INDIAS EFFORTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Indias Realization
Failed to recognize & visualize the need After Stockholm Conference Indias Fourth Plan (1969-1974)

Constitutional Provision
Within 5yrs of Stockholm Conference India amended constitution (42nd constitutional amendment to 1976) To include environment protection as a constitutional obligation it shall be duty of every citizen of India to protect & improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, & wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures

NCEPC
National Committee on Environmental Planning & Commission It was concerned with development projects, surveys of ecosystems, spread of environmental education etc

Tiwari Committee on Environment

In 1980 Appointed by Govt. of India Recommendations of the committee: Introducing Env. Protection in the concurrent list of seventh schedule Establishment of separate Dept. of Environment (Nov 1, 1980)

NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING

Replaced NCEPC Preparation of annual State of Environmental Report for the country To sponsor environmental research To propagate environmental awareness through mass media Arranging public hearings & conferences

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

To prevent & control pollution As an aftermath of Bhopal Tragedy, 1984
The Environment (Protection) Act (EPA)1986 was passed for the protection of environment, regulation f discharge of pollutants, handling of hazardous substances, speedy responses in the event of accidents threatening environment & punishments to those Who endanger human Env, safety & health.

Policy Statement on Env. & Development

Laid down guidelines to weave environmental considerations into the fabric of national life & development process Key words are conservation & sustainable development

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS IN INDIA

The Narmada Dam in India

The Narmada River

Narmada means ever-delightful, one of the holiest rivers in the country of India
they say that even the site of the river will cleanse all of your sins

The Narmada Dam Project

The first of the dams to be built is the Sardar Sarovar. It is considered to be one of the most important dams in the project and the biggest water development project in India According to the government, the Sardar Sarovar Dam will do the following:
Provide safe drinking water to 30 million people Irrigate 4.8 million hectares of land Produce 550 megawatts of power Provide 1,300 cubic-meters of water per yr.for municipal and industrial purposes Provide a drainage system to carry away floodwaters It will also take the land of 320,000 people

Social and Economic Implications of Dams

Relocation of communities:
- impacts on health, & economic, social, cultural well-being

Loss of community control over water: Diseases:

Increasing cost of dams:

transfer of control from local level to central government or corporate

control - encouraged by dam projects (creating habitat for parasites), - problems encountered in building dams (ex. sedimentation). - cost of mitigating social, environmental impacts. - delays - best sites already taken -- only more remote, more difficult sites left.

Opponents
Dalits and Adivasi (indigenous people). In accordance to their caste system they are often referred to as untouchables. Many of these people are uneducated and very few can read and write. Narmada Bachao Andolan, the Save the Narmada Movement (NBA). The movement started in 1986 when the World Bank lent India $450 million for the Sardar project. It was started by a social worker named Medha Patkar. She is the representative for the NBA movement.

Opponents
Arundhati Roy; Booker Prize-winning author supporter of the Save the Narmada Movement; wrote a book about the Dams in India called The Greater Common Good. Baba Amte; a social worker whose work with leprosy has earned him much respect in the country among the tribal people and government officials.

Nobody builds Big Dams to provide drinking water to rural

people. Nobody can afford to.

Arundhati Roy

Proponents
Indian Government supports the building of dams The World Bank supported the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project and loaned India $450 million. They withdrew from the project after an independent review confirmed social and environmental impacts were increasing. The Supreme Court of India has ruled on the Sardar Sarovar Dam. In 1995 they suspended work on the dam because the height exceeded the amount originally planned, 75m. In 1999 they ordered work to continue up to the height of 85m. Then in Oct 18, 2000 they ruled in favor of building the Sardar Sarovar despite global protests

Why did the World Bank withdraw the loan?

It was a protest by the NBA called 'satyagraha' that caught the World Banks attention. They sent in an independent review team headed by Hugh Brody, a British anthropologist and Donald Gamble, a Canadian environmental engineer.

Environmental Impacts
Threat to aquatic habitat barriers for fish passage, water quality is affected because of change in land use can also affect aquatic life Water logging excess water in the soil and can render the soil useless. This could affect 40% of the area to be irrigated. Salinisation when irrigation water has more saline content and adds more salt to the system. This happens because the land to be irrigated is an arid area and not used to so much water. This impacts the flora and fauna and makes the water not suitable for drinking.

Health Impacts
Outbreak of diseases the concern of an increase in malaria because of the increased reservoirs and water logged lands, which are prime locations for mosquitoes to breed. Authorities have suggested pesticides but there is concern for humans ingesting the pesticide. Another disease on the rise is TB because of the increasing number of people being moved out of their villages because of dams. The shanty towns they move to have no running water and no plumbing.

Social Impacts
There was no social impacts assessment before the dam project started. The World Bank tried to do an assessment after the dam project started but found that there was a severe shortage in baseline data. One of the main problems that came up was the lack of communication between the state and the people who were to be affected by the project.

The Chipko Movement

 Resistance to destruction of forests spread in the hills of Uttaranchal in1970s

Place of origin Gopeshwar in District Chamoli. First Chipko action March 1974 in Reni village.

 Chipko means tree hugging or embrace as the villagers hugged the trees. Locally it is called as Angwal. The movement is best known for its tactic of hugging trees to prevent them being cut down and to prevent commercial timber harvesting.

Background
Government's decision to allot forest trees to a sports goods company. The local residents in Gopeshwar were denied the similar demand of getting few trees, required for making farm tools. Mr. Chandi Prasad Bhatt of Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh(DGSS) wanted to establish small industries using forest resources, with an aim to provide job opportunities to local youth and check migration.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt

Founder of Chipko movement. Organized rallies to protect the forest from mass destruction.

Let them know we will not allow the felling of a single tree. When their men raise their axes, we will embrace the trees to protect them. - Chandi Prasad Bhatt

The birth of chipko movement

Gaura Devi (an elderly woman) Head of the village Mahila Mangal Dal. Mobilized village women for the movement when company men marched to cut the trees.

Gaura Devi stood on way and declared: The forest nurtures us like a mother; you will only be able to use your axes on it but you have to use them first on us.

The spreading of movement

Sunder Lal Bahuguna (Environmentalist) Enlightened the country and out world about the movement, its success and environmental impact. Padmabhushan winner for his contribution in the movement.

Sparking off of the movement

Chandi Prasad Bhatt
Sunder Lal Bahuguna

Sarla Bahen from Lakshmi Ashram

Women groups

the Uttarakahand Sangharsh Vahini (USV)

 took part in different rallies and gatherings

highlighted the importance of trees in the life of human beings. active in protecting the forests from auctions for commercial cuttings

Success of Chipko movement

The movement has spread to many states in the country. It stopped felling of trees in the Western Ghats and the Vindhyas. Generated pressure for formulation of a natural resource policy. Achieved a major victory in 1980 with a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests More than 1,00,000 trees have been saved from excavation. Started protecting forest slopes and Restoring bare ones.

Success of Chipko movement

Afterward environmental awareness increased dramatically in India. New methods of forest farming have been developed, both to conserve the forests and create employment. By 1981, over a million trees had been planted through their efforts. Villagers paid special attention in care of the trees and forest trees are being used judiciously.

Recognition
Chandi Prasad Bhatt- Raman Megasessey award Sunder Lal Bahuguna- Padma Bhusan Award

As a diverse movement with diverse experiences, strategies, and motivations, Chipko inspired environmentalists both nationally and globally and contributed substantially to the emerging philosophies of eco-feminism and deep ecology and fields of community-based conservation and sustainable mountain development.

The Silent Valley Project

Initiation by Kerela Sastra Sahita Parishad Against the hydroelectric project that would destroy forest land, home to rare & genetically rich evergreen forests Dam on Kuntipuzha river At instance of PM Indira Gandhi, project was scrapped in 1983

NGO is a non-governmental organization and, in its broadest sense, is one that is not directly part of the structure of government In simple words Non-governmental organization: an organization that is not part of the local or state or federal government

Mediators between govt & citizens Work at grassroot level Get funding from govt or charities Eg: world wide fund, Greenpeace Create websites for information Bring social reforms

Greenpeace effort
Shell, the oil giant, was wanting to dump its worn out oil ship, the Brent Spar in North Sea Greenpeace organized a boycott of service stations of Shell in Germany Sales fell, they adopted another way of disposal of Brent Spar

 An Indian NGO, Sulabh International Social Service Organization is doing commendable work on Human Waste Taiwan wanted to buy a piece of and in North Korea to dump its nuclear waste. The Korean Federation of Environmental Movement opposed this move & succeeded

Apart from "NGO", often alternative terms are used as for example: independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grassroots organizations, transnational social movement organizations, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations and non-state actors (NSA's).

Non-governmental organizations are a heterogeneous group. A long list of acronyms has developed around the term "NGO".

CSO:
INGO:

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION, DONGO: DONOR ORGANIZED NGO, ENGO: ENVIRONMENTAL NGO,
INTERNATIONAL NGO,

CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

ECO WRIST WATCH

GUJARAT POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD THE ENERGY AND RESOURCES INSTITUITE
ENVIRONMENT ORGNIZATION AND RESOURCES PRESONS IN TAMIL NADU

The World Trade Organization (WTO)

UN Development Programme (UNDP)

The World Food Programme (WFP)

World Health Organization (WHO)

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)