CONTENTS-
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References

Ernakulam district, the industrial district of Kerala, is one of the six districts of the drainage region of Vembanadu estuary. A study of the Quality of Life (QOL) in relation to the environment and relative developmental status of the district reveals significant information regarding the relationship between QOL, water environment and development of a region. With regard to the developmental indices like Net Domestic Product, growth rate of sectoral income, per-capita income etc., Ernakulam district ranks first in the drainage region of Vembanadu estuary. About 55% of the total number of large and medium scale industries in the Vembanadu drainage region is in this district. The QOL of Kochi city is less than the highest QOL values of almost all the municipalities with in the drainage region of Vembanadu estuary. The main reason for such lowering in QOL is the non- availability of drinking water. Thus this city has become a typical example for the fact that urbanisation and related development of a region need not lead to an increase in QOL. It is seen that there is only one district with subjective QOL(s) greater than that of Ernakulam in the Vembanadu drainage region. The main reason for the lowering of QOL(s) in Ernakulam district is found to be water logging and waste disposal problems.

The central part of Kerala, which occupies about 34% of the total geographical area of the state, is drained by seven rivers such as Chalakkudy puzha, Periyar, Muvattupuzha, Manimala, Meenachil, Pampa and Achenkoil. All these rivers debouch into the Arabian sea through Vembanadu estuary, which is one of the largest of its kind in the west coast of India. This region may be considered as the Vembanadu Drainage Region (VDR) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India has identified it as one of the critically polluted areas for reasons such as the shrinking of the back water (Gopalan, et.al., 1983), the deteriorating water quality in the estuary and the presence of the highly polluted Kochi industrial zone, that survives on the banks of Periyar river in Ernakulam district. Edayar-Eloor industrial belt, the   highly industrialised part of Kerala consumes about 189343 m 3 water per day from Periyar river and discharges about 75% of it as waste water into the river itself (Anonymous, 1997). This river is the main source of drinking water to Kochi city, the lone municipal corporation in the VDR. The other districts that fall in the VDR are Alappuzha and Kottayam in full and parts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Thrissur. Most of the human interventions in the Vembanadu estuary have been directly related to the development of Kuttanadu (James, 2002) the rice bowl of Kerala, which lies in Alappuzha district adjacent to Ernakulam district.

In this context this paper attempts to study the relationship if any, between the physical development of a region and the QOL giving due weightage to environment as a factor of QOL. Ernakulam district is the typical candidate for this study in Kerala because it comes in the forefront of other districts in terms of development

The study is mainly based on the secondary data on the economic indicators of development of Ernakulam district collected from various sources and the primary data on QOL collected as a part of a socio-economic household survey conducted in 1998-99. Twenty percent of the total number of wards in each panchayat / municipality of the district was randomly selected. There are 87 such panchayats, 8 municipalities and one municipal corporation in this district. Five percent of the total number of households in each selected ward was randomly selected and surveyed by a proforma. The data on the objective parameters of QOL like housing, clothing, education, culture, social security, sanitation, water availability, health, physical environment, food and nutrition, employment, transport and communication and energy were collected. The subjective attitudes of people on the above parameters were also measured. It was possible to identify the environmental problems faced by the households and the level of satisfaction of the households on the physical environment was rated. From these data the QOL is calculated as indices ranging from zero to one. These indices are subjective QOL (QOLs), objective QOL (QOLo) and cumulative QOL (QOLc). These indices have been calculated for all the panchayats/ municipalities and districts of VDR. Based on these QOL indices, the panchayat wise hot spots in the socio-economic environment of Ernakulam district were identified and the reasons for such areas in the category of hot spots are also analysed. In order to classify the households based on QOL, a scale with QOLs ranging from zero to 0.19 as critical, 0.2 to 0.39 very poor, 0.4 to 0.59 poor, 0.6 to 0.79 satisfactory and 0.8 to 1 as good may be used and panchayats with poor QOL have been identified as hot spots.

The data on the Net Domestic Product (NDP) at current prices for 1980-81 and 1996-97 are given for different districts in VDR (Table. 1)

Table.1

Source: Statistics since Independence (1998), Dept. of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of Kerala

Table.1 shows that as per 1996-97 data, Ernakulam district comes first in the VDR with respect to NDP. It can also be seen that about 32 % of the NDP of VDR is from Ernakulam district alone. It is also seen that among the districts of VDR, from 1980-81 to 1996-97 the largest increase of 363693 in NDP was recorded by this district. This increase comes around 34 % of the total increase in NDP recorded by VDR.

Table 2 - The growth of sectoral income during 1997-98 based on 1980-81 prices

Source: Economic Review, 1998, Kerala State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram.

The average of total rate of growth in all the sectors in VDR is 6.56.   The total growth rate is highest (7.4) for Ernakulam district and the tertiary sector has made the highest growth rate of 9.1 in this district.

Planners have accepted the per-capita income as an indicator of   development and QOL of a region. The district wise per-capita income at current prices from 1991-92 to 1996-97 is given (Table.3.).

Table 3 The district wise per-capita income at current prices from 1991-92 to 1996-97

Source: Statistics since Independence,1998, Dept. of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of Kerala

From 1991-92 to 1996-97 every year Ernakulam district   kept its first position with respect to the per-capita income at current prices in VDR. The per-capita income in this district is 33 % greater than the VDR average. Further if you compare the district wise per-capita income (1980-81) prices for 1996-97 and 1997-98 along with the ranks of each district in Kerala and the growth of per-capita income, it gives the same picture (Table.4).

Table.4

  Source: Economic Review, 1998, Kerala State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram

The table indicates that Ernakulam district ranks first in Kerala state with respect to per-capita income at 1980-81 prices and growth between 1996-97 and 1997-98 also is the highest (6%) in this district, when the VDR average has recorded a growth rate of only 5.2%. The consumer price index or cost of living index numbers for agricultural and industrial workers in all the districts in VDR is given (Table.5).

Table.5

Source: Economic Review,1998, Kerala State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram

It can be seen that the variation index in consumer price and the percentage in variation are maximum for Ernakulam district.

Industrial Scenario in Ernakulam district

The secondary data on the number of large and medium scale industries in VDR as on 31 st March 1998 are given (Table.6).

Table.6

Source: Economic Review, 1998, Kerala State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram

Table.6 shows that there are 262 large and medium scale industries in VDR. Out of this, 55.34 % are in Ernakulam district. Further, our primary data, collected by an industrial survey in Ernakulam district indicates that rubber based industries are the largest type by number in this district. But by annual turn over, petroleum -refining industries comes first. Fertiliser, metal and chemical industries using lime shell, carbon, common salt etc. are also present in this group of large scale industries. Majority of these large scale industries are located in the northern and north western parts of the   district such as Edayar, Eloor, Aluva and Kalamassery. There are 22204 small scale industries (SSIs) in VDR, of which 43.65% are in this district. Tourism industry is also showing the highest level of development in Ernakulam district. In 1996, about 68.22% of the total number of tourist arrival was in this district. With respect to the distributive resources like transport and communication also this district comes in the fore front.

QOL Indices

The QOL indices namely QOLs, QOLo and QOLc for all the districts of VDR are given (Table.7).

Table 7 The QOL indices namely QOLs, QOLo and QOLc for all the districts of VDR

For VDR, the average QOLs, QOLo and QOLc are 0.705, 0.575 and 0.641 respectively. There is only one district in VDR that has relatively lower QOLs than that of Ernakulam district. But, the QOLo is the highest for this district. QOLc also is showing the same picture as given by QOLs. Now, if we consider the rural-urban difference in QOL for VDR, for the urban areas, QOLo and QOLc are higher than that for the rural areas. But the QOLs is more for the urban areas. In Ernakulam district, QOLs and QOLc are higher for the rural areas and for the urban areas both are almost the same. It can also be seen that the rural-urban difference is negligible in Ernakulam district compared to other districts in VDR.

QOL in Kochi Corporation

The Kochi Corporation is unique in VDR owing to the fact that it is the lone municipal corporation in the study region. Its proximity to the Vembanadu estuary and the critically polluted Edayar-Eloor industrial belt makes it a candidate for special attention in terms of QOL analysis. Comparison of the QOL indices for the municipalities in Ernakulam district is given (Table.8).

Table.8 Comparison of the QOL indices for the municipalities in Ernakulam district

  Table.8 shows that the QOLs   and QOLc of Kochi are ahead of only two municipalities in the district. Further, it is seen that the QOLs of Kochi is less than the highest QOLs values of municipalities in all other districts. Similarly, the QOLs of Kochi is less than the lowest QOLs values of municipalities in other districts except two.

Hot spots in Ernakulam district

Among the 87 panchayats, 8 municipalities and one corporation in this district, 9 panchayats and one municipality are hot spots in the socio-economic environment. They are Chellanam, Kumbalangi, Maradu, Kumbalam, Kadamkkudy, Mulavukad, Pallippuram, Chittattukara and Kuttampuzha panchayats and Thrippunithura municipality, which is a suburb of Kochi Corporation. It is interesting to note that except Kuttampuzha, all other hot spots are partly or completely surrounded by different parts of Vembanadu estuary. Further, these hot spots are not strictly in the Edayar-Eloor industrial belt. The reasons for such areas being in the category of hot spots are given in the discussion part of this paper.

With respect to economic indicators like NDP, growth of sectoral income, per-capita income and consumer price index Ernakulam district comes first in VDR. This has further relevance on the industrial scenario in the district. Majority (55.34%) of the large and medium scale industries in VDR are concentrated in this district. Most of them are polluting industries also. But majority of these industries are in the northern and north-western part of the district. With respect to the SSIs and tourists resources also, Ernakulam district comes first in VDR. These facts and figures suggest that this district is relatively the most highly developed region in VDR. Naturally, one would expect a higher QOL status of the people in this district.

Now, if you compare the QOL indices of Ernakulam district with that of other districts in VDR, it is seen that there is only one district in VDR with QOLs less than that of Ernakulam. The higher status of this district in terms of physical development is further supported by a relatively higher QOLo value. This gives an indication that a higher status in physical development of a region should not lead to a higher QOL. This is further supported by the QOL status of Kochi urban centre in Ernakulam district. Even though, Kochi is in the forefront of any other area in this district in terms of physical development, it is not ahead of any other municipal area (except three) in VDR in terms of QOL.

When we analyse the reasons for the lowering of QOL in Ernakulam district and Kochi Corporation, it becomes evident that the priority limitation is scarcity of drinking water. In Ernakulam district, treated potable drinking water is available only to about 30 % of the house holds. About 10 % of the house holds use water from streams and canals. Others are struggling for drinking water. Environmental problems like water logging and air pollution come second in the limitations on the QOL of this district. In the case of Kochi Corporation,   the first priority   is non-availability of drinking water. About 73 % of house holds in this district face this problem.

The hot spots in the socio-economic environment in this district and the reasons for such areas being in the category of hot spots further support the limitations imposed by water environment of this district on the QOL of its people (Table 9)

Table.9

Except two, all other hot spots have become hot spots due to scarcity of drinking water or any other water related environmental problems. The scarcity of drinking water has further implications on water pollution and water management because, with one exception (Kuttampuzha), all the hot spots are partly or completely surrounded by water in the Vembanadu estuary. It is also very important to note that none of these hot spots are in the Edayar-Eloor industrial belt, but they are in the south western part of the district. This means that the socio-economic environmental hot spots are not industrial hot spots, but they are the result of natural and man made water related environmental problems.

The above discussion suggests that even in the case of a region with a higher developmental status, the water related environmental problems like scarcity of drinking water and water logging act as limiting factors to QOL. This means that developmental planning from the grass root level should give due importance to environmental factors to balance the development versus environment relationship through progress of QOL.

This paper forms a part of the Carrying Capacity based Developmental Planning for Greater Kochi Region-a project sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The authors are thankful to Dr. K.P.Thrivikramaji, Head, Dept. of Geology, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram for the computer facilities provided.

Anonymous (1997) The Carrying capacity studies for Greater Kochi Region, Report submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, Kochi, p.253.

Gopalan, U.K; Doyil, T; Udayavarma, P and Krishnankutty, M (1983). The shrinking backwaters of Kerala. Jour. Biol. Ass. Ind, v.25, pp.131-141.

James, E.J (2002). Management of wetlands in relation to river basins with a case study from south west India: In wetland conservation and management in Kerala- A compendium on the focal theme of fourteenth Kerala Science Congress. State committee on Science Technology and Environment, Govt. of Kerala, pp.30-49.    

*Dept .of Geology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom-695 581

**Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, Kochi-24, Kerala, India.