Right to grow in Healthy Environment - Reality or Discourse?

Man has till date proved to be one of the worst enemies of the mother Earth. The past shows the mirror image what human beings have done with environment for fulfilment of his selfish motives. He chops off the branches of trees to make himself comfortable with chairs and sofas. The crimes which humans are doing towards mother earth like wars and disturbing the natural flow of ecosystem are increasing rapidly. Due to globalization, establishment of many industries trees our ecology is deteriorating.       Humans are altering mother Earth by inhuman activities like deforestation, leading to land degradation, biodiversity loss, increasing in pollution and the list goes on.                “DRAGGED AWAY FROM THEIR HOMES,              CHASED AWAY FROM THEIR NESTS,               THEY CRY OUT LOUD AND FAR,               YOU NEVER NOTICE THE PAIN IN THEIR EYES,               WHEN YOU CAGED THEM BEHIND THE BARS…               PENALIZE THE OFFENDERS, PUNISH THE ABUSERS,               ISN’T IT THE ORDER OF THE BAR,               YET YOU KEEP ABUSING YOUR MOTHER OVER AND                   OVER,     Environment: How to sustain and preserve it. What went wrong over the last hundred years? Over the last years excessive changes happened mainly with respect to migration, population, industrialisation, globalization which had severe impact on environment. So what do we do?
 Definition of environment:Â
 The following are the two statutory definitions of the ‘environment’. A) The U.K. Environment protection Act:-as defined under section 1(2) of the Environment protection Act, 1990 of the UK. “Environment consists of all or any of the following media, namely, Air, water and land: and the medium of air includes the air within the buildings and the air within other natural or man-made structures above or below ground”  B) The Indian Environment (protection) Act,1986:-according to section 2(a) of the Indian “Environment (protection) Act ,1986”, the term “Environment includes water, air and land, and human beings , other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms and property” .    Thus environment includes our ecosystem, nature which provides so much to us but greedy humans are unsatisfied by it and keep exploiting it.  Whether Right to grow in healthy environment is reality or discourse?
 Environmental protection after independence The constitution of India, which came into force on 26thJanuary 1950, has many provisions regarding environmental management. Article 39(b) i.e that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to sub serve the common good, Article 47 i.e. duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health, Article 48 i.e. the state shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and draught cattle, Article 49 it shall be the obligation of the state to protect every monument or place or object of artistic or historic interest, declared by or under law made by parliament to be of national importance, from spoliation, disfigurement, destruction, removal, disposal or export, as the case may be…from these Articles, one can understand that the constitution of India was not environmentally blind as suggested by some eminent jurists . In 1986, ‘The Environment (protection) Act was made to take all necessary measures to protect and improve the improvement and to prevent hazards to human beings, other living creatures, plants and property. In the same year, the Environment (protection) Rules were made by the central government.
 1) Global warming: temperature rise of the earth      The rise in global temperature which has resulted in severe problems such as cracks in the Antarctica. Thus these bad effects are seen all over the world in the form of storms, droughts, floods as disaster has been seen in Kedarnath.       It is perfectly true to say that Prevention is always better than cure. For that purpose atmospheric pollution should be controlled, Deforestation must be controlled.The use of Renewable sources of energy must be stressed upon as it does not result in pollution.Â
2) Acid rain and its effects: acid rain are formed by the release of chemicals like sulphur dioxide , nitrogen oxide, from the automobiles, industrial activities that takes place such as smelting, refining, electric power plants also release these harmful chemicals. When deposited in soils, vegetation, surface waters or man-made objects, these acids shows devastating effects on human as well as on environment. Acid rain causes erosion and desertification. Its effects bring changes in limestone, marble, roofing, mortar and metals.  3) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)/ wonder gases: Chlorofluorocarbons are gases used for various purposes in daily life including solvents, refrigerants and aerosol sprays. They are organic chemicals and contain carbo, hydrogren, chlorine and fluorine . With excessive radiations hitting the surface of the Earth it destroys agricultural productivity, plant life, also causes skin cancer . Right to get pollution free water and air- In Subhas kumar v. state of Bihar it was held that public interest litigation is maintainable for ensuring pleasure of pollution free water and air which has already been included under article 21 of Indian Constitution.
Whether the globalization has resulted as threat to environment?
 Partly yes, globalizations do have negative impact on environment. Oil spill cases are seen throughout the world which puts wildlife, flora and fauna, and nearby people at risks. We are living in the stage of a climate emergency where in every part of we are seeing climate disasters happening. Country where Oil Spill took place: Mauritius    o The cargo ship MV Wakashio released a vast amount of oil. o This ship was owned by Japanese. o It contained a large amount of oil such as 200 tonnes diesel & huge amount of fuel oils. o Due to the crack in ship this incident occurred. o Thus due to oil spill it has created devastating effects on biodiversity.
 How oil spills can be threatening? Oil spills can definitely be threatening as it very severely affects the aquatic life.  So many chemicals are released during oil spills in oceans and seas which puts the marine life in danger as its life is wholly dependent on it. Many plants, aquatic animals, mammals die due to release of the toxic chemicals.   What is the method to clean oil spills? Oil spills cleaning methods are very less. The methods are skimming, in situ burning & release chemical dispersants. In the process of Skimming oil is removed from surface the seas. It is done before the oil could reach at the core coastline.  The process called In situ burning helps to minimize the bad effect of the oil.  The process of releasing chemical dispersants assists to break oil into small small droplets which microbes consume and ultimately reduces harmful combinations.  Landmark Judgments
 Preservation of ecology and Environmental Pollution  Pollution of Taj Mahal
 1) M.C. Mehta v. Union of India in this landmark case the petitioner filed PIL regarding degradation of historical monument due to atmospheric pollution caused by hazardous industries that are situated near by the Taj Mahal. Thus petitioner has requested the court to issue effective directions to appropriate authority in order air pollution can be stopped in this area. The court delivered judgement specifically recommending the relocation of industries from TTZ also the Supreme Court ordered the 292 industries to change to natural gas for natural fuel. Smoking ban in public places
 2) Murli.S. Deora v. UOI - Supreme Court ordered ban to smoke in the places of public, public transportation, which comprises of railways, health institutes, hospitals, public offices, public transports including railways, court buildings, libraries, educational institutes and auditoriums.  Sustainable Development
 According to world commission on environment and development, “sustainable development is what meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable psychology is beneficial for the people and also the environment.  Climate change is being addressed in every part of the globe. We have been seeing the increase in temperature during summers, there has been unseasonal rain. 21st century has advanced technology wise but it has worsened regarding environment. The concept of globalization has lead great expansion which has brought countries together which is also resulting into threat to environment.   Article 32:- Writs as remedies for Environment Protection  Dr. B.R.Ambedkar stated that:  “If I was asked to name any particular article in this constitution as the most important an article without which this constitution would be a nullity I would not refer to any other article except this one. It is the very soul of the constitution and the very heart of it”. Through various judgements it is prima facie clear that citizens have the right to life. They are entitled to live in clean nature. Any aggrieved citizen can move to high court under art 226 and aggrieved person can also move under art 32 to Supreme Court. The courts think in the best way for their citizens and in respect to environment. Principle 1 of Stockholm Declaration states that:Â
 “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generation”.    Conclusion  The protection of Environment is from the very beginning related to religious practices and beliefs. Through praising nature one actually serves humanity and deity.It is true to say that our that our respective religions try to preserve nature by stating how we should respect trees, air, water, wildlife and so on. One must not pollute our natural resources like air, forests and lakes. India has also taken part and pledged to implement the principles adopted from declarations but that has not been completely possible till date.      Â

Author Name: Meenakshi choubey , currently pursuing LLM in Constitutional Law from Kirit.P. Mehta School of Law, NMIMS, Mumbai