Green police, fast-track courts key for environmental protection

Mumbai: As the World Wetlands Day was observed on February 2, environmental groups have stepped up their digital campaign requesting the Prime Minister to set up dedicated green police and fast-track environment courts across the country.

NatConnect Foundation, spearheading the campaign, said though environment is a State subject, the Centre could set up models for green police and fast-track courts just as the Union Government has done in the case of RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority).

The NGO requested Modi to take the initiative and include environmental focus in the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll manifestos for the forthcoming elections to five legislative assemblies.

This year's theme for the day is wetlands action for people and nature, highlighting the importance of actions to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands for humans and planetary health.

"It is in this context that we insist on the governments' involvement and commitment," said Kumar who launched an online campaign that enjoys the support of about 15,000 supporters, addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The existing police force is highly inadequate and ill-equipped to handle environmental crimes as they are over-burdened with their routing crime detection, law and order and VIP security. The Courts are also inundated with lakhs of pending cases. Even the green tribunals are not equipped to handle criminal cases. Hence the need for special, fast-track courts, NatConnect explained.

Nadakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, pointed out that first of all the existing machinery takes time in registering cases and then the investigation is another long-term exercise. "In all fairness, we do not blame the police force or the judiciary since they are overloaded with tonnes of work and pending cases," Pawar said.

Environment has been the biggest victim of the so-called project and infrastructure development in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in particular and the special courts will go a long way in ensuring justice for our mother Nature, Pawar added.

Illegal cutting down of trees and burial of mangroves should be treated on the lines of human murders, Pawar and Kumar said.

National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 under Section 19 gives the tribunals the power to regulate its own procedure. Additionally, the tribunal is not bound by procedure under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and is guided by principles of natural justice. However, the tribunal is vested with the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure for discharging its functions, NatConnect pointed out to the government and stressed the need for a fast-track court system.

The forest guards at best file FIRs with the police and the environment rarely gets justice. A full-fledged green police force under the revenue and forest department should be empowered to conduct investigation and launch prosecutions and ensure punishment to the guilty. This will reduce the burden on the regular police force and help the environment, NatConnect said.

"To give an example, JNPT has been fined just Rs one lakh for killing 4,500 mangroves and NHAI has gone scot free after decaying 5,000 mangroves," Kumar said. There have been FIRs against unidentified NMSEZ officials for burying mangroves and wetland in Uran.

World Wetlands Day is the ideal time to increase people's understanding of these critically important ecosystems. The day also marks the 51st anniversary of the global convention held at Ramsar in Iran which resolved to protect the wetlands. The Ramsar treaty, signed by over 170 nations including India, broadly defines wetlands as "areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres."

Wetlands therefore include: marine—coastal wetlands such as coastal lagoons, rocky shores, and coral reefs; estuarine—for example, deltas, tidal marshes and mangrove swamps; lacustrine—wetlands associated with lakes; riverine—wetlands along rivers and streams; palustrine—marshes, swamps, and bogs; human-made wetlands such as reservoirs, fish ponds, flooded mineral workings, saltpans, sewage farms, and canals.

Be it the salt pans of Mumbai, wetlands of Uran across Mumbai harbour, lakes of Bengaluru and Hyderabad and the coastal line of Kerala all face continuous threats. The sad part is that the urban planners neither care for the environment on their own nor do that listen to sane voices. And the tragic part is despite recurring natural disasters, we do not learn any lessons, Kumar said. The Kerala, Mumbai and Hyderabad floods, the inundation of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) even during non-monsoon months. For instance, when the world is busy celebrating the Holi festival, villagers in low lying areas of Uran are busy draining out tidal water from their homes.

Presenting a case study, NatConnect, which is Navi Mumbai based, said most of the city is already below the sea level. The low-lying areas have been going further low as the urban development around them is being done with massive landfills, to raise the ground levels. Moreover, the wetlands and natural flow of inter-tidal water is being indiscriminately blocked forcing water to find its own course.

While the Mumbai floods of the year 2006 are still fresh in the people's minds, a trainload of people were stuck for over 24 hours on the tracks near Badlapur near Mumbai as the tracks were flooded in July 2019.

The so-called development has been impacting the lives and livelihoods, yet the urban planners and governments do not learn any lessons. So much so, that Maharashtra Environment Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar-Patankar had to propose to conduct an environment sensitisation exercise for district officials. This is an absolutely ridiculous situation because the officers are supposed to have passed state and centre level competitive examinations to get to their positions and they are needed to be sensitised to the importance of the environment, NatConnect pointed out.