ABSTRACT

Every traveller should have a map identifying the best route to their destination and indicating appropriate stopping places. Readers are entitled to similar support, rather than simply opening the pages of a research monograph with little knowledge of its content beyond the expectation that it’s an informative, worthwhile read. Consequently, this brief introduction describes my research journey and offers a short environmental account for the traveller who has yet to visit India or knows insufficient about it to appreciate the contents of this book. Thereafter, there follows an account of the fieldwork and case analysis methodology and I conclude with a precis of the seven chapters. My involvement in environmental law was triggered by family reasons. I lived and taught in Delhi and at the time of the birth of my son, Tejeshwar, I became acutely aware and concerned about Delhi’s environment, particularly its air quality.1 My concerns over my child’s health and that of hundreds of thousands of children in the capital city promoted my long-term personal and academic involvement in India’s environmental challenges. The human and geographical scale of India is gigantic, as are its ongoing internal issues that include population growth,2 poverty,3 inflation4 and corruption.5 Modern India has embarked on an economic pathway to promote itself as a development juggernaut. Successive governments have focused on achieving high growth of its gross domestic product (GDP) believing it will also help the reduction of poverty and secure social and economic equality. Growth gurus argue the importance of maximising the efficient exploitation of the country’s resources in order to achieve economic development. The latest economic strategy has assumed heightened significance under the leadership of India’s current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He is known for his ability to drive change and his commitment to accelerate growth in Asia’s third largest economy. Modi, known as a pro-business, market-oriented reformer, aims to boost India’s growth to 8 to 10 per cent per annum.6 Resurgence in manufacturing, (including cars and car parts, pharmaceuticals, textiles and other goods); fast-tracking major infrastructure projects in power, roads, ports and rail; improving the business environment; and encouraging foreign direct investment are some of the government’s key projects. Prime Minister Modi, at the 2015 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Summit,7 stated that the

development process must be inclusive and sustainable resulting in benefits to all stakeholders:

Addressing the needs of 1.3 billion poor people in the world is not merely a question of their survival and dignity or our moral responsibility. It is a vital necessity for ensuring a peaceful, sustainable and just world. Our attack on poverty today includes expanded conventional schemes of development, but we have also launched a new era of inclusion and empowerment, turning distant dreams into immediate possibilities . . . We are focusing on the basics: housing, power, water and sanitation for all – important not just for welfare, but also human dignity . . . We are making our farms more productive and better connected to markets; and, farmers less vulnerable to the whims of nature . . . Nations have a national responsibility for sustainable development . . . There is no cause greater than shaping a world, in which every life that enters it can look to a future of security, opportunity and dignity; and, where we leave our environment in better shape for the next generation . . . May all be happy, may all be healthy, may all see welfare . . .8