COMMENTARY
‘Environment’ in the Election
Manifestos
Asi Guha, Elphin Tom Joe
Implementation of the
environmental agendas
put forward in the election
manifestos of 2014 of eight
major political parties is found
to be unsatisfactory. There is a
need for more synergy between
the election agendas and their
implementation to tackle
environmental issues and the
impacts of climate change.
T
here are many instances when
environmental concerns become
pivotal for elections. This, however, does not hold true for India as
much as for the Western or European
countries. It is worthwhile then to explore
how climate change and environmental
issues have been viewed and addressed
by the political parties in India. For this
purpose, the 2014 parliamentary election manifestos of eight major political
parties—Indian National Congress (INC),
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP), Communist Party of India
(Marxist)—CPI(M), Communist Party of
India (CPI), Samajwadi Party, All India
Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Shiv
Sena are reviewed on the policies and
promises stated in relation to environment and climate, with the benefit of a
hindsight view of the ground realities in
terms of implementation and responses
to environmental crises.
Indian National Congress
The authors benefited from the insights of
Abhijit Guha and the infrastructural support
of Indian Institute of Forest Management.
They are thankful for the comments of the
anonymous reviewer.
Asi Guha (asi.guha@gmail.com) and Elphin
Tom Joe (tom.joe.252@gmail.com) are studying
at the Indian Institute of Forest Management,
Bhopal.
Economic & Political Weekly
EPW
MARCH 2, 2019
The INC emphasised on building a professional agency to smoothen out environmental clearance processes and water
conservation for agriculture, rural and
urban development. They also talked
about providing clean cooking fuel
across the country and launch “Green
National Accounts” to ensure that costs
of environmental degradation get reflected in national accounts (Indian
National Congress 2014). Although they
all sound exceptional as election agenda,
a contrary picture emerged on the ground.
Even though the INC put water conservation in agriculture as an agendum, Haryana and Karnataka, where the party
was in power in 2014, revealed a gloomy
scenario. The drop in groundwater level
in Haryana almost doubled from 1999 to
2016 (Duhan 2017). An alarming pattern
was observed in Karnataka, as revealed
vol lIV no 9
by the report of the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka (EMPRI 2015),
Depletion of groundwater table due to overdraft at 64 per cent is a serious cause for
concern. As a result, the critical water flow
in the rivers has affected the river ecosystem. While climate change has seriously
impacted the rainfall pattern in the state,
deforestation in ecologically sensitive areas
of Western Ghats has limited the river flows
in the basins and also caused silt accumulation in the Dams. The overdraft of ground
water has drastically shortened the water
replenishment. Lakes and tanks bunds are
mercilessly encroached and diverted for
agriculture and other development purposes
allowing them for gradual demise.
Congress was in government from
1999 to 2004 and from 2013 to 2018 in
Karnataka and no comprehensive water
conservation policy had been put in
place. Exploitation of ground and surface water continued as usual.
Bharatiya Janata Party
The BJP in its 2014 election manifesto put
climate change mitigation initiatives and
working with global communities on this
matter as its main agenda. The manifesto
mentioned encouraging cleaner production, promoting cleaner fuels and the concept of proactive carbon credits. It also
included pollution control, social forestry,
green buildings, promotion of research
and development in environment technologies and setting up a foolproof mechanism for protection and preservation of
wildlife (BJP 2014). The party emphasised
the importance of conservation of the
Himalayas and listed few steps such as
(i) launching “National Mission on Himalayas,” (ii) creation of a “Himalayan
sustainability fund,” (iii) creation of a
central university dedicated to the Himalayan technology, and (iv) thrust to
programmes devised to arrest melting
of Himalayan glaciers.
Accordingly, the BJP-led National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government
has taken some proactive steps with regard to climate change. India has become
a party to the Paris Climate Agreement
by signing it. Additionally, India has targeted to achieve 100 GW solar power
capacity by 2022. While the power and
new and renewable energy minister
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COMMENTARY
admitted that even though the government was set to meet the target of 20 GW
in 2017–18 itself, “at present the indigenous manufacturing capacity is not adequate and therefore the country is dependent on both imported as well as domestically manufactured solar panels/
equipments” (PTI 2018). It was also admitted by the officials that “there were limitations to clean energy,” and that India
will also stick to its plan of doubling coal
production by 2020 (Reuters 2015). When
it comes to preservation and protection
of wildlife, the track record of NDA is
quite unsatisfactory. The killing of tigers
and leopards not only continued but increased under the BJP regime. Regarding
conservation of the Himalayan region,
the establishment of a central university
dedicated to Himalayan technology has
not yet materialised. Furthermore, the
ground realities show that agriculture in
the Himalayan region is getting seriously affected by climate change, while no
efforts are undertaken to address this
situation. Based on the projections by
the Indian Network on Climate Change
Assessment (INCCA), 2010, Gupta et al
(2018) noted that “by the 2030s there is a
possibility of irrigated and rain-fed rice
yields to reduce by up to 5%, wheat yield
by up to 20%, potato yield by 4%, and
maize yield by 40%,” in the north-eastern
Himalayan states. In the remaining Himalayan states,
with an increase in temperature, it is projected
that there will be an upward shift in agriculture, and this is likely to result in the loss of
permanent pastures and grassland, significantly impacting the livestock sector. This is likely
to adversely influence the region’s grain production and food security. (Gupta et al 2018)
Whereas this situation emphasises the
need for programmes like the National
Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture, a flagship programme launched in
2010 to address the risks of climate change
on agriculture in villages that are vulnerable to extreme weather. However, the NDA
government has reduced the budgetary
allocation for it from `180 crore in 2010–
11 to `52 crore in 2018–19 (Venkatesh et al
2018). While BJP promises sustainability
in the Himalayan region, the focus on
projects like a char-dham highway or
push for big projects like the Pancheshwar dam depicts something else entirely.
14
Approximately, 25,303 trees are already
cut for the char-dham highway project
(SANDRP 2018). The Pancheshwar dam
will also result in large-scale deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and
displacement. A glaring policy failure of
the BJP is evident when one looks at the
promises of the party as regards the
cleaning of the river Ganga as it committed
“to ensure the cleanliness, purity and uninterrupted flow of the Ganga on priority,”
in its manifesto. A lack of evidence is
witnessed on the ground. Also, one of
the flagship schemes of the central government, the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM),
could have environmental impacts hitherto unseen, due to unscientific management of the waste generated and poor
design of toilets. State governments have
not focused on things like availability of
water, cleanliness of water sources and
waterbodies or decentralised waste management, in order to meet toilet construction targets (Down to Earth 2018).
as 296 µg/m3 during January 2016 in
Delhi, which is far above the prescribed
standard limit of 60 µg/m3 (Central Pollution Control Board 2016). The level of
PM2.5 further increased during 2018.
CPI(M) and CPI
As regards climate change and environmental protection, the CPI(M) in their
2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto
had promised to (i) make the process
of environmental clearances effective,
(ii) reduce the emission of greenhouse
gases, (iii) strengthen the states to tackle natural and climate-related disasters,
and (iv) initiate immediate measures to
prevent degradation and destructive development on riverbeds and floodplains.
One point in their action plan, however,
reads as follows,
stopping implementation of Madhav Gadgil
and Kasturirangan reports and set-up a
broad-based expert committee to arrive at a
comprehensive plan for protection of fragile
eco-systems in the Western Ghats and people’s livelihoods through public hearings
and wide consultations with stakeholders.
(Communist Party of India [Marxist] 2014)
Aam Aadmi Party
AAP has taken a very unique stand in
terms of utilisation of natural resources.
Their environmental policy in the 2014
election manifesto stated, “in spite of being endowed with abundant natural resources, the aam aadmi’s access to basic
resources for well-being has been severely curtailed” (AAP 2014). They promised
to ensure that while ownership of major
natural resources will be vested in the
state, the minor minerals and forest produce should belong to the local communities. They also talked about royalty and
revenue sharing agreement with local
communities in the case of commercial
exploitation of resources, a vital role of
gram sabhas in such decisions, and
phased shift towards renewable sources
of energy in terms of solar, biogas, water
mills and wind pumps to reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs and encourage local ownership. The socialist
tone and tenor of the AAP manifesto has
similarity with that of the CPI(M). However, issues of climate change or environmental crises have not been addressed at all. Further, it has failed to
tackle the problem of air pollution in
Delhi adequately. The maximum value
of particulate matter PM2.5 was recorded
It may be noted that the Gadgil report
was criticised by the party for being
excessively environment centric, while
Gadgil in a recent interview after the flood
of July 2018 has categorically stated that
he repeatedly warned the Kerala government to take immediate actions against
gross violations of environmental laws in
many parts of the state (Nath 2018). The
horrific flood in Kerala was not only due to
the massive rainfall that it received but
also due to the mismanagement, as gates
of 29 dams were opened, including the
Idukki dam. According to Narain (2018),
Kerala has decimated its drainage systems,
from forests to paddy fields to ponds and
streams that would carry excess water or
store and recharge it. It is also the result of
the sheer incompetence of our technical
agencies to plan for flood control and dam
management. It is, therefore, “human made.”
It is “human made” because we refuse to accept that this is the new normal. We want to
believe that this is just another freak event;
another one in a 100-year event that we cannot plan for or do anything about.
The CPI(M)’s apparent populist stand
resulted in continued deforestation and
exploitation of waterbodies, costing the
state economically as well as in terms of
human lives.
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COMMENTARY
The manifesto of the CPI is an example
of how the party had shunned from climate change without mentioning a single
sentence on the issue, while under “Environment Policy,” the party had only uttered four sentences, like evolving a “comprehensive policy to protect environment”
and “balanced approach to environment
requirements and development,” without
explaining how these will be achieved
(Communist Party of India 2014).
Samajwadi Party
With the current president of the Samajwadi Party having a background in
environmental engineering, one would
have expected more focus on the issues
of environment and sustainability. However, in their 2014 manifesto, sparse attention was given to these issues and
only a lip-service was paid as it said that
the party,
shall develop an environmental policy which
shall ensure balanced use of natural resources and a manufacturing process which
includes maximum human efforts” and
“shall take care of the water harvesting and
prevent uncontrolled deforestation. (Mumbaivotes 2014a)
Turning to ground reality, it is found
that most of the districts in Uttar Pradesh
(UP) fell in the category of critically
“overexploited” for groundwater, both for
farming and industrial use (Dev 2016).
This state of affairs was the fallout of the
policy of the state government of incentivising the farm lobby with free electricity
and power pumpsets that led to more
than 70% of irrigation in agricultural fields
being done from groundwater and having
water incentive crops like sugar cane. Suffice it to say that the Samajwadi Party
has not taken any initiative to solve this
water mismanagement crisis in UP. Also,
despite the expressed intention to “develop an environmental policy which shall
ensure balanced use of natural resources,” no action has yet been taken to oust
the sand mining mafia across the state.
All India Trinamool Congress
The manifesto of the AITC was an example
of the superficial treatment of the issues
around the environment and climate
change. Their all-friendly action plans
regarding environmental issues were
abstract in nature. Some of these being:
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MARCH 2, 2019
(i) Nature has been tortured for many
years. Therefore, eco-friendly and people-friendly environmental law will be
developed. (ii) A new people-friendly,
industry-friendly, environment-friendly
and employment-friendly public–private
partnership (PPP) policy will be put in
place to augment the government’s investable resources. (iii) New forest law
will be enacted. Rights to tribal people
and forest dwellers will be restored.
(iv) A new law will be formulated for the
judicious use of natural resources (All
India Trinamool Congress 2014).
There was no clear direction in their
plan on how they would form an ecofriendly and people-friendly environmental law. What were the aspects of the environment this law would cover and how
would the party balance between environment and people? A PPP policy that
can be friendly to people, industry, environment, and employment definitely has
the potential to be the answer to environmental issues, but it almost seems a utopia in absence of any given modus operandi of this policy. It was also not clear
what were the changes the party wanted
to make in the Scheduled Tribes and Others Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and why
they wanted to enact a new forest law?
Same vagueness persisted in their one-line
action plan regarding judicious use of natural resources. While the AITC also talked
about rainwater harvesting and water distribution for domestic use and irrigation in
West Bengal, they are yet to come up with
the practice of the same on the ground.
However, draft policy guidelines for conservation of water by rainwater harvesting and framing of municipal by-laws for
mandatory rainwater harvesting are said
to be under process (Mandal 2015).
Shiv Sena
The manifesto of the Shiv Sena for the
2014 parliamentary elections did not
contain even a sentence on the environment and climate change. It blamed the
central government for delaying environmental clearances for the building of
a statue of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea and
implementation of a policy of adding
20% ethanol in petrol and diesel (Mumbaivotes 2014b). The environmental praxis
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of the party was best displayed when a
Shiv Sena leader and minister for environment violated rules of his own department for illegal construction in the
green zone in Khed city, Ratnagiri district (FPJ Political Bureau 2018). Groundwater levels in Maharashtra are depleting in 71% of state talukas, due to “uncontrolled extraction.” Extractions continue even in dry belts for purposes of
irrigating cash crops like sugar cane and
for bottled water plants (Kakodkar 2018).
The delay by Shiv Sena in the formation
of the biodiversity management committee has raised “questions over Sena’s
seriousness in taking care of the environment” (Singh 2018).
In Conclusion
The foregoing narrative on the election
manifestos of the eight political parties
reveals a divergence in varying degrees
in terms of the action plans that are set
and their policy implementation in the
states where they form governments.
Issues get omitted since they were difficult to address or mere populist stands
were taken. Issues like that of the rehabilitation and resettlement of the environmental refugees caused by climate
changes were not addressed at all, even
when “climate refugee” is an important
issue both at the national and international levels (Panda 2010). On the verge
of 2019 Lok Sabha election, if the same
patterns continue to be followed by the
major political parties of India, then environmental issues may again take the
back seat. This will further worsen India’s
environmental situation and mitigating
the adverse impact of climate change
may become costlier in the future.
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