The document discusses environmental protection and its importance. It provides definitions of key terms like environment, explains various causes of environmental degradation like land disturbance, pollution, overpopulation etc. It outlines some major environmental protection acts and provisions in India like the Environment Protection Act 1986, National Environment Protection Measures. It discusses how environment is defined in Indian law and the constitutional right to a healthy environment. In summary, the document covers the concept of environmental protection, key laws and policies around it in India, and recognizes every person's right to live in a clean environment.

1. PREPARED BY:
KAMIL MANZOOR
(34)
JUNAID RAFIQI (32)
MBA-4th Sem.

2. Environmental protection
 Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural
environment on individual, organizational or governmental levels,
for the benefit of both the natural environment and humans.
 Due to the pressures of population and technology,
the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes
permanently.
 This has been recognized, and governments have begun placing
restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation.
 Since the 1960s, activity of environmental movements has
created awareness of the various environmental issues.
 There is no agreement on the extent of the environmental impact
of human activity, and protection measures are occasionally
criticized.

3. Environmental protection
• Academic institutions now offer courses, such as environmental
studies , environmental management and environmental engineering ,
that teach the history and methods of environment protection.
Protection of the environment is needed due to various human
activities.
•Environmental protection is influenced by three interwoven factors:
environmental legislation, ethics and education.
•Each of these factors plays its part in influencing national-level
environmental decisions and personal-level environmental values and
behaviors.
•For environmental protection to become a reality, it is important for
societies to develop each of these areas that, together, will inform and
drive environmental decisions

4. Environmental Protection

5. The Environment (protection)
Act 1986
 Environment Protection Act, 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of India.
 In the wake of the Bhopal Tragedy, the Government of India enacted the
Environment Protection Act of 1986 under Article 253 of the Constitution.
 Passed in March 1986, it came into force on 19 November 1986. The
purpose of the Act is to implement the decisions of the United Nations
Conference on the Human Environments they relate to the protection and
improvement of the human environment and the prevention of hazards to
human beings, other living creatures, plants and property.
 The Act is an “umbrella” legislation designed to provide a framework for
central government coordination of the activities of various central and
state authorities established under previous laws, such as the Water Act
and the Air Act.

7. Causes of Environmental
Degradation
 1. Land Disturbance: A more basic cause of
environmental degradation is land damage. Numerous
weedy plant species, for example, garlic mustard, are
both foreign and obtrusive. A rupture in
the environmental surroundings provides for them a
chance to start growing and spreading. These plants
can assume control over nature, eliminating the local
greenery. The result is territory with a solitary
predominant plant which doesn’t give satisfactory food
assets to all the environmental life. Whole
environments can be destroyed because of these
invasive species.

8. CONTD…
 2. Pollution: Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is
air, water, land or noise is harmful for the environment.
 Air pollution pollutes the air that we breathe which
causes health issues. Water pollution degrades the
quality of water that we use for drinking purposes.
 Land pollution results in degradation of earth’s surface
as a result of human activities.
 Noise pollution can cause irreparable damage to our
ears when exposed to continuous large sounds like
honking of vehicles on a busy road or machines
producing large noise in a factory or a mill.

9. CONTD…
 3. Overpopulation: Rapid population growth puts
strain on natural resources which results in
degradation of our environment. Mortality rate has
gone down due to better medical facilities which
has resulted in increased lifespan. More
population simple means more demand for food,
clothes and shelter. You need more space to grow
food and provide homes to millions of people. This
results in deforestation which is another factor of
environmental degradation.

10. CONTD…
 4. Landfills: Landfills pollute the environment and destroy the beauty of the city.
Landfills come within the city due the large amount of waste that gets generated
by households, industries, factories and hospitals. Landfills pose a great risk to
the health of the environment and the people who live there. Landfills produce
foul smell when burned and cause huge environmental degradation.
 5. Deforestation: Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for
more homes and industries. Rapid growth in population and urban sprawl are
two of the major causes of deforestation. Apart from that, use of forest land for
agriculture, animal grazing, harvest for fuel wood and logging are some of the
other causes of deforestation. Deforestation contributes to global warming as
decreased forest size puts carbon back into the environment.
 6: Natural Causes: Things like avalanches, quakes, tidal waves, storms, and
wildfires can totally crush nearby animal and plant groups to the point where
they can no longer survive in those areas. This can either come to fruition
through physical demolition as the result of a specific disaster, or by the long
term degradation of assets by the presentation of an obtrusive foreign species to
the environment. The latter frequently happens after tidal waves, when reptiles
and bugs are washed ashore.
 Of course, humans aren’t totally to blame for this whole thing. Earth itself causes
ecological issues, as well. While environmental degradation is most normally
connected with the things that people do, the truth of the matter is that the
environment is always changing.

11. How is ‘Environment’ defined
under Indian Law?
According to Section 2(a) of the Environmental
Protection Act, 1986, ‘Environment’ includes
a) Water, air and land
b) The inter-relationship which exists among and
between:
i. water, air, land, and;
ii. human beings, other living creatures,
plants, microorganisms and property

12. National Environment Protection
Measures (NEPMs)
NEPMs are a special set of national objectives designed to assist in
protecting or managing particular aspects of the environment. They
are:
 ambient air quality
 ambient marine, estuarine and fresh water quality;
 the protection of amenity in relation to noise.
 general guidelines for the assessment of site contamination;
 environmental impacts associated with hazardous wastes;
 the re-use and recycling of used materials.
NEPMs may also relate to motor vehicle noise and emissions.

13. What is a fundamental right of the
environment ?
 The environment is considered as a third generation fundamental right,
also known as a “solidarity right”. This category of rights is
complementing the civil and political rights of the first generation, and
also the economic and social rights of the second generation
 The Fundamental Rights is defined as the basic human rights of all
citizens. These rights, defined in Part III of the Constitution, apply
irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed or gender.
They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions.

14.  The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines for the
framing of laws by the government. These provisions are not
enforceable by the courts, but the principles on which they are
based are fundamental guidelines for governance that the State
is expected to apply in framing and passing laws.
 The Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of
all citizens to help promote a spirit of patriotism and to uphold the
unity of India. These duties, concern individuals and the nation.
Like the Directive Principles, they are not legally enforceable.

15. Environment Protection Acts in the
Indian Constitution
 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
 The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
 Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989
 Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules,
1989
 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
 The Wildlife (Stock Declaration) Central Rules, 1973
 The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
 The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995
 The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997

16. Provisions in the Indian Penal Code for
environmental protection
 The Indian Penal Code has a chapter on offences affecting Public Health, Safety,
Convenience (Chapter XIV). Sec. 268 provides that “a person is guilty of a public
nuisance who does any act or is guilty of an illegal omission which causes any
common injury, danger or annoyance to the public or to the people in general who
dwell or occupy property in the vicinity, or which must necessarily cause injury,
obstruction, danger, or annoyance to persons who may have occasion to use any
public right.”
 Other concerned provisions are: a “negligent act likely to spread infection or
disease dangerous to life” (Sec. 269 IPC.), a “malignant act likely to spread
infection or disease dangerous to life” (Sec. 270 IPC.), “making atmosphere
noxious to health” (Sec. 278 IPC.).
 In case of public nuisance, the Penal Code provides for fines up to Rs. 200/- by
way of punishment (Sec. 290 IPC.) and for making the atmosphere noxious to
health Rs. 500/- only (Sec.78 IPC.).
 The punishments are too meager to meet the objectives. With these penal
provisions, it is not possible to check environmental pollution.

17. The Constitutional Right to a Healthy
Environment.
Do people have a right to clean air, safe drinking water, and a healthy
environment?
Today it is widely recognized in international law and endorsed by an
overwhelming proportion of countries.
Every human has a right to live in a clean and healthy environment. This
is a general right which is inalienable. Many constitutions all over the
world have guaranteed a healthy environment and they also take
appropriate measures to prevent any kind of environmental harm so as to
maintain a healthy environment.
All the constitutions adopted since 1992 also recognize right to clean
environment as open right. About 200 treaties are registered under the
UN environmental program register.

18. The first formal recognition of the right to a healthy environment came in
the Stockholm Declaration, which emerged from the pioneering global eco-
summit in 1972:
“Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate
conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of
dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to
protect and improve the environment for present and future
generations.”
In the four decades since the Stockholm Declaration, the right to a healthy
environment rapidly migrated around the globe. As of 2012, 177 of the
world's 193 UN member nations recognize this right through their
constitution, environmental legislation, court decisions, or ratification of an
international agreement .

19. Despite this progress, there is an ongoing debate about the scope and
potential utility of the right to a healthy environment. Supporters argue that
the potential benefits of constitutional environmental rights include:
 Stronger environmental laws and policies
 Improved implementation and enforcement
 Greater citizen participation in environmental decision making
 Increased accountability
 Reduction in environmental injustices
 A level playing field with social and economic rights
 Better environmental performance

20. Critics, on the other hand, argue that constitutional environmental rights are:
 Too vague to be useful
 Redundant because of existing human rights and environmental laws
 A threat to democracy because they shift power from elected legislators
to judges
 Not enforceable
 Likely to cause a flood of litigation
 Likely to be ineffective
Clean environment is important for health of humans. Every country must
ensure that its citizen lives in a better and healthy environment. And it is also
the duty of citizens to protected and preserve environment. Indian courts
have recognized this right and the Constitution also protects this right.

21. Thank You….