Emergence of Environmental Legislations

Introduction
India employs a range of regulatory instruments to preserve and protect its natural resources. It was the
first country to insert an amendment into its Constitution allowing the State to protect and improve the
environment for safeguarding public health, forests and wild life.

Early Environmental Legislation

The Shore Nuisance (Bombay and Kolaba) Act of 1853, was one of the earliest laws concerning water
pollution, authorized the collector of land revenue in Bombay to order removal of any nuisance below
the high - water mark in Bombay harbors. In 1857, an attempt was made to regulate the pollution
produced by the oriental Gas Company by imposing fines on the Company and giving a right of
compensation to anyone whose water was fouled by the company’s discharges.

The country has had a long history of environmentalism with the passage and codification of Acts such
as the Indian Penal Code of 1860, The Indian Easements Act of 1882, The Fisheries Act of 1897, The
Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act of 1905, The Indian Motor Vehicle Act, The Factories Act, The Indian
Forest Act, The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, The Industries (Development
and Regulation) Act, The Forest (Conservation) Act, The Merchant Shipping Act.

The Indian Penal Code, passed in 1860, penalizes person(s) responsible for causing defilement of water
of a public spring or reservoir with imprisonment or fines. In addition, the code also penalized negligent
Acts with poisonous substances that endangered life or caused injury .

The Indian Easements Act of 1882 protected riparian owners against unreasonable pollution by upstream
users. The Indian Fisheries Act of 1897 penalized the killing of fish by poisoning water and by using
explosives. The Indian Forest Act was a product of British rule in 1927. The legislation granted the
Government uncontested rights over natural resources, with State Governments authorized to grant
licenses to lumber contrActors and oversee protection of the forests.

Legislative provisions regulating the discharge of oil into port waters and prohibiting the poisoning of
water in forests were also enacted prior to independence. Two early post-independence laws touched on
water pollution. Section 12 of the Factories Act of 1948 required all factories to make effective
arrangements for waste disposal and empowered State Governments to frame rules implementing this
directive. As a result, a number of States passed versions of the Factory Act.

During the 1950s and early 1960s marked the Constitution permitting the State to control water-related
issues, several States had taken steps on water protection. Laws passed included The Orissa River
Pollution Act of 1953, The Punjab State Tube well Act of 1954, West Bengal Notification No. 7
Regulation - Control of Water Pollution Act of 1957, Jammu and Kashmir State Canal and Drainage Act
of 1963 and The Maharashtra Water Pollution Prevention Act of 1969.

Environmental Legislations in the 70s

The watershed event in the environmental movement was the Stockholm Conference on Human
Environment in June 1972. The conference made it apparent to all attendees that each nation needed to
adopt comprehensive legislation addressing health and safety issues for people, flora and fauna. The
United Nations, organizers of the conference, requested each participant to provide a country report. The
findings by the Indian conferees shocked even the most pro-development advocates in India. Stockholm
served as the genesis for the series of environmental measures that India passed in the years to come.

The year 1972 was a landmark in the history of environmental management in India. Prior to 1972,
environmental issues such as sewage disposal, sanitation and public health were dealt with
independently by the different Ministries without any co-ordination or realization of the interdependence
of the issues. In February 1972, a National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination
(NCEPC) was set up in the Department of Science and technology, which was established as National
Committee on Environmental Planning (NCEP) in April 1981, based on the recommendations of the
Tiwari Committee.

The NCEPC functioned as an apex advisory body in all matters relating to environmental protection and
improvement. However due to bureaucratic problems, that NCEPC faced in coordination with the
Department of Science and Technology, it was replaced by a National Committee on Environmental
Planning (NCEP) with almost the same functions.

Environmental Legislations in the mid 80s

The Tiwari Committee in the 80s which was set up for recommending legislative measures and
administrative machinery to strengthen the existing arrangements towards environmental protection,
recommended establishing the Department of Environment (DOE) for dealing with various aspects of
environment and ecology. The Department of Environment, created in 1980, performed an oversight role
for the Central Government. DOE did environmental appraisals of development projects, monitored air
and water quality, established an environmental information system, promoted research, and coordinated
Activities between federal, State and local Governments. However DOE was criticized, by
environmental groups who recognized that with its small political and financial base the agency was
weak and symbolic in nature. Environmentalists also recognized that DOE would essentially serve as an
advisory body with few enforcement powers.

The Government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi recognized these deficiencies as well, and shortly after
his administration began in 1985 created the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). MoEF was
more comprehensive and institutionalized, and had a Union Minister and Minister of State, two political
positions answering directly to the Prime Minister. The agency was comprised of 18 divisions, and two
independent units, the Ganga Project Directorate and the National Mission on Wastelands Development.
It continued the same functions that DOE originally had, such as monitoring and enforcement,
conducting environmental assessments and surveys, but also did promotional work about the
environment.

The 80s witnessed the continuing decline in the quality of the environment, together with the Bhopal gas
tragedy that had killed more than 2500 people. This spurred the Central Government to adopt stronger
environmental policies, to enact fresh legislation and to create, reorganize and expand administrative
agencies. In 1981, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed, and in 1986 as fallout
of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Parliament passed the Environment Protection Act (1986), this was an
umbrella legislation designed to provide a framework for Central Government coordination of the
Activities of various Central and State authorities established under previous laws, such as the Water Act
and Air Act. It was also an enabling law, which articulated the essential legislative policy on
bureaucrats , to frame necessary rules and regulations. The Act served to back a vast body of subordinate
environmental legislation in India. During the intervening years, address specific issues Act such as, The
Atomic Energy Act and The Wild Life Protection Act, were passed. The Atomic Energy Act governs the
regulation of nuclear energy and radioactive substances. Under this Act the Central Government is
required to prevent radiation hazards, guarantee public safety, safety of workers handling radioactive
substances, and ensure the disposal of radioactive wastes. The Wild Life Protection Act Provided a
statutory framework for protecting wild animals, plants and their habitats. The Act adopts a two -
pronged conservation strategy: protecting specific endangered species regardless of location, and
protecting all species in designated areas called sanctuaries and national parks.
In December 1988 the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest constituted a Committee to
recommend a framework and an Action plan for the conservation of resources. Based on the
recommendations of the Committee, the Government of India adopted a National Conservation Strategy
and Policy Statement on Environment and Development (NCS). The preamble to the NCS adopts the
policy of Sustainable development and declares the Government’s commitment to re-orient policies and
Action in unison with the environmental perspective.

Environmental Policies in the 90s

The 90s heralded trade liberalization and Globalization. Since 1991 India has adopted new economic
policies to spur development. In an effort to integrate the Indian economy with global trade, the
Government has reduced industrial regulation, lowered international trade and investment barriers and
encouraged export-oriented enterprise.

In December 1993, the MoEF completed its Environmental Action Plan to integrate environmental
considerations into developmental strategies, which, among other priorities, included industrial pollution
reduction.

The MoEF also decided to shift from concentration to load-based standards. This would add to a
polluter’s costs and remove incentives to dilute effluents by adding water, and strengthen incentives for
adoption of cleaner technologies. It also issued water consumption standards, which were an additional
charge for excessive water use. Targeting small-scale industries has been an important task since these
facilities greatly added to the pollution load. The Ministry provides technical assistance and limited
grants to promote the setting up of Central effluent treatment plants. It has also created industrial zones
to encourage clusters of similar industries in order to help reduce the cost of providing utilities and
environmental services