The problem with official enviromentalism

The environment ministry's existence requires an overhaul. It has so far functioned as another project clearance agency, a remnant of the old licence-permit raj dispensation. The principal activity of this department must be to safeguard the environment of India, and not the single-handed purpose of clearing projects. Instead, it has degenerated known for its controversial decisions, yes or no to high-profile projects, and lies created by a section of pro-free-market journalists

First of all, the ministry must have an environmental philosophy that outlines what exactly it will achieve in the next few decades. The environment ministry's objectives should never be for the next five years or the period when the existing government is in power. The philosophy must be to safeguard the environment without landing in controversies involving delayed project clearances that subverts its primary mission and functional role.

It requires a cadre of officials, professionals, political parties, and NGOs who can work together to charter a new development agenda that looks forward and relies on scientific data to arrive at crucial ethical and technically sound decisions. The environment ministry's activism must be not to be an adversary to the government or any other sector, but accomplish its objectives through collaboration, persuasion, and legal remedies on a case by case basis. Environmental management must be within a project, and not outside of the project. The ministry must also consider the cultural diversity of India and requires a different level of skills and expertise unmatched when compared to other ministries.

For this, the ministry must have data that debunks the false EIA reports, canards in the media, and counterclaims unleashed by its opponents. It must create a national database of environmental studies published by peer-reviewed journals, universities, professionals and NGOs. In such a setup, no EIA mafia or corporate entity can misguide the government with false data and land it in a soup. Of course, the person leading the ship must have the required knowledge to take decisions. In an open and transparent environment, the people will not be pitted against the governments they themselves elected. Whether you hate it or not, it is time for "green lobbying" to ensure that the environmnetal concerns are taken into account, and no laws, environmental or human, are violated.

This is a ministry that requires extensive collaboration with India's research institutes and personnel who can separate the wheat from the chaff. It also requires extensive inputs from international agencies who can supply updated scientific data.

The environment ministry must never become just a project clearance ministry: it has a crucial role in defining the future of India's social and ecological environment. This ministry may have nothing to do with India's economic growth, unless the environmental damages and benefits of development are not accounted in the accounting books. Yes, it's time to account in dollars or Indian rupees the ecological damage or the ecological benefits accrued by development and growth in India. Otherwise, the future generations will curse the present generation for doing nothing for them, when the West is taking serious note of environmental concerns.