Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

landscape and the needs of the people into account. Except the rocky uplands the entire
region is still fertile and is adequately provided with surface water and ground water
resources. However, the historical experience makes it clear that a proper land and water
management perspective, which takes the entire Kadalundi river basin and the
surrounding slopes, uplands and the coastal alluvial region into account will have to be
formulated.
The initiatives in this regard are taken by the present exercises in Resource Mapping.
They give accurate estimates of the land sunder each crop, lands transformed or the lands
rendered waste. They also give indications regarding the type of cultivation possible in
each watershed, and in different types of terrain. Watershed management studies also
give details of the techniques to be adopted to maintain and utilize ground water and
surface water resources. However, there is a need to go into how people have actually
utilized resources, because they indicate the built environment on which we can actually
start the transformation process. They include the enumeration of all the sites of streams,
ponds, chiras, chenas and all those sites which used to form challis, which may have to be
located and steps taken to preserve them. It also includes identification of further
reservoirs of similar kind which could be converted and made into use. There are a
number of sites that have been filled or transformed into other land forms which also may
have to be identified and adequate legal measures taken to preserve the surface water
resource. A strategy of rain water harvesting will have to be developed in all the upland
regions, and similarly conscious planning to drain of excess water in the lowlands also
become essential. Another important step will be to rebuild all the streams that are being
filled up at present. Sand mining along the Kadalundi River will have to be strictly
prohoibited and steps may to prevent the erosion of the banks. Preservation and conscious