[Purnendu Kavoori]

What you say is true in a general sense. There are however excellent exceptions. It would be good to know more about them.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Do we have any information on how local fisher communities are responding to this or even what the think about the impact of these changes?

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Is there any documentation of policy change in the way governments look at fire. There would be colonial records that indicate the views shaping policy. I am sure there are statements that can be culled from forest dept proceedings or other departments of government which reveal the basis and orientation behind policy on fire. We have some idea of what this has been in respect to slash and burn or jhoom cultivation for example. Is there anything like a comprehensive policy document on fires and how they are to be approached. I am no expert in the field but this is something that a young researcher might want to take up.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Dumping is also a matter of scale. In my experience the very large scale dumping gets a lot of attention for obvious reasons. It is also necessary to document and think about ways of coping with small scale dumping. This largely goes unnoticed but is so pervasive that it surely has a collective impact. In rural areas in particularly I have noticed small scale litter and plastics collecting in and around open spaces. While much of this is probably distributed randomly, the commons are a frequent location for dumping of this kind. Rarely however is dumping a matter that is discussed in our conversations around commons.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

It would be useful to have examples from peoples experiences that validate or question the observation made by Aryan, from Karnataka or elsewhere. People engaged in field research and engagement will not doubt have rich information in this regard. Perhaps the OP can provide examples from his own field experience by way of illustration.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

There is some evidence of tendencies of this sort in the case of Orans in western Rajasthan. I mean the process of enclosure that seemingly accompanies the building of larger temple structures. Our assumption frequently is that the presence of a sacred character lends itself automatically to a sense or culture of commoning. This is true in many cases but not always. once communities invest in elaborating the physical infrastructure of these spaces it is often accompaned by processes of enclosure and indirect exclusion.

By way of example we have seen this pattern in the case of an oran and pond or nadi by the name Sial mata ka Oran. Here is a fairly old nadi and Oran (indicated by age of trees) which has an annual mela or fair. The increasing popularity of the mela has now lead to the construction of a larger temple premises and facilities for devotees. This has been accompanied by an extensive mesh fencing of the sacred grove that forms part of the catchment (or angor) of the nadi. This process of enclosure will probably have consequences of exclusion (most directly for animals) although we have not studied this outcome in particular.

We have seen this sort of pattern happening in other cases in western Rajasthan also. I would not however go to the extent of questioning the relevance or usefulness of a commons framework to understand these processes as suggested by the OP.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Hello Vishnu, this is a very interesting post. It would be useful if you can provide some information on the particular yatra you had seen or participated in. I am told that such jathres are a widespread feature of Karnataka and Andhra. Each has a name and is associated with a locality. It would be wonderful if we could map some of these yatras and get more detailed information on the practices associated with them. If you could send a photograph or two and more specific information it would help us begin to get a more detailed idea of the phenomenon.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

This village is by name akhawas in Nagaur Rajasthan. It’s located in the border between nagaur, ajmer and Pali. We visited the village today to know more of the initiative. It took place some two year ago and was undertaken by the panchayat the sarpanch lives in another village so we could not find much except that there still is a lot of competitive encroachment among powerful obc castes.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Hi, I agree with the basic point that a mirror is needed to help primary user community recognise what is happening in their lives. My own experience with the declining open wells in the Luni river landscape in Rajasthan is similar. Here a successful agriculture based on shallow open wells that were rechargeable by the flow of the river has been destroyed and replaced by an unsustainable agriculture based on very deep tube wells. However the tragedy of the change has to be visualised and represented in a way that community can start discussing and debating on the future scenario and implementation. Wells should i think be seen as common property although it would be a radical change in our thinking. BTW Can you explain the chart a little. I could not follow it.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

This is a very interesting comment on women and fishery. In coastal areas the fishing work seems to be widely divided between men and women in a way that the men are the fishers and the women handle everything after the catch lands. The marketing and business side is handled completely by women. If I am not wrong the example you have given is that of inland fishery. So here also the role of women is coming out strongly. As far as know there is not much being discussed on women and inland fishing practices. Perhaps because the scale is small and scattered it is not considered important enough for discussion. I wonder if there is information on this from other parts of the country. One of the problems with small scale fishing is that of ‘reproduction’, i.e how to make sure that the system is sustainable. Commercial contracts can sometimes be destructive and the system collapses. Does women’s involvement have some kind of positive role in ensuring that the reproduction of the resource is maintained. What are the institutions and practices that produce such result. There is a lot to be searched for and compared between different parts of the country.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Yes, these are the ones. Only 109 rupees for a fistful!

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Lovely story Himani,
Not exactly relevant, but My own childhood memory of a ‘forbidden’ plant was Dhatura of which the seeds were said to be poisonous. These would be found growing on the roadsides of the cart tracks and footpaths around the village. We were strictly forbidden to eat it, but it was a very attractive seed, red in colour with a black eye. It would grow in bunches and we would collect it and carry a fistful in the pockets of our half pants. I remember being told that goldsmiths used it to weigh gold!.

[Purnendu Kavoori]

Just wondering If there are other such instances in different parts of the country. How effective is public action in protecting landmark trees

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