Probe into Wood-fuel Balance - a Case Study in West Bengal

Abstract

The study was designed to determine tbe present and projected positions of the supply, demand and consumption pattern of wood and wood products in the State so that the results may help the planners in formulating schemes on a more solid foundation of facts. Stratified random sampling was employed for the entire State population and the results were derived from 18,758 respondents, in both family and institutions falling at random in 753 sample villages and 796 urban census blocks, drawn out of about 38,000 rural villages and 15,000 urban blocks. Some interesting facts of social ecology have also emerged from the study. Against the recorded fuelwood production of 0.7 million m³ in West Bengal, tbe estimated annual consumption is 16.85 million m³ which means the consumption is about 24 times the supply. Amongst the traditional renewable resources, fuelwood is tbe most widely used in rural areas (about 93.2%). Of all the non-commercial energy consumed, the relative share in million tons of coal replacement (MICR), fuelwood provides 77.1% compared to 14.97% of agricultural wastes, 7.48% of dung-cake and 0.45% of biogas. In the total energy consumption in this State including commercial and non-commercial energy, fuelwood also constitutes about a significant 42%. Out of the total 16.85 million m³ of fuelwood consumed annually, family, institutional and cremational sectors constitute 94.10%, 5.19% & 9.71% respectively. Annual average capita consumption is about 0.288 m³ varying from 0.368 m³ in rural areas to 0.072 m³ in urban areas. The study also reveals that the proximity of forest areas bears a positive correlation to the per capita fuelwood consumption pattern, which is found to be the hightest in Darjeeling district (1.103 m³) and lowest in Calcutta (0.017 m³). A negative correlation has been establisbed between the monthly income of a family and the per capita consumption of fuelwood both in respect of urban and rural sectors.