find an environmentally sustainable pathway out of poverty. It is not an easy task. And
yet the beginnings have already been made.

1. Different groups have championed the rights of local people over the environment
(chapter 20). They have been a major force in raising the environmental consciousness among
people and shift towards sustainable development.

2. The courts have given a number of judgments upholding the right to a healthy
environment as intrinsic to the Fundamental Right to Life. In 1991, the Supreme Court held
that the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to
pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life. The government is responsible for
setting up laws and procedures that can check pollution and introduce heavy fines for those
who pollute. A variety of government institutions have been started to play the regulatory
role.

Fig 116: Emissions from vehicles are a major cause of environmental pollution. In a
series of rulings (1998 onwards), the Supreme Court had ordered all public transport
vehicles using diesel were to switch to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). This is a cleaner
fuel compared to diesel. As a result of this move, air pollution in cities like Delhi came
down considerably However, in the recent years the pollution levels have gone up again,
because of the huge rise in the number of private cars run on diesel Car manufacturers have
started producing and selling cars run on diesel! The challenge of sustainable development
is not an easy one.

3. On issues like climate change, countries have tried to reach collective decisions.
Climate change affects all countries and people, some may be more than the others. W do not
even understand and cannot anticipate many of these effects right now. Individually, a
country may take an initiative to reduce emissions of green house gases. Its environment
would, however, continue to deteriorate if other countries do not regulate their emissions.
Thus, solutions at the global level with countries coming together become necessary.

4. At the community level, many community organisations have innovated and re-discovered
sustainable and equitable ways of doing things. There are numerous instances of such
initiatives in diverse fields: fisheries, mining. transportation, energy, agriculture,
industry, etc. Let's consider a few initiatives that have a direct bearing on society's
most basic need i.e. food.

In the area of agricultural production, you might have heard about organic products and
organic farming. Organic farmers forego the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Instead, they rely mainly on natural techniques such as
crop rotation, compost and biological pest control in farming. One of the main
characteristics of organic agriculture is the use of local resources including on-
farm biological processes such as availability of pest predators (birds, spiders,