欧盟水政策.docx

欧盟水政策.docx

《欧盟水政策.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《欧盟水政策.docx（14页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

欧盟水政策

PolicylegendsandwaterpolicyintheUnionTerritory

ofPuducherry

AaronMulvany

Received:

4January2013/Accepted:

9July2013/Publishedonline:

25July2013

SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2013

AbstractWhentheFrenchcededtheirIndiancoloniestotheRepublicofIndiain1954.theyleftinplaceasystemofwaterworksandfloodmitigationstrategiesthathadantecedentstraceabletoIndia’smedievalperiod.FacedwiththeprocessofintegrationintotheIndiandemocracythenewadministrationofwhatwastobecometheUnionTerritoryofPondicherryletlanguishmanyoftheinfrastructuralimprovementsbuiltbythefomerFrenchcolonialgovernment.Overthecourseofthefollowinghalfcenturyaseriesof

narrativesdevelopedwithintheadministrationsurroundingFrenchwatercontrolandfloodmitigationmechanisms.RootedinaflawedunderstandingofthecolonialhistoryoffloodcontrolintheFrenchterritoriesofIndiathesebeliefsossifiedandhavenegativelyshaped

developmentaimedatfloodmitigationandresilienceacrossthepost-colonialUnionTerritoryofPuducherry.ThispaperusesacategorydefinedbyGaryAlanFineandBarryO’Neilltoexplorehow‘‘policylegends’’aboutFrenchwatercontrolinfrastructuresshapedbothpopularandofficialunderstandingoffloodvulnerabilityintheadministrativemadeupoftheformerFrenchterritoriesofIndia.

KeywordsIndiaFrenchIndiaWatermanagementSyndicatsagricoles

FloodmitigationPolicylegends

Itcreatesassymptomsofitspresencecharacteristicpatternsofpolicy,ofmisjudgmentandmisperceptionandofcollectivelyself-defeatingbehaviorwithinthepolicyprocess.

LloydEtheredge,CanGovernmentsLearn?

Introduction

On11November1977acyclonestrucktheCoromandelCoastofIndianearPondicherry.

OfficialweatherbulletinsreleasedbytheMeteorologicalDepartmentinMadras1warned

of‘‘squallyweather,’’tidalsurgesofuptotwometers,andsustainedwindsinexcessof

100kmperhour（ReportonCycloneandFloodDamage,p.1）.Inresponse,AllIndiaRadio

beganbroadcastingwarningsupanddownthecoastofAndhraPradesh,TamilNadu,and

theUnionTerritoryofPondicherry.Despitewhatwasarelativelymodestforecast—what

amountedtoonlyacategoryonestorm—authoritiesoftheterritorialadministrationin

Pondicherrydeemedtherisksufficientenoughtotakemeasurestolimittheimpactofthe

stormonthosecoastalcommunitiesmostlikelytobeaffectedbythestorm.

AccordingtotheReportonCycloneandFloodDamagewrittenbytheUnionTerritory

ofPondicherry’sRevenueDepartment,‘‘asthecyclonewastocoverawideareaandits

coursecouldnotbepredictedwithanygreataccuracy,thisAdministrationtookallnecessarystepstowarnthepeopleandalsotoevacuatethemtosaferplaces’’（1977,p.2）.

Amongthestepstakenwere‘‘repeatedwarnings…throughmike-fittedjeepandalsoby

beatofdrum’’（2009,p.3）inthePattanavarmaritimefishercommunitiesaroundPondicherryandalsoatKaraikal,theUnionTerritory’ssouthernmostdistrictlocatedonthe

ArasalarRiversome130kmtothesouth.

Thereisnoreasontochallengethetruthoftheclaimsputforwardbythisreport,

compiledasitwasintheweeksimmediatelyfollowingthestorm.Butoldermembersof

thePattanavarfishercommunities,particularlythoseinKaraikal,dotelladifferentstory.

Ininterviewafterinterviewconductedbetween2008and2010fishermeninsistedthatthere

hadbeennowarningbeforethestorm,atleastnoofficialwarning.‘‘Therewasnoprior

warninggivenbythegovernment,’’saidone,‘‘butpeopleinthecommunitysensedthe

symptomsofthecycloneandavoidedgoingintothesea[tofish].’’2Otherswhorememberedthe1977storminsistedthatfloodhadnotbeenaproblematthetimebuthadonly

becomesomorerecently:

‘‘Before[whenstormscame]therewasnodangerinthisplace.

Floodsdidnotcomehere（in˙kevellamvantille）.’’3Becausecoastalvillageshadbeen

traditionallysitedonhigh,quick-drainingsanddunestheeffectsofseasonal/cyclonicflood

wasgreatlymitigatedand,asaresult,thesefishershavedevelopedaverydifferentsenseof

whatconstitutes‘‘flood.’’

Itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatmarginal,‘‘traditional’’communitieslikethoseofthe

Pattanavarfisherswouldmaintainvarioustypesoffolkloreabouttheircommunity.The

claimthatfloodsdidnotaffecttheregionsaroundPondicherryandKaraikalisone

commonbitoflocalfolklore.Itisdemonstrablyfalseinpurelywestern-historicalterms,

butitsholdonthecommunityisjustasevident.Similarly,thefolkloresurroundingthe

‘‘symptoms’’ofanoncomingstormhighlightswaysofknowingthatarepeculiarlysuited

totheneedsofthesespecificcommunities.Wedonotnecessarilyexpectsuchnotional

1

ManyplacenamesinIndiahavebeenchangedand/orlocalizedinthepost-colonialperiod.Madrasdidnot

officiallychangeitsnameuntil1996,andsinceIamreferencingaperiodsourcethatusesitscolonialnameI

retainithere.Similarly,Pondicherryretaineditscolonialspellinguntil2006,whenitsnamewasofficially

changedto‘‘Puducherry,’’andincommonspeechmanypeoplestillusetheoldername.HereIwilluse

‘‘Puducherry’’whenreferringtotheentireUnionTerritory—consistingoffouradministrativeunits:

Pondicherry,Karaikal,Mahe,andYanam—and‘‘Pondicherry’’whenquotingdirectspeechorreferringto

thedistrict/cityofPondicherry,thelargestadministrativeunitinthemodern-dayUnionTerritoryof

Puducherry.

2

Tandavasamy,KaraikalMedu,January9,2009.

3

Puthupattan,Vambakirapalaiyam,August5,2010.

approachestoknowingtheworldtobeasevidentwithinthe‘‘rational’’apparatusof

moderngovernanceastheyarewithinfolkcommunities,yetthiscanindeedbethecase.

WithinthecontemporaryadministrationoftheUnionTerritoryofPuducherrythereare

manyfactsthatarecommonlymobilizedforpolicyendsandarticulatedinthelanguageof

rationalknowing,butthewaysofknowingcertainofthese‘‘facts’’canbedecidedlynon

rational.

Alternativewaysof‘‘knowing’’policyhistory

Governmentsarerarelycharacterizedasdynamicagentsofvibrantandforward-thinking

change.Atourmostcynical,thoseofusengagedinthinkingaboutsuchthingsmightsee

governmentascharacterizedbynothingsomuchasinertia.Intheabsenceofdramatic

evidencetothecontrary,certainissuesaretreatedwithapoliteinattention,orpolicy

decisionsarebasedonwhatLloydEtheredgelongagocalled‘‘imaginationsystems’’

（1985）.Developedandrefinedovermorethanadecade,Etheredge’sdescriptionofthe

effectsofimaginationsystemsonU.S.policyinLatinAmericaholdsthatnations（or

peopleorcommunities）capturedwithinsuchanimaginationsystemarerenderedinvisible

unlesssomecrisisbringsthemtoadministrativeattention.‘‘Theyaretoolackinginpower

andstatustobenoticedandtoengagemotivationforanylong-termpolicy,’’hewrites（p.

195）.Amonghisunpublishedpapers4Etheredgenotesfurtherthatthesesystemsare

generatedbytheinherentnatureofthestate,thattheyareself-limiting,andthateachsuch

systemexhibitssomegapofnecessaryknowledge.Inotherwords,somethingismissingon

whichtobaseintelligentandeffectivepolicy.WithintheUnionTerritoryofPuducherry

（UTP）thesegapshavebeenfilledwithotherkindsofknowledge,knowledgewhichthough

basedonfactisnotnecessarilyfactual.

Intheyearsimmediatelyfollowingtheir1954mergerwiththerecentlyindependent

RepublicofIndiatheformerFrenchterritoriesofIndia—Pondicherry,Karaikal,Mahe,and

Yanam—foundthemselvesadriftintheseaoftheirownbureaucratichistory.Butwhere

theUnitedStatesispossessedofanenormousarchivalapparatus—forallofEtheredge’s

critiques—themodernUnionTerritoryofPuducherrylackedfromitsinceptionthe

archivaltoolsnecessarytomaintainorcreatemeaningfullinkstohistoricaldecision

making,andthepost-mergeradministrationwasinnopositiontocreatesuchanapparatus

outofwholecloth.OncethedecisiontowithdrawfromtheirIndianterritorieswasmade,

theFrenchadministrationbeganremovingdocumentsbelongingtothepremieranddeu

xie`meBureaux,therecordsoftheBureaudesaffairespolitiques,andotherfilesrelatedto

thepoliticalandmilitaryaffairsoftheirformercolonies.Lesssensitivedocumentswere

eitherdestroyedoutofhandorlefttorotinattics,beneathstaircases,orunderleaking

pipes.5WithinadecadetheadministrativerecordoftheFrenchcoloniesleftinIndiawere

inutterdisarray,asituationmyownfieldworkinthestatearchivesinPondicherrycon

firms.Theresultwasabureaucracybuiltlessuponacoherentunderstandingofpastpolicy

thanonasetofsharedbeliefsaboutwhattheon-the-groundrealitiesofthecolonial

administrationhadbeen.

Whataroseamidsttheweedsofthecollectivememoryoftheoldbureaucracygrowing

intoanewadministrationisawebofnarrativesconstitutinga‘‘policylegend’’（Fineand

O’Neill2010）.AccordingtoFineandO’Neill,policylegendsaretexts‘‘that[describe]an

4

See

5

InterviewwithF.CyrilAntony,July15,2009.

institution’sactioninacontextthatsupportsaparticularpolicychoiceorpresentssocial

conditionsinacontextthatcallsforgovernmentorcollectiveaction’’（p.151）.Inshort,

theypresentwhateverareperceivedtobe‘‘facts’’relevanttoanongoingpublicdebateor

pointofpolicy.Theyarelegendsinthefolkloricsenseoftheword,insofarastheypresent

‘‘anaccountofahappeningintheworldwhichthenarratororanimmediatepersonal

contactwasnotdirectlyinvolvedandis