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Preamble

In recent decades, there is an upsurge of legal and administrative interest to study and find solutions to degeneration of natural resources (NR) and to undertake constructive measures to conserve environment for social good. Policy-makers, civil society organizations and academia to recognise or acknowledge the growing interdependence between nature-society interface. There was also a realization that unlimited use or exploitation of NR for economic activities places a huge burden on it, creating a crisis in environment. Social Ecology strives to establish a link between people and their environment, concluding that ‘nearly all our present ecological problems are the result of deep-seated social problems’.

Conceptual Framework

The central argument around which this paper is based relates to the emphasis it lays on the impact of disasters and catastrophes resulting from environmental dislocations on social fabric or social organization in any society. Sociological inquiry into the various dimensions of nature-society interface takes note of, especially, the various categories of population in each community/group. These are in terms of ethnic, gender, economic and cultural dimensions indicating that they form the indices for measuring the severity of impact and measures to be taken to mitigate the same.

It did not take long for the advocates of this theory, to take note of the above. Bookchin, one such strong advocate propagated the valuable link that the crisis in environment must be viewed in its attribution to the “social hierarchisation, hegemonic power and authoritarianism and dominance all rooted in a social system” (Bookchin 1982, 2004 & 2021). Look at his famous, very meaningful statement: “the destiny of the human world is dependent upon the destiny of the non-human world (ibid).

Despite its recent origin, social ecology is a multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional subject of sociological concern. The Earth Summit, 2002, that took place in Johannesburg, in fact, laid so much emphasis upon what it called as “Sustainable Development” and “Multilateralism” as the way forward. This Summit of 2002 and the UN commission on Sustainable Development (April 2001) – both – considered taking stock of the various impacts of how the poor, especially, become vulnerable to victimization of environmental degradation as well as the negative impact (The World Bank 1995).

Government Policies relating to Environment in India  

Policies and programmes for protecting the people from environmental onslaughts came on the scene roughly during the 1980s. Like many other countries, India also followed suit. The net impact or outcome of this initiative or move was the launching of a series of projects and research to be undertaken by research institutes, universities, government and even the private sector that had begun to make an entry by that time, under the influence of the LPG[1]. There was a concerted realization that people at the bottom of society - the poor, marginalized and socially excluded - were an integral component or part of all efforts to conserve or save nature and its resources. Thus, government policies (further culminating as laws and enactments) began to play a vital role in the conservation and day-to-day management of NR.

India has been a signatory to several international conventions and resolutions taken in many Conventions and Meetings from at least the 1990s. Extensive support was offered with consensus by many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs). The latter included a mix of associations of farmers, thinkers, environmentalists, experts of study of gender and subaltern issues, and so on.

Karnataka

Karnataka, with its rich treasure of fauna and flora (forests, river bodies, hills, and others) in the Western Ghats and other parts was not late in realising the growing importance of (a) not only the biological wealth of NR, but also (b) the need to protect/conserve the valuable livelihoods of people associated with the NR. Realizing that law or legal enactments are necessary to regularize and systematize the use and preservation of environmental goods and services, including the government in Karnataka, the centre took upon the task of designing and passing several laws and regulations regarding environmental conservation, upgradation, detecting any abuse or overuse and to take punitive action against the offenders, be they industrialists or others. The series of regulations related to quality of air and water, besides several other derivatives of what nature provides to the people to fulfil their needs enabling decent livelihoods.

Equity, Justice, and Sustainability

A notable function of environmental law is to ensure that the benefits of nature’s goods and services are distributed among all in a community, without any bias or discrimination. As we know, Indian society being highly stratified on caste/ethnic, economic, gender, and cultural distinctions, there are ample chances of the vulnerable or poor being sidelined or alienated from benefiting from NR. Lack of land and other assets in their ownership in rural areas; lack of entitlements about forest lands by the tribals; and lack of sustainable and steady income due to seasonal employment for millions of poor livings in urban areas (most of them being immigrant labourers) – all these deprive them from using and accessing environmental goods and services like the upper classes. But while considering the causes for environmental degradation and exploitation, it is the poor on whom the blame is placed. This is further extended to women from poor households who have no alternate but to depend on NR for their requirements of fuel or firewood. At the same time, they are the ones who suffer the difficulty of walking several kms to fetch water for drinking and household use. This issue is relatively well resolved through governmental intervention[2].

Nature of Environmental Law

As laws are designed and implemented to protect the vulnerable people from marginalization and exploitation; they also, in the process, teach or train people how to not misuse environment. The success of environmental law depends upon how well they are implemented, on the one hand, and on the other, how well people/community conforms to them.

Law regarding environment covers a wide spectrum of sectors, such as, Forests, Mines, Aqua, Anti-Pollution (from vehicular and industrial smoke), Pollution of water bodies like reivers, streams, lakes, and tanks, to mention a few important ones.

Reflecting upon the constitutional provisions directing the state to undertake measures to protect and maintain the environment and make sustainable use of NR, we can say that it is not easy to regulate growing Indian economy to deal with environmental issues. People’s awareness plays a leading role in making these initiatives work. Government and NGOs have to work in co-ordination to solve many environmental issues and to implement legislation.

In its strict definition, environmental legislation (EL) is expected to take note of all forms of threats to NR and improve health of people. That is why EL is very broad - stretching from the air that we breathe till the Natural Resources.

Need for EL: What has Gone Wrong?

Climate change is the cause of all the above. India is not spared from the ill effects of climate change, to which agricultural sector is the one most victimized, with crop failures leading to price instability etc.[3] More than 15 per cent to 20 per cent of land is prone to floods and droughts. But the greatest threat is the fact that today India ranks third in the world (after China & the US) as emitter of greenhouse gases, with more than 1700 tons in 2009 itself. Carbon emissions are expected to rise 2.5 times, annually. Sectors of energy, industry, agriculture, solid waste, and others account for 22 per cent. 17 per cent and 3 per cent of net CO2 emissions respectively, making climate change the focal issue or concern of state and central government. Hitherto, i.e., about 2 -3 decades ago, India used to claim ignorance from contributing to greenhouse emissions; but now, it has begun to take a lead in international negotiations, not allowing the developed nations (like US and UK) to impose regulations. Diverse set of laws have been designed, aiming at achieving efficiency in generating clean energy and making all preparations to counter the impact of climate change at the government and individual level.

For that matter, India is comparatively a Rashtra that was governed by a blend of sacredness, philosophy, and Hindu religious fervor, both worshipping, and conserving the nature and culture. Its rivers[4], mountains[5] and waterways are held sacred. However, over the decades, the sacred Ganga and other rivers have become dumping grounds for domestic, industrial, and agricultural waste. Clean Ganga and other projects of the present ruling government have been working to revive the purity and sanctity of these NR. Awareness is being imparted to people/pilgrims to keep the NR pure and un-exploited or overused.

It is in this context, that the existing legal enactments, or laws, regulations, and government orders regarding environmental protection and conservation (EPC). Amendments were made to the Indian Constitution to enact suitable legislation on EPC.  The instigation was provided in 1972, when Stockholm hosted the United Nations Conference on Human Environment. following this event, the GoI (Government of India) brought out the 42nd amendment clause (g) of Article 51A to the Constitution of India (GoI), protecting and improving NR[6] as a fundamental duty of all citizens of the country. Further, Article 48A made the state responsible to protect environment, besides improving it (forests, animals etc.).

An encouraging landmark was the establishment of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in 1980, known later in 1985 as the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoE & F).  The Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1985 led to the passing of The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) in 1986.  From then on, several numbers of environmental laws have been passed[7].

Some notable legislative Acts are:

Global Environment Laws:

i. United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972;

ii. World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development, 1980

iii. Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, 1987[8]

iv. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), The Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992[9]

v. World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002[10]

vi. Earth Summit +5, United Nations General Assembly, New York, 1997

Community Participation in Environmental Protection and Conservation

Besides the government undertaking every effort to implement the well-designed or structured laws and Acts concerning Environmental Conservation and Protection (ECP), critical to success and sustainability of this process is community participation. We are aware that climate change and its effects are devastating all over the world, as being evidenced in the last few years. Frequently occurring floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires in different parts of the world are some examples here. Their intensity and impact on the human society are scary. The need of the hour are creative and comprehensive solutions to address these impacts of climate change – mainly legal enactments on the one hand, and collective action by the community concerned, on the other.

Many countries have formed community partnerships to address the global reality called climate change, which demands legal and governmental action between nations and within a nation, between states or provinces. What is also needed, importantly, is coordinated people’s action in the form of collaboration between communities to confront the devastating effect of a host of environmental hazards occurring almost every day, in one way or another in different locales of the globe. In what is called as the PPT model (Public-Private Partnership), in this coordinated pact, government, private sector, and the people/community work together respecting the law enacted to protect and conserve environment. Working together helps all three to realize the danger and act swiftly. Communities tend to become more resilient and stronger to effectively encounter and manage the recurrence of environmental calamities.

Three entities, viz., the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change in association with the Central Pollution Control Board (national level), and the State Pollution Control Board (at the State level) frame, implement and enforce environmental laws. Air and water pollution are the chief environmental hazards in our country, to address which industries and factories are levied strict legislative enforcements. These relate to air emissions, discharge of effluents, and so on.  The culprits are the people who mindlessly throw or discard hazardous waste material in water bodies. Some of the laws regulating these are old, having been designed in the 1980s and 90s.

As each city grows or expands, with higher density, complexity and heterogeneity of its population, its solid & liquid waste generation quantity and quality also multiplies. Therefore, a rigorous and up-to-date policy and legal framework are highly necessary. It is appreciable that several waste management rules have been revised since 2016. Classification into (a) hazardous waste (b) e-waste, and (c) plastic waste was made, in tune with the models followed by the countries in the European Union. Two or more features are notable here, in this context. One is the EPR (meaning Extended Producer Responsibility) incorporated into environmental laws; the other is the concept of what is called as the ‘polluter pays’. Causing damage or destruction to the environment is punishable under the law. The Companies’ Corporate Social Responsibilities Policy Rules (2014) and Companies Act (2013) compel the companies to invest at least 2 per cent of their average net profits on public welfare activities

Traditional Knowledge Systems (TKS)

Our ancestors not only lived long lives not only extending love and gratitude towards nature and its resources for keeping them alive; they also evinced much interest in taking a lot of care to conserve the environment. Every tribe or moiety or ethnic/rural community through their cultural forms had evolved their own unique systems for the above purpose (Devara Kaadu in Kodagu of Karnataka). They not only followed them strictly but had laid out series of punishment to those who violate or err. These cultural practices (towards, for example, “Sacred Groves”) were passed on from generation to generation, each adding to the TKS, new ideas and rules, based on their own experiences. Exploitation of NR received severe condemnation and punishment (Chandrakanth 2004).

Thus, customary laws protecting natural resources have been central to the lives of indigenous communities, defined by taboos, rights and responsibilities. The Indian Constitution has recognized this under Article 13 by defining the same as ‘the custom or usage having the force of law’. Therefore, we must acknowledge the fact that TKS can show the path for the present generation proper methods of environmental sustainability. Local and experienced wisdom is the critical and valuable asset or issue here.The need of the hour is, therefore, evolving an integrated approach that understands the difficulties before poor people living in substandard dwellings and environment with improper access to drains, ventilation etc. Ill-planned cities with residential, industrial, business, commercial, transport, and markets huddled together, congested, and unfit for human survival must be brought under reform and new ones prevented from becoming so. Bronchial and chest related diseases are rising in cities, towns and even villages, affecting even toddlers, caused by polluted air, toxic substances, etc.

This paper emphasizes that the role of the community is high in the list of stakeholders who are engaged in the design, implementation and advocacy of environmental laws and government policies in that regard. There are many examples of how the community has maintained green spaces; undertaken recycling of solid waste and provide education/awareness to people about the perils of environmental degradation. Laws cannot work for themselves. If not taken seriously and followed, they just remain on paper.One significant issue here, in the modern & globalized world, is that community consciousness has become difficult to bring about. Unlike the villages of the earlier decades, today they are transformed by the winds of modernization, industrialization, changes in livelihoods, egoism, and urban lifestyles (such as use of plastic, packaged food, etc.) which are adding to volumes of solid waste. Extensive housing projects in the mega cities rest upon a large number and variety of hazardous waste material and over-use of NR (mining, quarrying, sand lifting from water bodies, felling of trees for wood and fuel, irrigation directly from the rivers, lakes, etc.), unlimited construction work, fast life that depends upon ready-made food, and a large number of other habits and practices are all, in the end, killing the environment. Disregard for law is not only by the entrepreneurs and industrialists; common citizens too have a total apathetic attitude towards the rules and laws governing the safety and sustainability of our environment.Innocent victims of environmental hazards are children, old, sick, and women from poor and marginalized households. Gender aspects of Natural Resource Management and environmental protection are those which shed light on the lack of basic amenities (such as fuel for cooking, drinking water, poorly ventilated dwelling houses, etc.), drudgery of household work, abject poverty, large size of the family, compulsion to earn a living for self and family, etc. Women are, therefore, labelled as ‘everyday warriors’ who struggle to stay alive (Shiva 2009).Therefore, the paper upholds and considers good governance at rural, tribal, and urban levels as the ultimate solution to ruthlessly implement the law as well as make people (regardless of whether they are in the corporate sector, owners of manufacturing units, or ordinary citizens) respect and protect the environment that is vital for their very survival. As per the Karnataka Grama Swaraj & Panchayati Raj 1993 Act, three tier panchayat system has been established from the last 3 decades (1994-2024). According to the devolution of functions, the Zilla Panchayats are in charge of protecting the environment and NR. This includes budgetary allocation under non-plan scheme, and the ZPs are expected to maintain Natural Resources Data Management Systems. The Act has directed the panchayats to design environmental-friendly projects, include them in their annual action plans and implement as part of natural resource management initiatives. Of utmost importance here is to involve local communities and people’s institutions (CBOs, CSOs etc.), local NGOs at all stages. Gram and ward sabhas are expected to be organized with NRM as the agenda issue and gather people’s views and perceptions on the initiatives to be undertaken to protect and conserve the environment. Effective involvement and participation of local institutions and communities is receiving a lot of attention in academic research (Baumann and Farrington 2003; Ramakrishnan et al 2002, Lele 2004; Kumar 2007). With administrative and fiscal decentralization, the government’s line departments and fund allocation are also enabling this process. It has also upheld participation of the user in decision-making about NR management. Power relations are restructured from the Grama Panchayat to the Taluk, and Zilla Panchayat, involving the central, state, and local governments and communities. This has been possible due to transfer of power, functions, and functionaries to these local bodies (Hooja 2004).

1.Baumann, Pari and John Farrington (2003). Decentralising Natural Resources Management: Lessons from Local Government Reform in India, Natural Resources Perspective, London: ODI, 86:1-4

2.Bhagwat, S (2000). Devarakadu of Coorg: Reflections of a Researcher. Coffeeland News. Online Newspaper at http://www.coorg-online.com/feature/devara.htm

3.Chandrakanth, M G, G Mahadev Bhat & M S Accavva (2004).  Socio-economic Changes and Sacred Groves in South India: Protecting a Community-Based Resource Management Institution. Natural Resources Forum, Vol. 28 (20), Wiley Online Library

4.Government of India (2003). Guidelines for Haryali & Reports of the Ministry of Environment, New Delhi

5.Government of Karnataka (2006). Karnataka at a Glance, 2005-06; 2021. Bangalore. Directorate of Economics and Statistics.https://www.karnataka.gov.in/new-page/Karnataka%20at%20a%20Glance/en#

6.Hooja, Rakshit (2004). Why Only Panchayat? Down to Earth 12 (18)

7.Kumar, Senthil (2007). Integration of Formal and Semi-Formal Local Governance System to Ensure Accountability, Transparency and Legitimacy for Sustainable Development in India. www.2007amsterdamconference.org/

8.Lele, Sharachchandra (2004). Decentralised Governance of Natural Resources in India, Blore: CISED

9.Nadkarni, M V, N. Sivanna and Lavanya Suresh (2018). Decentralized Democracy in India: Gandhi’s Vision and Reality. New Delhi: Routledge pp 420

10.Rajasekhar, D (2000). Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in India: Opportunities and Challenges. Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 19 (2) pp 249-275

11.Ramakrishnan, Rajesh, M Dubey, R K Raman, P Baumann & J Farrington (2002). Panchayat Raj and Natural Resource Management: How to Decentralise Management over Natural Resources, National Synthesis Report, London: ODI

12.Siva, Vandana (2009). Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. Publishing Women Unlimited

13.Sivanna, N and Gopinath Reddy (2007). Panchayats and Watershed Development: An Assessment of Institutional Capacity. ISEC working paper No. 12, Bangalore, ISEC

14.The World Bank (1996). Environment Matter at the World Bank: July 1995-June 1996. Washington D C, World Bank Group.

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/790771468762624160/Environment-matter-at-the-World-Bank-July-1995-June-1996

[1] Liberalization, Privatization & Globalization processe
[2] Drinking water projects have successfully been implemented. Likewise, the central government has launched a scheme of free distribution of Gas Cylinders to poor and deserving women.
[3] Such as Rs. 100 a kg of Tomato to Rs 1!!
[4] River Ganges/Ganga supposed to swash off all sins; it is said that the very sight of River Narmada is purifying
[5] The Himalayas, The Vindhyas and so on
[6] Such as water bodies, forests, and wild animals
[7] The list of EPC laws in India is long. Only the relevant ones to the context of the paper are mentioned here
[8] The Brundtland Report argued that the prime cause behind serious global environmental problems is extreme poverty (in the South) and unsustainable consumption and production patterns (in the North). The Report with its main focus being on sustainable development, gave a call for designing strategies to integrate development with environment.
[9] The Conference held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro placed a lot of emphasis upon realizing the interdependence between social, economic, and environmental factors. It gave a call for ‘co-evolving’ strategies. It believed that success in one sector requires action in the others in a sustainable manner. It upheld the significance of evolving a broad agenda with a new blueprint to moot international action on fostering environment and development. It believed that only this would facilitate International Cooperation and Development in the new Millennium.
[10] This Summit on Sustainable Development adopted a Political Declaration and Implementation Plan with several provisions to build activities or measures to ensure such development that respects the environment.