Living with Wetlands: A Case Study from the Wetlands ( Beels ) of Barpeta District, Assam - Aquatic Ecosystem: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation - page 318

The decadal growth rate of population is 20 %
during 1991-2001, which is still high. A rising
population imposes greater economic burden,
and consequently, society has to make a much
greater effort to initiate the process of growth.
The economically stressed populations are
mostly concentrated in the low-lying areas and
are never spared from fl ood hazards. As a result
of that they are largely dependent on casual
labour. These workers get low wages and are
unable to fi nd employment throughout the year.
The position of agricultural marketing is still
deplorable. Most of the farmers do not have facil-
ities for storing his produce. The average farmer
is so poor and indebted that he does not have the
capacity to wait for better prices. He is forced to
sell his output to the money lender or to the trad-
ers. Diffi cult terrain and lack of government
attention are some of the basic factors which are
responsible for poor transport and communica-
tion facilities. Maintenance of a clean administra-
tion is very essential for achieving sound level of
development. But administrative machinery
especially low-level hierarchy in rural area is nei-
ther effi cient nor clean. The proportion of child
population in the 0-14 age group was 45 % in
2001. The principal reason for a higher child pop-
ulation in the area is the high birth rate. The den-
sity of population in the study area rose to 190
persons per km 2 in 1931 and signifi cantly jumped
to 304.2 persons per km 2 in 2001. The situation in
primary education as it is obtained today is that
the study area has reached a gross enrolment
level of 20.27 % at the primary level, but despite
this, the rate of literacy achieved is only 56.26 %.
In the case of rural females, the literacy rate is as
low as 23 %. It is really socking that in some vil-
lages, female literacy is even below 12 %. Owing
to the low-lying nature of the zone, people are
victimized by the water-borne diseases like jaun-
dice, cholera , malaria and pox. Health centres
are not yet well developed in the respective area.
It is noted that people of the fl ood-affected areas
have learnt to live with the fl oods from their age-
old practices and techniques, which need further
studies and appreciation so that the people can
have better output for a better living. A multilay-
ered agricultural system could be recommended

system, wet paddy cultivation should be given
priority in the fl ood-affected areas along with the
implementation of aquaculture especially piscicul-
ture in bigger ways than the existing practices.

Impacts of Physical, Chemical
and Biological Aspects on Fish
Productivity

The physical, chemical and biological informa-
tion have relevance in fi sh production, and they
play a major role in the overall improvement of
fi sh productivity. The obtained data on these
aspects are summarized hereunder.

Physical Aspects of Wetlands ( Beels )
Depth (m) : 0.9-3.4
Width (m) : 85-200
Transparency (cm) : 25.4-110.0
Water temperature ( ° C) : 21-25

Chemical Aspects of Wetlands ( Beels )
The details of the chemical characteristic of the
wetlands are presented in Tables 19.9 , 19.10 ,
19.11 , 19.12 , 19.13 , 19.14 , 19.15 , 19.16 , 19.17 ,
and 19.18 .

Biological Aspects of Wetlands ( Beels )
Phytoplankton : 0.7-7.4 ml/100 l
Types :
Myxophyceae
Microcystis sp.
Chlorophyceae
Pediastrum duplex, Volvox sp ., Sirogoniumstictatum,
Zygnema sp ., Eudorina sp ., Staurastrum sp .,
Spirogyra sp ., Closterium sp .

Chrysophyceae
Dinobryon sp .
Dinophyceae
Ceratium sp.
Zooplankton :0.85-3.5 ml/100 l
Types
Rotifera
Polyarthra vulgaris, Keratella cochlearis,
Asplanchna priodonta, Asplanchna bright-
welli, Brachionus sp ., Trichocerca capucina,
Horaela brehmii
Copepoda