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5 Biggest Environmental Issues in India in 2024

In its latest climate assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made it very clear that the climate crisis is accelerating at a pace like never before and warned that it is “ now or never ” to limit global warming to 1.5C. From deforestation and droughts to air pollution and plastic waste , there are several factors exacerbating global warming, with consequences felt everywhere in the world. However, some nations suffer more than others. Despite making little to no contribution to climate change, countries in the Global South historically bear the most brunt as they often lack financial resources to tackle the emergency and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events. Here are some of the biggest environmental issues in India right now and how the country is dealing with them.

1. Air Pollution

Undoubtedly one of the most pressing environmental issues in India is air pollution. According to the 2021 World Air Quality Report, India is home to 63 of the 100 most polluted cities, with New Delhi named the capital with the worst air quality in the world. The study also found that PM2.5 concentrations – tiny particles in the air that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller in length – in 48% of the country’s cities are more than 10 times higher than the 2021 WHO air quality guideline level. 

Vehicular emissions, industrial waste, smoke from cooking, the construction sector, crop burning, and power generation are among the biggest sources of air pollution in India. The country’s dependence on coal, oil, and gas due to rampant electrification makes it the world’s third-largest polluter , contributing over 2.65 billion metric tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere every year.  

The months-long lockdown imposed by the government in March 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19 led to a halt in human activities. This unsurprisingly, significantly improved air quality across the country. When comparing the Air Quality Index (AQI) data for 2019 and 2020, the daily average AQI in March-April 2019 was 656, the number drastically dropped by more than half to 306 in the same months of 2020.  

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Unfortunately, things did not last long. In 2021, India was among the world’s most polluted countries, second only to Bangladesh. The annual average PM2.5 levels in India was about 58.1 µg/m³ in 2021, “ending a three-year trend of improving air quality” and a clear sign that the country has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Scientists have linked persistent exposure to PM2.5 to many long-term health issues including heart and lung disease, as well as 7 million premature deaths each year. In November 2021, air pollution reached such severe levels that they were forced to shut down several large power plants around Delhi. 

In recent years, the State Government of the Indian capital has taken some stringent measures to keep a check on air pollution. One of which is the Odd-Even Regulation – a traffic rationing measure under which only private vehicles with registration numbers ending with an odd digit will be allowed on roads on odd dates and those with an even digit on even dates. Starting from January 2023, there will also be a ban on the use of coal as fuel in industrial and domestic units in the National Capital Region (NRC). However, the ban will not apply to thermal power plants, incidentally the largest consumers of coal. Regardless of the measures taken to curb air pollution, as the World Air Quality Report clearly shows – the AQI in India continues to be on a dangerous trajectory.

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2. Water Pollution

Among the most pressing environmental issues in India is also water pollution. The Asian country has experienced unprecedented urban expansion and economic growth in recent years. This, however, comes with huge environmental costs. Besides its air, the country’s waterways have become extremely polluted, with around 70% of surface water estimated to be unfit for consumption. Illegal dumping of raw sewage, silt, and garbage into rivers and lakes severely contaminated India’s waters. The near-total absence of pipe planning and an inadequate waste management system are only exacerbating the situation. Every day, a staggering 40 million litres of wastewater enter rivers and other water bodies. Of these, only a tiny fraction is adequately treated due to a lack of adequate infrastructure.

In middle-income countries like India, water pollution can account for the loss of up to half of GDP growth, a World Bank report suggests. Water pollution costs the Indian government between US$6.7 and $7.7 billion a year and is associated with a 9% drop in agricultural revenues as well as a 16% decrease in downstream agricultural yields.

Besides affecting humans, with nearly 40 million Indians suffering from waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis and nearly 400,000 fatalities each year, water pollution also damages crops, as infectious bacteria and diseases in the water used for irrigation prevent them from growing. Inevitably, freshwater biodiversity is also severely damaged. The country’s rivers and lakes often become open sewers for residential and industrial waste. Especially the latter – which comprises a wide range of toxic substances like pesticides and herbicides, oil products, and heavy metals – can kill aquatic organisms by altering their environment and making it extremely difficult for them to survive.

Fortunately, the country has started addressing the issue by taking steps to improve its water source quality, often with local startups’ help. One strategy involves the construction of water treatment plants that rely on techniques such as flocculation, skimming, and filtration to remove the most toxic chemicals from the water. The upgrade process at one of the country’s largest plants located in Panjrapur, Maharashtra, will enable it to produce more than 19 million cubic metres of water a day , enough to provide access to clean water to approximately 96 million people. 

The government is also looking at ways to promote water conservation and industrial water reuse by opening several treatment plants across the country. In Chennai, a city in Eastern India, water reclamation rose from 36,000 to 80,000 cubic metres between 2016 and 2019. 

Finally, in 2019, Gujarat – a state of more than 70 million citizens – launched its Reuse of Treated Waste Water Policy , which aims to drastically decrease consumption from the Narmada River. The project foresees the installation of 161 sewage treatment plants all across the state that will supply the industrial and construction sectors with treated water.

3. Food and Water Shortages

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India is the country expected to pay the highest price for the impacts of the climate crisis. Aside from extreme weather events such as flash floods and widespread wildfires, the country often experiences long heatwaves and droughts that dry up its water sources and compromise crops. 

Since March 2022 – which was the hottest and driest month recorded in 120 years – the North West regions have been dealing with a prolonged wave of scorching and record-breaking heat . For several consecutive days, residents were hit by temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius, while in some areas, surface land temperatures reached up to 60C. There is no doubt among experts that this unprecedented heatwave is a direct manifestation of climate change .

The heatwave has also contributed to an economic slowdown due to a loss of productivity, as thousands of Indians are unable to work in the extreme heat. The agriculture sector – which employs over 60% of the population – is often hit hard by these erratic droughts, impacting food stability and sustenance. Currently, farmers are struggling to rescue what remains of the country’s wheat crops, piling on existing fears of a global shortage sparked by the war in Ukraine.

Already among the world’s most water-stressed countries , the heatwave is causing further water shortages across the nations. Even though water tankers are keeping communities hydrated, the supply is not enough to cover the needs of all residents. But heat is not the only factor contributing to water scarcity. In an interview with the Times of India , lead researcher at Pune-based Watershed Organisation Trust Eshwer Kale described the national water policy as very ‘irrigation-centric’. Indeed, over 85% of India’s freshwater is used in agriculture. This has led to a crisis in several states, including Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. The indiscriminate use of water for irrigation, coupled with the absence of conservation efforts and the huge policy gap in managing water resources has left over 10% of the country’s water bodies in rural areas redundant. A 2019 report predicts that 21 major cities – including New Delhi and India’s IT hub of Bengaluru – will run out of groundwater by 2030, affecting nearly 40% of the population. 

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4. Waste Management

Among the most pressing environmental issues in India is also waste. As the second-largest population in the world of nearly 1.4 billion people, it comes as no surprise that 277 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) are produced there every year. Experts estimate that by 2030, MSW is likely to reach 387.8 million tonnes and will more than double the current value by 2050. India’s rapid urbanisation makes waste management extremely challenging. Currently, about 5% of the total collected waste is recycled, 18% is composted, and the remaining is dumped at landfill sites .

The plastic crisis in India is one of the worst on the planet. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India currently produces more than 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day on average, which accounts for almost 6% of the total solid waste generated in the country. India stands second among the top 20 countries having a high proportion of riverine plastic emissions nationally as well as globally. Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges rivers are known as the ‘highways of plastic flows’ as they carry and drain most of the plastic debris in the country. Together with the 10 other topmost polluted rivers, they leak nearly 90% of plastics into the sea globally. 

To tackle this issue, in 2020 the government announced that they would ban the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of single-use plastics from July 1 2022 onwards . Furthermore, around 100 Indian cities are set to be developed as smart cities . Despite being still in its early phase, the project sees civic bodies completely redrawing the long-term vision in solid waste management, with smart technologies but also awareness campaigns to encourage community participation in building the foundation of new collection and disposal systems. 

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5. Biodiversity Loss

Last but not least on the list of environmental issues in India is biodiversity loss. The country has four major biodiversity hotspots , regions with significant levels of animal and plant species that are threatened by human habitation: the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the Sundaland (including the Nicobar Islands), and the Indo-Burma region. India has already lost almost 90% of the area under the four hotspots, according to a 2021 report issued by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), with the latter region being by far the worst affected.

Moreover, 1,212 animal species in India are currently monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with over 12% being classified as ‘endangered’ . Within these hotspots, 25 species have become extinct in recent years.

Due to water contamination, 16% of India’s freshwater fish, molluscs, dragonflies, damselflies, and aquatic plants are threatened with extinction and, according to the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) , freshwater biodiversity in the country has experienced an 84% decline. 

Yet, there is more to it. Forest loss is another major driver of biodiversity decline in the country. Since the start of this century, India has lost 19% of its total tree cover . While 2.8% of forests were cut down from deforestation, much of the loss have been a consequence of wildfires, which affected more than 18,000 square kilometres of forest per year – more than twice the annual average of deforestation. 

Forest restoration may be key to India’s ambitious climate goals, but some argue that the country is not doing enough to stop the destruction of this incredibly crucial resource. Indeed, despite committing to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030, Narendra Modi’s government faced backlash after refusing to sign the COP26 pledge to stop deforestation and agreeing to cut methane gas emissions. The decision was justified by citing concerns over the potential impact that the deal would have on local trade, the country’s extensive farm sector, and the role of livestock in the rural economy. However, given these activities’ dramatic consequences on biodiversity, committing to end and reverse deforestation should be a priority for India.

If you liked reading about some of the biggest environmental issues in India, you might also like: 14 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2024

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Physical Risk - Risk Management - Transition Risk

India: A Case Study in Climate Mitigation and Adaptation

This article explores the difficult trade-offs that need to be made between the competing claims of climate mitigation, adaptation, and economic development..

Thursday, September 14, 2023

By Maxine Nelson

This article has been extensively updated, incorporating new COP 27 commitments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) statements and current green bond issuance. It was originally published Oct. 18, 2021.

After decades of population growth and economic development, India is now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. In addition, India is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change due to its geography and dependence on agriculture.

It has been estimated that if emissions are not significantly reduced, India could suffer economic losses of USD 35 trillion . Indeed, much of India has been experiencing annual heatwaves followed by intense flooding, and in 2021 alone it experienced even more  extreme weather events — including cyclones and a glacier collapse. Thus, India makes a thought-provoking case study for policymakers and risk professionals given the difficult trade-offs that need to be made between the competing claims of climate mitigation, adaptation and economic development.

Climate Change’s Effect on India

The banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) , explains that “India has witnessed changes in climatic patterns in line with the rest of the world… the rainfall pattern, particularly with respect to the [south west monsoon] SWM, which provides around 75 percent of the annual rainfall, has undergone significant changes. Moreover, the occurrence of extreme weather events like floods/unseasonal rainfall, heat waves and cyclones has increased during the past two decades, and data reveal that some of the key agricultural states in India have been the most affected by such events.”

A more recent, detailed RBI study points out that “it is the increased frequency of extreme weather occurrences that is breaking the back of our capability to cope with natural disasters.” As shown by India’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — the actions it has committed to take to reduce its emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change — it is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impact of accelerated sea level rise from global warming. This is due to its long coastline, large number of islands and population of 170 million living in coastal regions.

The RBI also notes that precipitation and temperature — the two key climate indicators — “play a crucial role in the overall health of the Indian economy.” As well as affecting food production, the extreme weather in agricultural states impacts employment and GDP, with approximately 44% of the working population employed in agriculture and allied sectors which contribute about 20% of GDP, according to M.K. Jain, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank . Several challenges confronting Indian agriculture, including diminishing and degrading natural resources and unprecedented climate change, need to be tackled for the long-term sustainability and viability of Indian agriculture.

However, there is uncertainty over how large the impacts might be. The Swiss Re Institute , for example, estimates a 35% reduction in the level of India’s GDP by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced globally, and approximately a 6% GDP reduction even if the Paris Agreement goals are met. An Oxford Economics report “Estimating the Economic Impact of Global Warming” has framed the impact differently, estimating that India’s GDP could be 90% lower in 2100 than it would be if there was no climate change, suggesting that climate change has the potential to absorb all of India’s future prospective growth in income per capita. And  Deloitte  has estimated USD 35 trillion of economic losses by 2070. While these different approaches produce diverse estimates, they all show that the impact will be big and require additional investments in both mitigation and adaptation.

India’s Effect on Climate Change

Not only will the changing climate have a significant impact on India, but India is also expected to have a significant impact on the climate. Although historically it has not had high emissions, India rose to the number three spot in the national emissions rankings 15 years ago, behind China and the U.S. The RBI noted that “With the increase in population, the cumulative level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increased, resulting in a rise of average temperature. According to a study by the International Energy Agency (IEA), India emitted 2,299 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in 2018, a rise of 4.8% over the previous year.”

Unfortunately, India’s future potential emissions are not yet aligned with the Paris Agreement goals. India’s NDCs currently correspond to temperature increases above 3°C, according to Climate Action Tracker . (You can find out more about NDCs and their place in the Paris Agreement in this  short article . ) India increased its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at COP 26, the 2021 annual meeting of the signatories of the Paris Agreement, where it pledged to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070. While this was a large increase in commitment, it isn’t yet aligned with the worldwide goal of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050 needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Maxine Nelson

In advance of COP 27, India has again increased its commitment and pledged to a 45% reduction in GDP emissions intensity by 2030 — marking an 10% increase from the previous pledge. Any emissions reduction is helpful to mitigate climate change. However, as the pledge is based on emissions intensity and not absolute emissions, emissions can continue increasing as the economy expands. This pledge, therefore, doesn’t meet the net-zero goal of reducing emissions by 45% by 2030. Still, the effort required to overcome the challenge of rapidly expanding an economy while decreasing emissions intensity needs to be appreciated.

To further mitigate climate change, India may need to agree to reduce its emissions even more — a big task for a developing economy with average annual energy consumption of a third the global average, and per capita emissions already 10 times lower than that of the U.S., four times lower than China, and three times lower than Europe. With IPCC reports highlighting the urgency of tackling climate change quickly to reduce the loss and damage for humans and ecosystems, it is even more important that emissions reductions are ambitious.

Financing Mitigation and Adaptation

A 2021 RBI Financial Stability Report noted that climate change and the associated mitigating policy commitments are “set to reshape the macroeconomic and financial landscape”. Extensive funding is needed both to reduce future emissions and to finance the adaptation needed to manage the impacts of climate change. In their 2016 NDC, India estimated that at least USD 2.5 trillion (at 2014-15 prices) would be required for meeting its climate change actions between 2016 and 2030. And the International Energy Agency estimates that nearly 60% of India’s CO 2 emissions in the late 2030s will be coming from infrastructure and machines that do not exist today. If this investment is to be sustainable, USD 1.4 trillion extra funding (above that required for current policies) is needed over the next 20 years.

Like most of the world, green bond issuance in India — which could provide some of this funding — is currently a small proportion of all bond issuance.  The rate of issuance is increasing, however, with USD 21.6 billion of green, sustainable or social bonds issued in 2022. And in 2023, the Government of India entered the green finance market issuing USD 2 billion of green bonds to finance their spending on a range of projects including solar power, green hydrogen and afforestation. As they obtained a greenium (lower financing costs than other equivalent bonds), we should expect to see more of these issued in the future.

There are also substantial opportunities in other financial markets, such as the  development of a derivatives market   to aid adaptation via products such as:

• agricultural commodity derivatives, which can help reduce risks by enabling continuous price discovery and providing hedging
• weather derivatives, which can hedge the risks of high-probability, low-risk events

Of course, meeting the needs of climate change financing carries the usual financial risk implications of any lending. An RBI analysis shows that banks’ direct exposure to fossil fuels (through electricity, chemicals and cars) is 10% of total outstanding non-retail bank credit, so it should have a limited impact on the banking system. However, it notes that many other industries indirectly use fossil fuels and their impacts also need to be closely monitored.

Regulatory Response

The RBI has noted that policy measures such as a deepening of the corporate bond market, standardization of green investment terminology, consistent corporate reporting and removing information asymmetry between investors and recipients can make a significant contribution in addressing some of the shortcomings of the green finance market.

Like in most of the rest of the world, there is an increasing regulatory focus on climate risk. The RBI Governor has stated that guidelines will be issued about disclosure of climate-related risks, and also scenario analysis and stress testing. This followed last year’s RBI consultation which asked for inputs on a comprehensive range of topics from climate risk governance to strategy, and risk monitoring, management and mitigation at regulated entities. This consultation, in turn, built on the results of an RBI survey of banks that was also published last year. The survey found that “although banks have begun taking steps in the area of climate risk and sustainable finance, there remains a need for concerted effort and further action in this regard.” It also found that board-level engagement is inadequate, and few banks had a strategy for incorporating climate risk into their risk management framework. To see what leading climate risk firms are doing globally look at GARP’s whitepaper: “ Climate Risk Leadership: Lessons From 4 Annual Surveys .”

Given the widespread impact of climate change, it isn’t just the banking regulator that is looking at how climate risk will affect firms in its jurisdiction. In 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated that the largest 1,000 listed firms complete a Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report . The report asks for information like material ESG risks and opportunities and their financial implications; sustainability related targets and performance; and their greenhouse gas emissions. Companies’ value chains also need to be assessed. This requirement is being progressively rolled out from 2023 to 2027, with the largest companies also required to get assurance of their disclosures.

In addition, SEBI has altered the rules for mutual funds , allowing them to have multiple ESG schemes with different strategies; in the past, a mutual fund could only have one ESG fund. This increase in scope follows one for green debt securities , which was expanded to include bonds such as blue bonds (sustainable water management and marine sector), yellow bonds (solar energy generation and transmission), transition bonds and adaptation bonds. Both of these expansions in scope should increase financing for sustainability related initiatives.

Reflecting the fact that addressing climate change is a global problem, needing both local and global solutions, the RBI joined the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) in April 2021. The NGFS’s purpose is to strengthen the global response required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and to enhance the role of the financial system to manage risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments. These goals align very well with the work India needs to undertake to make not just its financial system resilient to the risks from climate change, but to balance mitigation, adaptation, and economic development across the country.

Maxine Nelson , Ph.D, Senior Vice President, GARP Risk Institute, currently focusses on sustainability and climate risk management. She has extensive experience in risk, capital and regulation gained from a wide variety of roles across firms including Head of Wholesale Credit Analytics at HSBC. She also worked at the U.K. Financial Services Authority, where she was responsible for counterparty credit risk during the last financial crisis.

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Greening India’s Environment: Challenges Faced and Prospects for Future Cooperation

• May 10, 2021

The beginning of 2021 has been exceptionally challenging for India. In January, India’s capital city New Delhi was hit not only by a hailstorm, but also by the heaviest rainfall in 21 years, according to the India Meteorological Department ( IMD ). Furthermore, the country was then plunged into a cold wave in the Northern regions. However, Central and South India have been particularly hot, so much so that January 2021 was the warmest in 62 years in terms of average recorded temperature. What is more, on the 7 th of February 2021, a massive piece of a Himalayan glacier broke off in northern India, causing at least 26 deaths, with a further 170 people missing. In view of the increase in natural disasters in India, the national government raised awareness of global warming in various ways. For instance, in 2008, the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change ( PMCCC ) published India’s first National Action Plan on Climate Change ( NAPCC ), outlining the government’s initiatives and strategies on climate change. 

Nevertheless, more than a decade after the release of the NAPCC, India is facing increasing extreme weather that has disastrous effects on humans, animals and the ecosystem. Thus, the effectiveness of Indian environmental policies should be assessed. As a starting point, the environmental situation in India will be examined. With this in mind, we will then look into the initiatives implemented on the domestic and international levels to remedy the situation. Lastly, EU-Indian cooperation on climate change, water and energy issues as well as their future prospects will be tackled. This paper suggests that for India, in order to combat climate change, a sustainable and feasible environmental action plan resides in finding the balance between environmental protection and economic development , notably in ensuring energy security . As an active developing country, India possesses significant potential to improve its environmental standing and move towards a “greener” economic model while cooperating with other regional and international partners. All that is needed now is to act upon it. 

Assessment of India’s Vulnerability to Climate Change

In the Germanwatch 2020 Global Climate Risk Index report, India is ranked fifth amongst the most affected countries by climate change. The Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences ’ 2020 report estimates that the average temperature in India is expected to climb by 4.4°C before the end of the century, exacerbating concerns over rising sea levels. With a coastline of 7517km on which major Indian cities are located (namely Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai), this is especially worrying. These cities are already at risk of being submerged every year during monsoon season. While flooding and droughts become increasingly frequent in India, extreme weather conditions also spur worries about food security and energy supplies, since its population is expected to surpass China’s in 2027, becoming the world’s most populous country. Despite exceptional climatic conditions being perceived as “natural disasters”, human activity weighs heavily on the environment. As the third-largest global producer of carbon dioxide in 2020, the exploitation of fossil fuels, soaring levels of pollution from industries and Indian megacities all contribute to carbon emissions, leading to an acceleration of climate change. 

Indian Domestic Environmental Initiatives

Many Indian cities are known for their heavy traffic situations and smog. The AirVisual’s 2018 World air quality report indicated that 22 out of the 30 most polluted cities are located in India. Air quality has also been assessed as “ airpocalyptic ” in a Greenpeace report issued in January 2017. The severity of the matter should not be underestimated, particularly during winter months where air quality worsens due to atmospheric factors, heating systems and post-monsoon biomass burning. Around 60 percent of the Indian population still relies on biomass such as wood or charcoal for cooking and energy supply. In order to combat the emission of these fumes, the Indian government adopted the Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana ( PMUY ) scheme in 2016 which provides clean liquefied petroleum gas ( LPG ) connections to poor households freely for cooking purposes. It is aimed to reach 80 million households by 2022. Combating air pollution is an important concern , given that poor air quality has a significant health impact, reducing average life expectancy by more than 10 years in Delhi. In November 2020 for instance, New Delhi’s air pollution level was nine times higher than what the World Health Organization deems safe, to the point where the air was considered dangerous to breathe. According to the state-run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research ( SAFAR ), the levels of PM 2.5, which is considered one of the most toxic particles, climbed to about 250 micrograms per cubic meter. A thick smog rendered the city’s gray winter sky a sickly yellow and shrouded national monuments. People’s vulnerability to air pollution has been exacerbated by the pandemic, as a combination of air pollution and COVID-19 makes people with chronic medical conditions more prone to lung inflammation and other health conditions. As Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi’s chief minister stated , “the corona situation is worsening because of pollution.” As a consequence, the Indian Ministry of Environment launched the national clean air programme ( NCAP ), which sets the framework for sub-federal states to institute and adequately implement the necessary measures. Since many Indian cities are amongst the most polluted in the world, this programme aims at reducing the concentration of coarse (PM10) and fine particles (PM2.5) in 102 cities across the country by 20-30 percent by 2024, as compared to 2017.

Besides the deteriorating air quality, water pollution also poses a severe threat in India. According to the 2018 “ Composite water management index ”, India’s water index is ranked 120 th out of 122 countries. In urban and rural areas, untreated sewage water from farms and factories flows into rivers and lakes, contaminating drinkable underground water. Farmers subsequently use the untreated water to irrigate their crops, generating food security challenges and illnesses among the consumers further down the food production chain. For years, the Ganges – Hinduism’s holy rivers, have been polluted to the extent that its water is unsafe in some areas due to the risk posed by heavy metals. This prompted the launch of the National Mission for Clean Ganga ( NMCG ) in 2014. At the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, nearly USD 3 billion of funds were committed to a five-year clean-up of the Ganges by 2020. However, the NMCG was criticized for its slow pace of cleaning-related work. According to the most recent data available from the Central Pollution Control Board ( CPCB ), amongst its 2,500-kilometer length, the Ganges’ average water quality has not reached a level considered safe for drinking and bathing due to the fact that untreated sewage water has continually been discharged into the Ganges. 

Furthermore, urban planning failures , manifested in clogged drainage systems and the encroachment of water bodies, play a critical role in the impact of natural disasters on cities. In summer 2020, many Indian cities experienced flooding . The expansion of mega-cities in India makes them more vulnerable to heavy rainfalls, especially in locations with a high concentration of people such as slums and squatter settlements. Inadequate urban development policies go hand in hand with poor waste management, also causing food and health problems. In an attempt to address this, the Modi government has launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (‘ Clean India ’ project), aimed at decluttering the streets, clearing sewage pipes and the building of millions of public toilets across the country between 2014 and 2019. The project has paid off. It has been reported that since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, at least 180,000 diarrhoeal deaths were averted in rural India. According to a survey conducted by the National Statistical Office ( NSO ) in 2018 and released in 2019, 71 percent of rural households had access to toilets in 2018, showing a significant improvement compared to 40 percent in 2012. On 1st February 2021, the Indian  finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the “Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0” initiative, where Rs 1,41,678 crore are allocated to complete faecal sludge management and wastewater treatment over five years from 2021. The ‘ Smart Cities Mission ’ also contributed to developing public transport, sewerage, water supply and sanitation. The program will vary on a city to city basis, with financial aid payments being staggered between 2017 and 2022. Due to the severity of the pandemic, the project had to slow down to the extent that only 11 percent is completed until 2021. Thus, it has been estimated that benefits will be reaped from 2022 onwards. 

To protect the “lungs” of the earth and fight against illegal timber trafficking, the National Green Tribunal was set up in October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2020 to enforce laws on forest conservation and natural resources . Forests are known to absorb carbon dioxide, contributing to global temperature reduction and the slowing down of climate change. Mangrove forests served as a natural barrier to take in excessive water and hold the earth firmly in the ground. However, due to economic development, the demand for wood has increased in India. As a result, heavy rain loosens the soil, taking away the earth, while devastating agricultural outputs. Deforestation has aggravated the current environmental situation, not only in India but also on the border with Bhutan and Myanmar. Illegal traffickers from the northeastern states of India smuggled timber from Bhutan, to such an extent that they have been called the “ timber mafia ”. Despite a ban on timber logging since 1996 in the northeastern states of India, the policy has not been enforced very strictly. In India, due to its federal system, regional entities have, to some degree, power to decide what measures should be implemented. As the 7 th largest country in the world, constituted by 7 union territories and 29 states, the Indian central government needs more stringent policies to better control measures in the different regions. Regional governments are dependent on the central government in terms of finance. Therefore, one solution could be to introduce financial penalties or specific taxation schemes in areas failing to adhere to environmental protection policies. There is a clear need for concordance between legislation set forth by the central government and its implementation by the states.

India’s International Engagement in Environmental Issues 

Policy awareness has been driven at the international level under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Third Biennial Update Report ( BUR-3 ) to the UNFCCC was published in February 2021 by the Indian Ministry of Environment. Through the development of green technologies in the sectors of industry, agriculture, business and commerce, the BUR-3 highlighted India’s consistent efforts to combat the challenges of global warming. Besides meeting its commitments to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, India has enhanced initiatives in climate change mitigation and adaptation. According to Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Environment, “India, as a front-runner in climate action, is one of the few countries on track to overachieve the 2 degrees celsius compatible Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) targets submitted as part of the Paris Agreement.” The 2015 Paris Agreement adopted at the global level by up to 190 Parties is an important milestone, as it is the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate change agreement. Despite the withdrawal of the United States of America from the Paris Agreement in 2016, India and other partners such as the European Union (EU) proved to be strong advocates of environmental protection and leaders in the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives as a means of energy production. For instance, the International Solar Alliance ( ISA ), which promotes the use of solar energy, was launched by France and India in November 2015 at the 21st session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-21) in Paris.  

Indeed, one of India’s enormous challenges will be re-orientating its energy model, which today still relies heavily on coal, fossil fuels and biomass. Since the country will become the world’s most populous country in the coming years, it faces an enormous demand for electricity provided by fossil fuels. Following its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced an ambitious target of 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewables by 2030 , and has pledged to source 40 percent of its electricity from renewable and other low-carbon sources the same year. Incentives have paid off, as India’s is among the top ten performers in adopting substantial measures to mitigate climate change in the 2020 climate change performance index ( CCPI ). The construction of the Bhadla solar power park in Rajasthan, which is one of the world’s largest solar power plants, is the perfect example of solar energy production promotion as it can reach a maximum capacity of 2.245MW and serves as an excellent alternative to fossil fuel-based energy production. 

However, India’s “ solar-powered revolution ” and its solar manufacturing capacity have proven challenging to expand, since it relies heavily on the importation of Chinese solar equipment. According to R. K. Singh, the Indian renewable energy minister: “India imported solar cells and modules worth USD 1,179.89 million from China in the first nine months – April to December of the financial year 2019-2020.” The reason resides in the fact that “solar panels or modules imported from China are generally cheaper than those produced by domestic manufacturers,” Singh added. The Indian government ought to incentivize businesses to produce domestically manufactured components under the government-sponsored projects, such as the PM-KUSUM Scheme ( Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan ) or the Rooftop solar scheme, to discourage Chinese imports and provide protection to the domestic MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) solar firms. The lack of skilled workers in the Indian green industry also needs to be urgently addressed through advanced training in the sector and the creation of new job opportunities. As a result, these initiatives would not only lessen India’s dependency on Chinese imports, but also increase its economic competitiveness vis-à-vis China, as well as its readiness for sustainable structural change in the long run. 

Challenges and Future Prospects of EU-India Climate Cooperation

In reaction to the commitments to the Paris Agreement, the EU-India Summit in March 2016 marked a milestone in their cooperation in leading climate action and clean energy transition. Based on a shared vision for sustainable energy production, both sides agreed on a joint declaration on Clean Energy and Climate Partnership , including renewables, energy efficiency, sustainable finance, smart grids and grid integration. The Partnership aims to support the European Investment Bank in deploying funds for renewable energy and climate change programs with India. Additionally, through the EU’s Partnership Instrument project “Clean Energy Cooperation between the EU and India” ( CECI ), specific technical assistance is also brought to India to reinforce its climate research capacity. In regards to sustainable management of water resources, a joint declaration on an India-EU Water Partnership ( IEWP ) was also agreed following the Summit, assisting in the implementation of the Indian government’s Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative. From exchanging perspectives with the Indian government on regulatory approaches in tackling the cleaning of Ganga, the EU can take in valuable lessons in reforming its Water Framework Directive ( WFD ) for the Rhine and Danube. 

The EU-India Summit in October 2017 focused on facilitating EU-India business-to-business interaction, including new cooperation on green cooling, solar pumping, energy storage and advanced biofuels. Both leaders emphasized the importance of transitioning to a circular economy to minimize primary resource demand and increase clean energy development. As a result, collaboration in the fields of resource efficiency and circular economy has increased under the EU’s Resource Efficiency Initiative ( EU-REI ) for India. Besides, a joint declaration on smart and sustainable development was agreed on creating cities with sustainable urbanization. For instance, the EU supports India’s Eco-Cities project which promotes use of renewable energy, clean technology and energy efficiency in five cities – Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions to meet its goals in the NCDs. The EU collaborates with Indian Urban Local Bodies to develop basic facilities and encourage sustainable urban management. Under the International Urban Cooperation programme ( IUC ), 12 city-to-city pairings between European and India cities aimed to support India Local Action Plans in promoting smart, green and inclusive growth. 

On the 15 th of July 2020, the 15 th EU-India Summit was held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. As a common roadmap to guide joint action and further strengthen the EU-India Strategic Partnership, the “ EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025 ” was endorsed, aiming to develop a “sustainable modernization partnership.” The EU and India reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Paris Agreement and agreed upon constructive bilateral relations in the context of a post-pandemic economic recovery plan by employing a “greener” and sustainable framework. For instance, the India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership established at the 2016 Summit will be reinforced. Based on the principles of mutual benefit and reciprocity, further dialogue in sharing knowledge and expertise in the areas of innovation and technology will be promoted. The EU’s main strategy to combat climate change is through its green recovery agenda. However, “the environmental and economic ambition of the Green Deal will not be achieved by Europe acting alone,” said   Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at the summit. In times of the global pandemic, the EU-India Strategic Partnership in the field of resource efficiency and circular economy is poised to gain ever more significance in view of achieving the European green recovery plan. “The transition to a resource-efficient and circular economy is essential for the sustainability of the EU and India’s economic growth and requires working together for a global systemic shift,” with the involvement of other global powers such as China, Russia, and the United States, he added. Besides, according to a joint statement released after the summit, both parties agreed to work closely in creating a post-2020 global strategy to conserve biodiversity, which will be discussed and adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference in 2021. The 8th May 2021 EU-India virtual Leaders’ Meeting reiterated the importance of transport and industry decarbonisation and projected a new work programme for the EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.

To sum up, climate change is a worldwide issue and needs to be dealt with not only through domestic policies but also international cooperation. As one of the most populous countries vulnerable to climate change, India needs to act now in order to protect its population from rising sea levels, pollution and the degradation of biodiversity. One solution resides in transitioning from biomass-produced energy to sustainable energy, thus creating a greener economic model. As Muthukumara Mani, a senior environmental economist in the Sustainable Development Department of the World Bank’s South Asia Region stated : “while the overall policy focus should be on meeting basic needs and expanding opportunities for growth, they should not be at the expense of unsustainable environmental degradation.” The dilemma is finding the delicate balance between socio-economic development and environmental preservation and protection. To achieve this, engaging in regional cooperation with China and international cooperation with the EU in the domains of clean energy, infrastructure-building, and climate research capacity could be beneficial for India in a greener circular economy. 

Author: Kemeng Liu, Junior Researcher, EIAS 

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• Published: 07 November 2023

A conversation on air pollution in India

• Xujia Jiang 1  

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India is currently one of the most polluted regions in the world. Dr Chandra Venkataraman, an expert in climate change and air pollution at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, speaks to Nature Geoscience about challenges and opportunities facing air pollution control in India.

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Environmental Case Studies from SW India

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Kerala state in the southwestern coast of India is blessed with 41 west flowing rivers that debouch into the Arabian Sea. These rivers are small with limited river bed resources. Among the various human interventions that are threatening rivers, indiscriminate river sand mining is of paramount importance as the activity irreparably degrades rivers and its adjoining aquatic environments. Studies reveal that the river bed in their storage zones is lowering at a rate of 5–20 cm per year. In the present chapter, two case studies have been examined to disclose the severity of environmental problems of sand mining from the rivers draining the Western Ghats—an ecologically sensitive area in the Peninsular India.

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20 Landmark Cases relating to Environmental Laws in India

Here is a list of 20 landmark cases relating to environmental laws in india delivered by the supreme court and other high courts..

Here is a list of 20 Landmark Cases relating to Environmental Laws in India delivered by the Supreme Court and other High Courts which have further facilitated in furthering of the cause of creating 'environmental consciousness'.

Introduction

The idea of 'environmental consciousness' began when man realised that the environment does not belong to man but he belongs to the environment. We all are nothing but slaves to nature and it is our duty to protect the environment from any damages to leave a sustainable environment for future generations.

The courts in recent years have emerged as the protector of the environment preventing it from the onslaught of development which is in disharmony with the goal of 'sustainable development'. Here is a list of 20 landmark Judgements delivered by the Supreme Court and other High Courts which have further facilitated in furthering of the cause of creating 'environmental consciousness'.

Vellore Citizen's Welfare Forum v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 2715

Narmada bachao andolan v. union of india, air 2000 sc 3751.

• Church of God(Full Gospel) in India v. K.K.R. Majestic Colony Welfare Association, (2000) 7 SCC 282

M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 734

M.c. mehta v. union of india, air 2002 sc 1696, m.c. mehta v. union of india, air (1987) sc 1086, m.c. mehta v. kamal nath, (2000) 6 scc 213, municipal council, ratlam v. vardhichand, air (1980) sc 1622, rural litigation and entitlement kendra, dehradun v. state of uttar pradesh, air (1985) sc 652, pradeep kishen v. union of india, (1996) 8 scc 599, jagannath v. union of india, 1997 2 scc 87, susetha v. state of tamil nadu, air (2006) sc 2893, murli s. deora v. union of india air 2002 sc 40, indian council for enviro- legal action v. union of india, (20011) 12 scc 768, karnataka industrial areas development board v. c. kenchappa (air 2006 sc 2038), orissa state (prevention & control) of pollution board v. m/s orient paper mills, air (2003) sc 1966, state of m.p. v. kedia leather ltd, (2003) 7 scc 389, olga tellis v. bombay municipal corporation, air 1986 sc 180, ram baj singh v. babulal, air 1982 all. 285, intellectual forum, tirupathi v. state of andhra pradesh, air 2006 sc 1350.

20 Landmark Cases relating to Environmental Laws in India (Explained)

In this case, the Supreme Court applied the precautionary principle directly to the facts. This case is also known as the Tamil Nadu Tanneries Case where a petition was filed by the Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum seeking direction to the tanneries and other industries which caused pollution by the enormous discharge of untreated effluent in the State of Tamil Nadu.

Justice Kuldeep Sigh rejecting the idea that development and ecology were opposed to each other stated that, the only answer to the conflict between environment and development was the concept of 'Sustainable Development' accepted and adopted in the Stockholm Declaration 1972 . The Court further held that the ' Precautionary Principle' and the 'polluter pays principle' are a part of the constitutional and statutory provisions as is clear from Article 47, 48A, 51A(g) of the Constitution of India and other statutes for the protection of the Environment.

The Central Government was directed to establish an authority under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which shall implement the ' Precautionary and the Polluter Pays Principle '. The Supreme Court held that the tanneries were polluting the environment and directed the tanneries to set up common effluent treatment plants.

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A public interest litigation was initiated against the Sardar Sarovar Project which consisted of the construction of a large dam on the Narmada river. The petition alleged that the project would lead to ecological destruction. In this case, the Supreme Court balanced the developmental imperatives and introduced a new dimension in the 'precautionary principle' by way of interpretation .

The Court stated that sustainable development means what type or extent of development can take place which can be sustained by nature or ecology with or without mitigation. It was held that the construction of a dam is neither a nuclear establishment nor a polluting industry. Even though the construction of dams results in a change of environment but will not be an ecological disaster as contended. Therefore, the construction of a dam was allowed.

Church of God (Full Gospel) in India v. K.K.R. Majestic Colony Welfare Association, (2000) 7 SCC 282

The Supreme Court, in this case, examined the issue of 'noise pollution' based on the grounds of religion and whether beating of drums or reciting of prayers by use of microphones and loudspeakers should be permitted to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the area should be permitted.

It was held that no religion prescribes that prayers should be performed by disturbing the peace of others and in the name of religion activities that disturb old or infirm persons, students or children and other persons carrying on other activities cannot be permitted. The Supreme Court referring to Article 19(1)(a) and the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 200 dismissed the appeal of the appellant and observed that the right to religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution is subject to public order, morality and health.

This case is also known as the 'Taj Trapezium Case' . The chemical and hazardous industries and refineries at Mathura along with brick-klin units and vehicular traffic were polluting the air around the Taj Mahal and as a result, the white marble of the monument was getting blackened in patches. The emissions generated by the coke/coal-consuming industries had a damaging effect on the Taj and the people living around the area.

It was held by the Apex Court, that the Taj Mahal is a part of national and international cultural heritage and must be preserved and protected from damages due to environmental pollution. The court observed that even though the development of the industry is necessary but at the same time environment and ecosystem must be protected and apply the precautionary principle.

This case is also known as 'CNG Vehicles Case' . A writ petition was filed under Article 21 of the Constitution Of India regarding the Air Pollution in Delhi where, smoke and highly toxic other corrosive gases due to industries and vehicles and prayed to the Court to issue appropriate directions to the owners of the vehicles emitting noxious carbon monoxides, oxides of nitrogen, lead and other smoke.

The Supreme Court held that Article 39(c), 47 and 48A collectively cast a duty on the State to secure the health of the people and protect and improve the environment . The Court highlighted that one of the principles underlying environmental law is that of sustainable development i.e ecologically sustainable development. And, the two essential features of sustainable development are the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle. The phasing out of non-CNG buses was recommended.

This case is popularly known as ' Shriram Food and Fertilizer Case' . The Supreme Court, in this case, held that exemplary damages are also recoverable when harm results from hazardous or inherently dangerous nature of activity in which the defendant, in this case, was engaged . In such cases, compensation is awarded keeping into account the magnitude of the act and the capacity of the wrongdoer to pay. The larger and more prosperous the enterprise, the greater must be the amount of compensation payable by it.

The Supreme Court, in this case, observed that environmental pollution amounts to a civil wrong and by its nature, it is a tort committed against the whole community. The Court observed that "Pollution is a civil wrong . By its very nature, it is a tort committed against the community as a whole.

A person, therefore, who is guilty of causing pollution has to pay damages (compensation) for the restoration of the environment and ecology. He has also to pay damages to those who have suffered loss on account of the act of the offender. In addition to damages, the person guilty of causing pollution can also be held liable to pay exemplary damages, so that it may act as a deterrent for others not to cause pollution in any manner ."

Justice Shagir Ahmed observed that Article 48A and 51A(g) have to be considered in the light of Article 21 of the Constitution and any disturbance of the basic environmental elements, namely, air, water and soil, which are necessary for 'life' would be hazardous to 'life' within the meaning of Article 21 of the Constitution.

In the facts of the case where a ward of Ratlam Municipality was being used by poor inhabitants as latrine resulting in accumulation of filth making the area inhabitable for the residents and the misery was enhanced by the alcohol plant releasing malodorous fluids into the public streets. The Magistrate ordered for the removal of the nuisance to the Municipal Corporation and it appealed to High Court and High Court also upheld the order of the Magistrate then appeal was made to Supreme Court by the Corporation.

The Supreme Court highlighting the responsibility of the Magistrate under Section 133 Cr.P.C. to order the removal of nuisance within a time to be fixed in the order observed that Municipal Corporation is bound to comply by the order under Section 133 Cr.P.C as failure to comply with the same attracts punishment under Section 188 of IPC.

The Court disallowed the appeal ordered the Ratlam Municipality to provide for drainage system within one year and stop affluents from the alcohol plant into the streets and ensure a pollution-free environment. This decision of the Supreme Court is a landmark in the history of judicial activism as it upholds the social justice component of the rule of law by fixing liability on statutory authorities and mandates them to discharge their legal obligations towards the public at large.

This case is also known as the 'Dehradun Mussoorie Hills Quarrying Case' . In this case, the NGO and a group of citizens approached the Apex Court against progressive mining which denuded the Mussoorie Hills and accelerated soil erosion resulting in landslides and blockage of underground water channels.

The Court ordered the registry to treat the letter as a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution (epistolary jurisdiction) which in itself presupposes the infringement of fundamental rights . The Court directed all the mines in the Dehradun Valley remain closed, except for three operations. The Court concluded that continued mining in the valley violated the Forest (Conservation) Act and ordered it to reforest the valley.

The Madhya Pradesh Government issued an order permitting the collection of tendu leaves from sanctuaries and national parks by villagers/tribals living around the boundaries with the object of maintaining their traditional rights including the right to livelihood. This order was challenged by way of public interest litigation for the protection of ecology, environment and wildlife in the sanctuaries and national parks.

The Supreme Court in the circumstances of this case refused to quash the order. However, it also observed that the entry of villagers in these sanctuaries is one of the reasons promoting the shrinkage of forest cover and highlighted that urgent steps must be undertaken to prevent the same. Therefore, in this case, on one hand , the Supreme Court protected the right to livelihood of the tribals and on the other hand, also showed its concern for the protection of ecology .

The Supreme Court, in this case, held that sea beaches and sea coasts are gifts of nature and any activity polluting the same cannot be permitted. The intensified Shrimp (prawn) farming culture industry by modern methods in coastal areas was causing degradation of the mangrove ecosystem, depletion of the plantation, discharge of highly polluting effluents and pollution of potable as well as groundwater. Therefore , it was held that the said activities of the industries are violative of constitutional provisions and various other environmental legislation.

The Supreme Court keeping the scope and content of Article 19(1)(g) in mind held that if any shrimp industry is permitted to be installed in the ecologically fragile coastal area it must pass through a strict environmental test. It was suggested by the Apex Court that, there must be an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before permission is granted to install commercial shrimp farms . It must take into consideration the inter-generational equity and compensation for those who are affected and prejudiced.

In the facts of this case, the panchayat of a village in Tamil Nadu decided of constructing a shopping complex where there was a water tank. This was challenged by the State.

The Supreme Court in this case while dismissing the appeal, highlighted the concept of sustainable development and harmonisation of development without damaging the environment and where developments can be sustained over generations . The Court held that the principle of sustainable development is fundamental to Indian law and allowed the construction.

In this case, it was held that smoking in public places is prohibited. The Supreme Court observed that the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India provides that, no one shall be deprived of his life without due process of law, then why a non-smoker should be afflicted by various diseases including lung cancer or heart diseases only because he is required to go to public places .

This case relates to the action not being taken in the popularly known Bichhri Village case (AIR 1996 SC 1146) where the Court had directed the Union Government to take action but, for 15 years the polluters pursued legal tactics to delay enforcement of 1996 judgement and therefore, a writ petition was filed before the Supreme Court against the respondents.

In this case, the Court observed that the principles of equity, justice and good conscience proclaim that the legal process is not abused by the litigants in any manner. The Court should never permit a litigant to perpetuate illegality by abusing the legal process. The Court also observed that the Apex Court judgements have great sanctity and unless there are extremely compelling circumstances the judgement of the Court should not be disturbed particularly in cases where review and curative petitions have been dismissed.

In the facts of this case, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) acquired lands of different villages. It was contended in the petition that the area acquired was cattle grazing land causing great hardship to the villagers and violative of their Articles 14 and 21.

The Supreme Court held that before the acquisition of the lands for development, the consequences and adverse impact of development on the environment must be properly comprehended to ensure that lands acquired for development do not gravely impair the ecology and environment . The court allowing the appeal directed the appellant to obtain environmental clearance from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board before the allotment of land for development or industrial purposes.

In this case, the respondent Orient Paper Mills, in manufacturing paper and paper board used Caustic Soda and Chlorine which falls within the Air Pollution Control Area. The consent was obtained from the Board but, the respondent failed to comply with the conditions.

The issue was, can the State Government declare an area as an 'Air Pollution Control Area' in any manner prescribed if the prescribed manner is absent. It was held by the Supreme Court that, where a statute powers an authority to do certain acts or exercise power in respect of certain matters, subject to the rules, the exercise of power conferred by the statutes does not depend on the existence of rules is not a condition precedent to the exercise of power expressly and unconditionally conferred by the statute.

The issue, in this case, was regarding the nature and scope of Section 133 of Cr.P.C. after the introduction of the Water Act and Air Act. The Supreme Court explaining the scope of Section 133 Cr.P.C. vis-à-vis the Water and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and 1981 observed that the area of operation in the code and the pollution laws in question were different with wholly different aims and objects even though they alleviate nuisance, but were not identical.

They operate in their respective fields and there is no impediment to their existence side by side . It was held that the provisions of Cr.P.C. can be invoked for the removal of a public nuisance caused by the discharge of effluents and air discharge causing hardship to the general public. The order under Section 133 is conditional and of a specific nature i.e. essentially of preventive nature.

In this case, the petitioners, a journalist and two pavement dwellers challenged the governmental scheme by which pavement dwellers were being removed from the Bombay pavements. The main argument advanced on behalf of the petitioners was that evicting a pavement dweller or a slum dweller from his habitat amounts to depriving him of his right to livelihood, which is comprehended in the right guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution and therefore is unconstitutional.

It was observed by the Supreme Court, that Social commitment is the quintessence of our Constitution which defines the conditions under which liberty has to be enjoyed and justice has to be administered. The Court directed the Municipal Corporation to provide alternate sites or accommodations to slum and pavement dwellers within a reasonable distance of their original sites.

In this case, the plaintiff, a medical practitioner constructed a consulting chamber opposite the brick-grinding machine erected by the respondent. There was a distance of 40 feet between the two and a road intervened between the grinding machine and the consulting chamber. The plaintiff alleged that the machine-generated dust polluted the general atmosphere and also entered his consulting chamber which caused physical inconvenience to him and his patients.

The Allahabad High Court held that a nuisance is an act or omission that interference with disturbance or annoyance to a person in the exercise or enjoyment of a right belonging to him as a member of the public or owing to his ownership right s. The court observed that a person is ordinarily entitled to do anything on his own property provided such a thing is lawful.

It was observed that, when something is done by the owner of a neighbouring land upon his own land which is not comfortable or is wholly uncomfortable with physical comfort and human existence, the person aggrieved in such cases gets a right to sue. This is a significant case as the Court allowed the private right of action for public nuisance by applying the liberal tests of a 'reasonable man' for the purpose of determining the existence of a nuisance.

In this case, the Government without considering the well-planned development of Tirupathi town alienated the tank bed lands in favour of some governmental agencies for valuable considerations.

The Supreme Court in this case held that the tank is common property and State authorities are trustees to hold and manage such properties for the benefit of the community and they cannot be allowed to commit any act or omission which will infringe the right of the community & alienate the property to any other person or body .

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Ritika is an independent freelance legal researcher who graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

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Hot Oceans Worsened Dubai’s Dramatic Flooding, Scientists Say

An international team of researchers found that heavy rains had intensified in the region, though they couldn’t say for sure how much climate change was responsible.

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By Raymond Zhong

Scenes of flood-ravaged neighborhoods in one of the planet’s driest regions stunned the world this month. Heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates and Oman submerged cars, clogged highways and killed at least 21 people. Flights out of Dubai’s airport, a major global hub, were severely disrupted.

The downpours weren’t a total surprise — forecasters had anticipated the storms several days earlier and issued warnings. But they were certainly unusual.

Here’s what to know.

Heavy rain there is rare, but not unheard-of.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers. These rains often come during El Niño conditions like the ones the world is experiencing now.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on April 16 was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949 . And parts of the nation had already experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms in March.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Global warming is projected to intensify downpours.

Stronger storms are a key consequence of human-caused global warming. As the atmosphere gets hotter, it can hold more moisture, which can eventually make its way down to the earth as rain or snow.

But that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are changing in precisely the same way across every part of the globe.

In their latest assessment of climate research , scientists convened by the United Nations found there wasn’t enough data to have firm conclusions about rainfall trends in the Arabian Peninsula and how climate change was affecting them. The researchers said, however, that if global warming were to be allowed to continue worsening in the coming decades, extreme downpours in the region would quite likely become more intense and more frequent.

Hot oceans are a big factor.

An international team of scientists has made a first attempt at estimating the extent to which climate change may have contributed to April’s storms. The researchers didn’t manage to pin down the connection precisely, though in their analysis, they did highlight one known driver of heavy rain in the region: above-normal ocean temperatures.

Large parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have been hotter than usual recently, in part because of El Niño and other natural weather cycles, and in part because of human-induced warming .

When looking only at El Niño years, the scientists estimated that storm events as infrequent as this month’s delivered 10 percent to 40 percent more rain to the region than they would in a world that hadn’t been warmed by human activities. They cautioned, however, that these estimates were highly uncertain.

“Rainfall, in general, is getting more extreme,” said Mansour Almazroui, a climate scientist at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and one of the researchers who contributed to the analysis.

The analysis was conducted by scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, a research collaboration that studies extreme weather events shortly after they occur. Their findings about this month’s rains haven’t yet been peer reviewed, but are based on standardized methods .

The role of cloud seeding isn’t clear.

The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into clouds to encourage the moisture to gather into larger, heavier droplets, ones that are more likely to fall as rain or snow.

Cloud seeding and other rain-enhancement methods have been tried around the world, including in Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa and the United States. Studies have found that these operations can, at best, affect precipitation modestly — enough to turn a downpour into a bigger downpour, but probably not a drizzle into a deluge.

Still, experts said pinning down how much seeding might have contributed to this month’s storms would require detailed study.

“In general, it is quite a challenge to assess the impact of seeding,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Dr. Delle Monache has been leading efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve the U.A.E.’s rain-enhancement program.

An official with the U.A.E.’s National Center of Meteorology, Omar Al Yazeedi, told news outlets that the agency didn’t conduct any seeding during the latest storms. His statements didn’t make clear, however, whether that was also true in the hours or days before.

Mr. Al Yazeedi didn’t respond to emailed questions from The New York Times, and Adel Kamal, a spokesman for the center, didn’t have further comment.

Cities in dry places just aren’t designed for floods.

Wherever it happens, flooding isn’t just a matter of how much rain comes down. It’s also about what happens to all that water once it’s on the ground — most critically, in the places people live.

Cities in arid regions often aren’t designed to drain very effectively. In these areas, paved surfaces block rain from seeping into the earth below, forcing it into drainage systems that can easily become overwhelmed.

One recent study of Sharjah , the capital of the third-largest emirate in the U.A.E., found that the city’s rapid growth over the past half-century had made it vulnerable to flooding at far lower levels of rain than before.

Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting.

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong

What caused Dubai floods? Experts cite climate change, not cloud seeding

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Study says it's likely a warmer world made deadly dubai downpours heavier.

Seth Borenstein

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FILE - People walk through floodwater caused by heavy rain while waiting for transportation on Sheikh Zayed Road highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 18, 2024. A new report says climate change played a role in the floods. (AP Photo/Christopher Pike, File)

Circumstantial evidence points to climate change as worsening the deadly deluge that just flooded Dubai and other parts of the Persian Gulf, but scientists didn't discover the definitive fingerprints of greenhouse gas-triggered warming they have seen in other extreme weather events, a new report found.

Between 10% and 40% more rain fell in just one day last week — killing at least two dozen people in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and parts of Saudi Arabia — than it would have in a world without the 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warming that has come from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas since the mid-19th century, scientists at World Weather Attribution said Thursday in a flash study that is too new to be peer-reviewed.

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In at least one spot, a record 11 inches (28.6 centimeters) of rain fell in just 24 hours, more than twice the yearly average, paralyzing the usually bustling city of skyscrapers in a desert.

One of the key tools in WWA's more than 60 past reports has been creating computer simulations that compare an actual weather event to a fictional world without climate change, but in the Dubai case there wasn’t enough data for those simulations to make such a calculation. But analysis of decades of past observations, the other main tool they use, showed the 10% to 40% bump in rainfall amounts.

Even without computer simulations, the clues kept pointing at climate change, scientists said.

“It’s not such a clear fingerprint, but we have lots of other circumstantial evidence, other lines of evidence that tell us that we see this increase,” said Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto, who coordinates the attribution study team. “It’s what we expect from physics. It’s what we expect from other studies that have been done in the area, from other studies around the world, and there’s nothing else that’s going on that could explain this increase.”

There is a long-known effect in physics that finds the air holds 7% more moisture with every degree Celsius (4% for every degree Fahrenheit).

Otto said she has confidence in the conclusion, but said this was one of the harder attribution studies the team has undertaken.

El Nino , which is a natural occasional warming of the central Pacific that changes weather systems worldwide, was a big factor, the report said. These heavy Gulf downpours have happened in the past but only during an El Nino. And the researchers said those past deluges seem to be trending heavier — something scientists have long said would happen in many parts of the world as the world warms.

This flooding, which came from two separate and near simultaneous storm systems, would not have happened without El Nino, said study co-author Mansour Almazroui of the Center of Excellence for Climate Change Research (CECCR), King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. Nor would it have been like this without human-caused climate change, Otto added.

Because rainfall amounts varied over the region and the lack of data, the report couldn't put a figure on if climate change had increased the likelihood of downpours like this in Dubai, but Otto estimated that it's probably about three times more likely to happen now than in pre-industrial times.

The report and its authors threw cold water on speculation that UAE cloud seeding had anything to do with the amount of rain or its likelihood. Many scientists dispute cloud seeding's effectiveness in general. Even so, the clouds in the storm system were not seeded, the report said. And the results of cloud seeding, if any, in general are more immediate, Otto said. And this storm was forecast days in advance.

“This type of rainfall never comes from cloud seeding,” Almazroui said in a Thursday news conference.

While the authors use well-established techniques and this is what scientists expect with climate change, when there's a disagreement between computer simulations and observations, conclusions shouldn't be drawn, said University of Victoria, Canada, climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn't part of the research.

It's a strong enough case that greenhouse gas emissions are a factor, several other outside scientists said.

University of Melbourne, Australia, climate scientist Malte Meinshausen called Thursday’s study “a well-balanced, impressively detailed and adequately cautious assessment.”

“This work, when combined with theory and attribution studies associated with the increasingly frequent other extreme rain and flooding events around the world, makes the convincing case that climate warming supercharged the recent extreme rainfall and flooding event UAE and Oman,” said climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the University of Michigan's environment school. “This is what global warming increasingly looks like — more severe climate extremes and human suffering.”

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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