Unit 7 (Human communities

and the Environment)

10 July, 2021
Human population growth
In the initial one thousand years, when human population was small and man was basically a
hunter gatherer with limited requirements, his interference with natural cylces and harmony
was negligible. However, with development of agricultural activities followed by industrial
revolution, there were tremendous changes in the population size of human beings along with
rise is quality and standards of living.
Due to technological development and rapid economic growth our civilization has reached its
zenith, but at the same time it has let to serious environmental degradation. Development has
changed the attitude of human beings towards nature, which has further aggravated the
problems. While early human societies used to consume much less resources, with the dawn of
industrial era, consumerism has shown an exponential rise. It has been related both to the
increase in the population size as well as increase in our demands due to change in lifestyle.
Earlier we used to live a much simpler life and used to have fewer wants. In the modern society
our needs have multiplied and so consumerism of resources has also multiplied.
Human population is increasing day by day at a faster rate, demands for food, clothes and
shelter are increasing accordingly. This puts a pressure on natural resources. It creates a threat
to the depletion of resources at a faster rate. Increasing population affects the environment
and human health due to development of industrialization and urbanization.
 Population growth
With scientific and technological advancement, life
expectancy of humans improved.
People started living in definite settlements leading
a more stable life with better sanitation, food and
medical facilities.
Victory over famine-related deaths and infant
mortality became instrumental for a rapid increase
in population size.
In agriculture based societies children were
considered as economic assets who would help the
parents in the fields and that is why in the
developing countries, population growth climbed
to unthought-of heights, at the rate of 3–4% per
year, accounting for about 90–95% of total
population growth of the world in the last 50
years.
Population Characteristics and Variations Among Nations

Exponential growth: When a quantity increases by a constant amount per unit time e.g. 1, 3, 5, 7 etc. it is
called linear growth. But, when it increases by a fixed percentage it is known as exponential growth e.g. 10,
10², 10³, 10⁴, or 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc. Population growth takes place exponentially and that explains the
dramatic increase in global population in the past 150 years.

Doubling time: The time needed for a population to double its size at a constant annual rate is known as
doubling time. It is calculated as follows:
Total Fertility Rates (TFR): It is one of the key measures of a nation’s population growth. TFR is defined as the average
number of children that would be born to a woman in her lifetime if the age specific birth rates remain constant. The
value of TFR varies from 1.9 in developed nations to 4.7 in developing nations. In 1950’s the TFR has been 6.1.
However, due to changes in cultural and technological set up of societies and government policies the TFR has come
down which is a welcome change.
Infant mortality rate: It is an important parameter affecting future growth of a population. It is the percentage of
infants died out of those born in a year. Although this rate has declined in the last 50 years, but the pattern differs
widely in developed and developing countries.
Replacement level: This is an important concept in population dynamics or demography. Two parents bearing two
children will be replaced by their offspring. But, due to infant mortality this replacement level is usually changed. For
developing nations, where infant mortality is high and life expectancy is low, the replacement level is approx. 2.7,
whereas in developed nations it is 2.1.
Age structure: Age structure of population of a nation can be represented by age pyramids, based upon people belonging
to different age classes like pre-reproductive (0–14 years), reproductive (15–44 years) and post reproductive (45 years
and above). We get three types of age pyramids:
(a) Pyramid shaped: Here the very young population is
more, making a broad base and old people are less. This
type indicates growing population. India, Bangladesh,
Ethiopia, Nigeria are examples of this type. The large
number of individuals in very young age will soon enter
into reproductive age, thus causing an increase in
population, whereas less number of people in old age
indicate less loss of population due to death
b) Bell shaped: It occurs in countries like France, USA
and Canada where birth rates have in the past one or
two decades declined resulting in people of almost
equal number in age group 0–35 years. So in the next
10 years, the people entering into reproductive age
group is not going to change much and such age-
pyramids indicate stable populations
(c) Urn shaped: Here number of individuals in
very young class is smaller than the middle
reproductive age class. In the next 10 years the
number in reproductive age class will thus become
less than before resulting in a decline of population
growth. Germany, Italy, Hungary, Sweden and
Japan are examples of this type
Zero population growth (ZPG): When birth plus immigration in a population are just equal to deaths
plus emigration, it is said to be zero population growth.
Male-female ratio: The ratio of boys and girls should be fairly balanced in a society to flourish.
However, due to female infanticides and gender-based abortions, the ratio has been upset in many
countries including India. In China, the ratio of boys to girls became 140 : 100 in many regions
which led to scarcity of brides.
Life expectancy: It is the average age that a newborn infant is expected to attain in a given country.
The average life expectancy, over the globe, has risen from 40 to 65.5 years over the past century. In
India, life expectancy of males and females was only 22.6 years and 23.3 years, respectively in 1900.
In the last 100 years improved medical facilities and technological advancement has increased the life
expectancy to 60.3 years and 60.5 years, respectively for the Indian males and females. In Japan and
Sweden, life expectancy is quite higher, being 82.1–84.2 for females and 77–77.4 for males,
respectively.
Demographic transition: Population growth is usually related
to economic development. There occurs a typical fall in death
rates and birth rates due to improved living conditions leading
to low population growth, a phenomenon called demographic
transition. It is associated with urbanization and growth and
occurs in four phases:
(a) Pre-industrial phase characterized by high growth and
death rates and net population growth is low.
(b) Transitional phase that occurs with the initiation of
industrialization providing better hygiene and medical
facilities and adequate food, thereby reducing deaths. Birth
rates, however, remain high and the population shows 2.5–
3% growth rate.
(c) Industrial phase while there is a fall in birth rates thereby lowering growth rate.
(d) Post industrial phase during which zero population growth is achieved. Demographic
transition is already observed in most developing nations. As a result of demographic
transition the developed nations are now growing at a rate of about 0.5% with a doubling
time of 118 years. However, the matter of concern is that more than 90% of the global
population is concentrated in
developing nations which have a growth rate a little more than 2%, and a doubling time of
less than 35 years.
(B) Population Explosion: There has been a dramatic reduction in the doubling time of the global human
population, as we have already discussed.
In the 20th century, human population has grown much faster than ever before. Between 1950–1990, in
just 40 years the population crossed 5 billion mark with current addition of about 92 million every
year, or so to say, adding a new Mexico every year.
In the year 2000, the world population was 6.3 billion and it is predicted to grow four times in the next
100 years. This unprecedented growth of human population at an alarming rate is referred to as
population explosion. 2021 = 8.2 billion, China = 1.409 billion
The Indian Scenario: India is the second most populous country of the world with 1 billion people. If
the current growth rates continue, it will have 1.63 billion people by 2050 and will become the most
populous country surpassing China.
So we are heading for very serious ramifications of the population explosion problem. Do we have
the resources and provisions for feeding, housing, educating and employing all those people being
added every year ? If we look at the population statistics of our country we find that in just 35 years
after independence we added another India in terms of population.
On 11th May, 2000 we became 1 billion and now we can say that every 6th person in this world is an
Indian. 2021= 1.428 billion
Population explosion is causing severe resource depletion and environmental degradation.
Our resources like land, water, fossil fuels, minerals etc. are limited and due to over
exploitation these resources are getting exhausted.
Even many of the renewable resources like forests, grasslands etc. are under tremendous
pressure.
Industrial and economic growth are raising our quality of life but adding toxic pollutants
into the air, water and soil. As a result, the ecological life-support systems are getting
threatened.
There is a aggressive debate on this issue as to whether we should immediately reduce
fertility rates through worldwide birth control programs in order to stabilize or even shrink
the population or whether human beings will devise new technologies for alternate
resources, so that the problem of crossing the carrying capacity of the earth will never
actually come.
There are two very important views on population growth which need a mention
here:
Malthusian theory: According to Malthus, human populations tend to grow at an
exponential or compound rate whereas food production increases very slowly
or remains stable. Therefore, starvation, poverty, disease, crime and
depression are invariably associated with population explosion.
Marxian theory: According to Karl Marx, population growth is a symptom rather
than the cause of poverty, resource depletion, pollution and other social ills.
He believed that social exploitation and harassment of the less privileged people
leads to poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, environmental degradation
that in turn, causes over population.
(C) Family Welfare Programmes: Population explosion is like a time bomb that must be diffused well
in time. The population must be kept much below the carrying capacity and stabilized so that the
aftermath of the explosion could be avoided.
It is not precisely known as to how long can we continue our exponential growth in population
and resource use without suffering overshoot or dieback. We are getting warning signals that if
not controlled, the increasing population is going to deplete all the resources beyond their
regeneration capacity. A catastrophic doomsday model warns us that the earth cannot sustain
more than two more doublings i.e. 25 billion.
The United Nations projections about population stabilization of developed
and developing nations and that of Asia are shown in Fig.
The population stabilization ratio is derived by dividing crude birth rate by crude
death rate.
As evident, developed nations have already achieved a stabilization ratio of 1
around the year 2000, which is more or less stabilized indicating zero population
growth.
Developing nations including Asia, on the other hand, is yet having a high
stabilization ratio nearing 3, which is however, on a decline and is expected to
lower down substantially by 2025.
Stabilization in developing nations is possible only through various family
welfare programmes.
Nonetheless, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that today about
50 percent of the worlds’ married couples adopt some family planning
measures as compared to just 10% about 30 years back. Still some 300 million
couples do not have access to family planning.
(D) Family Planning: Family planning allows couples to decide their family size and also the
time spacing of their offspring. Almost every culture in the past used to practice some
traditional fertility control methods through some traditions, taboos and folk medicine.
Modern science has provided several birth control techniques including mechanical barriers,
surgical methods, chemical pills and physical barriers to implantation. More than a hundred
contraceptive methods are on trial. The United Nations Family Planning Agency provides
funds to 135 countries.
Many of these countries include abortion as a part of the population control programme which
very often encourages female infanticide thereby disturbing the optimal male: female ratio in
a society. The birth control programmes have often faced strong opposition from religious
groups.
The Indian Context
India started the family planning programme in 1952 while its population was nearly 400
million. In 1970’s, forced family planning campaign by the Government resulted in a
turmoil all over the country.
In 1978, the government raised the legal minimum age of marriage from 18 to 21 for men
and 15 to 18 years for women. Even in 1981 census no drop in population growth was
observed. Since then funding for family planning programmes has been increased
further.
The poor class was encouraged to be sterilized after two children by paying cash
incentives, better land, housing, wells and subsidized loans. In contrast, Bihar and U.P.
have increased their growth rates (more than 2.5%).
Successful family planning programme need significant societal changes including social,
educational and economic status for women, social security, political stability, proper
awareness and confidence building along with accessibility and effectivity of the birth
control measures.
Impact on environment and human health
Energy consumption and related impacts.
Physical degradation of environment and loss of top fertile soil.
Depletion of natural resources and biodiversity due to deforestation.
Gaseous emissions causing global warming and acid rains.
Toxic emissions and health effects.
Occupational health hazards.
Conversion of vast areas of agricultural land and wild-life habitats have been converted into
sub-urban housing, as greater mobility has been made possible with increased automobile use.
Land is being used for building highways and there is loss of fertile top soil during
construction of highways.
Landslide occurrence has increased as construction of roads clears large forested areas in the
fragile mountainous areas.
Causes Environmental pollution; air, water, noise, soil , thermal and nuclear polltion.
Disturb ecological balance of environment.
Various health problems also occured due to over exploitation of resources.
Environmental public awareness
In order to conserve our environment each and every one must be aware about our
environment problems and objectives of various environmental policies at natural
and local level.
Objectives of public awareness:
1. To create awareness among rural and city people about ecological Imbalance,
local environment and technological development.
2 To organize meetings, tree plantation programs, group discussion on
development, exhibitions.
3.To focus on current environment problems and situations.
4.To train our planners, decision makers, politicians and administrators.
5.To eliminate poverty by providing employment that over comes the basic
environmental issues.
METHODS TO CREATE ENVIRONMNTAL
AWARENESS
Environmental education must be imparted to the students in schools and colleges.
Media like TV, Radio and cable network can educate the people on environmental
issues through Cartoons, documentaries, street plays.
Cinema about environmental education should be prepared and screened in
theatres compulsorily .This films may be released with tax free to attract the public.
All the news papers and magazines must publish the environment related problems.
Special audio visual and slide shows should be arranged in public places.
Voluntary organizations like NCC, NSS, and ROTRACT Club should be
effectively utilized for creating environmental awareness.
Arranging competitions like story and essay writing painting competition on
environmental issues for student as well as public. Attractive prizes should be
awarded for the best effort.
Public leaders cine actors and popular social reformers can make an appeal to the
public about the urgency of environmental protection.
Non-government organizations (NGOs)
Non-government organizations (NGOs) can play a very important role in protection
of environment because they act at the grass-root level. Simple laws cannot be
enforced that effectively unless there is proper awareness amongst the masses.
The NGOs can play a dual role:
They can act as watch-dogs and advice the government about some local
environmental issues of prime and urgent concern.
They can interact with the people at grass-root level, sharing their problems and
concern. These NGO’s can act as a viable link between the two.
Some major initiatives taken by NGO’s
Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal in Gopeshwar is known for the well known “Chipko
Movement” for protecting the trees. Sh. Sunderlal Bahuguna’s name is now synonymous with
this movement, who led this movement in Uttarakhand against tree-felling.
Kalpavriksh is known for the “Narmada Bachao Andolan” headed by Medha Patekar, raising
the major environmental issues associated with the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river,
particularly the issue of displacement and rehabilitation of the natives/outsees.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have played a significant role in preparing ‘Citizen’s
Report’ and have taken up various prime issues in a scientific way. Pesticide levels in cola
drinks exceeding the maximum permissible limits has sensitized the people all over the country.
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is one of the oldest NGOs of India who have worked
for the protection of wildlife.
Tarun Bharat Sangh, Rajasthan, under the leadership of Sh. Rajendra Singh has done a
remarkable job of harvesting rainwater by constructing check-dams, who was honoured with
prestigious Magsaysay award for his work.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
“A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on
his 150 birth anniversary in 2019,” said Shri Narendra Modi as he launched the
Swachh Bharat Mission at Rajpath in New Delhi. On 2nd October 2014, Swachh
Bharat Mission was launched throughout length and breadth of the country as a
national movement. The campaign aims to achieve the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by
2nd October 2019.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is the most significant cleanliness campaign by the
Government of India. Shri Narendra Modi led a cleanliness pledge at India Gate,
which about thirty lakh government employees across the country joined. He also
flagged off a walkathon at Rajpath and surprised people by joining in not just for a
token few steps, but marching with the participants for a long way.
Objectives of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Construction of individual, cluster and community toilets.

Bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas, by promoting
cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation.
Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve the vision of Swachh Bharat by 2nd
October 2019.
Motivate communities and Panchayati Raj Institutions to adopt sustainable sanitation
practices and facilities through awareness creation and health education.
Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable
sanitation.
Develop, wherever required, community managed sanitation systems focusing on scientific
Solid & Liquid Waste Management systems for overall cleanliness in the rural areas.
Create significant positive impact on gender and promote social inclusion by improving
sanitation especially in marginalized communities.
Environmental Ethics
Environmental ethics refers to the issues, principles and guidelines relating to human
interactions with their environment. It is rightly said, ‘The environmental crisis is an outward
manifestation of the crisis of mind and spirit’. It all depends on how do we think and act. If we
think ‘Man is all powerful and the supreme creature on this earth and man is the master of
nature and can harness it at his will’, it reflects our human-centric thinking.
On the other hand, if we think ‘Nature has provided us with all the resources for leading a
beautiful life and she nourishes us like a mother, we should respect her and nurture her’, this is
an earth-centric thinking.
The first view urges us to march ahead gloriously to conquer the nature and establish our
supremacy over nature through technological innovations, economic growth and development
without much botheration to care for the damage done to the planet earth.
The second view urges us to live on this earth as a part of it, like any other creation of Nature
and live sustainably. So, we can see that our acts will follow what we think.
If we want to check the environmental crisis, we will have to transform our thinking and
attitude. That in turn, would transform our deeds, leading to a better environment and better
future.
Ethical guidelines known as Earth ethics or
Environmental Ethics
You should love and honour the earth since it has blessed you with life and governs your
survival.
You should keep each day sacred to earth and celebrate the turning of its seasons.
You should not hold yourself above other living things and have no right to drive them to
extinction.
You should be grateful to the plants and animals which nourish you by giving you food.
You should limit your offsprings because too many people will overburden the earth.
You should not waste your resources on destructive weapons.
You should not run after gains at the cost of nature, rather should strive to restore its
damaged majesty.
You should not conceal from others the effects you have caused by your actions on earth.
You should not steal from future generations their right to live in a clean and safe planet by
impoverishing or polluting it.
You should consume the material goods in moderate amounts so that all may share the earth’s
precious treasure of resources.
Environment Movements
An environmental movement can be defined as a social or
political movement, for the conservation of environment or
for the improvement of the state of the environment.
The terms ‘green movement’ or ‘conservation movement’ are
alternatively used to denote the same. The environmental
movements favor the sustainable management of natural
resources.
The movements often stress the protection of the environment
via changes in public policy.
Bishnoi Movement
It was started in year 1700s at village Khejarli, Marwar region in Rajasthan state.
Amrita Devi along with Bishnoi villagers in Khejarli and surrounding villages were
involved in this to save sacred trees from being cut down by the king’s soldiers for a
new palace.
Amrita Devi, a female villager could not bear to witness the destruction of both her
faith and the village’s sacred trees. She hugged the trees and encouraged others to
do the same. 363 Bishnoi villagers encouraged others to do the same and they were
also killed in this movement. The Bishnoi tree martyrs were influenced by the
teachings of Guru Maharaj Jambaji, who founded the Bishnoi faith in 1485 and set
forth principles forbidding harm to trees and animals. The king who came to know
about these events rushed to the village and apologized, ordering the soldiers to
cease logging operations. Soon afterwards, the maharajah designated the Bishnoi
state as a protected area, forbidding harm to trees and animals. This legislation still
exists today in the region.
Chipko Movement
It was started in 1973 in Chamoli district and later at Tehri-Garhwal district of
Uttarakhand. It was first started by Gaura devi and then lead by Sundarlal
Bahuguna.
Main leaders were: Gaura Devi, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi,
Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Govind Singh Rawat, Dhoom Singh Negi, Shamsher Singh
Bisht and Ghanasyam Raturi. The main objective was to protect the trees on the
Himalayan slopes from the axes of contractors of the forest.
The women of Advani village of Tehri- Garhwal tied the sacred thread around
trunks of trees and they hugged the trees, hence it was called ‘Chipko Movement’ or
‘hug the tree movement’. The main demand of the people in these protests was that
the benefits of the forests (especially the right to fodder) should go to local people.
Mr. Bahuguna enlightened the villagers by conveying the importance of trees in the
environment which checks the erosion of soil, cause rains and provides pure air.
The Chipko movement gathered momentum in 1978 when the women faced police
firings and other tortures. The then state Chief Minister, Hemwati Nandan
Bahuguna set up a committee to look into the matter, which eventually ruled in
favor of the villagers. This became a turning point in the history of eco-
development struggles in the region and around the world.
Silent Valley Movement
It was started in 1978 at Silent Valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad
district of Kerala, India. In order to protect the Silent Valley, the moist evergreen
forest from being destroyed by a hydroelectric project.
Leaders: The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) an NGO, and the poet-
activist Sughathakumari played an important role in the Silent Valley protests.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) proposed a hydroelectric dam across
the Kunthipuzha River that runs through Silent Valley. In February 1973, the
Planning Commission approved the project at a cost of about Rs 25 crores. Many
feared that the project would submerge 8.3 sq km of untouched moist evergreen
forest. Several NGOs strongly opposed the project and urged the government to
abandon it.
In January 1981, bowing to unrelenting public pressure, Indira Gandhi declared
that Silent Valley will be protected. In June 1983, the Center re-examined the issue
through a commission chaired by Prof. M.G.K. Menon. In November 1983 the
Silent Valley Hydroelectric Project was called off. In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi formally inaugurated the Silent Valley National Park.
Appiko Movement
It was started in Uttara Kannada and Shimoga districts of Karnataka State.
Leaders: Appiko’s greatest strengths lie in it being neither driven by a personality
nor having been formally institutionalised. However, it does have a facilitator in
Pandurang Hegde. He helped launch the movement in 1983. It was against the
felling and commercialization of natural forest and the ruin of ancient livelihood.
Appiko movement is the southern version of the Chipko movement. The Appiko
Movement was locally known as “Appiko Chaluvali”. The locals embraced the
trees which were to be cut by contractors of the forest department. The Appiko
movement used various techniques to raise awareness such as foot marches in the
interior forest, slide shows, folk dances, street plays etc.
The second area of the movement’s work was to promote afforestation on denuded
lands. The movement later focused on the rational use of ecosphere through
introducing alternative energy resource to reduce pressure on the forest. The
movement became a success.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
It was started in 1985 to save Narmada River, which flows through the states of
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It was a social movement against a
number of large dams being built across the Narmada River.
Leaders: Medha Patekar, Baba Amte, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and
human rights activists.
The movement first started as a protest for not providing proper rehabilitation and
resettlement for the people who have been displaced by the construction of Sardar
Sarovar Dam.
Later on, the movement turned its focus on the preservation of the environment
and the eco-systems of the valley. Activists also demanded the height of the dam to
be reduced to 88 m from the proposed height of 130m. World Bank withdrew from
the project. The environmental issue was taken into court. In October 2000, the
Supreme Court gave a judgment approving the construction of the Sardar Sarovar
Dam with a condition that height of the dam could be raised to 90 m. This height is
much higher than the 88 m which anti-dam activists demanded, but it is definitely
lower than the proposed height of 130 m. The project is now largely financed by the
state governments and market borrowings. The project is expected to be fully
completed by 2025.
Carbon Footprint
Carbon footprint can be defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases
produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually
expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). There are two types
of carbon foot printing which are given below:
1. Organisational: Emissions from all the activities across the organisation
such as energy use, industrial processes and company vehicles.
2. Product: Emissions over the whole life of a product or service, from the
extraction of raw material and manufacturing rights through to its use and
final reuse, recycling or disposal.
Steps to reduce carbon footprint
By replacing a regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) which can
save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
Use of public transport and carpool: We can reduce carbon emissions through
walking, ridding bike, carpool and using public transport.
We can reduce carbon emissions by using recycled products and recycling materials.
Planting a tree is always a good idea. A single tree can absorb one ton of carbon
dioxide over its lifetime.
By using certified energy efficient appliances and equipment will also reduce carbon
footprint.
Encourage and support greenhouse-reducing practices in our community.
Carbon Offsetting
Carbon Offsetting can be defined as the mitigation of carbon footprints
through the development of alternative projects such as solar, wind, tidal
energy or reforestation.
The emission of greenhouse gasses is a global problem and carbon offsets
work on the idea that any reduction in any area is worthwhile. It basically
measures how much carbon dioxide (CO2) we have produced just by going
about our daily lives.
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
A Tribunal is established for the adjudication of disputes related to some specific areas,
whereas courts exist for the adjudication of all kinds of disputes regardless of any specific area.
Rules of natural justice ensure fairness in any adjudicatory process. Final judgement of
Tribunal is generally called ‘award’.
The National Green Tribunal was established on 18th October, 2010 under the National
Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to
environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including
enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for
damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country in the world to set up a
specialized environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first
developing country to do so.
NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing
of the same.
The NGT has five places of sittings, New Delhi is the Principal place of sitting and Bhopal,
Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four.
Structure of NGT
The Tribunal comprises of the Chairperson, the Judicial Members and
Expert Members. They shall hold office for term of five years and are not
eligible for reappointment.
The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation
with Chief Justice of India (CJI).
A Selection Committee shall be formed by central government to appoint
the Judicial Members and Expert Members.
There are to be least 10 and maximum 20 full time Judicial members and
Expert Members in the tribunal.
Powers and Jurisdiction of NGT
The Tribunal has jurisdiction over all civil cases involving substantial question
relating to environment.
Being a statutory adjudicatory body like Courts, apart from original jurisdiction
side on filing of an application, NGT also has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeal
as a Court (Tribunal).
While passing any order/decision/ award, it shall apply the principles of sustainable
development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle.
NGT by an order, can provide- relief and compensation to the victims of pollution
and other environmental damage (including accident occurring while handling any
hazardous substance), for restitution of property damaged, and for restitution of
the environment for such area or areas, as the Tribunal may think fit.
An appeal against order/decision/ award of the NGT lies to the Supreme Court,
generally within ninety days from the date of communication.
The tribunal’s jurisdictions include all environmental laws on air and water
pollution, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the
Biodiversity Act.
Resettlement and Rehabilitation issues
Problems and Concerns
Economic development raises the quality and standard of living of the people of a
country. Developmental projects are planned to bring benefits to the society.
However, in the process of development, very often there is over-exploitation of
natural resources and degradation of the environment. Besides this, quite often, the
native people of the project site are directly affected. These native people are
generally the poorest of the poor, under previledged tribal people. Various types of
projects result in the displacement of the native people who undergo tremendous
economic and psychological distress, as the socio-economic and ecological base of
the local community is disturbed.
Resettlement and Rehabilitation issues

(a) Displacement problems due to dams

(b) Displacement due to Mining
(c) Displacement due to Creation of National Parks
REHABILITATION ISSUES
The United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights [Article 25(1)] has
declared that right to housing is a basic human right.
In India, most of the displacements have resulted due to land acquisition by the
government for various reasons. For this purpose, the government has the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 which empowers it to serve notice to the people to vacate
their lands if there is a need as per government planning. Provision of cash
compensation in lieu of the land vacated exists in section 16 of the Act. The major
issues related to displacement and rehabilitation are as follows:
Tribals are usually the most affected amongst the displaced who are already poor.
Displacement further increases their poverty due to loss of land, home, jobs, food
insecurity, loss of access to common property assets, increased morbidity and
mortality and social isolation.
Break up of families is an important social issue arising due to displacement in
which the women are the worst affected and they are not even given cash/land
compensation.
Cont..

The tribal are not familiar with the market policies and trends.
The land acquisition laws ignore the communal ownership of property, which is an
inbuilt system amongst the tribal. Thus the tribal lose their communitarian basis of
economic and cultural existence. They feel like fish out of water.
Kinship systems, marriages, social and cultural functions, their folk-songs, dances
and activities vanish with their displacement. Even when they are resettled, it is
individual-based resettlement, which totally ignores communal settlement.
Loss of identity and loss of the intimate link between the people and the
environment is one of the biggest loss. The age-long indigenous knowledge, which
has been inherited and experienced by them about the flora, fauna, their uses etc.
gets lost.