That the prime minister, who had earlier in his interviews during the elections firmly indicated that environment and development could and must coexist would keep an eye over the functioning of the green ministry was a foregone conclusion.

The intent of the new leadership is very clear which is to reverse the generally perceived impression of the ministry of environment and forests as being one of obfuscation due to its penchant for showing red flag to development. This is sought to be achieved by new initiatives taken by the environment and forest minister to drive the ministry into forward looking action mode by prescribing time limits for green clearances of pending proposals and by going online for seeking such approvals.These are welcome steps towards much needed reforms in the entire process of green approvals. However it is earnestly hoped that the green laws would not be diluted and the bureaucracy would not be bulldozed.

Apart from above there are other core issues that must be tackled without further delay. The first task is to immediately appoint a green regulator as directed by the Supreme Court a few months back. The task of the regulator is well cut out by the apex court and is basically to oversee and monitor the conditions of green clearances at the same time checking the friendly impact assessment studies which were being submitted by the project proponents in order to obtain green clearances.

Another equally urgent task is to have a relook at the green laws and the procedures without diluting our commitment to environmental concerns. It was rather strange that while the nation was busy liberalising the process of doing business, no one saw the danger of veto power of the ministry. There would therefore be no harm to revisit the attitude and bottlenecks ensuring at the same time that crony capitalism is not allowed to surreptitiously take control of natural resources of the nation.

The next important task is to sort out the Western Ghats imbroglio that has afflicted the southern and western states in the wake of Madhav Gadgil and subsequent Kasturiranagan panel reports, both of which did not have enough consultation with people in their rush to finalise their respective reports, perhaps having been carried away by the pressure of the time limit and enormity of the task at hand.

The result is that both have left affected people highly agitated defeating the very purpose of conservation. That the ministry found it necessary to drastically reduce ESA in Kerala and is forced to re consider similar proposals from other affected states with people in certain regions like Kodagu in Karnataka on war path reflect the ground situation and it will be necessary to address their concerns with a more pragmatic approach without compromising with the conservation issues in Western Ghats.

Aspirations of tribals

Equally important is the critical task of fulfilling the aspirations of the other minorities of the country –the tribals --who have been given the dreams of possession of traditionally occupied forest land through new Forest Rights Act and promised partnership in collection and disposal (sale) of the minor forest produce found in the scheduled area through not so new PESA. Both these legislations need to be implemented in letter as well as spirit as the progress on both fronts is far from being satisfactory. A vigorous drive to push through the implementation process of above two legislations will also help in regaining the confidence of the tribals and could prove to be a major way forward in tackling the Maoists issue which has become the biggest challenge for the nation and must be solved in a holistic manner rather than slipping into the present situation of ‘we attack and you defend and vice versa’ going on between the security forces and the Maoists.

Apart from realigning its approach towards various regulatory works, the ministry has to re-gather its wits and resources to bring back various missions on rail which were announced with much fanfare quite some time back but have been put on the back burner since then. Green India Mission, Climate Change Mitigation Mission and Alternative Energy Mission are some of these which have to be quickly reappraised and brought back in mission mode as the country can no longer afford to pay only lip service to these crucial-for-survival issues. Cleaning rivers and other water bodies, abating rising pollution levels, disposal of solid wastes, tackling the critical issue of GM foods, protection of forests, wild life and biodiversity should remain the focus of the new regime.

India has been in the forefront in international negotiations on some of the above issues particularly on reducing the levels of green-house gas emissions and must act quickly and decisively to regain its negotiation leadership. It would also do well to include Saarc nations in its opposition to any attempt by developed nations to dictate its development agenda in the garb of emission control.

At the same time it would do well not to fall prey to any jingoism in the present critical phase of mankind. It should also be more proactive in perusing the agenda of REDD and REDD plus.The story of India’s environment in the recent past has been that of tokenism, profanity and lot of posturing. The new regime must guard against similar self congratulatory approach towards the burning environmental issues facing the country.

(The writer is a former principal chief conservator of forests, Karnataka)