This report highlights the scope and functions of a dozen tree laws implemented in different states in India. The implementation of these laws has come to public focus in recent years due to the growing number of cases of large-scale tree felling in Indian cities.
The government use of mechanisms like compensatory afforestation and tree transplantation adopted to make up for large scale tree losses and the lack of information, transparency and public participation in tree regulation procedures have also been criticized by public campaigns on tree protection.
The content and outcomes of these laws also indicate that they are not equipped to deal with rapidly changing urban realities and the intense pressure on ecologies from real estate and urban infrastructure growth. They also do not speak to the biggest environmental issues of our times such climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and air pollution.
Commons, or Common Property Resources refers to private property for a group, rather than an individual. They have been used by communities for various purposes since time immemorial. However, as a result of encroachments by private parties and the regularisation of the same by State Governments, the rights over these lands have become difficult to define.
The CPR-Namati Environmental Justice Program, with support from Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust has prepared four hand-outs which highlight some of the key findings from the judgement in the context of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Odisha. In doing so, it aims to give the reader an understanding of:
What the Commons are and how they are recognised in the states;
Which authorities are responsible for their administration;
The key provisions of national and state level legislations pertaining to the Commons;
The significance and implications of the judgement for the states;
Actions taken by the states in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s judgement;
What can be done by panchayats and concerned citizens to protect and conserve the Commons.
The rapid increase of users on social media platforms has shifted political debates and communication channels between citizens and states. While a decade ago governments may have tried to connect to citizens through their own platforms, now, many do so through social media. But what has been created? A deepening or widening of democracy? Or maybe just an illusion of democracy? States have quickly learnt how to monitor, influence and even weaponize digital platforms. As the world fell into an increased digital reliance with the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, it became clear that while digitalization can connect people, expand businesses and provide services to those geographically out of reach, it can also polarise communities, spread misinformation and incite violence. The manipulation of digital technologies for various political motivations is continually reinforcing the lesson that innovation in itself has no value; its value comes instead from how people use it.
This report explores how the digital world has impacted the Global South, putting the rights of users and their participation in governance processes at the centre of the conversation. We can’t roll back time or innovation, but we can work towards a world where it works for democracy and human rights, and not against them.
This report was prepared as part of a joint collaboration with Southern Voice and UNDP Oslo Governance Centre.
The ‘Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011’ (CRZ 2011) is a notification issued by the government highlighting procedures and resolutions regarding coastal regulations.
The main objective of this notification is to:
1. Protect the livelihoods of traditional fisherfolk communities
2. Preserve coastal ecology, and
3. Promote economic activity necessary for coastal regions
Janabhivyakti, the Centre for Policy Research-Namati Environmental Justice Program and Oxfam India have jointly conducted a groundtruthing study of environmental violations in the Bodai-Daldali bauxite mine located in the Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh. A groundtruthing study is the process of comparing the facts as mentioned in official documents with the impacts being reported by affected communities.
The methodology included undertaking group discussions with the affected communities. During the group discussions, impacts which the communities were facing were discussed first. This was followed by brief discussions on the various laws and institutions which are available for dealing with impacts arising out of environmental violations.
Based on that, the major observations of this study were:
Prevalence of dust pollution due to transportation of uncovered trucks, blasting and drilling.
Poor status of land reclamation and afforestation of reclaimed land.
Non-compliance with health and safety of the workers engaged in mining operations.
Incomplete and inadequate process of Rehabilitation and Resettlement.
These were also confirmed by government reports and independent research studies. These reports and studies date back to the year 2007, and some of the impacts have been in existence since the beginning of the mining operations, and have been recorded in the aforementioned reports.
The CPR-Namati Environmental Justice Program, with support from Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust has prepared handouts on the legal mechanisms available in Human wildlife conflict in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka.
These handouts entail:
A brief overview of the present status of human wildlife conflict,
The measures taken by the Centre and states to tackle this, and,
The compensatory mechanisms available in case of human wildlife conflict.
The information in the handouts is based on publicly available information and discussions with partner organisations.
The Program also announced the release of material on the legal framework for conservation and protection areas. This material provides information on the legal provisions under which these areas are formed, the spaces available for the local communities, and the monitoring mechanisms. It is also available in Hindi, Odia, Gujarati and Kannada.
This project is part of an effort to understand how institutions function and interface with the lives of ordinary citizens. It seeks to bridge the gap between law and life. Namati as an organisation is dedicated to researching and understanding how law can be a tool of empowerment and justice. How does law become an opportunity not a threat? How does law become transparent rather than obscure? How does law become effective rather than inert?
This study- a product of Namati’s partnership with the Centre for Policy Research- focusses on an important but under-examined set of regulatory institutions in India, the Coastal Zone Management Authorities (CZMAs). If law is to be empowering for the communities who inhabit India’s long, great coastline, those communities must be able to understand and engage the CZMAs.
The study represents the most rigorous empirical work on CZMAs to date. The research team interviewed over thirty authority members, reviewed all relevant judgments by the National Green Tribunal, and arduously analysed minutes from over 350 meetings of the authorities. The minutes spanned several decades and all nine coastal states. Based on this research the authors illuminate how the authorities function in practice. They identify practical challenges the authorities face- Coastal Zone Management Plan maps are difficult to use, for example, because they are on a different scale than revenue maps. The authors also document innovations undertaken, and problems faced, by particular states. Tamil Nadu, for example, has made strides in developing extensive monitoring mechanisms, and yet has arguably not managed to translate the monitoring activity into enforcement.
