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Modi and the Environment: The 100 day report

Modi and the Environment: The 100 day report

28th September 2014

Basic protections to safeguard the environment, that were not particularly strong to begin with, are being wiped out. While in general, faster moving transparent government processes are required, the Modi government’s predilection for protecting private corporations at the expense of public welfare, does not bode well for the environment nor the well-being of India’s peoples.

ModiFacts.org, Ghadar Alliance

In his first 100 days…

1. Basic protections to safeguard the environment, that were not particularly strong to begin with, are being wiped out.

In the name of economic progress, the rules and regulations that safeguard India’s environment, wildlife, forests, and indigenous rights are under attack. Defense projects are being prioritized, the raising of the Narmada dam height has been approved (another 17 meters) and the Forest Rights and Forest Conservation Acts have been diluted to quicken economic development in what have been identified as “Naxal-affected” states which comprise the richest forest lands inhabited by the greatest number of Adivasis (indigenous communities). ( Further, environmental clearances have been fast-tracked for Hindustan Copper Ltd. to expand mining in places such as Jharkhand and Malanjkhand along with unprecedented clearances for Oil & Natural Gas company. It is estimated that environmental damage costs for rushing these projects will cost India approximately 3.75 trillion rupees per year (almost $62 billion dollars per year) not to mention the innumerable potential risks (such as control loss of limbs) that will unevenly impact families in these areas (all too often Adivasis, Dalits and religious minorities). After running an election campaign that espoused the importance of participatory governance and development for all, the Modi administration has announced plans to change the rules under the Forest Rights Act in a way that will no longer require mandatory consent of affected forest communities before diversion of forests lands for non-forest uses takes place. For more on Forest Rights Act and raising of Narmada Dam height seeDevelopment and Minorities sections of this report.)

A special committee has been put in place to suggest “changes” to environmental laws which will be the primary mechanism through which key provisions in existing laws will be weakened. In just three months, according to the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Modi administration has given clearances to: (1) seven different entities in the coal sector including the expansion of open cast projects, (2) sixteen different entities in the industrial sector (3) nine entities in the mining sector (4) one Special Economic Zone in Andhra Pradesh, and (5) seven thermal power projects. And despite talking about solar, Modi’s government has exempted coal mines from public hearings for the expansion of a large swatch of coal mines.

While in general, faster moving transparent government processes facilitated through online technology are required and desired, the Modi government’s predilection for protecting private corporations at the expense of the welfare of the public, does not bode well for the environment nor the well-being of the majority of India’s peoples.

2. Environmental officials change pollution measuring index and lift previous moratorium on factory projects within 8 of India’s most polluted industrial areas.

Modi ran on a platform of development promising to expedite environmental clearances in its service. On June 10, 2014, Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar, suspended the former United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s September 17, 2013 order that had re-imposed a moratorium onseveral Critically Polluted Areas (CPA). These are defined as those with Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) scores greater than 70. The CEPI is a metric devised by Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) that is used by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to rate and compare pollution in industrial clusters across India. The previous UPA government had asked the CPCB to review the CEPI and the Modi government used a delay in the review as an excuse to suspend the moratorium. While the Modi government is allegedly all about efficiency, it has given the CPCB an entire year to review the index.

The BJP 2014 Election manifesto promised that “decision-making on environment clearances will be made transparent as well as time-bound,” but the decision to suspend the moratorium has neither been defended nor has the decision-making process been made transparent. When it comes to the word “environment,” the Modi government simply means environment for investment and rapid growth at the cost of the natural environment including plants, animals, and rural populations.

3. Climate Unchanged.

Modi’s response to the threat of global warming is dismal at best. He recently remarked, “Climate change? Is this terminology correct? The reality is this that in our family, some people are old … They say this time the weather is colder. And, people’s ability to bear cold becomes less.” Further, he has refused to attend the United Nations Special Summit on Climate Change, making it even more unlikely that the US, China, and India (the 3 biggest climate polluters), will forge a global agreement. The Modi budget is filled with a growth agenda that appears to be committed to pollute even more and make the green agenda subservient to the corporate agenda all buried under the rhetoric of sustainability. While there is much talk about supplying potable water infrastructure, there is no discussion about risk mitigation for the shrinking of Himalayan glaciers that supply water to rivers in North India. This is not just a threat to the water supply but also to energy, which is supplied by hydroelectric projects.

Previously, in Gujarat…

1. Protecting private corporations at the people’s expense

Multiple articles, reports and research briefings have documented thehavoc wreaked on the environment by the Adani group especially in the Mundra Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where India’s largest private port is operated by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. Although the Adani group has clearly violated environmental rules and clearances, they are yet to be held accountable. Modi’s relationship with the Adani conglomerate continues to be ubiquitous since his election.
Gujarat, one of India’s most highly industrialized states has paved the way for Special Economic Zones advancing its development vision under the banner of economic revival that has widely circulated as “Vibrant Gujarat.” This development trend has utilized innumerable SEZ’s (over-privileging free-market principles of increased trade and investment) to takeover ecologically-distressed coastlines in Gujarat, seriously impacting already marginalized communities including farmers, fisher people, saltpan workers and grazers.
The majority of Industries operating in Gujarat do so without environmental clearances or continue to work illegally. One of Modi’s senior ministers in Gujarat, Babubhai Bokhiria was sentenced to three years of jail by a court in Porbandar for illegal limestone mining in June 2013.

2. Pollution and Gujarat

In 2010, India’s Central Pollution Control Board of India proclaimed Gujarat the most polluted state of India because it accounts for 29% of all of India’s hazardous waste.
The Sabarmati River in Gujarat has the dubious distinction of being one of India’s most polluted rivers in India; a recent scientific study confirms the extent of the pollution. The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project, heralded as the project that will “reconnect Ahmedabad to its river,” has done nothing to alleviate its pollution, but instead has led to the destruction of people’s homes, sometimes in violation of Gujarat High Court orders. In 2012, the Central Pollution Control Board announced three Gujarat rivers to be the most polluted in India.
Since 2009, the Vapi and Ankleshwar industrial areas in Gujarat have consistently topped the CEPI scores in the critically polluted area list, i.e. with CEPI scores over 80. Due to these serious pollution levels, the Ministry of Environment and Forests banned all Gujarat new projects and expansion projects in 2010 in the industrial cluster of Vapi in Southern Gujarat. In 2011, the ban was lifted after the Gujarat Pollution Control Board promised to implement actionable plans to improve air quality, but no action was taken and in 2013 the pollution index was only reduced marginally (85.31). Gujarat remains on the top of India’s pollution chart; the ban was re-imposed in September 2013.
Independent sources such as the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (Environmental Protection Committee) have documented the extent of pollution in Gujarat’s “Golden Corridor.”

3. Gujarat unable to produce statewide climate action plan

After winning international praise for establishing a Gujarat Climate Change Department, Modi’s government was unable to produce a statewide climate action plan by 2013, even as 25 other states in India were able to follow through.