Shifting Cultivation: A factor of environmental pollution

Shifting Cultivation: A factor of environmental pollution
Alok Chantia
Shailendra Pandey
Ritu Garg
Keywords – Shifting cultivation, deforestation, air pollution, culture, disaster
management, Sauria Paharia.
Abstract
Nature never wants stability. In this manner man’s existence is not an exception. Nature
permits any creature in its lap only for a certain period of time. In the course of time, it
creates many fluctuations to destroy them and gives space for other specialized creatures,
which generates a picture of evolution. But it is only the management of nature to
maintain its environment.
Modern man “Homo sapiens’ has checked the power of nature to some extent. Due to the
process of bipedalism, man could create sufficient space for mind, which gave him a
thought for sociofacts. He observed events around the globe, but gave special emphasis to
those, which occurred where he lived. The living environment gave him an idea for his
survival in an adverse atmosphere. This environmental based idea is present till today in
the form of culture, which varies according to the living place of man. So culture is a
powerful instrument, which has helped man’s existence on earth so far. Culture has
created a layer of protection between man and nature, without which man’s existence
would not possible.
India has 437 tribal groups living across the length and the breath of the country, each
with their individual and characteristic culture. A peculiar cultural trait regarding
agriculture is shifting cultivation, which is directly related with deforestation and air
pollution. Eighty tribal groups are engaged in this cultivation across the country, which is
only leading to environmental pollution.
In my proposed paper, I will discuss all the cultural parameters, which is responsible for
this cultivation. I will also discuss the solution of this environmental problem in the light
of Sauria Paharia – a shifting cultivation tribe of Bihar.
How will disaster management be useful in this environmental pollution (shifting
cultivation)? Points that I will discuss in my paper are in the following manner.
1. Shifting cultivation and deforestation.
2. Shifting cultivation and air pollution.
3. Shifting cultivation and culture.
4. Shifting cultivation and disaster management.