ADVANCED INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL

STUDIES (ARRC) HYDERABAD

History of Christianity – M.Th. -II

Subject: Creation, Ecology and Human Destiny

Topic: The Impact of ecological destruction and depletion of Natural Resources on Women,
Dalit, Tribals and Adivasis

Facilitator: Rev. Dr. R. Jeeva Kumar Presenter: S. William Stanton

Respondent: Rev. Samuel Raja Sekhar Bobbili Date: 06-10-2021

Content

1. Introduction

2. Women and Ecology

3. Impact of Ecological destruction and depletion of natural resources on women

3.1 Deforestation

3.2 Water scarity

3.3 Health and Sanitation

3.4 Climate-Related Migration & Displacement

4. Dalit

4.1 Dalit Stakes in Environment

4.2 Power hierarchy in access to water

4.3 Industrial Acquisition, Land and Dalits

5. Tribals and Adivasis

5.1 Tribals

5.2 Adivasis

5.3 Rights of the Tribals/ Adivasis (indigenous community)

5.4 Acquisition of Lands

5.5 Impact of Land Alienation

6. Conclusion

Bibliography
1. Introduction

The need to re-examine the man-earth relationship and attempt to understand,

manage and control as adequately as possible all our environmental resources in order to
minimize related environmental crisis. In this paper we will discuss on the impact of ecological
destruction and depletion of natural resources on women, Dalit, Tribal and Adivasis.

2. Women and Ecology

Women play a critical role in managing natural resources on family and community
levels and are most affected by environmental degradation. In communities around the world,
women manage water, sources for fuel, and food, as well as both forests and agricultural terrain.
Women produce 60 to 80 percent of food in developing countries, while inheritance laws and
local customs often prevent them from owning or leasing land and securing loans or insurance.
From the high level to the grassroots, the 1992 UN Earth Summit, India’s Chipko movement and
Kenya’s Green Belt Movement all highlighted the role of women’s voices and perspectives in
sustainable development1.

3. Impact of Ecological destruction and depletion of natural resources on women

The impacts of climate change drought, floods, and extreme weather, increased incidence
of disease, and growing food and water insecurity disproportionately affect the world’s 1.3
billion poor, the majority of whom are women. Although women are forced to bear the brunt of
the consequences of climate change, they have been systematically excluded from decision-
making mechanisms and denied agency in deciding when and how to overcome the
vulnerabilities they face. This is a serious omission that undermines the potential and
compromises the effectiveness of even the best-intentioned efforts to address climate change.
Nevertheless, women are contributing to both adaptation and mitigation efforts in many parts of
the world, and they are creating innovative and localized solutions to build resilient
communities. At all levels of leadership and across all sectors of society, women’s representation
is not an option, but a necessity.2
1
Filomina Chioma Steady, “Women, Climate Change and Liberation”, Race, Gender and Class 21, no. 1 (2014): 2.
2
Mayesha Alam, Rukmani Bhatia , Briana Mawby, “Women and Climate Change: Impact and agency in Human
Rights, security , economic development”,( Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security: 2015), 7.
3.1 Deforestation

Deforestation occurs as a result of land-use change and can be driven by heat, drought,
illegal logging, resources extraction, agricultural production, or as communities begin to cut
down trees when other resources have been depleted. During periods of limited rainfall, soil dries
out; heavier rainfall results in greater and more rapid runoff, increasing flooding and erosion.
These processes reduce the productivity of the land, leading to declining food production and
crop yields3. As forests are cut down, the loss of tree cover increases soil erosion, decreases
agricultural productivity, and increases the burden of gathering forest resources and water. Many
people in rural areas depend on forests for food, firewood, fiber timber, material for crafts,
animal fodder, and medicinal herbs, and it is often women who collect these resources. As a
result of deforestation, women must work harder to secure resources and feed their families.
Deforestation is currently affecting livelihoods across world4.

3.2 Water scarity

Climate change negatively impacts water supplies around the world. Changes in
temperature patterns, rainfall, solar radiation, and winds are increasing the desertification of land.
Prolonged periods without adequate rainfall cause droughts, which then result in a shortage of
water. Additionally, the combination of higher temperatures and lack of water in the soil can
decrease crop productivity. Water scarcity can also lead to the depletion of crops and
deterioration of soil properties.

The impacts of desertification and drought can include the loss of livelihoods and the
displacement of populations from one degraded ecosystem zone to another. Lack of access to
clean drinking water also disproportionately impacts women. In many communities around the
world where dependable irrigation is a distant dream and clean water a precious commodity,
women and girls bear the primary burden of finding water. What they are able to carry on their
heads and shoulders is then rationed carefully for drinking, cooking, cleaning and other basic

3
“Slow Onset Events: Technical Paper” (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2012): 10-11,
accessed Sept. 15, 2021, http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2012/tp/07.pdf.
4
Filomina Chioma Steady, “Women, Climate Change and Liberation”.., 3.
needs5. Traveling long distances to search for water, especially in remote areas, also increases the
risk of sexual violence for women and girls6.

3.3 Health and Sanitation

Modern sanitation and hygiene facilities remain rare throughout most developing
countries, especially among the urban and rural poor. Water scarcity compromises hygiene,
particularly for women and girls, who may need it for purposes uncommon to men, especially
during pregnancy and menstruation. Lack of adequate access to safe water and sanitation is a key
factor in maternal and child mortality, and is dramatically more pronounced in rural settings
susceptible to the effects of climate change7.

3.4 Climate-Related Migration & Displacement

Climate change will markedly affect the security and livelihoods of people around the
world. In the hope of finding safer environments, more stable economic opportunities, and long-
term adaptation solutions, individuals and families will move, whether voluntarily, displaced
forcibly by the impacts of climate change, or as part of planned relocation. As the world becomes
more mobile, it is important to understand the impacts that these different types of migration will
have on women. Climate change impacts often extend across borders, meaning that families may
migrate multiple times as the affected area expands, and with each migration, women and girls
may face new or continued risks. Women may also spend years in displacement, living in camps,
integrating into urban areas or working in remote areas. The current average duration for
displacement is 17 years, and most refugees fleeing conflict or natural disasters do not reside in
camps but rather urban dwellings.

4. Dalit

Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as untouchable. Dalits

are a mixed population, consisting of numerous social groups from all over India; they speak a
variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions. There are many different names

5
http://www.unicef.org/eapro/JMP-2010Final. pdf. Accessed on 14-09-2021.
6
Mayesha Alam, Rukmani Bhatia, Briana Mawby, “Women and Climate Change: Impact and agency in Human
Rights, security, economic development”.., 28.
7
Thérèse Mahon and Maria Fernades, “Menstrual Hygiene in South Asia: A Neglected Issue for WASH
Programmes,” Gender & Development 18, no. 1 (2010): 102-103.
proposed for defining this group of people, including Panchamas and Asprushya Dalits are
outcastes falling outside the traditional four-fold caste system consisting of the hereditary
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shore classes; they are considered impure and polluted and are
therefore physically and socially excluded and isolated from the rest of society8.

4.1 Dalit Stakes in Environment

An important political development in India in the last few decades has been the Dalit
struggle for identity and rights. Ambedkar used the term occasionally but it was “first used by
Jotiba Phule in the nineteenth century”9. to describe the oppression faced by the ‘untouchable’
castes of Hindu society in India. The principle of purity and pollution was central to the relations
between the upper and lower castes in India and ritually impure occupations were historically
associated with the Dalits. In an inequitable social order, Dalit dignity was violated in heinous
ways. The term Dalit became popular in the 1960s amongst Marathi writers and neo-Buddhists.
Victor Premasagar states that the term expresses their “weakness, poverty and humiliation at the
hands of the upper castes in the Indian society10.”

The term does not have a reference in the historical texts but is said to be derived from
Sanskrit. It means “suppressed” or “crushed”. “However, if the principle of exploitation is
applied, all the socially, politically and economically oppressed sections of Indian society are
Dalits. This latter formulation makes it akin to a class like formulation, though the existence of
social practice of discrimination makes Dalit exploitation more thorough11.

4.2 Power hierarchy in access to water

In India, more than 20% of dalits do not have access to safe drinking water. 48.4% of
dalit villages are denied access to water source. The vast majority of dalits depend on the
goodwill of upper-caste community members for access to water from public wells. Dalit women
stand in separate queues near the bore well to fetch water till the non - dalits finish fetching
water. Dalits are disentitled and not allowed to use taps and wells located in non-Dalit area. Dalit
8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit, accessed on 10/09/2021.
9
Oliver Mendelsohn, Marika Vicziany. The untouchables: subordination, poverty, and the state in modern India,
(Cambridge University Press : 1998), 4.
10
Victor Premasagar in Interpretive Diary of a Bishop: Indian Experience in Translation and Interpretation of Some
Biblical Passages (Chennai: Christian Literature Society, 2002), 108.
11
Priyam Manisha, Krishna Menon, Madhulika Banerjee, Human Rights, Gender and the Environment, Dorling
Kindersley (India) Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2009.
Villages are not provided water for several days in case the dalits resent to existing practices of
discrimination12.

Struggle for water is simultaneously a struggle for power. Water being a limited and
imperative resource has close relationship with the three categories such as class, caste and
gender, especially when it comes to that of distribution of water. At the grass root level, this
striving for power is much more than a process of increasing control over the water resource and
control over the behavior of the actors involved. It has more to do with the feeling of detest
towards the lower castes; in traditional Hindu setting dalits were denied of all these facilities and
were expected to work as slaves for the dominant castes. Though the Indian Constitution through
Article 14 guarantees right to equality to every person irrespective of caste, creed, gender, status
and religion, we are still faced with the power based hierarchal social setup coupled with
problems of untouchability and discrimination.

The differences between dalits and non dalits household in respect of drinking water.
27% dalit households have water sources within premises as compared to 45.2% for the general
populations.19.5% of dalit households have access to drinking water sources away from their
premises whereas it stands at 14.45 for the general population. 32.2% of dalit households have
access to drinking water from tap as compared to 40.1% for the general population13

4.3 Industrial Acquisition, Land and Dalits

Industrial revolution, which made a colourful and dreamy entry, is turning out to be the
worst form of human development. The steady economic growth of industries with active
support from the state machinery is directly proportional to the unchecked exploitation of
masses. Most of them belong to marginalized communities such as dalits, adivasis, women,
working class, etc. Displacement, migration, repercussion of workers, loss of land and
livelihood, pilfering state revenue, forest resources, etc. has outgrown to monstrous level.

The mining areas have a huge overlap with the forest and Adivasi-Indigenous land in the
state and the increasing mining activities and allied industries have had a tremendous negative
impact on these. An ongoing study by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) looking at “Forest cover
12
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/fileadmin/dov/images/women_campain/Dalit%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.
Accessed on 15-09-2021.
13
http://www.wateraid.org/documents/water_drops_9.pdf. Accessed on 12/09/2021
in metal mining areas‟ shows some revealing statistics. In the Bastar district, one of the
biodiversity rich areas of Chhattisgarh, out of the 13,470 ha area under leases for iron ore
mining, 11,657 ha is covered by forests. This of course indicates the forest within the actual
lease, but the impact on the forests, biodiversity and the communities dependent on this region
due to ancillary impacts of mining extends far beyond the actual lease area. Conflicts over
industrialization and particularly mining in Chhattisgarh have existed for more than five decades
in different forms.

Forest cover in metal mining areas‟ shows some revealing statistics. In the Bastar district,
one of the biodiversity rich areas of Chhattisgarh, out of the 13,470 ha area under leases for iron
ore mining, 11,657 ha is covered by forests. This of course indicates the forest within the actual
lease, but the impact on the forests, biodiversity and the communities dependent on this region
due to ancillary impacts of mining extends far beyond the actual lease area14.

5. Tribals and Adivasis

5.1 Tribals

All over India tribal are generally known by the word Adivasi, Pazhanguli, etc., literally
meaning indigenous people or original inhabitants of India. It is believed that the prehistoric
India was inhabited first by the Negritos, later added to by the Australoids and then by the
Dravidians and the Mongoloids15. The first of the above four, viz., the Negritos, entered India as
early as the 4th millennium B.C.5 1. The Negritos, still exist in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and
Andaman and Nicobar, 2. Australoids represented by the linguistically Austro Asiatic Kolarian
speaking, viz. Mundas and Kharais and Santals, and the Indo Aryan speaking non- Aryan Bhil
family, 3. Mongoloids of the Sino Tibetan language family of the whole of north- eastern India,
and 4. The Dravidians are the Dravidi speaking race represented now in the entire southern India
population and in Madhya Pradesh by the large tribes of Gonds and Khonds, the Kuis in Orissa
and the Oraon and Maler in Bihar. Almost the entire tribal population of India is non-Aryan by
race and religion.16

5.2 Adivasis
14
Goldy M. George, “Caste discrimination and Dalit rights over natural resources”, “Forests, People &
Displacement”, (Delhi Forum: New Delhi, 2001), 7-11.
15
http://www.ncdhr.org.in/ncdhr/general-info-misc-pages/wadwiu, Accessed on 12/09/2021.
16
Ebe Sunder Raj, Conversion- A National Debate (Horizon Printers and Publishers: Delhi, 2004), 127.
 Adivasis is the collective name used for the many indigenous peoples of India. The term
Adivasi derives from the Hindi word ‘adi’ which means of earliest times or from the beginning
and ‘vasi’ meaning inhabitant or resident, and it was coined in the 1930s, largely a consequence
of a political movement to forge a sense of identity among the various indigenous peoples of
India. Officially Adivasis are termed scheduled tribes, but this is a legal and constitutional term,
which differs from state to state and area to area, and therefore excludes some groups who might
be considered indigenous.

Adivasis are not a homogeneous group; there are over 200 distinct peoples speaking more
than 100 languages, and varying greatly in ethnicity and culture. However, there are similarities
in their way of life and generally perceived oppressed position within Indian society. According
to the official Census held in 2001, Adivasis constitute 8 per cent of the nation’s total population,
over 84 million people17.

5.3 Rights of the Tribals/ Adivasis (indigenous community)

In India, the tribal population constitutes nearly 8.2% of the total population (RGI, 2001).
Today, the tribal people of India and elsewhere in the world confront with the basic issue of
maintaining their identity which is closely linked to the natural resources and the environment
they live in. Their cultural systems ensure that the resources continue to remain as the ingredients
of their day to day life for several generations but what is of concern to day is that the main-
stream society in any country seems to consider those natural resources as ready raw materials
for the production of consumer articles. This is where the struggle begins. The tribal areas, once
largely inaccessible, have been put under man’s reach by modern means of technology. The rich
mineral deposits have attracted the greedy multinational corporations and entrepreneurs. In fact,
the predominantly tribal areas are found to be encroached by Governmental agencies and trans-
national corporations.

Environmentalists have started questioning the execution of these developmental policies

which are remaining silent about issues concerning ecological balance thereby affecting the
human rights of the indigenous community, particularly, their rights on environment. The tribal

17
V.V. Thomas, Pentecostalism in the Post Modern Era: Potentials/Possibilities, Problems and Challenges. Paper
presentation as part of the requirement for promotion to full Professorship (Pune: Union Biblical Seminary, 2013),
Unpublished Material, 3.
people of India are dealing with the basic issue that their identity is closely linked to the natural
resources and the environment amid which they live.

5.4 Acquisition of Lands

The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 1998 targets to accelerate the rate of land
acquisition and to facilitate the big business groups and multinational companies to become the
ultimate beneficiaries. The tribal areas are the repositories of 80 to 85% of the country’s total
mineral resources, thus resulting in large scale land alienation, mass displacement, deforestation
and migration of tribes to the cities and towns. Being landless and poverty stricken, the tribes
migrate in considerable numbers to the cities and towns in search of a livelihood. Gradually they
settle down in the city slums where the conditions of living are almost precarious. They lose their
identity and are forced to cope up with a lifestyle which is unknown to them. The depletion of
forest resources adversely affects the health of the tribal community18.

5.5 Impact of Land Alienation

Land alienation has given birth to several allied problems among the tribals. They are:

1. Increased poverty among the tribals

2. Decreased the occasion of employment

3. Migration of tribals

4. Exploitation of tribal laborers

5. Exploitation of tribal women

6. Created tension between tribals and non-tribals

7. Increased the distance between the rich and the poor tribals

8. Developed extremism and naxalism in tribal areas

9. Brought law and order problem in tribal areas, directly or indirectly

18
Atrayee Banerjee, Chowdhury Madhurima, “Journal of Horticulture and forestry “, Forest Degradation and
Livelihood of Local Communities in India: A Human Rights Approach, Vol 5 (8) (2013), 122-129.
10. Brought the incidence of beggary and prostitution in the tribal areas.

6. Conclusion

God’s creative work and we are directed to obey Him and to love and live within the
natural world because we are intertwined and we are intricately dependent upon nature to exist.
It behaves us to respect and care for the ecology of all concerned. Bible was not meant to be a
book on natural science, it contains the wisdom of God and how the ancient Hebrew people
obeyed Him in caring for the human and nature’s ecology.
Humans must place a high value on the natural world that God provided for us and we
must become the good stewards as God commanded. The environment is everything that
surrounds us, with pool of resources that helps us to satisfy our needs and fulfill our wants, not
destruction and depletion. Within the geographical boundaries of any nation are abundant
reservoir of resources and their proper utilization will result to the positive development of such
nation. In an effort to improve the related environmental problems, the Federal Government of
India and countries embarked on some policies that will bring about the general development of
the country to ensure that there is total improvement of the well-being of the people, socially,
politically and economically for a better future.

Bibliography

Alam, Mayesha. Bhatia , Rukmani. Mawby, Briana. “Women and Climate Change: Impact and
agency in Human Rights, security, economic development”, Georgetown Institute for Women,
Peace and Security: 2015.

Banerjee, Atrayee. Madhurima, Chowdhury. “Journal of Horticulture and forestry “, Forest

Degradation and Livelihood of Local Communities in India: A Human Rights Approach, Vol 5
(8) 2013.

George, Goldy M. “Caste discrimination and Dalit rights over natural resources”, “Forests,
People & Displacement”, Delhi Forum: New Delhi, 2001.

Mahon, Thérèse. and Fernades, Maria. “Menstrual Hygiene in South Asia: A Neglected Issue for
WASH Programmes,” Gender & Development 18, no. 1 2010.

Manisha, Priyam Menon, . Krishna . Banerjee, Madhulika. Human Rights, Gender and the
Environment, Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2009.
Mendelsohn, Oliver Vicziany. . Marika. The untouchables: subordination, poverty, and the state
in modern India, Cambridge University Press : 1998.

Premasagar, Victor. In Interpretive Diary of a Bishop: Indian Experience in Translation and

Interpretation of Some Biblical Passages Chennai: Christian Literature Society, 2002.

Raj, Ebe Sunder. Conversion- A National Debate Horizon Printers and Publishers: Delhi, 2004.

Steady, Filomina Chioma. “Women, Climate Change and Liberation”, Race, Gender and Class
21, no. 1 2014.

Thomas, V.V. Pentecostalism in the Post Modern Era: Potentials/Possibilities, Problems and
Challenges. Paper presentation as part of the requirement for promotion to full Professorship
Pune: Union Biblical Seminary, 2013, Unpublished Material.

Online sources:

http://www.ncdhr.org.in/ncdhr/general-info-misc-pages/wadwiu, Accessed on 12/09/2021.

“Slow Onset Events: Technical Paper” (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, 2012, accessed Sept. 15, 2021, http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2012/tp/07.pdf.

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/JMP-2010Final. pdf. Accessed on 14-09-2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit, accessed on 10/09/2021.

http://www.overcomingviolence.org/fileadmin/dov/images/women_campain/Dalit%20Fact
%20Sheet.pdf. Accessed on 15-09-2021.

http://www.wateraid.org/documents/water_drops_9.pdf. Accessed on 12/09/2021