Time For Action

Since time immemorial, the environment has had a larger-than-life place in the Indian scheme of things. But the Nineties and the new century have really been a sad story of a virtually unending line of laws failing to combat the increasing levels of pollution brought forth by urbanisation, and the global pressure about greenhouse emissions resulting in the Paris accord that now brings in its wake greater pressure on countries to tighten laws. Amidst all this, India shines as a classic example of the irrational mindset of enacting more laws to produce less pollution. RACHANA RANA BHATTACHARYA, while examining the dizzying number of laws that engulf us and the incredulously lopsided judicial pronouncements made by different courts, poses a simple question: What is the way forward?

- Rachana Rana Bhattacharya

As the children of the world united in a rousing chorus of anger, asking governments, “HOW DARE YOU?” at the UN Summit for Climate Change - it’s time for those in the driver’s seat to realise that they’ve been given fair warning to quit stalling and begin walking the talk.

India has no dearth of laws that govern the environment. There are constitutional provisions, general laws (IPC, CrPC), more than 300 special acts (for environmental protection, water protection and control of pollution, forest conservation, biological diversity, public liability insurance, national green tribunal) as well as National Environment, Forest and Agriculture policies. A host of bodies at the central, state and district levels are in charge of their implementation which is not so easy either. It needs considerable resources, technical expertise, political and social will. Since implementation falls in the domain of the executive, the role of law in the protection of ecosystems is limited. The laissez-faire exhibited towards the Ministry of Environment and the judiciary’s orders (which already has a backlog of over 21,000 environment related cases) to most state governments only deepens the predicament. The unhappy truth is that too many rules and regulations destroy all respect for the law.

There is little coherence in the standards set by the Pollution Control Board and the Tribunals that face a paucity of funds, proper infrastructure or laboratories, manpower and expertise. They also don’t have legal authority and their decisions tend to get overruled. To top it all, the Supreme Court has its own take which leads to contrary views and overlapping orders in numerous cases with the authorities passing the buck to each other even as the environment and citizens are reduced to playing hapless victims.

Water, water, everywhere.