Environmental Policy, Governance and Politics

This book traces the development-environment discourse in India and examines the multi-layered interaction between society and nature in the light of the role of the state, judiciary and the civil society. Through an array of perspectives, the volume challenges the conventional approach to understanding the environmental politics in South Asia without considering the role of the civil society and other informal actors, which has radically altered the conventional articulation of the phenomenon. The volume underlines distinct structural characteristics of developmental politics in India and the social concerns and challenges which come in the way of environmental policy and governance in India. It is a meaningful intervention in unearthing significant socio-political and economic processes which are critical to the environmental governance in India. The book will not only be helpful in studying the state of policy, administration and politics of environmental discourse in India, but also guide the policymakers to explore the sustainable ways of environmental governance in South Asia. Insightful and lucid, this book will be useful to the students, researchers and faculty working in the field of political science, public administration, public policy, political sociology, political economy and governance studies. It will also be an invaluable and interesting reading for those interested in South Asian studies.

Prakash Chand Kandpal is Professor and Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His areas of interest are: public administration, Public Policy, Governance studies, Local Governance, Environmental Policy and politics in India.

Preface vi Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 1 The evolution of environmental discourse 13 2 Global environmental governance 36 3 Environmental issues in India 57 4 Environmental policy and governance in India 75 5 Judicial response to environmental challenges 119 6 Civil society and environmentalism in India 141 7 Urbanization, environment and public health 176 8 Urban environmental governance in India 199 9 Environmental politics in India 223 Conclusions 249 Annotated bibliography 259 Select Bibliography 264 Index 276