The document summarizes the history of environmental protection laws in India. It discusses how the Constitution was amended in 1976 to include articles directing the state and citizens to protect and improve the environment. Several key laws related to water pollution, air pollution, wildlife protection, and more have been passed. However, enforcement has been challenging. The judiciary has played a significant role in several public interest lawsuits requiring industries to reduce pollution. Overall, while laws exist, more effective enforcement mechanisms are still needed.
The document summarizes the history of environmental protection laws in India. It discusses how the Constitution was amended in 1976 to include articles directing the state and citizens to protect and improve the environment. Several key laws related to water pollution, air pollution, wildlife protection, and more have been passed. However, enforcement has been challenging. The judiciary has played a significant role in several public interest lawsuits requiring industries to reduce pollution. Overall, while laws exist, more effective enforcement mechanisms are still needed.
The document summarizes the history of environmental protection laws in India. It discusses how the Constitution was amended in 1976 to include articles directing the state and citizens to protect and improve the environment. Several key laws related to water pollution, air pollution, wildlife protection, and more have been passed. However, enforcement has been challenging. The judiciary has played a significant role in several public interest lawsuits requiring industries to reduce pollution. Overall, while laws exist, more effective enforcement mechanisms are still needed.
ISHA BANSAL SADHIKA SHARMA (Assistant Professor) B.A.LL.B.- 4TH SEM
Geeta Institute of Law
Session- 2021-2022 ABSTRACT There is no dearth of legislations on environmental protection in India but their enforcement has been far from satisfactory. There is need for the effective and efficient enforcement of the Constitutional mandate and other environmental legislations. The creative role of judiciary has been significant and laudable. Pursuant to the Constitutional provisions contained in Articles 48A and 51A(h), many Public Interest Litigations have been instituted in the Supreme Court of India against many industries for failing to provide adequate pollution control and also against Pollution Control Boards to direct them to take appropriate measures to ensure pollution control. For the purpose of efficient and effective enforcement of these lays, it is necessary to set up an Adjucatory Body which should consist of legal as well as technical experts. Caring for regulating and protecting the environment is essentially a desire to see that national development should proceed along the rational sustainable laws. Key Words: Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development, Public Interest Litigation, Judiciary INTRODUCTION Today, the conservation, protection and improvement of human environment are major issues all over the world. Human environment consists of both physical environment and biological environment. Physical environment covers land, water and air. Biological environment includes plants, animals and other organisms. Both physical and biological environment are inter-dependent. Industrialisation, urbanisation, explosion of population, over-exploitation of resources, disruption of natural ecological balances, destruction of a multitude of animal and plant species for economic reasons are the factors which have contributed to environmental deterioration.1One country's degradation of environment degrades the global environment for all the countries.2 The problem of environmental pollution has acquired international dimension and India is no exception to it. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to briefly outline the Indian laws which are primarily and more relevant to protect and improve the environment. The enforcement of these laws has also been examined and evaluated. CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE MEASURES Stockholm Declaration of 1972 was perhaps the first major attempt to conserve and protect the human environment at the international level. As a consequence of this Declaration, the States were required to adopt legislative measures to protect and improve the environment. Accordingly, Indian Parliament inserted two Articles, i.e.,, 48A and 51A in the Constitution of India in 1976,3Article 48A of the Constitution rightly directs that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife of the country. Similarly, clause (g) of Article 51A imposes a duty on every citizen of India, to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, river, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. The cumulative effect of Articles 48A and 51A (g) seems to be that the 'State' as well as the 'citizens' both are now under constitutional obligation to 1 Sachidanand Pandey v. State of West Benga', AIR 1987 SC 1109 2 Armin Rosencranz, Shyam Divan and Martha L.Noble, Environmental Law and Policy in India (1991), p. 25 3 Inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 conserve, perceive, protect and improve the environment. Every generation owes a duty to all succeeding generations to develop and conserve the natural resources of the nation in the best possible way.4 The phrase ‘protect and improve’ appearing in both the Articles 48A and 51A (g) seems to contemplate an affirmative government action to improve the quality of environment and not just to preserve the environment in its degraded form. Apart from the constitutional mandate to protect and improve the environment, there are a plenty of legislations5 on the subject but more relevant enactments for our purpose are the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977; the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; the National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 and the National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997; the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The Water Act provides for the prevention and control of water pollution and the maintaining or resorting of the wholesomeness of water. The Act prohibits any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter from entering into any stream or well. The Act provides for the formation of Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution In the Ganga Water Pollution case6 , the owners of some tanneries near Kanpur were discharging their effluents from their factories in Ganga without setting up primary treatment plants. The Supreme Court held that the financial capacity of the tanneries should be considered as irrelevant while requiring them to establish primary treatment plants. The Court directed to stop the running of these tanneries and also not to let out trade effluents from the tanneries either directly or indirectly into the river Ganga without subjecting the trade effluents to a permanent process by setting up primary treatment plants as approved by the State Pollution Control Board. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 aims to provide levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by persons carrying certain industries and local authorities to augment the resources of the Central Board and the State Boards constituted for the prevention and control of water pollution. The object is to realise money from those whose activities lead to pollution and who must bear the expenses of the maintaining and running of such Boards. The industries may obtain a rebate as to the extent of 25%7 if they set up treatment plant of sewage or trade effluent In Delhi, the public transport system including buses and taxies are operating on a single fuel CNG mode on the directions given by the Supreme Court.8 Initially, there was a lot of resistance from bus and taxi operators. But now they themselves realise that the use of CNG is not only environment friendly but also economical. JUDICIAL CONTRIBUTION The right of a person to pollution free environment is a part of basic jurisprudence of the land. Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees a fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The Supreme Court has interpreted the right to 4 State of Tamil Nadu v. Hind Store, AIR 1981 SC 711; see also Rural Litigation and Entitle Ji: at Kendra v. State ofUttar Pordesh, AIR 1987 SC 359 5 E.g. Indian Forest Act, 1927; the Factories Act, 1948; the Atomic Energy Act, 1962; insecticide 1968. 6 M.C.Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1988 SC 1037. See also Bhavani River v. Sakthi Sugar Limited AIR 1998 SC 2059 7 Substituted for '70%', w.e.f. 26.1.1992 8 M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1998 SC 2963 life and personal liberty to include the right to wholesome environment.9The Court through its various judgements10 has held that the mandate of right to life includes right to clean environment, drinking-water and pollution-free atmosphere. Taj Mahal Case In Taj Mahal's case11, the Supreme Court issued directions that coal and coke based industries in Taj Trapezium (TTZ) which were damaging Taj should either change over to natural gas or to be relocated outside TTZ. Again the Supreme Court directed to protect the plants planted around Taj by the Forest Department as under12 Pollution in Delhi In Almitra H.Patel v. Union of India13, the Supreme Court reiterated the observations made in Wadehra's case14-Historic city of Delhi, the Capital of India, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The authorities, responsible for pollution control and environment protection have not been able to provide clean and healthy environment CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS The aforesaid study leads us to the following conclusion and suggestions: i) We have more than 200 Central and State legislations which deal with environmental issues. More legislation means more difficulties in enforcement. There is a need to have a comprehensive and an integrated law on environmental protection for meaningful enforcement. ii) It is not enough to enact the legislations. A positive attitude on the part of everyone in society is essential for effective and efficient enforcement of these legislations. iii) The powers vested to the Pollution Control Boards are not enough to prevent pollution. The Boards do not have power to punish the violators but can launch prosecution against them in the Courts which ultimately defeat the purpose and object of the Environmental Laws due to long delays in deciding the cases. Thus, it is imperatively necessary to give more powers to the Boards. iv) The Environment Protection Laws have failed to bring about the desired results. Consequently, for the purpose of efficient and effective enforcement of these laws, it is necessary to set up the Environment Courts; with one Judge and two technical experts from the field of Environmental Science and Ecology. These Courts should be allowed to adopt summary proceedings for speedy disposal of the cases. To begin with we may have such Courts at the State and National levels that may later be extended to district level on need- based principle. In order to discourage prolonged litigation, the provisions should be confined to single appeal. v) There is a multiplicity of environment pollution control standards for the same type of industries. However, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 now the power has been conferred upon the Central Government for laying down the standards for the quality of air, 9 Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, Dehradun V. State of U.P., AIR 1988 SC 1037 10 Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, AIR 1991 SC 420; M.C. Mehta V. Union of India. AIR 2000 SC 1997 11 M.C.Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 734; see also M.C.Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1999 S.C. 3192 12 M.C.Mehta v. Union of India, (2001), 9 SCC 520 13 AIR 2000 SC 1256 14 Dr. B.L Wadehra v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 2969 water and soil. It is hoped that this will ensure uniformity of standards through out the country