Sengupta, M. and Dalwani, R. (Editors).

2008
Proceedings of Taal2007: The 12th World Lake Conference: 1240-1246

Community Mobilization and Participation in Implementing Integrated

Sustainable Conservation of Ansupa Lake, a Famous Wetland of Orissa
Sarmistha Mohanty1 and Chitta Ranjan Das2
1
Ansupa Lake Development Project, Govt. of Orissa., Plot No. 3339/A, Chakeisiani, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar
2
Ansupa Lake Development Project, Govt. of Orissa (Former Chief Executive, Chilika Lake Development
Authority)
E-mail: sarmisthamohanty@yahoo.co.in, chittardas@yahoo.co.in
ABSTRACT
Ansupa Lake, a very old fresh water lake, a famous wetland of Orissa, is situated near the coast of the
longest river Mahanadi of Orissa. The bio-diversity character of the lake is due to different types of
aquatic fauna & flora. The main resources of the lake is fishery.
There are about twenty five thousand people who live in four panchayats around the lake. They are
mostly fishermen. They depend mainly on fishery of the lake for their livelihood & use lake water for
irrigation and domestic purposes. Due to environmental degradation like siltation, eutorphication, weed
infestation and water pollution, productivity of the lake has considerably decreased. That has adversely
affected the livelihood of the people.
A detailed socio-economic and socio-cultural study was undertaken through RRA and PRA
techniques. The results revealed very interesting information relating to lake use pattern, their income
generation activities, their socio-cultural issues, and their perception of the lake environment, various
methods of fishing etc These data helped to mobilize them to participate in the integrated management
plan now being executed by the State Government. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have been formed. They
have been educated and mobilized to actively participate in every step of implementation of the
integrated sustainable conservation plan of the lake. Trainings are being imparted for alternate income
generation activities particularly for women (SC / ST & also for other people). They are now actively
participating in the conservation programme to conserve the lake with wise use concept and participate
in common property resource management to improve their living standard. After the lake is renovated
during 2-3 years time, the entire lake management would be handed over to the local villagers for
maintenance. This would be a very good model of implementing a lake conservation plan with
community mobilization and participation very successfully.
Keywords : Management, Fresh Water Lake, Eco-system, Water-shade Committees, Self Help Groups.

INTRODUCTION
Ansupa Lake is a largest fresh water lake of Orissa
situated between 850-36 longitude east and 200 -32
laditude north (Fig.-1). The Lake area comes under
Banki Sub-Division of Cuttack district of the state of
orissa India. The Lake has its fame for its natural
scenery and situation which attracts both tourists and
writers. It is a famous tourist spot. It is of national
importance due to its unique biodiversity character.
Over the years due to various environmental
degradations like siltation, weed infestation, water
quality changes and chocking of inlet and outlet the
lake is decaying very fast. This should be conserved
very well for posterity with wise use concept and in
an integrated manner which should be implemented
with community mobilization and participation for
sustainability.
Location Connectivity :
It is situated on the left side of the river Mahanadi,
close to Athagarh Sub-division of cuttack district. It
is 100kms. from Bhubaneswar the state capital and

14km. from Athagarh Subdivision connected by

road. The lake is located at a distance of 15 km. from
Banki Sub-Divisional head quarters, when
approached directly by crossing the river Mahanadi
at Karbarghat.

Figure 1. Ansupa Lake & Its Environment

Origin :
Old records reveal that in earlier times Ansupa was
known as Ansapata as the water source formed out
of a part of River Mahanadi6. It was also known as
Hansapata as its water sources had attracted hoards
of wild Swans in the past. The lake is now known as
ANSUPA.

Lake Environment:

Fishery :

The lake is bounded by the Saranda Hills on its

western side and Bishnupara Hills on its eastern
side.
The Lake is connected to the river Mahanadi on
its eastern side through connecting channel namely
Kabuli Nala. Now-a-days this Nala works as both
inlet and outlet. Previously the lake has its inlet in its
north western side, but now it is silted up due to
encroachment. Now during high flood the water from
Huluhula Nala flows down to the lake through this
channel.

Fishery from the Lake is the main income generation

activities. Most of the fisherman reside only in two
panchayats i.e. Subarnapur and Kadalibadi which is
around 35% of the total population of the
Panchayats. Such activities were carried out with the
help of Fishermen Co-operative Society. One fisher
men co-operative society was registered in 1960 with
83 members from Malaviharpur and 189 members
from Subarnapur. But out of 272 members only 52
families undertake fishing in Ansupa. Others catch
fish from Mahanadi. Subsequently another fisher
men Co-operative society has been formed in 1979
called Asnupa Fihsermen Co-operative society with
the membership of 115. The active fishermen now
fishing in Ansupa Lake are about 700Nos. Since,
now due to weed infestation and water quality
changes there is drastic reduction in fish catch as a
result such Co-operative societies are defunct.
The total fish catch was about 50 kg. per day
during 1985-86, but due to environmental
degradation it is now reduced to about 5 to 10kgs.
per day.
The main fishing gears used are net and boat
but for peripheral fishing different bamboo traps and
attachments are used.

Area :
The area of Ansupa lake is between 375 Acres and
385 Acres during the summer and rainy season
considerably. Previously the depth was 30 to 40 feet,
at present it is only 10 feet. The total rain fall is about
50 annually7.
Resources :
This wet land is a very highly productive eco-system
& important natural resource. A large number of
people living in peripheral villages like Subarnapur,
Ostia, Kadalibadi and Kantapanhara,in four
panchayats, depend mainly on the lake resources for
their livelihood. They use water both for cultivation
and drinking purposes also. Most of the families
depend on its fishery resources.
Off-let due to various environmental
degradations like siltation, weed infestation, water
quality changes & closer of the inlet and out let of
flow of water, the resource potential has considerably
decreased, affecting the livelihood of a large number
of people living in peripheral villages of Ansupa.
Apart from various physical changes occurring
in the eco-system, there is a drastic change in human
activities, to use the land and the water body in the
lake. This has adversely affected the water-spread
area by encroachment due to conflicting interests in
natural resource use pattern.
Land use:
Land use Land cover analysis of the area around
Ansupa Lake indicates that extensive agricultural
land with rocky patches is present. The cultivable
area and the total area is 4,093 Acre and 3,586 Acres
respectively. The grazing land is only 278 acres.
Agriculture :
About 4,093 Areas of land are under cultivation. The
water of Ansupa is used extensively for agricultural
pruposes. The main crop in paddy besides. Pulses,
ground nuts & vegetables are also grown in hilly
patches.

Live Stock :
Around 9 percent of the total population are engaged
in keeping cow, goat, sheep and buffalow & they
earn day to day living from that.
Present Environmental Condition :
Now the Lake is almost in decaying condition.
Various environmental problems like siltation, weed
infestation, chocking of inlet and outlet, water quality
changes & eutrophication are the main issues to be
taken up immediately to save the Lake from further
destruction.
Management plan:
This famous wetland of Orissa is decaying very fast.
It should be conserved in an integrated manner 1-4
which would be sustainable only when the people
actively participate in the actual implementation of
the action plan. Realizing this a detailed management
plan is being implemented through community
mobilization and participation8 by Govt. of Orissa to
address the issues like :
1. Arresting siltation by catchments area
treatment
2. De-siltation & weed management activities
3. Improvement
of
in-flow
,out-flow
mechanism of flow of water
4. Improvement of water quality
5. Periphery plantation

1241

6.
7.

Common property resource management

Other socio-economic activities

Detailed Management Plan:

Before preparing a detail action plan with wise use
concept to conserve the lake, various scientific
studies related to limnological parameters; like N &
P, Nutrients loading from the peripheral area and
other Geomorphological studies etc. were undertaken
in detail. Along with scientific studies various socioeconomic and socio-cultural studies were under
taken through RRA & PRA. House to Hose survey
was undertaken and various informations related to
socio economic and socio cultural dimensions were
obtained through a set of questionnaire. Their
perception of lake environment and their ideas of
conserving the lake were also obtained.

Figure 2. Peripheral Villages of Ansupa Lake

1242

People are mobilized and educated to

participate in the management plan for the
conservation of Ansupa Lake. For implementation of
the conservation plan various programmes have been
undertaken, which can be stated as follows:
Socio-economic Survey:
Before taking up community mobilization and
participation activities, it was very important to have
a detailed socio-economic survey of 13 peripheral
villages of all 4 Panchayats such as Subarnapur,
Ostia, Kadalibadi, Kantapanhara (Fig.-2). From the
survey the important informations about population,
households, occupation, castes, education, economic
condition etc. & their perception of the lake
environment and the use pattern were obtained.

Results of Socio Economic Survey:

The detailed survey was conducted in all four
Panchayats & informations about following
important parameters were obtained. There are 16
villages in four Panchayats such as kadalibadi,
Subarnapur Ostia and Kantapanhara. The total
population is about 25,000, which directly or
indirectly depends on the lake and its resources for
their day to day living.

educations students go to nearby cities like Cuttack

and Bhubaneswar. (Table - 3)
Table 2. Total house hold of the peripheral villages
No.
1.
2.
3.

Population:
The total population of 13 peripheral Villages close
to Ansupa Lake of four Panchayats is 19620 out of
which 10349 are male and 9271 are female. (Table 1).
Table 1. Population of peripheral villages Ansupa
Lake
Sl. No.
1.
2.

Category
Male
Female
TOTAL

Numbers
10,349
9,271
19,620

Percentage
53%
47%
100%

Category
No. of SC
families
No. of
Families
No. of
Other
class
Total No.
of
Families

Families
763

Population
3327

Percentage
16.95%

205

869

4.42%

3438

15,424

78.6%

4403

19620

100%

Table 3. Educational level of the villagers

Sl.
No.
1
2

Category
Literate
Illiterate
TOTAL

No.
Population
13,390
6,230
19,620

of

Percentage
68.29%
31.75%
100%

Occupation:
House Holds:
Out of the total 4403 households, 763 Nos. of
families belong to Schedule Caste & 205 belong to
Scheduled Tribe & the rest 3438 are of General
Caste. The SC community are living in three
Panchayats namely Subarnapur, Ostia & Kadalibadi.
The SC are mostly fisher men engaged in fishing in
Ansupa Lake and partly in Mahanadi. 10% of the
total SCs own landed property.
The ST communities i.e. 205 families are
poorest of the poors. Maximum STs are in
Kadalibadi and Subarnapur Gram Panchayats. They
work as daily labourers and have no landed property.
They depend upon the income by cutting wood and
selling in the local market. They also collect cashew
nuts and sell in the local market at Gholapur village.
The percentage of literacy is very poor. The other
communities are mostly of general caste among these
are Brahmanas, Karanas, Milkman, Mali, Gold Smith
etc. Most of the families are middle and lower
middle class. Most of the these people depend upon
cultivation irrigated by Ansupa Water.(Table-2).
Education:
Out of the total population 68.24% are literate and
31.71% are illiterate. Among the illiterate the no of
SCs & STs are more. The people of 4 Panchayats are
interested is education of their children. There are
lower primary and Primary schools, only one high
school and a college are located at Saranda Hills near
Subarnaur Village. For higher and secondary

Out of the total population 36.77% depend up on

cultivation, 13.25% depend upon fisheries, 48.88%
have their livelihood from different small business,
small shops and private services. About 1.08 % of
the total population have Govt. Jobs. (Table-4).

Table 4. Occupation of the villagers

Sl.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Category
Cultivation
Fishery
Employees
Other
TOTAL

No.
of
Population
7216
2601
212
9591
19,620

Percentage
36.77%
13.25%
1.08%
48.88%
100%

Income Generation:
Most of the people of the peripheral villages depend
upon cultivation, fishing and doing some business.
For income generating activities i.e. cultivation and
fishery they depend upon the Lake resources, due to
environment degradations like siltation and weed
infestation both the fishermen and cultivators are
facing a lot of problems. (Table - 4). There is also no
proper irrigation system like canals for which the
people find difficulty in cultivation.

1243

Phase I

Figure 3. Soil Conservation work done by

Community Participation in Ansupa Lake Catchment
Area

Before the implementation of the plan a watershed

development team (WDT) was formed were different
experts like soil conservation, scientist, horticulture
expert, agriculture engineer & a social scientist
became members. The entire work would be
monitored by the watershed development team.
Actual work would be carried out by the villagers
through watershed committees formed in different
panchayats. Initially community mobilization camps
were conducted in different Panchayats (Fig.-5)
where the villagers were educated about the Lake
environment, its ecology and the importance of the
conservation of the Lake.

The income generation activities of the

fishermen have been adversely affected due to
considerable reduction of fish production in the
Lake.
Therefore it is observed that their life style has
decreased considerably. The Annual income is less
than Rs. 5,000 per family now.

Figure 5. Community
Peripheral Villages

Mobilisation

Camp

in

To participate in the conservation programmes

like, catchments area treatment, desilting and weed
management activities, periphery plantation and also
to participate in the engineering intervention
programmes etc., the local villagers were mobilized
as per their eligibility to take up the work.
Figure 4. Loose Bolder Structures done by
Community Participation

Detailed Action Plan:

As per the results of the above mentioned studies &
survey, a detailed action plan was prepared in an
integrated manner, with the key management strategy
of implementation of the programme with
community mobilization & participation.
After the results obtained from the above
studies the issues involved for deterioration of
Ansupa Lake were identified. Accordingly the
following activities are included in the detailed
conservation plan which is being implemented to
address issues mentioned above with community
participation in different phases.

1244

Phase II
For actual implementation of the conservation plan,
four watershed committees were formed in four
panchayats consisting of 12 members in each
committee. The Secretary and President were elected
from among the members. They are responsible for
carrying out the actual work, through different
groups formed from among the villagers like labour
groups, SHGs and User Groups etc. for which they
are paid daily wages as per the Govt. rules. The
President and the Secretary are accountable for the
work done.
Formation of Village Level Groups :
Besides this various groups as per their capabilities
were formed i.e. women SHGs (Fig.6), fisherman
groups, user groups, labour groups who participate
directly in the implementation of the management
plan in an integrated manner in every activity.

Figure 6. Formation of Women SHGs in Village

Subarnapur

Phase III
Implementation of the Programme :

and also in alternate income generation activities.

Different SHG mobilization camps were organized in
the villages at time intervals. For example recently,
two Training Camps (Fig.-7) one in Candle making
and another in Incense stick preparation were
conducted with the help of Jana Sikhyan Sansthan
(JSS) (A Govt. of India Agency) for the alternate
income generation activities. Around 30 SHGs got
bank loans and interested to start such activities
engaged in small business. Apart from this the SHGs
are trained to solve different village issues like drug
abuse, and cutting of trees from peripheral areas of
the
Lake. Women
empowerment
(Fig.-8)
programmes are also carried out to make themselves
self sufficient and also to make them able to take up
other developmental activities with confidence. That
would help to increase the standard of living of the
people.

As per the above mentioned plan, the people

participate in each activity during the implementation
of the conservation plan which could be briefly
stated as follows :
Catchment Area Treatment :
The villagers actually do the work of catchment area
treatment by doing various soil conservation
measures like Gully control traps, loose bolder
structures, water harvesting structures etc. The
allotted funds are directly given to the watershed
committees for disbursement of wages to the workers
by a PIA (Project Implementing Authority) formed
for this purpose. The utilization certificate is given
by the watershed committees to the PIA; for unward
transmission to District Authorities.

Figure 7. Skill Up-gradation Training for Income

Desilting & De Weeding Activities:

Similarly, people of the respective villages
participate in de-silting and de-weeding programmes
done partly by machines and partly by manual
process. They help in manual de weeding practically
and also for disposal of de weeded materials for
making bio-fertilisers
Plantation Programme:
In plantation programme special nursery has been
created as per the requirement by the people. The
people carry out the plantation by planting trees
through women SHGs and also through labour
groups.
Role of Self Help Groups (SHGs) :
Women SHGs play a great role in this programme.
Around 100 women SHGs has been formed
according to the Govt. norms in the four Panchayats.
They actively participate in conservation of the lake

Figure 8. Awareness Generation

Malbiharpur near Ansupa Lake

in

village

Administrative Set-up :
To monitor & supervise the programme there is one
Project Implementation Agency (PIA) appointed by
the State Govt. The monetary transactions are also
govern by the PIA. In every quarter PIA submits an
Utilization Certificate both physical and financial to
the District Authorities. The work is carried out in
phases.

1245

Out Come of the Project :

REFERENCES :

After the lake is renovated during 2-3 years time, the

entire lake management would be handed over to the
local villagers for maintenance. This would be a very
good model of implementing a lake conservation
plan with community mobilization and participation
very successfully.

B. A. Lane & G. F. (1992) Claridge Wetland of South East

Asia and their wise use, Page 34, - Asian Wetland
Symposium (ILEC), Japan
Brij Gopal. (1996) Over view of Lakes and Wetlands of
India, Page 1 -18, Report submitted to the
Environment Agency, (ILEC), Govt. of Japan
ILEC. (1988) UNDP Guidelines of Lake Management,
Vol. I & Vol. III.
S. Kaul, & C.L. Trisal, (1996) Management of Lakes in
India. Report submitted to Environment Agency,
Govt. of Japan, Page 45.
N. Suryanarayan (1996) Environmental State of the Art of
Indian Lakes and reservoirs, Page 19, Report
submitted to the Environment Agency, Japan
Old reference about Ainsupa Pat (1915)All Letters from
Sub-Collector, Banki Tahasil to The Collector,
Cuttack XIII Settlement Ainsupa Pata.
R. K. Mishra. (1980) Integrated Development of Ansapa
Lake. Dept. of Planning and Co-ordination, Govt. of
Orissa, Page 1 to 40.
R. Koudstaal and R. Slootweg. (1994) Wise use of
Wetland, a Methodology for the assessment of
functions and values of Wetlands. Page 3, The
Wetland group, The Netherlands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT :
The Authors are highly thankful to the Department of
Planning & Co-ordination (P&C), Govt. of Orissa
and particularly to the Chief Secretary, Mr. A. K.
Tripathy, IAS, for sincere effort to implement the
project. The Authors are also thankful to 10th Finance
Commission, Govt. of India for their financial
support.

1246