
The quality of life - which was
measured in the light of economic
condition and the state of general
health, mother and child care, water
and sanitation - of the ethnic minorities
of CHT portrays a very gloomy picture
compared to the prevailing rural
Bangladesh and calls for more attention
and care in these respects from
the government as well as donor,
UN agencies and NGOs.
CONCLUSION
Major
development programs undertaken
so far in CHT have been observed
to have not gone through proper
environmental impact analysis (EIA)
before implementation. As a result
these programs or projects
have exerted many negative impacts
on the natural environment of that
area. A few of these programs are:
the Karnafuli Multipurpose Project,
monospecies plantation (particularly
of teak), horticulture and fruit
gardening, rehabilitation and resettlement
programs. These programmes have
not only impacted the environment
adversely, but have also brought
about many irreversible natural
resource losses of the area.
Since
political unrest persisted in
the area for a long time, most
of the development interventions
were directed primarily towards
resolving political problems through
economic means. The CHTDB and
Local Government Councils were
basically created with this end
in view. Consequently, in spite
of spending huge amounts of money
every year in the name of development,
the activities of these two bodies
could not make any significant
dent into the massive economic
and social problems of the ethnic
minorities of CHT. On the contrary,
it is observed that although many
economic and social infrastructures
like roads, schools, health centres,
youth training centers, sports
and cultural complexes, etc.,
have been constructed in the area
in the last three decades, most
of these have remained virtually unutilised.
Without resolving
the basic political problem that
has engulfed the area since independence
in 1971, any kind of development
intervention was considered by
the ethnic minorities as a form
of aggression. As a result, development
programs in CHT more or less failed
to bring about any sort of enthusiasm
in the economic life of the ethnic
minorities. Instead, it was rather
observed that thousands of tribal
families either migrated to India
(many of whom, however, returned
after the signing of the peace accord)
or were forced to settle in different
types of villages created by the
then administration and became
absolutely dependent upon government
rations and cash doles. Thus,
the development programs pursued
in the area, in a nutshell, were
nothing more than some counter-insurgency
programs, which basically contributed
to environmental degradation through
deforestation and waste of public
funds. For the same reason, the
development programs undertaken
by the government and different
donor agencies also could not
impact the demographic characteristics
and processes or the quality of
life of the ethnic minorities
to the extent warranted by the
sustainability of development
of the region. Such a development
experience of CHT pinpoints one
basic weakness of the neoclassical
concept of development that usually
prescribes a development program
or project for a particular area
or a country based on the theory
of production function without
either considering the vital question
of sustainability or prior ensuring
the participation of the people
of that area or country. The significance
of the questions of sustainability
and people's participation and
involvement is more pronounced
in an area like CHT where the
natural environment and the demographic
characteristics of the population
of those areas are more susceptible
to any kind of development intervention
than those of the rest of the
country.
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Pages: 57
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