Syllabus: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Context: Changing Approach to Environmental Justice
- India stands at a moral crossroads between development and ecological protection.
- Environmental justice risks dilution amid infrastructure and mining expansion.
- Courts earlier acted as custodians of environmental rights.
- Recent decisions suggest a gradual weakening of this legacy.
Policy and Judicial Dilutions
- Changes in EIA Framework
- December 2025 policy altered environmental clearance sequencing.
- Land acquisition now precedes Environmental Impact Assessment.
- EIAs allowed without precise location and land details.
- This weakens scientific and regulatory scrutiny.
- Retrospective Clearances Issue
- Earlier ruling banned retrospective environmental approvals.
- In Vanashakti vs Union of India (2025), this protection weakened.
- Supreme Court later recalled the progressive judgment.
- Move seen as dilution of environmental safeguards.
- Aravallis Case: Ecological vs Legal Interpretation
- Aravallis act as north-western India’s ecological backbone.
- Functions include groundwater recharge and desertification control.
- Mining ban imposed earlier in M.C. Mehta case (2004).
- Court rejected height-based definitions in 2010.
- Low-altitude ridges recognised as ecologically vital.
- However, 2025 ruling accepted 100-metre height criteria. Large ecologically sensitive areas lost protection.
- Shift ignores hydrology, biodiversity, and ecosystem linkages.
Mangroves and Coastal Ecology Concerns
- Courts allowed destruction of mangroves for infrastructure.
- Example: Clearance for mangrove loss in Raigarh project.
- Mumbai mangroves face felling and transplantation approvals.
- Mangroves act as flood buffers and carbon sinks.
- Compensatory afforestation cannot replace mature ecosystems.
Himalayan Infrastructure Pressures
- Char Dham highway expansion raised ecological alarms.
- Study identified 811 landslide-prone zones.
- Himalayas remain highly fragile ecosystems.
- Court allowed widening citing defence needs.
- Floods and disturbances question this balance.
Constitutional and Legal Principles Involved
- Article 21 includes right to clean environment.
- Article 48A mandates State environmental protection.
- Article 51A(g) assigns citizen environmental duty.
- Height-based protection violates Article 14 equality principle.
Regulatory and Governance Concerns
- Large corporate projects clear approvals easily.
- Public hearings often rushed or diluted.
- Compliance reduced to procedural formalities.
- Raises fairness and transparency concerns.
Way Forward Suggested
- Courts must revive public trust doctrine jurisprudence.
- Green Benches should function regularly.
- High Courts need specialised environmental benches.
- Development ease must not dilute ecological protection.