Revision summary
Articles 48A and 51A(g) and a full set of pollution and forest laws already exist. Degradation persists because power, mining, roads, farms and cities run opposite targets. Niyamgiri, corridors versus highways, coal versus air, urea versus aquifers, and Ganga versus sewage are working illustrations. EIA holes and the push for faster clearance widen the gap. A shared landscape limit and Budget conditionality are the way to align stakeholders.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[Arts 48A and 51A-g] --> L[EPA 1986 EIA 2006] L --> X[Sector targets coal roads farms] X --> D[Degradation] F[FRA NGT CAMPA] --> L A[Landscape plan] --> X
Conclusion
- Make a single landscape-level carrying-capacity plan bind mining, roads and power, instead of project-by-project EIA in isolation.
- Align the Union Budget: green conditionality on infrastructure grants, and a public dashboard of EIA exemptions.
- Give Forest Rights Act consent and NGT orders the same political weight as a coal or highway target, or Articles 48A and 21 (as in M.C. Mehta and later clean-air cases) will remain courtroom repairs after the damage.
- The comment is fair: India does not lack environment Acts, it lacks one policy spine across energy, mining, farms, cities and forests. Protection will improve when EIA, Forest Rights consent, and sector targets are forced to use the same map, not when another scheme is launched beside a contradictory clearance.
Quick related
Students also ask
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"India's relations with Israel have, of late, acquired a depth and diversity, which cannot be rolled back." Discuss. (10 ).
Next question on this syllabus topic (2018 · Q9). View answer →
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Is the problem mainly the lack of a new environment Act?
No. The EPA, forest and wildlife laws already exist. The failure is contradictory sector policy and weak, hole-ridden clearance.
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Did Niyamgiri mean mining is banned in India?
No. It meant that on that sacred hill, gram sabha consent under forest-rights logic could stop a cleared project. Other blocks still open where consent and FCA diversion proceed.
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