Open Forum

New Delhi, 28 May 2025

Environmental Destruction

IN NAME OF ‘DEVELOPMENT’?

By Dhurjati Mukherjee 

As the hot summer pounces on the country with heat waves predicted in most parts, there is need to put sharp focus on environmental destruction. Allegations are, and not without justification, that the national media has ignored destruction of environment and life of different communities in various parts of the country. 

For example, environmentalists have expressed concerns about the government’s development plans for the Great Nicobar Island. The proposed project, estimated at Rs 80,000 crore, includes a trans-shipment port, an international airport, and a township to accommodate several lakh migrants from the mainland. Reports suggest that the development of the township will impact approximately 130 square kilometres of natural forest, which contains over 100 million trees. 

This is what we now call development and, at the same time, talk about environmental protection. Apart from environmental problems, the social costs include the marginalisation and impoverishment of indigenous inhabitants of the island in gross violation of constitutional provisions protecting tribal communities. Madhav Gadgil in his Foreword to a book titled ‘The Great Nicobar Betrayal’ edited by Sekhsaria, observed: “It is a global experience that the ruling classes never act in the interests of the environment or the common people. It is a people’s movements that have always forced governments to uphold these vital interests”. Thus, one cannot deny that the project is blind to island ecology and culture as it sacrifices tropical forests and coral reefs, disregarding ecological uniqueness and indigenous rights. 

This is not just a single case, there are other examples of the consequences of government’s attitude towards the poor and marginalised sections of society. Moreover, disregarding the environmental implications, as well as Article 51A of the Indian Constitution, which mandates every citizen to protect and enhance the natural environment while fostering compassion for all living beings, is contradictory to the principles advocated by political leaders and their actions. This raises questions about whose interests are being served.      

The latest report presented to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) indicates that over 13,000 square kilometres of forest areas are under encroachment across 25 states and Union territories. The India State of Forest Report has highlighted the negative growth in forest areas in most states. The environment ministry was prompted to submit the report to the NGT, which took suomotu cognisance of a government report released last year, mentioning the total encroached forest area as 7506.48 sq km. 

Madhya Pradesh registered the highest degree of forest encroachment with a staggering 5460 sq km followed by Assam. Other impacted states include Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. It needs to be reiterated that encroachment of forest land not only disrupts an already fragile ecological balance but also threaten marginalised, forest-dependent communities whose identification and rights are protected by the Forest Rights Act, 2006. 

Several protective laws were changed to facilitate forest clearance for industry and infrastructure. Although these changes began before Modi's tenure, his government significantly accelerated them over the past decade. Most states share a similar approach.   

In a recent letter to the Union Environment Ministry, the Goa government requested that 36 villages and nearby forests be removed from an eco-sensitive zone, claiming that “forests can be shifted” but “natural resources will remain in place.”Despite this, from 2013-2023, Goa lost 1.49 million hectares of trees—more than five times its size—with 95 percent being natural forests, which are significantly more effective than plantations in sequestering carbon and providing ecosystem services. 

The annual cost of environmental degradation in India, as per available estimates, stands at an astronomical figure of around Rs 3.75 lakh crore ($80 billion), equivalent to 5.7 percent of gross domestic product. The figure may be more than the union government’s education, health and housing sector budgets combined.     

Unprecedented burdens on public health, agriculture, and other socio-economic and cultural systems, “climate change-induced heatwaves in India can hinder or reverse the country’s progress” in fulfilling India’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), ranging from economic growth to combating ill health to ending poverty, as per a 2023 study by Cambridge University researchers. 

Over 90 percent of Indians were made more vulnerable to food shortages, public health issues and increased risk of death by deadly heat waves sparked by climate change in 2022, the study revealed. Currently, over 800 million Indians receive food rations, although 100 million more need these but do not getbecause the government uses outdated or inaccurate poverty data. 

Importantly, a recent study by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) found that just one per cent of research tackled climate change and sustainable practices in farming after analysing 35,000 PhD theses. Even as the demand for agro-forestry increased as also induction of water-saving technologies in agriculture, practical application has been missing largely due to the disconnect between academic research and implementation in local farming. 

Like many experts, historian and environmentalist, Ramchandra Guha argued some time back that India’s environmental challenges, while exacerbated by climate change, were “of our own making’. India ranks 176 among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2024, measured by Yale and Columbia universities, calculated based on various indices, such as ecosystem vitality, biodiversity habitat, species protection index, wetland loss, air, water quality and waste management. However, India routinely refutes such ranking, the crisis is self-evident, with trees, which offer critical protection against rising heat and sequester carbon, being cut in the millions.  

Thus, it is quite evident that the government has no clear policy to stop environmental destruction while the focus of what we understand as development obviously is in the interests of the privileged sections of society. There is very little said regarding the welfare of indigenous communities and forest dwellers while forests are being denuded in the name of development. Countering climate change may pose a big problem for a country of India’s size with such a massive population. 

The rhetoric of economic growth has grown louder with little concern for the environmental consequences. As development projects have little regard for environmental impacts, specifically of natural habitats and ecological considerations, questions arise where we are heading to and whether planet Earth would be a safe place to live in. Thus, there is need for democratising environmental governance, restructuring and conservation funding among many others to balance development and ecological concerns.---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)