South Asia Regional Workshop – Bhubaneswar
March, 16-18, 2006
Key-note Address on
“Sustaining Rural Livelihoods: Access
& Mobility-Community Based
Initiatives”
By
Prof S L Dhingra
Transportation Systems Engineering
IIT Bombay
http://www.iitb.ac.in/~dhingra
Introduction
Environment
Physical
 Abiotic – Nonliving things &
processes
 Biotic – Organisms and
biological processes
 Ecological - Interaction between
above two types
Social
 Personal – Specific Individuals
 Interpersonal – Interaction of
group of individuals
 Institutional – Dynamics of social
system e.g. legal, political &
religious Institutions
Problem Domain
Human Activities
Increasing
Industrialization &
Urbanization
Exploitation of Natural
Resources
Pollution
Objectives
 Promotion of sustainable development & human
welfare
 To avoid serious & irreversible environmental
damage
 Protection of natural resources & ecological
components
 To take care of social aspects
 Improved environmental design of the proposed
projects
Sustainable Development Concept
Stability achieved for both social & physical systems
by satisfying present needs without compromising
need of future generations
Our transportation decisions and investments today
should expand, and not limit to the economic,
ecological, and social choices available to future
generations
Main Components
SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT: :MAIN
MAINCOMPONENTS
COMPONENTS&&INDICATIVE
INDICATIVEISSUES
ISSUES
SUSTAINABLE
EnvironEnviron
Environmental
mental
Technology
Technology
Fuels
Fuels
AirPollution
Pollution
Air
Social
Social
Economic
Economic
Equity
Equity
Regulation
Regulation
Laws
Laws
Health
Health
Implications
Implications
Investment
Investment
Transp.
ininTransp.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure
LandUse
Use
Land
Planning
Planning
Policies
Policies
Political
Political
DemograDemograDemographic
phic
Pricing
Pricing&&Policies
Policiesto
to
support
Transp.
support Transp.
Elements of Sustainability
Ecological
To preserve dynamic ability of biophysical system
Social
To stress on elimination of poverty & protect rights
of future generations
Economic
To focus economic welfare
Moving Towards Sustainability

Smoother traffic flow and reduced congestion
 Reduced fuel consumption
 Reduced emissions
 Encourage use of public transport
 Improve highway safety
 Reduced delays and increased efficiency
SPARTACUS System
Old System
 SPARTACUS – System for Planning &
Research in Towns and Cities for Urban
Sustainability
 Funded by European Commission
 Tested in : Helsinki (Finland), Bilbao
(Spain), Naples (Italy)
Environment
Society
 Essentially adds Environmental &
societal parameters in old system
SPARTACUS System
(Source: http:// www.ltcon.fi/spartacus/
)
Spartacus System
Environmental indicators
Air Pollution
Emissions of
greenhouse gases from
transport
EAGT
t/1000 inh./a
(tonnes per th.
inhabitants / annum)
EAAT
Meq/1000inh./a
EAOC
t/1000inh./a
Consumption of mineral
oil products
ERMO
1000 t/1000 inh./a
Land coverage
ERLC
%points
Consumptions of
construction material
ERCM
1000 m2/1000 inh./a
Emissions of acidifying
cases from transport
Emissions of organic
Compounds from
transport
Consumption of
natural resources
Spartacus System (cont…)
Social indicators
Exposure to particulate
matter in the living
environment
SHEP
Exposure to nitrogen
dioxide in the living
environment
SHED
%points
Exposure to carbon
monoxide in the living
environment
SHEN
%points
Exposure to noise in the
living environment
SHEN
%points
Traffic deaths
SHTD
#1000inh./a
Traffic injuries
SHTI
#1000inh./a
Justice of exposure to
particular
SEJP
-
Justice of exposure to CO
SEJD
-
Justice of exposure to
noise
SEJN
-
%points
Health
Equity
Segregation
SES
%points
Spartacus System (cont…)
Social indicators
Total time spent in
traffic
Accessibility to
services
Opportunities
SOTT
-SOAS
Level of service of
public transport and
slow modes
SOPT
Vitality of city centre
SOVC
Accessibility to the
centre
SOAC
-
-
Economic indicators
Total benefits
ECU/capita/a
Impacts During Construction and Operation
Impacts
During
 Construction
 Operation

Travel

Economic

Social

Environmental / Ecological
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Building Knowledge Corridors
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Creating Pathways to Development
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Expanding Social Opportunities
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Roads to Prosperity
Purpose of Technology Transfer
 How the Benefits like economic, social, political etc.
and the ongoing projects in Rural India, their
strengthening /empowerment can bring in total
transformation
of
Rural
India
Role of Provision of Rural Connectivity and
Accessibility
 Rural people can have easy access to trade, education,
health and employment
 Villages situated near roads are more prosperous than those
situated far from roads
 Similarly for the same distances, 23% of workers in villages
take to non-agricultural activities compared to 16% and 12%
at 5 & 8 kms distances respectively
 Even overall well-being, measured by mobility and
ownership of assets and amenities, improves by 32%
through proximity to the road
NGO’s – Technical Educations’ Role
Adoption of districts for Provision of facilities like

Employment (creation of jobs of perennial nature),

Transportation & communication,
 Water
supply/energy,

Management training of rural youth, and

Sustainable projects for quality of life.
Suggestions for Funding for T & C projects
 Financing of Rural Transportation Projects
 Cess on Marketing Societies like Food Corporation
of India (FCI)
 Punjab Model using cess on agricultural produce
by marketing societies to raise funds on perennial
basis for rural road construction and maintenance
 Growing fruit trees on the roadside for the purpose
of generation of employment and beautification
Suggestions for Funding for T & C projects
 Increased mobility and vehicle ownership through
rural connectivity
 Establishing co-operative vehicle maintenance
workshops for cluster of villages by vocationally
trained school children
 Identifying the tourism and Heritage/Historically
potential villages
Village Level Transport
 Pedestrian based transport activities take up a huge
proportion of the active working day
 Differential burden on women – collecting firewood
and water
 Need for better transport and transport infrastructure
 Improvement of accessibility and mobility by the
drivers of the villages.
Impact of Rural Transport and Poverty
Alleviation
 The most immediate poverty-alleviating effect of
road investment is the local employment created in
both improvement and maintenance
 Enhancing labour-based methods in these
investments will lead to short-term employment
generation
 Roads act as a catalyst to development
Impact of Rural Transport on Agriculture
 Cultivation of bigger areas
 Utilization of more fertile, though remote, soils
 Production of heavier and better crops and cash
crops
 Increased utilization of fertilizers and manure
 Reduction in spoilage at crop harvest time
 Better marketing
Social Impacts of Rural Transport
Education
Attendance levels low in schools due to lack of
access
 Teachers not attracted because of remoteness

Health
Better access to hospitals
 Mobile health centres

Social Impacts of Rural Transport
Empowerment
Labour based construction methods provide useful
cash supplement
 Training in necessary skills is required

Improved access to markets and towns
More involvement of rural folk in the cash economy
 Better access to urban markets leads to marginal
savings on transport costs

Increased Production

Better access to markets leads to increase in farm
and agricultural production
Increasing Demand for Rural Transport
Services
 Interconnectivity of rural infrastructure
 Improving
the
flow
of
information
through
telecommunication
 Provision of rural markets and storage facilities
 Complimentary
interventions
investments
to
rural
transport
Increased employment through increased
access
 Improved
conditions
agricultural
and
production:
increased
better
demand
of
living
various
services, like hospitals, markets, banks etc.
 Training for operators, mechanics, drivers to help
reduce maintenance costs and reduce accidents
 Fostering
a
strong
entrepreneurial
maximize the use of assets
culture
to
Increased employment through increased
access (cont…)
 Changes in transport regulations to allow use of less
conventional vehicles, bringing new services
 Providing subsidies for plying vehicles in local areas
 Tourism
 identifying
 Bread
tourist attractions in villages
and Breakfast stops
 Plantations in adjoining areas: employment
generation and environmental improvement
Better living conditions in villages will reduce
migration to urban areas
Job Creation Estimates
Workshops

1 workshop for 5 villages and 5 people per workshop
implies 1 lakh new jobs
Local plying of vehicles

3 drivers per village plying vehicles locally imply 3
lakh new jobs
Plantations

5 people working per village imply 5 lakh new jobs
Job Creation Estimates (contd..)
Tourism
3
bread and breakfast stops per village with 3
persons in each imply 9 lakh new jobs
 Impetus to rural handicraft industry and cottage
industry products
Conservative estimate of 64 lakh new jobs
Jobs hence created are perennial in nature
Vocational Training to Supplement
increased employment opportunities
 Vocational training to be introduced for 9th, 10th,
11th and 12th classes
 Training in all aspects, plus specialization in some,
like mechanics, gardening, cooking etc.
Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural
Areas (CTARA), IIT Bombay
 Technological
development
inputs
of
IIT
Bombay
to
Rural
 Involved in design and development of technologies to
rural areas
 The current working areas of CTARA include farm
machinery, food processing, low cost housing,
renewable energy, water management, rural industry etc.
District level Resource Management and training by
CSRE based on GIS, GRAM++ package.
Centre for Rural Development and
Technology, IIT Delhi
Support activities such as academic activities, R
& D and pilot scale evaluation of rural
technologies and technology transfer
Objectives:

Identify problems of the rural sector requiring science
and technology inputs and solve within the paradigm
of sustainable development
 Generate
a sustainable technology base by blending
appropriately modern with traditional knowledge
Orissa Project (Project SANJOG)
 Covering a cluster of 17 tribal villages under Chadeyapalli
Gram Panchayat of Daspalla block in Nayagarh District of
Orissa
 Activities includes construction of village road using
largely labour-based technologies, promotion of suitable
IMTs including bicycles, launching community bus
service, etc.
 It is a rural development model to address the access
and infrastructure needs of the rural and tribal
communities based on community centred approach
PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural
Areas)
 Announced by The President on the eve of 54th
Republic day of India, aims at providing amenities
similar to urban areas to the rural people
 Cluster based approach
development for rural
to
achieve
uniform
 PURA is to be implemented in 4,130 rural clusters
across the country in the next five years
PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural
Areas)
Creating following types of connectivity within
them:

Road, Transport and Power

Electronic (IT, Telecom)

Knowledge( Educational Training Institutes)

Market Connectivity
Warana Co-operative, Maharashtra
 One of the forerunner of successful integrated rural
development resulting from co-operative movement
 Major activities involved are:
Provide computerized facilitation booths in 70
villages, which are linked up to control computer
network
 Provide Tele-education to both primary and Higher
Education institutes by developing IT centres at most
popular points

 IIT Madras model for district level IT education
implementation can be a good model
Bio-Diesel

Transesterfied vegetable oil derived from oils of plants &
animals
 Plant sources – Mahua, Jatropha, Neem, Castor etc.
 Similar to diesel fuels with same physical
characteristics
 Biodegradable fuel, devoid of sulphur and low in
emissions
Disadvantages
Neat bio-diesel has 13% less energy than diesel fuel hence 7 %
loss of power
Bio-Diesel – The Next Generation
Sustainable Fuel
Bio Diesel is a substitute for, or an additive to, diesel fuel
that is derived from the oils and fats of plants, like Sunflower,
Canola or Jatropha

 Bio Diesel is a renewable domestically produced liquid
fuel that can help reduce the countries dependence on
foreign oil imports
 Production of Bio-diesel fuel will also boost the rural
economy which will bring more enthusiasm in more than one
billion lives in the area
 Also it will provide technological and employment
generation focuses for the rural sector. Use of eleven million
hectares of wasteland for Jetropha cultivation can lead to
generation of minimum twelve million jobs
Approach of Other Organizations
 PMGSY aims at Total Transformation of Rural India
and road connectivity should do it to a large extent
 Planting of fruit trees, flowers and medicinal
plants on road side. This will generate employment
and revenue for panchayats
 Punchayat Raj’s and NGO could join hands to
provide sustainable maintenance of rural roads
Approach of Other Organizations (cont…)
 Some of the villages with special
characteristics could start Rural Tourism
heritage
 The Centre proposes to electrify 62,000 villages
through grid power, during the 10th Five-Year Plan
(2002-07) under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodhaya
Yojana
 electrified through decentralized plants based on
biomass, gasification of biomass, hydro power,
solar energy, wind energy etc.
Approach of Other Organizations (cont…)
 Biomass is and will remain central to any strategy
for determining a rural energy solution
 To have at least one model rural road in each
district/ taluka
 40,000 villages have been targeted for
electrification. This may be taken up through solar
power lighting, Intelligent Street lights, etc.
 Huge allocation for rural infrastructure is significant
for accelerated development as well as rapid
improvement of quality of life in Indian villages
Providing Rural Amenities in Urban Areas
(PRUA)
 Process could be reversed for all the measures to
provide rural amenities in urban areas
Conclusions
 NGO’s and Technical Educations’ can adopt districts for provision
of facilities to generate employment
 Overall integrated measures will generate funds with panchayats
to provide sustained maintenance to roads and generate gainful
rural employment
 In Budget 2006, as many as 40000 villages have been targeted for
electrification, this may be taken up through Solar Power Lighting,
Intelligent Street lights, etc.
 Production of Bio-diesel fuel will provide technological and
employment generation focuses for the rural sectors
 Rural connectivity can generate a number of jobs in terms of selfemployment resulting into advancement of livelihood in rural India,
leading to Transformation of Rural India