ANNOUNCEMENTS
Urbanisation and rising population are evidently seen in a developing economy like India. The dynamics of using a single resource for multiple uses come from the notion of traditional economics where there are limited resources, unlimited wants and limited resources put to alternative uses. This is why the same land resources are needed for agricultural production and the same is required to carry out development activities like building dams, corridors, commercial projects, residential projects. The real estate sector that leads to the development of various real estate projects in the economy, leading to rise in the overall GDP levels of the country (India). People are dependent massively on agricultural land while being engaged in traditional livelihood opportunities. The massive dependence of livelihoods of rural India on land is the root cause of such a barrier. Therefore, in order to build residential complexes, there exist private sale/ purchase of agricultural land by the landowners to real estate developers. This brings in change in livelihoods of both the landowners and the other dependents on land. This study addresses the change in use of land from agricultural to residential for five urban villages of Zone L and K in Delhi. This is done using the sustainable livelihood framework DfID (1999). The study is based on the landowners and the other dependents of land from these five urban villages namely Chhawla, Issapur Khera, Bamnoli, Bajghera and Rewala Khanpur. It analyses the change in livelihood capitals- human, physical, financial, natural and social, livelihood strategies (occupation structure) and finally livelihood outcomes- income and number of working days. It is found that the landowners who have sold the land to private developers and who have entered into Land Pooling Negotiation with DDA have managed to gain the most, resulting in sustainable form of livelihoods for them. Similarly, the land dependents have a sustainable livelihood by virtue of increasing livelihood opportunities post the land use change. This has resulted in overall change in livelihoods which have also resulted in strong institutional framework where both public (DDA) and private (real estate developers) institutions play a vital role in enhancing sustainable and more diversified sources of livelihoods for both landowners and land dependents. Therefore, this study enables us to understand the transition in the livelihoods of landowners and the land dependents post the sale of agricultural land for residential construction, given the interplay of institutions both public and private.
Keywords: Sustainable Livelihoods, Urban Villages, Livelihood Outcomes, Residential Construction.
