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| Traditional v. Formal Institutions in Managing Common Property Resources: A Case Study of Traditional Drinking Water System 'Oorni' in Ramnathapuram District, Tanilnadu, India. |
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Reference |
| George, Jacob. 2006. "Traditional vs. Formal Institutions in Managing Common Pool Resources: A Case Study of Traditional Drinking Water System 'Oornin' in Ramnathpuram District, Tamil Nadu, India." Presented at "Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities," the Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Bali, Indonesia, June 19-23, 2006. Link: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00001903/ |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| Ramnathapuram, a coastal district in the peninsula -India faces acute drinking water shortage due to salinity of the ground water on one hand and low erratic rainfall (500-700 mm) on the other. Traditionally people in this region used to collect the rain water in 'Oorni' for household purpose and for the cattle. Oorni is a shallow pond like structure, the clay soil of the area neither allows the water in the Ooorni to percolate down nor does it permit the saline ground water to mix up with the Oorni water. The traditional panchayat in the village looks after the management of the Oorni ( the drinking water source) including the judicious distribution of water. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spacial Boundaries: Michaelpattnam village of Mudukulathur block in Ramnathapuram district of Tamil Nadu state in India.Social Boundaries: Villagers of Michaelpattnam village are part of this traditional institution. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| Main responsibility of the traditional panchayat is the management of the Oorni ( the drinking water source) including the judicious distribution of water. For the process constituting the traditional panchayat the households in the village are divided into clusters or wards and two members are selected from each cluster. Three to four elder members of the community are also added in the Panchayat. From among the selected members, one is selected as the head of the panchayat. Women are neither members of the traditional panchayat nor are they allowed to attend the village traditional panchayat meeting. The panchayat body is changed every three years. Maintenance: Oorni are cleaned and desilted before the rainy season. For this the panchayat requests one member of each family to come on a fixed day and clean the Oorni. The labour is free and voluntary; however, the families who cannot provide labour, have to pay wages of one day. |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| There is a strict control on the use of water from the Oorni, especially the drinking water Oorni. Care is taken that no family draws excess water, and that the water is utilised only for the purpose of cooking and drinking. Moreover during summer it is seen that the quantity of water that is lifted is judiciously used. Anybody found misusing water is fined by the panchayat. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Not mentioned |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| 1) Acute water shortage. Traditionally Oorni was the only source of potable water in this region. However, as time passed it could not cope up with the water requirement due to various reasons. The population growth itself is one of the reasons making the per-capita availability of water very low. 2) The formal panchayat has brought in the dependency on governmental funds for maintenance of Oorni, which was otherwise managed by the traditional panchayat with free labour |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Due to the impression given by the government that the Oornies are not a hygienic source and also due to the promise by the government to provide an alternative source of drinking water, people started neglecting the use of oorni as a drinking water. However when attempts by the government to provide drinking water failed, efforts were started to maintain oornies. Money was channelised through the formal panchayat and works were taken up by the formal panchayats. There is a shift from people maintaining Oorni by free labour to maintaining Oorni by wage labour. Now people expect Government funds for the maintenance of Oorni. However, even now the moral authority of the traditional panchayat still holds. |
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Purpose |
| The management of the Oorni ( the drinking water source) |
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Country |
| India |
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Region |
| Ramnathapuram district of Tamil Nadu state in India |
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