ABSTRACT
India adopted the concept of ‘federalism’ in the year 1950. Ever since then, it has remained one of the distinct features of the Constitution of India. The country is envisaged to be both unitary as well as federal according to the circumstances, and hence termed as a ‘quasi-federal’ nation. In the last six decades, the relationship between the center and states in India has been revolving around various grounds such as land, revenue, tax, agriculture, natural resources, etc. Alongside, there have been various environmental issues such as forests, wildlife, mines and minerals, etc., that the central and the state governments are said to go hand in hand. Yet there exist various factors by which the developments and interests of the states are being curbed with regard to the environmental and ecological aspects. The National Environment Policy of 2006 puts forth certain ideas on how powers from the central authorities are to be transferred to the state and local authorities in so far as to ensure that environmental administration is just and salient at appropriate levels of the government. Further, the 73rd and the 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts have included the decentralized approach of administration in the country. Unfortunately, the nodal and administrative framework does not work properly and effectively in all cases and circumstances. Therefore, the research focuses on how the decentralization of power has influenced environmental justice in India and the ways in which this has been dealt with by the concept of federalism under the Indian Constitution. This chapter mentions certain instances in which improper environmental governance and justice is suffered at local levels of administration. It also envisages on the role of NGTs in ensuring environmental justice, both at central and zonal levels of the government, along with suggested certain way forward in a ‘need of the hour’ manner.
