Sukhomajri Falls Apart

A model Haryana village, which had pulled itself out of poverty by managing natural resources, shuns the very model of development.

- Sushmita Sengupta

CALL IT a breakdown of people’s connection with nature or the result of an inherent flaw in government programmes, Sukhomajri is losing its sheen as fast as it had shot to fame in the 1980s. People from at least 120 countries have visited this village in Haryana’s Panchkula district to learn how community management of forest and water can pull a village out of poverty and make it self-sufficient. But chakriya vikas pranali, or cyclical mode of development that had brought it prosperity, seems to have jammed. In this model, the revenue earned from village resources is invested back into its development. But if the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has its way, the proposed 7.3 km bypass on the Panchkula Shimla highway will deal a death blow to this village.