It is true that in modern world’s consumerist lifestyle, the impact on environment is very huge. Restraining it would mean either changing the behaviour of the people or by changing the technologies people use. The former is not easy to implement and is one which takes time. The easiest option would be change in technology that has less impact on the environment. And to achieve that we expect from the governments the right policy incentives for the industry to be friendlier to the environment which is clearly missing today. Well-designed policies that create incentives for the companies to develop their products and technologies in a way that reduces the impact on environment will help. Sadly this is not given enough attention by the governments.
Having said this, I also differ with the way adopted by some environmental lobbying groups who tread on the path of idealism. I would rather go for pragmatism where in the groups work together with the government to search for solutions.
When it comes to protecting the nature, countries ought to be very pragmatic in setting conservation priorities. At a time when human population is driving species towards mass extinction, governments must take pledge to protect the biological diversity of earth. The alarming rate at which the natural habitats of various species continue to vanish, I would call the present time as an emergency wherein we have to choose if we ought to save the biodiversity or ruthlessly trample it down for our own selfish interests and pay the costs later.
The primordial consideration should be accorded to tackle environmental pollution by protecting natural resources but sadly the government is blatant in its tilt towards the big corporates who in fact are the prime donors for the political parties. Crony Capitalism is a reality today. Despite all the laws and regulations, 99% projects get clearances bypassing the environmental issues destroying public health and exacerbating poverty. Our waters are more polluted today than they were three decades ago and air pollution has worsened as well. Governmental regulations have failed very poorly due to the inherent rot in the system.
In the development-environment dichotomy, development is given primacy and environment is relegated to secondary position even if any project has serious environmental, social and human impacts. Aquifers are being destroyed, rivers have turned into sewers, forests have denuded and bio-diversity has been reduced drastically. This cannot be called development. Nothing can be more basic than our habitat, water and air.
The current government has added “Climate Change” to its environment and forests ministry but is proposing to dilute environmental norms and procedures to bypass the legal requirements for various projects. Be it changing the definition of ‘inviolate forests’ to open the forest for mining or to give a very low estimation of the Net Present Value (economic loss of forests), diversion of forest land for “non-forest” use, snatching away the rights of tribals over their land, all these measures are too dangerous and reek of short-sightedness.
CAG has been repeatedly reporting the blatant violation of conservation laws in India and the Supreme Court has also taken cognizance of the diversion of forests for destructive non-forestry and set up and empowered committee as both central and state governments have badly failed to protect the forests.
In conclusion, I would say complacency of the enforcing agencies of statutory regulations, callous attitude of the industries, government’s apathy and their lack of political will are majorly responsible for the prevailing sorry state of affairs. We do need economic growth but it must be done by integrating ecology into it. The solution lies in incorporating environmental considerations into the development strategies so that it benefits the people for a long term. There is a need to promote renewable energy, decentralize village power generations, adopt sustainability by increasing energy efficiency, improve solid waste management, provide efficient public transport system and design development strategies which do not harm our ecosystem. It is imperative upon us that we leave a healthy environment for future generations.
NB: I have written this piece gathering information from my UPSC exam notes that is drawn from various sources.
Blissful wilderness 