Revisiting Decentralising Organisations at Chilika Fishery

Abstract

In India, since the 1990s, the state has formed numerous locally situated organisations for decentralising governance of natural resources (DGNR). However, these organisations largely remain ineffective in addressing resource issues at the local scale, devolution, and participatory governance. Fishery at Chilika lagoon located in the eastern coast of Odisha, India is not any exception. While the state continues to experiment with different forms of local resource governing organisations, the current article investigates two such DGNR organisations, that is, the Chilika Development Authority and Primary Fishery Cooperative located at Chilika to understand varied issues faced by Chilika fisheries. The article argues that contemporary natural resource governing organisational arrangements at Chilika limit decentralisation, which in practice becomes a mere reduction in the scale of territorial extension.