Emergence of Environmental Movements

 

Question: Emergence of Environmental Movements.

The emergence of environmental movements in India represents a profound shift in societal consciousness, evolving from localized protests against resource exploitation in the colonial era to organized, nationwide campaigns addressing ecological degradation, displacement, and sustainability in the postcolonial period. Rooted in the country's diverse ecosystems and cultural reverence for nature, as seen in ancient texts like the Vedas from 1500 BCE emphasizing harmony with the environment, these movements gained momentum amid industrialization and development policies post-independence in 1947. Influenced by global events like the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Indian movements blended indigenous wisdom with modern activism, led by figures such as Sunderlal Bahuguna and Medha Patkar. This evolution, spanning from the 19th century tribal revolts to contemporary climate actions, highlights a growing recognition of environmental justice intertwined with social equity. In conclusion, the emergence of these movements has not only challenged destructive policies but also fostered a legacy of resilience, shaping India's approach to sustainable development and inspiring global ecological advocacy.

Historical Roots in Colonial Exploitation

The seeds of environmental movements in India were sown during British colonial rule, which began intensifying after the East India Company's victory at Plassey in 1757 under Robert Clive, leading to widespread resource plunder. Colonial policies, such as the Permanent Settlement of 1793 introduced by Lord Cornwallis, commodified land, displacing peasants and tribals who depended on forests and rivers for sustenance. This sparked early resistance, like the Santhal Rebellion of 1855 in Bihar, led by Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, where over 10,000 tribals protested against land alienation and forest encroachments, resulting in brutal suppression but highlighting ecological grievances. Similarly, the Koya Revolt of 1879-1880 in Andhra Pradesh, under leaders like Tammam Dora, opposed the Madras Forest Act of 1882, which restricted access to podu cultivation, a traditional shifting agriculture practice dating back centuries. These uprisings, often framed as anti-colonial struggles, inherently addressed environmental degradation, such as deforestation for timber exports that reduced forest cover from 40 percent in 1850 to 22 percent by 1947, as documented in later studies by forest officials like E.P. Stebbing in 1922. The 1894 Bastar Rebellion in Chhattisgarh, led by tribal chief Gunda Dhur, resisted the reservation of forests under the Indian Forest Act of 1878, enacted by Viceroy Lord Lytton, which classified vast areas as state property, alienating communities from resources they had managed sustainably for generations. These colonial-era conflicts laid the ideological foundation for modern movements, emphasizing the link between environmental protection and livelihood security.

Post-Independence Triggers and Early Movements                          www.osmanian.com

Following independence in 1947 under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, India's push for rapid industrialization through Five-Year Plans starting in 1951 prioritized large dams and factories, often at the expense of ecosystems and local populations. The construction of the Bhakra Nangal Dam, inaugurated in 1954 by Nehru, displaced over 36,000 people in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, sparking initial protests that highlighted submergence of fertile lands and loss of biodiversity in the Sutlej River basin. This era saw the emergence of movements against such "temples of modern India," as Nehru termed big projects, with critics like Kapil Bhattacharjee in the 1950s arguing in engineering journals about ecological costs. The 1960s Green Revolution, promoted by Minister C. Subramaniam and scientist M.S. Swaminathan from 1965, introduced high-yield varieties and chemical fertilizers, boosting food production but causing soil degradation and water scarcity in Punjab and Haryana, leading to farmer agitations by the 1970s. The Silent Valley Project in Kerala, proposed in 1958 by the state electricity board, aimed to dam the Kunthipuzha River, threatening a pristine rainforest ecosystem home to endangered lion-tailed macaques, galvanizing intellectuals like poet Sugathakumari in 1976 to form the Silent Valley Protection Committee. This marked a transition to science-based activism, with ecologists like Madhav Gadgil providing reports in 1979 on biodiversity loss, influencing the movement's success when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi halted the project in 1983.

Global Influences and Ideological Shifts

The 1970s brought global environmental awareness to India, with the 1972 Stockholm Conference attended by Indira Gandhi, who famously linked poverty to environmental degradation in her speech, inspiring domestic discourse. The Chipko Movement, starting in 1973 in Uttarakhand under Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Gaura Devi, where women hugged trees to prevent logging by contractors, drew from Gandhian non-violence and local folklore, spreading to Himachal Pradesh by 1974. Sunderlal Bahuguna's 1981-1983 foot march across the Himalayas raised awareness about deforestation causing floods, like the 1978 Alaknanda disaster that killed 200. This period saw ideological dimensions emphasizing community rights, with the 1975 Appiko Movement in Karnataka, led by Pandurang Hegde, adopting similar tree-hugging tactics against eucalyptus plantations that depleted groundwater since their introduction in the 1960s. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), founded in 1985 by Medha Patkar, protested the Sardar Sarovar Dam approved in 1979, which threatened to submerge 37,000 hectares and displace 250,000 people, mostly tribals, in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Patkar's hunger strikes in 1991 and 2000 drew international attention, with the World Bank withdrawing funding in 1993 after a 1992 review by Bradford Morse highlighted environmental violations.

Urban and Industrial Environmental Activism

By the 1980s, movements addressed urban pollution and industrial hazards, catalyzed by the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy at Union Carbide's plant, killing over 5,000 instantly and affecting 500,000, led by activists like Satinath Sarangi who founded the Bhopal Group for Information and Action in 1986. This spurred the Environment Protection Act of 1986 under Rajiv Gandhi, but enforcement lagged, leading to continued protests. The 1980s also saw coastal movements against shrimp farming, introduced in Andhra Pradesh in 1985, which salinized lands, with fisherfolk under Thomas Kocherry forming the National Fishworkers' Forum in 1978. In Delhi, the 1990s campaign against Yamuna pollution, led by the Centre for Science and Environment under Anil Agarwal, who published the 1982 "State of India's Environment" report, highlighted sewage from rapid urbanization post-1950s.

Contemporary Emerges and Climate Focus                          www.osmanian.com

The 21st century witnessed movements integrating climate change, such as the 2007 protests against the POSCO steel plant in Odisha, approved in 2005, displacing 22,000 and threatening olive ridley turtles, led by Abhay Sahoo until cancellation in 2017. The 2011 anti-nuclear movement in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, against the 1988 Indo-Russian project, involved villagers under S.P. Udayakumar, halting operations temporarily in 2012. Tribal movements in Chhattisgarh against coal mining since 2000, like the 2015 Hasdeo Arand protests led by Alok Shukla, protected 445,000 acres of forest in 2022. Youth-led actions, inspired by Greta Thunberg in 2018, saw Disha Ravi's 2019 Fridays for Future India chapter advocating against policies like the 2020 Environmental Impact Assessment dilution.

Role of NGOs and Legal Battles

Non-governmental organizations played crucial roles; the Bombay Natural History Society, founded in 1883 by Salim Ali in the 1930s, influenced wildlife protection laws like the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act. Legal activism, through public interest litigations since the 1980s under Justice P.N. Bhagwati, saw cases like the 1985 M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India ordering closure of polluting industries in Delhi. The 1996 Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum case established the precautionary principle in Indian law.

Challenges and Future

Trajectories Movements faced repression, as seen in the 2006 Singur protests against Tata Nano plant led by Mamata Banerjee, displacing farmers, resolved in 2016 court ruling. Internal divisions, like in NBA where some accepted resettlement packages post-2000, weakened unity. Yet, successes like the 2013 Land Acquisition Act under Manmohan Singh, requiring consent for projects, stemmed from these struggles.