The word ‘environment’ as stated by Encyclopaedia Britannia means the entire range of external influence acting on an organism, both physical and biological and other organism, that is to say, forces of nature and surrounding on individual. The world environmental pollution includes inter alia air, soil and water pollution. It has become imperative to see the link between air, soil and water pollution as well as problem of resource management to be comprehensive in scope. Though the air pollution episodes are transitory, that is they come and go with the weather but they cannot be ignored when they strike. The best example is the London black fog which hung over the city in 1952 for four days and killed four thousand people. The particular episode triggered public action and legislation that resulted in the long term cleansing of the London atmosphere. Although the United States of America has had its share of similar episodes in Pennsylvania in 1948 and New York city in 1966, none have been as severe as the London fog. The Environments; Protection Agency estimates that air pollution costs the people of the United States of America as estimated $20 billion every year.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident that occurred on April 25-26, 1986, was described as the worst nuclear power accident in the world. Four nuclear reactors exploded in a chain reaction killing more than 30 people immediately. The spread of high radiation also resulted in the evacuation of 1,35,000 people.
Similarly, the Bhopal gas disaster in 1984 was one of the tragic events in the history of India that killed hundreds of people and crippled thousands due to gas leakage from Union Carbide, an American based company. Another case in point in Kolar gold fields in Karnataka which created environmental hazards due to thick blanket of dust with the smell of sulphur dioxide. It brought ecological changes in the areas including soil. Hundreds of hectares of fertile land where vegetable, paddy and ground nut were cultivated earlier had now become useless due to soil contamination. Again pollution occurs in connection with extraction of stone from the hills and this has become a major cause for indulging in ecological imbalance in the environmental system specially in the Northeast region. The North Eastern Coal Fields, a subsidiary of the Coal India Limited has been applying open cast mining in Ledo colliery without following the protective norms causing thereby large scale devastation not only to the environment but also to life and property of the local people. Entire soil became infertile, water highly contaminated and acidic killing fishes and worms living there. In this way, environmental crises kills lakhs of people prematurely every year and leaving many more ailing.
All the events were man-made which created environmental crises and the effects of those stand today as a serious threat to not only mankind but all other forms of life on the planet Earth. Although, all people are not responsible for pollution but everybody has to suffer from it because pollution has no boundary. Pollution normally emanates from urban areas and industrial regions but even people in far flung rural areas also have to suffer from it for no fault of their own. Industrial effluents, mining and melting of metaliferous ores, automobile exhaust, herbicides, pesticides are the main sources of pollution which directly harm the living beings by entering in to the body through food-chain.
The developing and developed nations have raised the issue of limiting emission of green house gas. The world scientific community has viewed that if greenhouse gas concentration continue at current levels it will increase the global mean temperature resulting in a drastic change in weather conditions. The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate change has also observed that the global warming has now become such an issue which can cause irreparable damage to environment. So, time has come to think over it by all the developed and developing countries to prevent such disaster. Incidentally, most of the nations in 1992 became signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Rio de Janeiro known as Earth Summit.
Following the Rio de Janeiro conference in 1992, the Kyoto conference was held in 1997. As a result of Kyoto Protocol, the Petroleum Conservation Research Association has also updated its mandate in tune with the changing global perspective.
Despite a series of global conferences to prevent environmental pollution and degradation, incidents of major pollution still prevail. The Constitution of India has made provision under Articles 48 A and 51 A (g) for the protection and improvement of environment and public health. Article 21 of the Constitution also embraces the protection and preservation of gift of nature without which life cannot be enjoyed. Right to life is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers the quality of life in derogation of laws, a citizen has right to have recourse to Article 32 of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air.
Apart from these, the Parliament has enacted certain Acts, viz. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, The Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995, The National environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997, in order to protect the environmental degradation and pollution.
Inspite of having so many statutes as well as constitutional provisions, cases of environmental pollution and degradation are still prevailing. More and more cases have been brought before the courts by social activists, advocates, human right activists, non governmental organisations by way of public interest litigation seeking remedies against environmental pollution and degradation. The concept of public interest litigation which has been evolved in the Indian judicial process in the late seventies of the twentieth century for the purpose of providing easy access to justice to the poor, downtrodden, socially and economically disadvantaged sections of the society, has been able to play very significant role in protecting environmental pollution and degradation.
The most significant role played by the judiciary under the principle of public interest litigation is the liberalisation of the rule of locus standi. Henceforth, any member of the public acting pro bono publico and having sufficient interest can maintain an action for redressal of public wrong or public injury under Articles 226 and 32 of the Constitution of India. The court has effectively utilised and streamlined the principle of public interest litigation in order to give relief to the people who have brought this litigation before the court. Numerous judicial pronouncements preventing pollution in the area like water, air, noise, mines and quarries, forest, wetlands, heritage, gas leakage etc have brought a sense of relief to people even at times when the machinery of the state appeared to have approached a dead end. In many public interest litigation cases, news papers have been the source of information and on the basis of the newspaper reports, the court has taken suo motu action. Where on account of human agencies, the quality of environment is threatened or affected, the court will not hestitate to use its innovative power of epistolary jurisdiction to safeguard the environment from being pollutted.
It is crystal clear that the environmental crisis is a man-made disaster and the industrial revolution is the starting point for the growth of pollution. It has now become a world wide phenomenon. Its intensity has now reached such a point that people all over the world have raised a great hue and cry on the question of survival of mankind. The extinction of mankind will not be far away if it fails to prevent the progress of pollution.
The need of the hour is to make the people aware to be environment-friendly. The Central and State pollution control boards should be upgraded by reviewing their structure and giving them sufficient funds and experts to enforce rules. The UG C has introduced environment education as compulsory course as directed by the Supreme Court of India
