Premier Narendra Modi’s fabled “Modinomics,” is all set to ruin India’s ecology permanently. A World Bank report says environmental degradation cuts off 5.7 percent of India’s GDP growth annually. But, instead of steering the country away from ecological precipice that 1.2 billion Indians stare at, Modi has launched a surreptitious war on the environment itself. Alarmingly, his government is pushing through reforms that not only weaken the nation’s existing environmental laws but also threaten the rights of those who rely on forests for their livelihoods.
And former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s subtle move to discredit the Congress leadership, for ensuring that environmental issues are not undermined in India’s quest for development, will help consolidate Modi’s anti-environment agenda. Sources reveal Modi desperately wants to dismantle the national safeguard mechanism that protects India’s environment, forest and the forest-dwelling people. Intelligence agencies have been specifically asked to shadow those who might create a stumbling block in Modi’s determination to bulldoze his economic policies that will wreak havoc on the environment. Modi’s dictatorial style of functioning coupled with scant regard for nature will spell doom for India’s critical natural resources base that keeps at least 400 million Indians alive.
In fact, no other Indian prime minister has ever been so reckless and lackadaisical on issues concerning ecology. Even, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar is faced with a role reversal. On direct instructions from Modi, his ministry is busy diluting a whole raft of environmental protection legislations ranging across the gamut of India’s Environment Protection Act, the Wildlife Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act and Water and Air Pollution Act. So, has Modi cheated those 29 percent Indians who voted for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by reneging on the pre-poll promises concerning environmental issues, including adoption of pro-environment policies? Many Modi fans have confessed to this author that they are already getting disillusioned with the prime minister’s despotic way of functioning that does not befit an elected leader of a multiparty democracy. Certainly, there are valid reasons for such disenchantment. Take the case of environment. BJP’s pre-election manifesto specifically mentions about “protecting the existing forests and wildlife reserves.” And yet action on the ground does not match Modi’s poll promise. The environment ministry has hurriedly delinked forest clearance from India’s National Board of Wild Life’s (NBWL) “wildlife impact assessment” only to ensure that project developers can secure clearances in areas around tiger reserves, national parks and sanctuaries unhindered. Besides, Modi’s government has halved NBWL clearance requirements from 10km to 5km radius around demarcated eco-sensitive zones and rendered the wildlife board toothless by replacing eminent experts with rubber stamps.
Even the Indian Supreme Court in an earlier judgment had mandated all projects within a 10km radius of wildlife parks and sanctuaries be cleared by the wildlife board because they are likely to cause a deleterious impact on biodiversity. Subsequently, the judiciary made it mandatory to secure wildlife authority’s clearance before the wildlife impact report was assessed by the government’s statutory appraisal body. But then Modi has done away with all protective provisions including the need for consent of tribal people before opening up their traditional lands for commercial exploitation. Astonishingly, rules framed by Modi government allow decimation of forest areas for certain linear projects and that too without final approval of the concerned authorities. Newly introduced regulations also contain provision for condoning erring miners who do not comply with laid-down conditions. Moreover, provinces have been barred from putting any additional conditions to protect forests or biodiversity.
At a time when India is losing quality forest area due to callousness of the authorities, Modi’s mindless wrecking of India’s environmental protection laws will put the proverbial last nail in the coffin. The future generation’s right to live in a healthy environment and breathe pure air has been usurped while millions will be rendered homeless. Unfortunately, Modi does not appreciate that India’s economic and social edifice actually rests on the vital pillar of ecological stability. Rich or poor, villagers or posh urban dwellers, everybody will suffer if the diverse ecosystem and the species that maintain the ecological balance are not protected and restored. But then, for Modi, it is all about power and money.
Modi has been enticing the young generation with a dream of getting rich overnight throughout his pre-election campaign. And to do that one need to violate the moral codes. The BJP quoted Mahatma Gandhi to emphasize that “there is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed” in India. And here we have Modi unethically dumping ecologically-sensitive development process in favor of cronyism. For Modi, the show (of destroying ecology in the name of development) must go on even if it means pushing the future generation into a dark abyss. He knows that the amended environmental laws can create a deep societal churning as more and more marginalized and vulnerable people, who seldom have a voice, feel insecure. India is known for million mutinies and the tribal people were in the forefront mostly.
When channels of expressing frustrations democratically — over the outcome of development that has left them pauperized — are blocked, the simmering discontent will lead to violent armed-revolt. Hence, integrating ecological aspects into development discourse is essential. But Modi is in no position to perceive this threat because of inexorable pertinacity.
