Emergence of Environmental Movements in India:

An Analysis
September 28, 2007 by Aviram Sharma
The first lesson is that the main source of environmental destruction in the world is
the demand for natural resources generated by the consumption of the rich (weather
they are rich nations or rich individuals and groups within nations)….
The second lesson is that it is the poor who are affected the most by environmental
destruction.
(Anil Agrawal, 1986)
Environmental movements of various countries have emerged due to different
reasons. It is basically due to prevailing environmental quality of the locality. The
environmental movements in the north are basically on the issue of quality of life.
Whereas the environment movements in the south arise due to some other reasons,
such as due to conflicts for controling of natural resources and many more. It is being
said that the, environmental movements in U.S.A arises, when the book silent spring
written by Rachel Carson came in the market in the year 1962. In this book she had
written about the impacts of poisonous chemicals, particularly the DDT on the
environment. This book had raised the public consciousness. And it leads to the
emergence of environmental movements in the U.S.A. The participants of these
movements in North are the middle class and upper class people, who have concern
for the nature. But in the south the protesters are generally the marginal population –
hill peasants, tribal communities, fishermen and other underprivileged people. The
different environmental movements in our own country support this argument. The
examples could be taken as Chipko, N.B.A. , Mitti Bachao Andolan, Koel-Karo
Andolan etc. That is why the environmentalism of the North is refereed as “full
stomach” environmentalism and the environmentalism of the south is called as
“empty – belly” environmentalism.

THE REASONS FOR EMERGENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS IN INDIA?

CONTROL OVER NATURAL RESOURCES.

Control over natural resources is an important reason for emergence of environmental
movement in India. Some good examples of these kinds of movements are like
Chipko and N.B.A. In the first case, the reason for conflict was control over forest;
whereas, in the second the reason was control over water. Let’s have a look on the
reasons behind the emergence of Chipko movement in the Garwhal Himalyas.
The movement started in the Garhwal Himalaya in April 1973. Between 1973 and
1980, over a dozen instances were recorded where, through an innovative technique
of protest, illiterate peasants, men, women and children- threatened to hug forest trees
rather than allow then to be logged for export. Notably the peasants were not
interested in saving the trees per se, but in using their produce for agricultural and
household requirements. In later years, however the movement turned its attention to
broader ecological concerns, such as the collective protection and management of
forest, and the diffusion of renewable energy technologies.
The Chipko movement was the forerunner of and in some cases the direct inspiration
for a series of popular movements in defense of community rights to natural
resources. Sometimes these struggles resolved around forest and in other instances,
around the control and use of pasture, water, and mineral or fish resources. Most of
these conflicts have pitted rich against poor: Logging companies against hill villagers,
dam builders against forest tribal communities, multinational corporations deploying
trawlers against traditional fisher folk in small boats. Here one party (e.g. loggers or
trawlers) seek to setup the pace of resource exploitation to service an expanding
commercial – industrial economy. A process which often involves the partial, or total
dispossession of these communities who earlier had control over the resources in
question, and whose own patterns of utilization were less destructive of the
environment.
One important factor is that those poor peoples are solely dependent upon those
natural resources for there survival hood. So, the changes in control of resources
directly hamper their subsistence economy due to which their survival hood came in
danger. Therefore the protest of the people rise against those outsiders, which had
ultimately taken the shape of environmental movement in many instances.
POLITICAL REASONS
Let’s see the political scenario of the country after independence; it will answer some
part of our question. After independence in 1947 people have great expectation from
the indigenous government, it was assumed that the new government which was more
aware of the Indian problems and was equally concerned for the people would
definitely seek to eradicate all problems, with the installation of new government
under the leadership of Nehru , with the observations of industrializations raised
hopes but the government policies were only for industrialization without looking the
environment and equal sharing of natural resources.
The governmental policies resulted into a lot of displacement of people due to large
projects such as dams like Bhakra – Nangal and many others. These policies pushed
the local people on the edges more often than not, the agents of resource
intensification are given preferential treatment by the states through the grant of
generous long leases over mineral or fish stocks, e.g., or the provision of raw
materials at an enormously subsidised prices, with the injustice so compounded local
communities at the receiving end of this process have no recourse except direct
actions, resisting both the state and out side exploiters through a variety of protest
techniques. So we can say these struggles might perhaps as seen as manifestation a
new kind of ‘traditional’ class conflict were fought in the cultivated field or in the
factory, these new struggles are waged over gifts of nature such as forests, and
waters, gifts that are coveted by all but increasingly monopolized by a few.
If we talk in explicitly ecological terms then we can say that history of development
in India can be interpreted as being, in essence, a process of resources capture by the
omnivorous (individuals and groups with the social power to capture, transform and
use natural resources from a much wider catchment area) at the expanse of ecosystem
people (those communities which depend very heavily on the natural resources of
their own locality). So, we can say the environmental movement is the resistance
offered by ecosystem people to the resource capture by omnivorous: as embodied in
movements against large dams by tribal communities to be displaced by them or
struggles by peasants against diversion of forests and grazing land to industry.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC REAONS
The other angles by which we look upon the cause of emergence of environmental
movements are the socio-economic reasons. Almost most of the environmental
movements in India are some how related with this aspect, also, if we see the location
where these movements have started then we would found that most of these areas are
tribal dominated. These people have strong beliefs regarding their forests, land and
water. At the same time they are also totally dependent upon these resources for their
survival hood. Therefore, when these forests or other sources of livelihood get
disturbed by the outsiders, their socio-economic conditions get hampered and the
ultimate recourse is the movement against those people who were harnessing those
resources. Also, women had generally played an important role in these movements,
in tribal groups; women are accustomed to responsibility and leadership for
community survival. There work involves them directly and daily with forests and
natural resources. So, whenever their survival came into risk, they take the lead role
for the protection of their community and its resources.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION/DESTRUCTION
Environmental degradation is also an important cause which many time leads to
environmental movement. One such e.g. was the silent valley case. Here the proposed
dam by the Kerala State Electricity Board was supposed to submerge a large tract of
virgin forest. Those are one of the few virgin rain forests left in the country. So, the
local people of vicinity along with the N.G.O.s resisted this move. In this movement
the K.S.S.P. also get help from scientist community of India and abroad. And the
result was withdrawal of this project by the government.
One another e.g. of movement which arose due to the degradation of local
environment was the movement against the limestone quarrying, in the Doon Valley
in the late 1970s and early 1980s.In this case the retired officials and executives of the
locality formed the ‘friends of the Doon’ and the ‘Save Mussoorie’ committees to
safeguard the habitat of the valley. They were joined by hotel owners in Mussoorie,
who were worried about the impacts of environmental degradation on the tourist in-
flow in this well known ‘ hill station.’ They used different techniques of resistance.
Finally they put a Public Interest Litigation ( PIL ) that resulted in a landmark
judgment of the Supreme Court, recommending the closure of all six limestone mines
in the Doon Valley.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND MEDIA
The spread of environmental awareness and media has also played pivotal
role in emergence of environmental movement. People were previously
unaware of the importance of the environment. But as the environmental
awareness increased due various reasons people started protecting their
environment. Some e.g. are the local movements to protect the purity of
different rivers such as Ganga and Yamuna. The greening of many Indian
cities also comes under this category. The Bhagidari movement of Delhi is a
good e.g. Of this kind of environmental movement. Media has also played an
important role in sustaining theses movements.
CONCLUSION
Now on the above arguments the conclusion could be drawn that the nature based
conflicts, the false developmental policies of the government, the marginalization of
the tribal and other underprivileged groups and the environmental degradation are the
root causes of emergence of environmental movements in India. The lopsided,
inequitous, and environmentally destructive processes of development have propelled
the people to go against the state in many cases and this leads to the emergence of
environmental movements in the country. The risks on the survival hood of the
marginal people due to the above mentioned factors had resulted in the emergence of
these movements. Therefore the point comes that the environmental movements in
different parts of the country grows out of the distribution conflict over the ecological
resources needed for livelihood. So we can conclude that environmental movements
in India are the resistances by the people for their livelihood and for their survival
The Green Movement
Environmental activism is the combined political force of people who take action to
protect the environment. Not content with passive empathy for environmental
problems, the green movement is inspired by proactive opportunities to bring about
its vision of a better world.

The institutional profile of environmental activism ranges from tiny single-issue

campaign groups to global brand names. Activist membership groups, such as Friends
of the Earth and Greenpeace, vigorously defend their
political independence by relying on individual
donations for their financial resources.

Spurred by ecological scares linked to nuclear

technologies, toxic chemicals and overexploitation of
natural resources, environmental activism first
emerged as a widespread movement in the 1960s.
The publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in
1962 is generally considered to be a key milestone.

Public understanding of the vulnerability of our

environment has been transformed over the last fifty
years. Activists can claim many successes, including Camisea pipeline scars
the rescue of the ozone layer and reduction of acid rainforest ©Amazon Watch
rain. The language of sustainable development has
entered mainstream politics and environmentalists now aspire to be a leading force in
shaping international agreements.

It is largely accepted that these advances have not translated into any fundamental
change in consumer lifestyles in wealthy countries. Environmental degradation
continues at an alarming rate, brushing aside even the most powerful tools of
international law, the UN Conventions on biodiversity and climate change.
top
Traditional Strategies
A wide range of traditional strategies and tools remains at the disposal of
environmental activists in the search for democratic change. Petitions and letters to
policy-makers or business polluters are the bedrock. Consumer boycotts of products
associated with environmental abuse are extremely effective and greatly feared by
the corporate sector.

Membership groups also engage in protests, often involving visual stunts to capture
media attention.

Where such efforts fail in their goals, some activist

groups will resort to non-violent direct action or civil
disobedience. Direct action is so-named because it
often pursues the objective of the cause itself, such
as the closure of a coal-fired power station. By its
nature such activism may involve a breach in the law
but is more likely to provoke media and public
debate.

Many environmental campaigns stretch over a long

period of time, involving NGO back office support in Logging campaign, US
professional media work, scientific research, public © Rainforest Action Network
education and legal advice. The 2010 European Union ban on the trade in illegal
timber was the outcome of ten years of campaigning.
Having learned that negative messages about the fate of the planet can be counter-
productive, environmental groups strive for positive solutions, often reinforced
through partnership with businesses, governments, and financial institutions.

Activists are deeply ambivalent about relationships with the corporate sector, aware
of the adverse impact of the powerful fossil fuel lobby on climate change legislation in
the US and on European regulations for vehicle emissions.

Nevertheless, consumer product labelling is an effective approach and involves

working with corporate retailers. Arrangements such as theForest Stewardship Council
(FSC) trademark for sustainable timber products, or financial products branded as
ethical investments, enable consumers to make environmentally friendly choices in
their spending.
a critical resource for the subsistence of rural