Problems of Induced Displacement

The development-induced displacement in India is very prominent like other developing countries. Rural communities are the worst sufferer of this issue and it causes severe issues in terms of socio-cultural aspects and economic aspects as well. Displacement in India is caused mainly by developmental projects or sometimes it takes place due to the climate issues. The developmental based displacement causes severe harm to the most marginalised and poorest people of India and causes loss of traditional livelihood and environmental destruction also.  

Problems of induced displacement

Induced displacement is carried out by the government with the view to speed up the pace of development within the country. However, many problems arise due to this development-induced displacement. Rural and most marginalised communities are the most vulnerable resection of the society and they are found to face the hardest hit by these displacement issues. Different kinds of losses have been encountered due to this induced displacement issues from socio-cultural aspects to economic aspects. 

Problems related to development-induced displacement in India

Displacement of people has been caused by several reasons and developmental projects are the most common reason in India for removing people from their native place. Many times, the Indian government takes different initiatives for making dams, reservoirs, power plant and hydel projects, even for the urban developmental projects. Displacement is also caused by the extraction of natural resources. At the time of a developmental project or any kind of mining project, people of that place need to be removed for the successful completion of the project. That is why this kind of displacement is called development-induced displacement. Development is the inevitable event to keep pace with the modernization but these developmental phenomena are found to cause different issues on human life and livelihood. In India, these types of cases of induced displacement are very common like any other developing nation. In order to enhance the growth aspects of the country, like other developing nations, India is also focused on developmental projects but it is done with the cost of rural people’s life and livelihood. A study has revealed that around 10 % of rural people are getting displaced in India for the development project. 

Social problems and cultural problems

The rural tribal people of Kerala are found most affected by this induced displacement as it causes thousands of tribal people of Kerala to move from their own residents. The problems of induced displacement can be categorised into several sections as social issues, cultural issues and economic issues. Different kinds of social issues such as environmental destruction as for the developmental projects, the Indian government is found to remove many forest areas which are the main tribal dwellings. Forest and resources of forest are the main objective of their occupation. The life and livelihood of tribal people depended on this forest. Different kinds of sociological issues have arisen due to the development-induced displacement. Many cultural rituals are observed by the tribal people and forests or trees are at the centre of these rituals. Different cultural issues have been developed because of this development based displacement as different forest areas have been cut to make development projects. Therefore it can be evaluated that social as well as cultural problems can be caused because of this induced development. However, to safeguard the interest of rural people, legislation has been made under “the colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894”. 

Economic problems of displaced people

The economic problems are also generated by this induced displacement as displacement people are found to lose their traditional livelihood when they have to move to another place. The loss of traditional livelihood makes them more vulnerable as they are the most marginalised section of the society. Many times, for the governmental development projects, lots of tribal or rural people had to be removed from their native place which caused severe loss of their own property and traditional occupation. As the rural or tribal people have not that much of an education level, the chances of getting a sophisticated job is very less. Therefore after the displacement, these people have to face severe difficulty in terms of economic loss as well as cultural and sociological loss. 

Induced displacement based on climate

The induced-displacement is also caused by the climatic factors which are also forcing people to move from their native place to other residents. Climate based issues such as volcanic eruption, landslide; tropical storms, earthquake, floods and tidal waves can cause huge issues in human life. These types of natural calamities can cause severe havoc in human life and livelihood. Mainly people from village area or mountain or coastal site people are mainly found to face such type of climate based issues. As a result of these natural calamities, people have to displace from their place being homeless. Therefore this type of induced-displacement is regarded as climate induced displacement. 

Conclusion 

It can be concluded that displacement of people is caused by both developmental projects as well as due to climate based issues. The displaced people are found to face huge issues in terms of economic distress, socio-cultural losses. Loss of traditional livelihood and environmental loss are the main issues which are encountered by the induced displacement problem.