Impact of banasura sagar dam on the Wayanad Kadar tribes of kerala

Abstract

The present paper attempts to understand the impact of Banasura Sagar Dam on the Wayanad Kadars, one of the Scheduled Tribes of Kerala, who were evicted from their original habitat when the dam was constructed in Wayanad District. Earlier, the Wayanad Kadars were entirely depending on agriculture for their livelihood and maintained a sustainable livelihood. But they were displaced from their original habitat and scattered to mostly barren lands in the forest areas with the implementation of the India's second largest earthen dam project. Their traditional habitat submerged inside the reservoir, which has resulted in the rehabilitation of the Wayanad Kadars in different areas in Wayanad District. In the post displacement phase, the community was facing huge challenges of livelihood transition as they neither integrated nor assimilated into the new habitats and the problems related to the tribal displacement was continuing endlessly. The present study is an attempt to understand the ground realities of the impact of displacement on the livelihood and socio-economic life of the Wayanad Kadars of Kerala.