Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Barpeta district of Assam has high potential
for fi shery development (Patowari
1983
), with
about 130 ha of cultured ponds and 1,560 ha of
beels
. Production from the riverine sources, over
the years, remained stagnant due to various rea-
sons and so also from the
beel
. Like other parts of
the Brahmaputra fl oodplain zones of Assam, the
southern part of Barpeta district was also once a
place with very thin population because of its
lowland character. These lowlands are full of
aquatic resources (Sarma
2007
; Patra
1990
). The
beels
are in the verge of extinction due to high
rate of encroachment of marginal population,
high growth rate of weeds, siltation, blocking of
mouth of the beels and other developmental
activities in and around the wetlands carried out
during the last few decades (Bhuyan et al.
2009
).
However, it can be recognized as a potential
source of high quantum of fi sh production for the
state. The present study attempts to assess how
the local livelihood issues are related to the natu-
ral resources base of the region and what ways
people are adapting to the changing situation.
The study also aims at exploring new avenues of
livelihood in the background of shrinking
resource base though the role of aquatic resources
have appeared quite promising as the income
source. Apart from this, the study will examine to
what extent the people of the district can be able
to depend on existing aquatic resources as their
perennial income source in the socioeconomic
regional framework. Also attempt has been made
to understand whether the aquatic sector has the
potentiality to stand as an alternative to liveli-
hood in the phase of diminutive agriculture.
The studies related to the culture and liveli-
hoods generated from the wetlands have become
a global concern (William and Comish
2008
).
Small-scale fi sheries provide employment for
millions of fi sheries directly engaged in fi shing
activities, including rural aquaculture, and for
millions more working fi shery-related activities
such as processing and marketing, boat building
and net making (FAO
2008
). The aquaculture has
signifi cant role in eradicating the hunger and
poverty among the villagers which are solely
dependent on wetland resources. However, a
policy framework is essential for the long-term
sustainability of the world's fi sheries and the
long-term employment of those who rely on the
aquaculture industry for their livelihoods (Haylor
2004
). Tengo and Belfrage (
2004
) summarized
complex relationship between the different levels
of interventions in connection among wetlands'
functions, uses and values. In India the poorest
sector of the society are mostly engaged in the
fi shery sector (DFID
2003
). It is encouraging that
besides other resources even the wetland weeds
also could be commercially utilized for their rare,
endangered, threatened and vulnerable status.
These all have been done in the wetlands of
Gujarat (Dholakia
2004
). For India it is highly
necessary for the government to develop imagi-
native and practical way to enable fi shing com-
munities to be more self-suffi cient (Ramakrishna
2008
), whether through increase local control,
health and education programmes or assistance
with the development of sustainable livelihoods
(IDRC
2008
).
Methods
Study Area
The study area comprises of two developmental
blocks of Barpeta district of Assam, viz., Barpeta
and Paka-Betbari with 136 villages and few small
growing service centres. The area is situated
between 26°18
′
N to 26°28
′
N latitudes and
90°59
E longitudes. The area is
drained by Manas and Beki rivers which join in
the south with the mighty river Brahmaputra. The
Manas and Beki river systems have made the area
fertile, and 95 % of the total population solely
depends on agriculture. Due to the abundance of
wetlands, about 3.5 % of the population are
engaged in aquaculture and the remaining 1.5 %
on livestock. River-induced lowlands are mostly
common in the area. Being the braided nature of
the channels, they always tend to shift their
courses in accordance with the geological texture
(Bora and Barman
1998
). When a river shifts its
courses, the abandoned channel appears as a
lowland or
beel
(Bhagabati et al.
2007
). At present
68.45 km
2
of the study area (22.58 %) are occupied
′
E to 91°13
′
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