Abstract
Over the last 50 years since environmentalism first exploded onto the world political agenda, the environment has been one of the most controversial and rapidly growing areas of public policy. The green movements in North and local grass-root movements in the South countries have elevated the debate for environmental policymaking and governance. Countries in both North and South have enacted several policies and regulations for environmental protection. However, these policies have been criticized due to their superficial protective coverage, absence of concrete measures and poor execution.
Taking these contexts in the background, this chapter has tried to examine the concept and practice of environmental governance in India. It has provided a historical overview of the environmental governance and also highlighted the challenges and opportunities in the different spheres of environmental decision making by taking some examples. Methodologically, the paper would be based on a path-dependent analysis of the environmental governance in India. This chapter argues that balance in the environment-development trade-off is necessary to meet growth objectives and the enforcement measures do not necessarily obstruct the growth. Further, more public engagement as well as creative politics are required for better environmental decision making.
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Notes
- 1.
Earlier the environmental degradation often seemed like an aesthetic issue.
- 2.
‘Silent Spring (1962)’ is a book by American biologists Rachel Carson (1907–1964). The book talked about environmental problems caused by synthetic pesticides.
- 3.
In 1972 (5–16 June) the United Nations conference on Human Environment was organized in Stockholm to consider the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the people of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment.
- 4.
Rio summit/Earth Summit in 1992 (3–14 June) by the United Nations (Conference on Environment and Development) was organized in Rio de Janeiro where 172 governments participated in and discussed several environmental issues like fossil fuels and climate change, poisonous waste, scarcity of water, etc.
- 5.
Formally it is ‘World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)’, known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, it was convened by the United Nations in response to the 1983 General Assembly Resolution A/38/161—‘Process of preparation of the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond’. In A/38/161, the General Assembly: The Report of the Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future, was published by Oxford University Press in 1987.
- 6.
Green Peace and World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are international NGOs working toward the conservation and restoration of the natural environment.
- 7.
Chanakya (350–283 BC) was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340–293 BCE). He is considered as the Master of Diplomacy and the pioneer of the field of economics and political science. In the western world, he has been referred to as ‘The Indian Machiavelli’, although Chanakya lived 1809 before Machiavelli.
- 8.
Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya, who are traditionally identified with Chanakya (350–283 BC).
- 9.
Forest department was established in 1864 and the colonial government appointed Dietrich Brandis as the first Inspector General of Forest.
- 10.
The establishment of the forest department was not the actual idea of the colonial administration. The department in India was created when the British felt the need for raw materials to build their industries as well as their products. The British used Indian forest resources in both the World Wars.
- 11.
It includes industrial accidents like gas leak at Bhopal (3 December 1984), Madhya Pradesh (central state of India), and the Chipko movement (1970s) in the lower land of the Himalaya for the protection of the forest, which generates the growth of public consciousness about the ill effects of the industries as well as the state policies which are destructive for the local livelihood and forest. Then came different movements like Narmada Bacho Andolan, Save the Silent Valley Campaign, Chilka Bachao Andolan, Tehri Dam Campaign, Doon Mining, etc., as movements against state policies and industrial developments.
- 12.
It includes Water-shed Movements in Maharashtra, Palamau, and Sukhmojori; Chhattisgarh Movement of Sankar Guha Neogi; Save the Western Ghats March in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala; Save the Gandhamardhan and Niyamgiri Movement in Odisha; and Save the Soil Campaign in Madhya Pradesh. All these movements cited above are raised their voice against the loose of the livelihood of the local poor people and their rights to the local natural resources.
- 13.
M. K. Gandhi’s vision was a self-sustained and self-reliance village economy. On the other hand, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea was to plan growth through heavy industrialization. Nehru was a firm believer in the modernization though industrial development by the state-owned enterprises. There are several letters exchanged between Gandhi and Nehru about their idea of post-colonial development and poverty eradication in India.
- 14.
Indira Gandhi’s (Prime Minister of India) Speech at the Stockholm Conference in 1972, Man and Environment, Plenary Session of United Nations Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm 14 June 1972 http://lasulawsenvironmental.blogspot.in/2012/07/indira-gandhis-speech-at-stockholm.html, accessed on 2 January 2015. After that her speech in the parliament of India in October 1976 ‘So far, the feeling of responsibility towards nature was absent all over the World. It was not absent in our own ancient books; but came about because we adopted the Western viewpoint. Now the time has come to go back to the source of strength of the human race and to try to preserve and revitalise them’ has in a sense turned the attention toward environmental policy making.
- 15.
These acts/regulations have been amended several time in the last 40–50 years.
- 16.
Some of these legislations are formulated during the period of National Emergency.
- 17.
Other significant cases which resulted positive enviornmental outcome are the Taj Trapezium case and use of CNG in the city public transport case in Delhi, etc. However, judicial interventions have given mixed results because the decisions are not always go in favour of environmental protection. For instance, the Sethusamudrum case court has mentioned that development should be given primary importance and in the case of the Narmada case, the court allowed the dam to be finished and given judgment in favor of increasing the height of the dam later.
- 18.
The Tiwari committee recorded the failure of the India state to address the environmental degradation during the first developmental decades.
- 19.
Presently the ministry has regional offices and different divisions for forest, climate change, wildlife, etc. It has also several boards, autonomous institutes, and tribunals to take care of different activities. The ministry has expanded its scope in different areas.
- 20.
The eight 5-year plan (1992–1997) emphasizes the rights of common property resources and participation of the local people in forest management and other natural resources. The tenth 5-year plan (2002–2007) talks about sustainability as an imperative. The eleventh 5-year plan (2007–2012) talks about the protection of the environment to be a central part of any sustainable inclusive growth strategy.
- 21.
Although the EIA provision was created in the late 1970s, the legal mandate was given to the process in 1994.
- 22.
To see more on the afforestation program, see the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Compensatory Afforestation in India in its report no. 21 of 2013.
- 23.
It is well evident from some of the sectors that the presence of clear regulation and regulatory authorities have not stifled the growth of the industries, rather they have complimented the industry’s efforts to innovate and remain competitive.
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Das, S.P. (2023). State’s Commitment to Environmental Governance in India: Struggle Between Developmental Pressure and Sustainability Challenges. In: Briesen, D., Das, S.P. (eds) Media, Politics and Environment. Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31252-6_10
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