Common lands evolved as wastelands

COMMON LANDS EVOLVED AS WASTELANDS Poramboke, intent and evolution

OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
COMMON LAND
INTENT & USES
HISTORY
BRITISH REGIME
POST-
INDEPENDENCE
PRESENT
EVOLUTION OF
WASTELANDS
PORAMBOKE IN
CHENNAI
RELATION BETWEEN
FLOOD AND
PORAMBOKE CONCLUSION
1. ERI & TANK
SYSTEMS
2. BUCKINGHAM
CANAL
3. PALLIKARANAI
MARSH
4. ENNORE CREEK
MAJOR FLOODS
CAUSES
RELATION WITH
COMMON LANDS
2COMMON LANDS EVOLVED AS WASTELANDS |

LOCATION– CHENNAI
CHOLAS&HISTORYBRITISHREGIMEPOST-INDEPENDENCEPRESENT
T A M I L N A D U C H E N N A I
Chennai, as a city has evolved urban
wastelands.
The current scenario of the poromboke lands in
the city signifies the deteriorating nature of its
ecology.
These wastelands had tradition and purpose
associated to it in the history.
So it’s not only important to save them for its
tradition, but also safeguard the increasing
urbanization in these common lands.
These common lands were predominantly
associated with water tank for water
conservation in Tamil Nadu.

COMMON LAND – “Poramboke”
•The term was originally used by the Chola Dynasty for indicating the stretches of lands which were
reserved for shared communal uses which cannot be bought or sold.
• Poramboke is essentially a conjugation of two Tamil Words – Puram meaning outside and pokku refers to
books of accounts.
•Thus denotes that these lands are exempted from the taxes / revenue generation.
•Since there is no single ownership, crops are not grown in these common lands.

“Poramboke” – INTENT & USES
•The Tamils prided themselves on the richness of their culture, assigned special purpose for Poramboke
lands which helped to preserve the region’s ecological balance.
•This included rivers, river banks, eris (irrigation tanks), grazing and pasture lands, Kazhiveli (marshlands)
and salt pans.
•The ruling dynasties offered these lands for public use as the region suffered from seasonal droughts
and unprecedented rains.
•Thus these lands were widely used for water conservational purposes. Many lakes and ponds were built
on these common lands for varied public uses.
•Few lands were also used for seasonal cropping to generate revenue for public uses and also used for
grazing purpose for the domestic animals.

“Poramboke” – HISTORY
•Before the colonization by the British, the common land resources were under the control of villagers.
•A very large part of the country’s natural resources was freely available to the rural population. They
were largely under the control of local communities.
•In the Zamindari systems (landlord), the Zamindar claimed to be the owner of the entire area, both
cultivated and uncultivated. The uncultivated areas in the village was the common property of this
proprietary body.
•Thus, he would locate tenants to cultivate his lands, and tenants of longer standing could graze their
cattle and use the water resources.

“Poramboke” – UNDER BRITISH REGIME
•The concept of wastelands in India originated during the colonial period and included all lands that were
not under cultivation.
•During the colonial period, the State authorization of the private property rights in land was prevailing,
this resulted in separation of public and private lands. This facilitated the takeover of public lands by the
colonial government.
•The system of land classification post 1858, when the administration of Indian territories passed on from
the English East India Company to the British Crown, the colonial administration distinguished between the
cultivated and uncultivated lands.
•These Poramboke lands were not under cultivation, thus termed ‘Wasteland’, as it did not provide
revenue to the state.
•Thus it was declared to belong to the State and taken over by the revenue department. This classification
was primarily done to make revenue administration less tedious.

“Poramboke” – EVOLUTION OF WASTELANDS
•The land classification system failed to identify and acknowledge the traditional practices associated
with these poramboke lands.
•The poramboke lands were sought to be brought under revenue settlement.
•The policy of enclosures and fences was extended to India, and large chunks of common lands became
the property of the Crown.
• With the extension of the state control over these resources and the resultant decay of community
management systems, these common lands available to the villagers declined substantially over the
years.

“Poramboke” – POST INDEPENDENCE : GOVERNMENT POLICIES
•Due to the British land classification systems, the uncultivated lands are still considered to be government
property.
•In most of the states in the country, all the lands not under cultivation i.e., all wastelands and all forests,
were acquired by the State as a result of intermediary abolition (Planning Commission, 1966)
•Unfortunately, after independence, India continued with the 1927 Forest Act without much changes.
•The control over the forests and other natural resources continued to be under the Government.
•Forests, as in the past, it continued to be been managed by the Forest Department with the objectives of
revenue maximization; the department was mandated to focus on production function of forests.

“Poramboke” – POST INDEPENDENCE : GOVERNMENT POLICIES
•The Government overlooked the dependence of local communities on forest and the role of forests as
provider of benefits and services to the vast majority of rural population.
•The common lands were taken under the government control and the rights provided to the local
communities were slowly withdrawn, thus alienating the people further.
•The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 gave the power to take the common lands. The public who were using
these lands were displaced and suffered as the wastelands (common lands) they used to be never
compensated, thereby leading to increased distress for the poor.
•This complete exclusion of the public from the common lands, reduced the “spirit of ownership” of the
common lands and deteriorated the traditions and purposes associated with it.

“Poramboke” – LACK OF COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
•The Tamils were proud of their traditions and culture, and paid a lot of importance to the public spaces in the history.
•Even though the Governmental Policies led to the major depletion of the poromboke lands, the lack of interest and
reduction in the spirit of ownership in the community led to the isolation of these common lands from the daily usage.
•The people became more and more self-centered and lost interest in the elements which was once a major part of the
entire society.
• Private ownership was highly preferred and people set their boundaries and demarcation of their properties, and
paid no attention to the things outside their property.
•Thus led to the major neglecting of these poramboke lands. This also led to the disposal of sewage and garbage
dumping on to these poromboke lands.
•Governmental authorities who had influence in the planning bodies took advantage of this situation and encroached
these common lands and constructed illegal developments.

“Poramboke” – CURRENT SCENARIO
•Diminishing over time, and the land use being modified, these poramboke lands were illegally encroached.
•The Government overlooked these settlements, due to the corruption systems prevailing in the Government Authorities.
•Now, Chennai proudly houses education institutions, office and industrial complexes on reclaimed lakes, marshlands
and creeks.
• Rivers have turned into garbage dumps, tanks have been filled up to accommodate luxury villas and creeks have
been reclaimed to house thermal power complexes.
•Even the city’s airport is built on a flood plain. These are all essential buffers which kept the city safe from flooding.
•Unfortunately, the meaning of these “Poramboke Lands” has been modified and perceived negatively by the people
and the associated uses of these lands are completely forgotten. Even the people and the youngsters who are
supposed to know the intent of these poramboke lands, fail to understand its importance.

EVOLUTION OF WASTELANDS
HISTORY
• COMMUNAL USE
• ECOLOGICAL
CONSERVATION
• WATER CONSERVATION
ZAMIND
ARI
• LAND FOR RURAL PEOPLE
• ALLOCATED BY ZAMINDAR
FOR CULTIVATION &
WATER SOURCES
BRITISH
• LAND CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM
• NON CULTIVATED LANDS
AS WASTELANDS – AS
THERE IS NO REVENUE
• COMMON LANDS UNDER
CROWN
• DECAY OF COMMUNITY
MANAGEMENT
POST-
INDEPEN
DENCE
• NO CHANGE TO BRITISH
SYSTEM
• COMMON LANDS UNDER
GOVERNMENT
• OVERLOOKED
DEPENDENCE OF PUBLIC
• RIGHTS TO LOCAL
WITHDRAW
• TRADITONS DETERIORATED
• PUBLIC EXCLUSION
PRESENT
• ILLEGAL ENCROACHMENT
• GARBAGE DISPOSALS
• INDUSTRIES & OFFICES
• EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
• AIRPORT ON FLOOD
PLAIN
• USES AND VALUE IS
FORGOTTON
EVOLUTION OF WASTELANDS

“Poramboke” – CHENNAI
The four major “Common Lands” of the city, which is primarily required for the ecological balance of the
city which is under high threat are as follows,
1. Eri & Tank Systems
2. Buckingham Canal
3. Pallikaranai Marsh
4. Ennore Creek

MAJOR WATERSHEDS– CHENNAI

“Poramboke” – ERI and TANK Systems
•The absence of perennial river systems and also the flatness of Chennai’s parcel of land necessitated the
development of Eris or tanks to carry fresh water along with the neighboring districts of Tiruvallur and
Kanchipuram, many irrigation tanks dotted the cityscape because the city grew at a quick pace, earthen
tanks disappeared one by one, starving the city of the crucial conduits that channeled floodwaters out of
human habitations.
•Velachery eri currently spreads over fifty five acres as against its original area of 265 acres.
•From 214 acres, the Villivakkam eri has shrunken to less than twenty acres.
•The stories of the many others together with the Ambattur eri, the Madhavaram eri, the Rettai eri, the
Korattur eri and also the Pallavaram Lake are terribly similar.
•The banks of the Cooum and also the Adyar rivers are extensively abused with slum clearance board
settlements and airport runways created right the latter’s floodplains with utter disregard for native
hydrology and natural water flow.

“Poramboke” – ERI and TANK Systems
17
then now
COMMON LANDS EVOLVED AS WASTELANDS |

“Poramboke” – Buckingham Canal
•Though a man-made structure, the Buckingham Canal served as a
potent flood proof for the city additionally to providing inland
navigational transportation that it absolutely was originally
commissioned.
•The canal connects 3 of Chennai’s major waterways-the Kosasthalaiyar,
the Cooum and also the Adyar rivers additionally to accommodating
flood waters from all across city channeled by many medium and small
drains.
•Due to mindless encroachments and relentless pollution, the canal
currently finds itself in pass. From municipal waste matter to industrial
waste, the canal has since reworked into a deadly drain.
•Its dimension has reduced from the initial one hundred meters to but
thirty meters in several elements between Ennore and Muttukadu on the
East Coast.

19
then now

20
then now

21
then now

“Poramboke” – Pallikaranai Marsh
•Chennai’s largest kazhiveli, the Pallikaranai marsh complex.
•The huge composite floodplain, that once extended from the Indian Institute of
Technology field in Adyar to the Kovalam creek, has shriveled to but 500 acres from its
original 6000-acre expanse, a walloping 90% destruction of the marsh and related
ecosystem over a 50-year period.
•Given Chennai’s at parcel, the Pallikaranai marsh functioned as a vital floodplain holding
a number of the floodwaters before letting it all out into the Bay of Bengal via the
Buckingham Canal.
•While the National Institute of Ocean Technology and therefore the National Institute of
Wind Energy--both autonomous institutes established by the govt of India -sit right on the
marsh, the Velachery- Tambaram route and therefore the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam
200-feet-road cut during the land complex.
•With large building complexes concretizing major parts of the marsh, the floodwaters
currently have obscurity however within the offices and houses to travel to.
•This was proven throughout the 2015 floods wherever entire neighborhoods--like
Velachery, Madipakkam and Keelkattalai--along this stretch went below water for days
along.

25
then now

“Poramboke” – Ennore Creek
•One of the northern-most suburbs of Chennai town, Ennore has
been termed Chennai’s “worst environmental crime scene”.
•Ennore’s air and water are subject to constant pollution ever
since the thermal power plants created look within the space.
•Pipes carrying ash from power plants dump their nephrotoxic
contents within the Ennore creek on that the villagers from 3
neighboring hamlets rely on for his or her livelihoods.
•2000 acres of the land advanced are earmarked for
reclamation below Chennai’s masterplan, changing large
stretches of the creek into prime industrial property.
•Tamil Nadu Pollution control board (TNPCB), the Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the State Coastal
Zone Management Authority (SCZMA) and therefore the larger
Chennai Corporation for inept administration and therefore the
several regulative lapses that beyond any doubt have scripted
the good tragedy that Ennore is these days.

28
then now

RELATION BETWEEN “FLOODS” & “Poramboke”

MAJOR FLOODS OF CHENNAI IN HISTORY
•Chennai frequently experiences flooding due to heavy rain associated with
depressions & cyclones.
•Of which few catastrophic floods during 1903, 1918, 1943,1976, 1985,
1996, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2015 caused heavy damages.
•The city faces heavy downpour during October – December. In short,
Chennai is not starving for rain; it is starving for water which is due to
mismanagement of water storage.
•In 2015, Chennai received about 1049mm (41.3 in) rainfall only during
the month of November.

CAUSES OF CHENNAI FLOODS
•Chennai – is not an exceptional one from other metros which is suffering due to rapid urbanization.
•It is also contributing with the increase in floating population every year as it is a hub of all major
economic activities.
•What was present as a lake, tank or a canal, 20 years back has now been converted to residential,
institutional buildings.
•The city has grown without a plan and with no regard to water flows, and without anticipating extreme
weather events.
•With its encroached buildings, squatter settlements, Governmental projects on or along the waterbodies,
garbage and sewage disposal in the water bodies, increased siltation of the waterbodies, the city has
turned the effects of natural disaster to be a man-made disaster.

32
URBANISATION
Is encroachment on “Poramboke” a reason for floods?
Chennai faced a rapid
urbanisation encroaching
its waterbodies and
poromboke lands

33
ENCROACHMENTSONWETLANDS
The highly urbanised and
encroached areas were
affected the most in the
floods

34
PALLIKARANAIIs encroachment on “Poramboke” a reason for floods?
The regions which are encroached are the regions under Intensive Flood Zones

35
AIRPORTIs encroachment on “Poramboke” a reason for floods?
Airport flooded during 2015 floods

36
RESIDENTIALAREAS
Areas of Velacherry and Pallikaranai completely flooded during 2015 floods

37
INSTITUTIONALAREAS
Areas of Sathyabama University and many others flooded during 2015 floods

Need for Restoration of “Poramboke”
•The word “Poramboke” has come to signify worthlessness to the general public.
•The negligence of the importance associated with it's the reason for its depletion.
•This leaves the poramboke lands hospitable thoughtless ecological destruction over the years.
•The city cannot handle additional ramifications in the decades to come. the lack of awareness concerning the
importance of common property resources should be removed.
•As these are the reasons for civic and administrative apathy and illegal encroachments and depletion of those
common lands.
•The history of floods in Chennai clearly exhibits the dearth of planning and governance within the city. The city’s
water bodies are in danger due to its increased urbanization and land value.
•The encroachment and the illegal settlements on the water bodies should be eradicated and the water bodies
rather than becoming an urban wasteland be put to use efficiently.
•This not only reduces the risk of flooding in the future, but also helps improving water conservation and prevent
drought effects and additionally improves the standard of life of the inhabitants.

REFERENCE
•Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. (1997). Dying wisdom. Rise, fall and potential of India’s traditional harvesting systems. New Delhi: Centre
for Science and Environment.
•Baden B., Powell. (1894) Land Revenue and Tenure In British India. Oxford University
Press(http://ia600306.us.archive.org/2/items/shortaccountofla00bade/shortaccountofla00bade. pdf)
•Flood information from history: The Hindu Newspaper
•Gopalakrishnan S. (2017) No Man’s Land. India Water Portal
•http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/7204/620.pdf?sequence=1
•Pallikaranai Project by MOAD Architects.
•Lavanya K., (2012) Urban Flood Management – A Case Study of Chennai City. Architecture Research. Pages (115-121).
•Saigal, Sushil (2011) Greening the “Wastelands”: Evolving Discourse on Wastelands and its Impact on Community Rights in India. Paper
presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study on Commons. 2011
•Singh S. (2013) Common lands made ‘Wastelands’ – Making of the ‘Wastelands’ into Common lands. 14th Global Conference of the
International Association for the Study of the Commons June 03-07, 2013
•Vaidyanathan, A. (2001). Tanks of South India. Delhi: Centre for Science and Environment.
•Yanagisawa H. (2008) The Decline of Village Common Lands and Changes in Village Society: South India, c. 1850–2000

Thank You
40
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Common lands evolved as wastelands

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