Land Acquisition, Industrialization and Livelihoods

This book provides an assessment of the impacts of human intervention on the natural environment and peoples' livelihoods through land-use conversion due to industrialization. Problems of land acquisition and the execution thereof have varying consequences that depend on the specific geographical as well as socio-political contexts in which they occur. This book covers a specific study of JSW Bengal Steel Ltd., which in 2014 planned to set up a 10.0 million ton per annuam integrated steel plant at the upper catchment of Sundra basin, the tributary of the Shilabati that ultimately pours to the river Rupnarayan, located at Salboni Block of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India. The project was ultimately put on hold, but caused many lingering environmental and socioeconomic problems due to the acquisition of formerly productive lands. The book examines this case to generate a data base on the different aspects of land acquisition and its negative impacts on the geomorphology and hydrology of non-timber forest products, agricultural impacts resulting in livelihood changes, policy dimensions of land acquisition, and the impacts of delays in project implementation through a comparative analysis between projects-affected areas and non-project areas. The book will appeal to environmental managers and industry workers, as well as students and researchers in environmental economics, anthropology, and human geography.