Rodriguez (2010) in his paper ‘Claims for Survival’ written on behalf of the Dakshin Foundation observes that one of the major problems that has hindered the articulation of clearly defined rights for traditional fisher folk is the absence of data that explains their relationship with the coast. He notes that most studies on fisher communities often fail to comment on the historical processes through which coastal communities have evolved their relation with particular stretches of coastline that they use, the boundaries of these stretches, the property regime, and the spatio-temporal details and patterns of shore/beach uses.

In Section 2 of his paper he addresses this lack of data by presenting findings from key studies on beach and coastal land use by fishing communities in India. His analysis is useful in that it helps to illustrate how fishing communities use large tracts of coastline space beyond their village settlement.

Absence of such studies have weakened fishing communities influence in their say and control of the coastal space, especially in regards to development in areas occupied and used by them. Proper information on landuse, traditional practices and the like on fishing communities would go a long way in empowering them and their supporting organizations by helping to counter threats from outsider driven development initiatives.

Take for example the strongly contested elevated highway, which is a 6-lane highway proposed by the government from the Lighthouse on Marina to ECR. Currently the feasibility report prepared by consultants Wilber Smith Associates (2009) takes into account only the residential boundaries of project-affected communities. At Urur and Olcott Kuppam, which are two project-affected fishing hamlets, this is a flawed assumption as it fails to take into account the socio-economic and socio-cultural role of the beachfront and the coast to these two communities

In an effort to create data that is locally generated, Transparent Chennai along with the residents of Urur and Olcott Kuppam will be organizing a participatory mapping exercise at Urur and Olcott Kuppam in the month of February 2011. This kind of data collection is important as Brown & Hutchinson (2000) explain that the problem with data obtained on communities by outsiders (say NGO’s etc) is the fact that the consultations are often designed to meet a specific agenda and can be totalitarian at worst and extractive at best. Furthermore, through such methods the ownership of the information generated seldom lies with the local community.

Participatory mapping is a method through which the community’s perspective of the local environment is documented in a number of ways and is an easy way of obtaining spatial information on the community. We are excited over the fact that unlike other data gathering processes, the initiation and ownership of the data will rest primarily in the hands of the local panchayat and residents.

Based on preliminary meetings held with kuppam residents and the panchayat it has been decided that three kinds of maps will be generated- those that provide information on landuse, on local infrastructure and those that provide locally generated demographic information on the community.

We are very excited at the prospect of helping create locally generated maps, and hope to use the mapping exercise at Urur and Olcott Kuppam as a pilot study, so that we can extend this method of data collection to all the fishing hamlets on Chennai’s coastline.

References:

Brown, M, & Hutchinson, C 2000, ‘Participatory mapping at landscape levels: Broadening implications for sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in developing country drylands’, Aridlands, No. 48.

Rodriguez, S 2010, Claims for Survival: Coastal Land Rights of Fishing Communities, Dakshin Foundation, Bangalore.

Wilbur Smith Associates Pvt. Ltd 2009, Link Road from Light House on Kamarajar Salai to ECR Via Besant Nagar: Final Detailed Feasability Report, Highways Department, Chennai.

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- Siddharth Hande: Core Member, Reclaim Our Beaches (Currently interning with Transparent Chennai)

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