By Parag Ranjan Dutta
Environment sustains, and blesses us with life. It is not inert, but responds to every action of human beings. So in a sense, environment follows Newton’s third law of motion that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
We should love and respect nature for sustenance of life. Since most of earth’s resources are limited, we should utilise them judiciously. Over-exploitation or abuse of environment spells doomsday for mankind.
From the early sixties, concerns over environment were aired by different groups, mostly the UN. The first UN conference on environment was held at Stockholm in1972, followed by Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, both which highlighted major global environmental issues. The importance and need for conservation of biodiversity was felt at the Earth Summit when 170 representative nations signed the convention of biodiversity.
Unprecedented rise in human population has created demand for larger space for development activities. Destruction of natural habitats to accommodate more space for settlements has led to large scale deforestation. Large scale deforestation reduces survival of animals. Passenger pigeon which once adorned skies of the USA in millions became extinct in1894 due to destruction of forests.
Soon after the Stockholm conference, important legislations were introduced in the Indian Parliament and environmental laws were enacted to safeguard environment.
Public participation is key in bringing forth change. The classic example of community participation in India can be seen in contemporary movements like Bishnoi movement of Rajasthan, Chipko movement of the Tehri- Garhwal, Silent Valley movement of Kerala and Narmada Valley movement of Madhya Pradesh.
When the central government decided to build a large dam for hydropower generation in the Silent Valley of Kerala, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, an NGO, spearheaded a social movement in1973 aimed at protection of primeval and unspoiled tropical forests. Mass uprising by common people compelled the union and the state governments to stall construction of the dam, which would otherwise have submerged huge areas of virgin rainforests with flora and fauna.
In the early seventies, resentment brewed up in Garhwal Himalayas to protest against indiscriminate and senseless felling of trees along Himalayan slopes. Though Sundarlal Bahuguna took the Chipko movement to the world stage and for which he earned laurels, it was heartening that the movement was originally initiated by few illiterate village womenfolk to voice their concern.
The movement gradually gathered momentum. During a short span of five years there were series of agitations which drew spontaneous participation of the villagers, especially the women. Womenfolk faced police firing. They tied sacred threads around the trees, embraced them to save from the axe of contractors.
Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru once said that dams are the temples of modern India. But the idea of building such temples was unaccepted by tribal populace of central India and there were mass uprising. Narmada Valley Movement had seen similar protests and agitations by locals to save thousand acres of agricultural land.
The agitation was against construction of two large dams across the river Narmada. Despite large scale protests, the Government planned to fill the depression. When the water was planned for release into the dam, the entire community of Manibeli shut themselves indoors raising the slogan dubenge par hatenge nehi, or we will be drowned but shall not move. Ultimately police force broke open the doors and rescued the villagers.
These stories tell us how community participation helps in preserving the environment. Environmental problems are also created due to lack of awareness. Value based environmental education provide us guidelines for action. To inspire spirit of environmental education, certain clear cut objectives are important, like awareness, skills, knowledge, attitude and participation.
Value means something precious and worthwhile. Values are desirable as guiding principles of behavior. Environmental Ethics, a term coined by a Norwegian ecologist, studies moral relationships of human beings vis-a-vis the environment.
The term ethics is derived from the Greek ‘ethos’ (character), which means characteristic spirit or attitude of a person or community. The spirit of transforming every person and environment literate may aptly be found in an old Chinese proverb by teacher, politician and thinker Confucius which says ‘If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant tress. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children’.
(The author is a retired
professor of St Edmund’s
College)
