Advancing Environmental Justice for Marginalized Communities in India: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

263 Pages·2021·8.137 MB·English

by  Alan Diduck, Kirit Patel, Aruna Kumar Malik

Advancing Environmental Justice
for Marginalized Communities
in India
This interdisciplinary collection examines social equity and environmental
justice in India. It assesses the effectiveness of environmental policies and
institutions in rendering justice for marginalized communities while ensur-
ing protection of the environment. It also analyses the influence of the neo-
liberal state and its political economies on the development and outcomes of
these policies and institutions.
The book provides a unique perspective on environmental justice because
of its consistent emphasis on social justice, rather than the prevailing pre-
dominant analyses from legal or environmental perspectives. It explores the
themes of effectiveness and equity as they pertain to public policy instru-
ments, such as environmental impact assessment, environmental licensing
and enforcement, public hearings and environmental activism strategies. The
four interlinked dimensions of environmental justice, namely recognitional
justice, procedural justice, distributive justice and restorative justice, provide
the core of the book’s conceptual framework. The contributions draw on
ideas and methods from development studies, environmental geography,
environmental law and policy, natural resource management, public admin-
istration and political economy. The book concludes by considering planning,
policy and institutional reforms and community-based initiatives that are
needed to promote and protect environmental justice in India.
Offering an important reference for researchers and scholars, this book will
appeal to those in law, geography, environmental studies, natural resource
management, development studies, sociology and political science. It will
also be of interest to community-based researchers, environmentalists and
other civil society activists, natural resource managers and policy makers.
Alan P. Diduck is a Professor and the Department Chair of Environmental
Studies and Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. Before joining the univer-
sity, he was a lawyer and executive director of a social profit organization pro-
viding public legal education and information services. His research deals with
community engagement in environmental governance, the learning implica-
tions of involvement and the consequences for social aspects of sustainability,
such as adaptive capacity and environmental justice.
Kirit Patel is an Associate Professor and Program Chair of International Devel-
opment Studies at Menno Simons College, affiliated with the University of
Winnipeg and Canadian Mennonite University. As an academic, policy analyst and
development professional, Dr Patel’s teaching and research focus on environmental
and social justice, sustainable food systems and nutrition security, agrarian change
and rural-urban migration, agrobiodiversity conservation, Indigenous knowledge
systems and the governance of common property resources in South Asia.
Aruna Kumar Malik was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Guja-
rat National Law University. He was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II
Diamond Jubilee International Scholarship and was a visiting scholar at the
University of Winnipeg, Canada, in 2018–2019.
Advancing Environmental
Justice for Marginalized
Communities in India
Progress, Challenges and Opportunities
Edited by Alan P. Diduck, Kirit Patel and
Aruna Kumar Malik
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Alan P. Diduck, Kirit Patel, Aruna
Kumar Malik; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Alan P. Diduck, Kirit Patel, Aruna Kumar Malik to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Diduck, Alan, editor. | Patel, Kirit, editor. | Malik, Aruna Kumar,
editor.
Title: Advancing environmental justice for marginalized communities in
India : progress, challenges and opportunities / edited by Alan P.
Diduck, Kirit Patel, Aruna Kumar Malik.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021013899 (print) | LCCN 2021013900 (ebook) | ISBN
9780367692810 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367692827 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003141228 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Environmental justice--India. | Environmental law--India.
Classification: LCC GE240.I4 A38 2022 (print) | LCC GE240.I4 (ebook) |
DDC 363.7/052--dc23
LC record available at https://lccnloc.gov/2021013899
LC ebook record available at https://lccnloc.gov/2021013900
ISBN: 978-0-367-69281-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-69282-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14122-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003141228
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Dedicated to the memory of our friend and colleague, Aruna Kumar Malik
(1981-2021), who played a pivotal role in the book, from conception to final
submission and publication.
Alan P. Diduck
Kirit Patel

Contents
Lists of figures x
List of tables xi
List of contributors xii
Acknowledgements xvii
PART I
Introduction
1 Environmental justice in India: Context,
issues and framework 3
KIRIT PATEL, ALAN P. DIDUCK AND ARUNA KUMAR MALIK
PART II
Economic, policy and institutional context
2 Injustice and justice: The double movement
of small hydro development in Himachal Pradesh 23
J. MARK BAKER
3 The visible fault line of development: The right
of consent of Adivasi communities and the
political economy of mining 38
ARPITHA KODIVERI
4 Realizing sustainable development and
water justice through procedural justice 53
GAYATHRI D. NAIK
viii Contents
5 The National Green Tribunal’s response to the
cause of tribals and fisherfolk 65
ARMIN ROSENCRANZ, AVINASH MATHEWS, SANGRAM SINH PARAB,
SHUBHAM JANGHU AND SUHAAS PUTTA
6 Being appraised by experts: A review of the role
of Expert Appraisal Committees in the environmental
clearance process and judicial intervention 79
HIMANSHU PABREJA AND NEELOTPALAM TIWARI
PART III
Cases studies of justice and injustice
7 Small hydro and environmental justice:
Lessons from the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh 101
ALAN P. DIDUCK, RICHARD JOHNSON, ESTHER EDWARDS,
A. JOHN SINCLAIR, JAMES GARDNER AND KIRIT PATEL
8 A case study of impact assessment, litigation and
a social movement against a limestone mine in Gujarat 119
ARIANE DILAY
9 Values matter: Gender-based exclusion from
environmental impact assessments in Mahuva, Gujarat 137
BRYCE GALLANT
10 Holding international finance institutions
accountable for environmental injustice: A case study
of the Tata Mundra power plant in Gujarat 154
AVERY LETKEMANN, CARINNE BÉTOURNAY, BHARAT PATEL,
KIRIT PATEL AND ALAN P. DIDUCK
11 Environmental justice and participation for
communities in southern India: Sand mining in
Udupi District, Karnataka 171
CASSANDRA SZABO AND MAHABALESHWAR HEGDE
Contents ix
12 Karwar fisherfolk’s quest for environmental justice:
Examining the roles of impact assessment,
environmental regulatory agencies and legal institutions 186
MAHABALESHWAR HEGDE, KIRIT PATEL, ALAN P. DIDUCK AND
DEBAYAN GUPTA
13 Advancing environmental justice: Lessons from
the Thoothukudi Sterlite Copper case 201
ARUNA KUMAR MALIK, ALAN P. DIDUCK AND KIRIT PATEL
14 Judicial environmentalism: The thorny case
of Prosopis juliflora 216
R. SEENIVASAN
PART IV
Conclusion
15 Lessons for policy and institutional reform 231
ALAN P. DIDUCK, KIRIT PATEL AND ARUNA KUMAR MALIK
Index 239