The pandemic has shown us how nature heals itself if there is no human intervention. We have all generally hailed the clean air, transparent river waters, pollution-free streets and free birds flocking to water bodies during the lockdown period.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its manifesto for a green and healthy recovery from COVID-19, had focused on protecting nature, focusing on water and sanitation, clean energy, healthy and sustainable food policy, and stopping subsidising fossil fuels. COVID is gone and we have forgotten environmental care.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his periodic messages, talks about protecting our biodiversity, but then the government misses out on an inclusive environmental policy.
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By inclusive policy, we do not mean merely involving the people at large but making the elected representatives from Panchayat to Parliament accountable. The officials in charge of the environment remain unconcerned, and they should be made to pay for the salaries that they are paid from the taxpayers’ money.
Destruction Of Mangroves in Mumbai
In the Mumbai region alone, we see large-scale destruction of mangroves and wetlands from Versova to Uran and from Bhiwandi to Panvel. This is apart from the destruction that goes on under the guise of infrastructure development.
In an ongoing online campaign under the banner of NatConnect Foundation that enjoys the support of about 10,000 people, we have called for close and strict monitoring of the implementation of environmental clearance conditions. We have also appealed to the PM to declare the National Green Police as an Environment Day project and issue guidelines for the States.
In a separate plea, it was also requested to former Maharashtra Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and later Uddhav Thackeray to set up an independent Green Police to tackle environmental violations. This is because the existing police force is ill-equipped and inadequate to take care of such cases. Our suggestion has been referred to the Home department which is yet to act.
MVA Government’s Appeal Rejected By Centre
Various laws such as the Forest Act, the Environment Protection Act etc., are supposed to take care of violations. But then the powers are not evenly distributed among the authorities. For instance, the cases under the Environmental Protection Act are supposed to be booked by only the environment and revenue departments.
The then Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray, had appealed to the Centre to devolve the Environment Act powers to the Forest Department to check crimes such as the destruction of mangroves. But the Union Government in its wisdom rejected the idea, probably because of political differences - the BJP at the Centre and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra.
A case in point is that the revenue department took six months to file an FIR (that too against an unidentified person) against the destruction of over 100 mangrove trees at TS Chanakya wetland in Navi Mumbai! Now this area will have CCTV camera surveillance.
CCTV Surveillance Not Enough
Talking of the CCTV network, which has been a long-standing demand from us green lovers, the State has finally moved in to allow (and not allocate) budgets from the Mangrove Cell’s accruals for a Rs 120 crore video surveillance with night vision cameras. This will help track the offenders and scan the number plates of debris dumping trucks. The ambitious project also envisages integration with the data of VAHAN Sarathi as well as databases of Passport, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Prisons, and Automated Multimodal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS). Very good.
But we need to go beyond this tracking. This is where we want the government to set up a green rapid action force on the lines of the anti-riot police to catch the culprits. The government should also move a step further by setting up fast-track courts to deal with environmental offences – be it debris dumping on mangroves, burial of wetlands, cutting the hills, illegal quarrying and tree destruction.
Basic Lessons
Environment as a subject deserves a fresh approach beginning with basic lessons to the policy makers who do not seem to realise the importance of wetlands, river regulatory zones, Coastal Regulation Zones and mangroves. Everybody talks about learning about opportunities in each crisis, but none seizes the visible opportunities.
To cite one solid example (pun intended) is the Mumbai deluge on July 26, 2005. The successive governments have done precious little to implement the Chitale Committee report on the same crisis. Admittedly, it is the pressure from activists and environment lovers that made the government act on CCTV watch for mangroves and we need the people’s pressure to have a dedicated police force for environmental peace. It is in our interest and there is no harm in being selfish!
(The author is a media veteran, an environmentalist and Director at NatConnect Foundation).
