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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. A Survey of
the early environmental legislations indicate the nature and levels of governmental awareness towards environmental issues. 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
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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, including Uttar Pradesh in 1950, Tamil Nadu in 1950, West Bengal in 1958, Maharashtra in 1963 and Mysore in 1969. Each tailored the Act to suit its particular situation. In Uttar Pradesh, disposal of effluents had to have the approval of the state’s Effluents Board. In Tamil Nadu, the ruling entity with similar responsibilities was the Director of Fisheries. In Maharashtra, local authorities were granted with jurisdiction in such matters. Second, river boards, established under the River Boards Act of 1956 for the regulation and development of inter-state rivers and river valleys, were empowered to prevent water pollution. In both these laws, prevention of water pollution was only incidental to the principal objective of the enactment.
During the 1950’s and early 1960’s 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 70's .
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. It has also been suggested that international events such as Stockholm provided the cover Indian officials needed to implement national environment policy without the vitriolic backlash normally expected from industry.
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 80's .
The Tiwari Committee in the 80’s 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 MoEF’s implementation of a monitoring system was also aggressive. In 1977, India had 18 monitoring stations for water. By 1992, there were 480 water stations, including 51 from the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS). In 1984, the country had 28 air monitoring stations in seven
cities and by 1994, the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program had 290 stations in 99 cities.
The 80’s 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 90's .
The 90’s 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.
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