Environment Policy

There are some welcome allocations and indications of shifts in thinking (e.g. in agriculture and climate). However, overall, environment continues to be a ‘sideshow’ – it is given a few token sops, while in fact financial allocations continue to fuel an economy that is fundamentally unsustainable. 

A great hype has been created around the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) at Glasgow. John Kerry, the US climate Czar, has repeatedly called the meeting the world’s “last best chance” to avoid climate hara-kiri. Similar sentiment has been expressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. More than 100 world leaders attended this climate gala in the first week, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden.

On the first day of the Glasgow climate conference – COP26 – the biggest announcement came from India. Ending speculations on whether India ‘will’ or ‘can’ make a net-zero pledge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country will reach net-zero emissions by 2070. How ambitious are these targets?

With a water spread of 289 square kilometres, Loktak lake is rich in biological diversity and plays an important role in the ecological and economic security of the region. It was accorded the status of a Ramsar site of international importance in 1990, which shows the significant ecological services of the wetland to humanity and the natural environment. However, the Loktat hydel project commissioned in the early 1980s disturbed the entire lake ecosystem, resulting in extensive loss to biodiversity and displacing massive human population and the wildlife. In the past five decades, the natural ecosystem has degraded considerably. The Loktak Development Authority, which came up in 1987 for taking steps to conserve and protect the lake ecosystem, has not made much headway simply for the reasons that it has not involved the community living in and around in its project designs and plans.

Nature nurtures the mankind. However, when mankind tries to fiddle with nature, it faces the wrath of the latter. Loktak Lake in the state of Manipur is a glaring example of how human intervention can damage a natural setting and also adversely affect those depending on it. Loktak, measuring about 235 square kilometres, is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India. This article is an attempt to capture the lives of the fisherwomen of Loktak and their continuous struggle for survival amidst the wave of aggressive lopsided developmental projects.