The Hindu : Kerala News : Panchayat Resource Mapping programme on

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 31, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Panchayat Resource Mapping programme on

By K.P. Pushparaj

KASARAGOD, JAN. 30. The Panchayat Resource Mapping (PRM) programme, an ambitious project of the State Government aimed at preparing a database of the resources and other details of all the panchayats in the State, is progressing.

According to the Land Use Board authorities, the programme has been completed in the districts of Thrissur and Palakkad and the maps and the reports have been handed over to the panchayats concerned. In Ernakulam and Kozhikode, the programme is nearing completion, whereas in Malappuram and Kannur, it will be completed soon, sources said.

But a faster completion of the mapping programme will help the authorities set their development agenda scientifically based on the most-useful catalogue being prepared by the Kerala Land Use Board.

The PRM is essentially a participatory programme that involves the mapping of assets, land use and water resources of individual plots by trained volunteers.

The generated outputs in the form of maps and database are made available to the grama panchayats to assist them in chalking out development programmes in the present concept of decentralised planning.

Land degradation

Apart from this, the Board has also been researching on the different parameters that contribute to land degradation in the State and spatially delineate the same and to identify the causes of degradation and suggest control/reclamation measures.

The Board has also identified and mapped the wastelands in six districts — Kasaragod, Kannur, Malappuram, Wayanad, Palakkad, and Idukki.

The fact is that even before the Board was entrusted with the task of gathering and cataloguing the panchayat resources, some of the local bodies had similar documents at their disposal. However, it was seldom used for any practical purposes.

Udma panchayat here, for example, had as many as 17 resource maps, unused for any development planning or purpose, till date.

These maps have the sketches in detail about the various resources such as land and soil types, water bodies, irrigation, landscapes and others in the panchayat.

According to the panchayat authorities, it was about a decade ago that the Centre for Earth Sciences Study (CESS) had conducted the study and the panchayat kept them as a document.

Environment protection

Nevertheless, the new initiatives taken by the Government in mapping the resources in all panchayats will not only help for the meaningful utilisation of the resources but also help protect the environment.

According to the Board authorities, the PRM will be an extremely useful document for the panchayat in their project planning and effective implementation. But the question is how seriously the panchayats will utilise these maps in planning projects and in the development of the panchayats.

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