NHRC Chairperson calls for combating ‘Eco-terrorism’

At a time when the global frenzy to combat terrorism was at its peak, Justice J.S. Verma, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, has called for a war against eco-terrorism with as much, if not greater vigour. Eco-terrorism, he said, was a silent killer not only on the living but also of the unborn. It caused great danger to the health and well being of generations to come. Justice Verma was delivering the Fifth Green Law Lecture on “Clean Environment: A Human Rights Imperative” at the Centre for Environmental Law, WWF – India, New Delhi.

Using the term ‘eco-terrorism’ to describe the phenomenon of violence to the ecology and environment, which disturbed the harmony and balance between the natural and the manmade, and endangered life, the Chairperson said that any action which did not conform to the principle of sustainable developments and which did not respect the intergenerational equity and betrayed the trust of preservation of natural resources permitting only its judicious use, was ‘eco-terrorism’. He asserted that those who propagated eco-terrorism were terrorists of the worst kind because they killed silently and aimlessly even the unknown and the unborn just for the sake of short term personal interests.

Humanity, Justice Verma said, has been facing the danger of eco-terrorism for long but its destructive potential accentuated by the population explosion has not yet been fully appreciated. Degradation of environment and degeneration of the eco-system under the garb of economic development benumbed the sensitivity towards the imminent danger. According to the Chairperson, with the growth in population the demand on natural resources has been increasing. The principle of sustainable development is yet to be realized. The adverse impact of this in a developing country like India has been alarming. The Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 has left several unanswered questions and its lessons do not appear to have been learnt. The mega-projects, in some instances, result in irreversible damage and become manmade disasters. The need is to wake up when there was still time to make amends.

Quoting pertinent statistics, Justice Verma informed that the Asia Pacific region has lost 88% of its original forest cover and only 5% of the remaining areas are protected at present. It is apprehended that within the next 25 years, only 10% of Asia- Pacific’s original forest will remain. Tropical forests are being destroyed at the rate of 17 million hectares a year. The rich biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh and the mangrove forests of Sundarbans are being fast depleted. The depletion of mangrove forests in the costal region of Orissa was a major factor contributing to greater destruction in the recent cyclone. India has one-sixth of the world’s population and 15% of the world’s livestock but only 2% of the geographical area and 1% of forest area. India’s immense biodiversity represents 7% of the world’s flora and 6.5% of world’s fauna. The surviving assets are exposed to a great danger of further depletion by the unscrupulous commercial exploitation, which cater only to short-term personal gains.

The right to life with dignity, guaranteed by the Constitution of India is basic human rights inherent in human existence. A healthy environment conducive to the health and well being of the human being is an essential component of the right to life. A safe and conducive environment is undoubtedly a human rights imperative. Proper planning of the development projects to be compatible with environment is, therefore, necessary. Improper planning results in greater deprivation to those directly affected by development projects. Large-scale displacement resulting in mega projects in recent times are obvious examples. One of the recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission to the Government of India is for a suitable legislation to provide for proper rehabilitation and relocation of the displaced as a condition precedent to acquisition of land for any project. In this manner, the rehabilitation would become justiciable. For development projects to be sustainable, assessment of social realities and care of the interests of social groups must be taken.

The Chairperson also called for setting up an independent national agency to act as a watchdog to prevent abuse and over exploitation of natural resources in particular the forest resources. The National Forest Policy needed a close scrutiny by an autonomous body, which could also act as an interface between people and authorities, -- an autonomous national institution like the NHRC. Relationship between forests and the tribals who were dependent on the crucial forest produce and also had the traditional right thereon, needed to be rationalized ensuring the protection of those people from commercial exploitation by outsiders which pose a threat to forest preservation. A fresh and proper demarcation of the forest boundaries and forest lands after considering and determining the rival claims is needed to avoid ambiguity and avenues of exploitation. Better forest management and empowerment of the forest officers to prevent and punish forest offences with improvement of the legal machinery is needed for that purpose. A holistic approach and greater international co-operation is the answer to the increasing challenges to protection of environment and ecology from the insatiable economic greed in the name of development. Sustainable development needs to be more clearly defined, appreciated and enforced by legal as well as social sanction.