Environment protection in India: An overview

Fifty years ago, the concept of a human right to a healthy environment was viewed as a novel, even radical, idea. Today it is widely recognized in international law and endorsed by an overwhelming proportion of countries. Eve n more importantly, despite their recent vintage, environmental rights are included in more than 90 national constitutions including India. As a consequence people in India have stated asserting their right to have clean air, safe drinking water, and a healthy environment These provisions are having a remarkable impact, ranging from stronger environmental laws and landmark court decisions to the cleanup of pollution hot spots and the provision of safe drinking water. Constitutional provisions and Judicial pronouncements have substantially increased the public's involvement in environmental governance. The right to a healthy environment has been interpreted consistently as including procedural environmental rights—access to information, participation in decision making, and access to environmental justice. Citizens, in ever-increasing numbers, are using these rights. Other major factors contributing to the growing public role in environmental governance include the enhanced importance of civil society, advances in communications technology (particularly the Internet), and in many nations the transition from closed, authoritarian types of government to open, participatory democracy.