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Crusade against Environmental Pollution in Patancheru in Hyderabad City
Despite protests and legal battles by the residents of Patancheru industrial area in Hyderabad against the polluting industries, Supreme Court orders, and the National Green Tribunal (south zone) judgment, not much has been done to improve the environment and quality of life of people.
Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring published in the 1960s, can be described as having launched the environmental revolution. The United Nations Conference on Human Environment, 1972 organised in Stockholm, focused on the engulfing global environmental crises and their solutions. The Government of India (GOI), which is a signatory to the Stockholm Declaration, promptly enacted the Water Act in 1974, and established the central and state pollution control boards in 1976. The Constitution was amended while Articles 48A and 51A(g) were included in the Directive Principles of State Policy with a view to protect and safeguard the forests and wildlife of India. While Article 48A directed the state to protect the environment, Article 51A made it a fundamental duty of every citizen. Further, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was enacted in 1981.
In spite of the environmental regulations, and the regulatory boards in existence, the world’s worst industrial accident occurred in Bhopal in 1984. The GOI, in a quick response to the horrendous Bhopal gas disaster, enacted the Environment Protection Act in 1986. However, the successive governments, under pressure from the corporate lobby have kept on hold the establishment of an appropriate regulatory mechanism, namely an environmental protection authority (EPA), to ensure the implementation of this act. It is a matter of concern that India’s wait for the EPA still continues.
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