COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION - A RESEARCH REPORT

Paper for the presentation at the Workshop on Environmental Law,

16-17 December, 2000

A large number of public interest litigation has been file in the recent past to challenge large infrastructure projects including dams and power projects. The grounds for challenges are adverse environmental impacts, safety aspects, forced displacements and inadequate resettlements and rehabilitation measures. The Supreme Court in its final decision over a writ petition filed by Narmada Bachao Andholana (NBA) has given green signal to the construction of the controversial dam (Sardar Sarovar Project). The NBA was agitated on the grounds of displacements, poor rehabilitation plans and adverse environmental impacts. Earlier World Bank, which had sanctioned loan for the construction of dam decided to withdraw based on Morse Report. NBA found that in the name of development the poor and ignorant people were exploited. NBA was often painted as an anti-development organization.

The Supreme Court of India through PIL had earned an image of the protector of the rights of powerless people. The petition of NBA was filed under article 32 of the constitution which guarantee to every person the fundamental right to move the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights.

The article 21 which guarantees the 'right to life' and 'personal liberty' had received narrowest interpretation by the court in 1970. But later in 1980s court gave very liberal interpretation to include, right to life, to personal liberty, and rights not to be deprived of the rights mentioned. The right to life included right to livelihood, drinking water, right to fresh air, health care and right to clean and healthy environment. This type of liberal interpretation of article 21 and the growth of public interest litigation changed the social profile of the Supreme Court dealing with social, economic and political issues.

The NBAs petition was finally disposed of by the court on October 18,2000 and court allowed the Government of Gujrat to increase the dam height to 90 meters and to increase the dam height further by taking permission from Narmada Control Authority.

Thus the public interest litigation, which represented peoples' movement, was disposed of in favour of foreign investment and development. Environmental valuation

The whole crisis in environmental conservation and legal issues centers around the problem of value of environmental resources to the present and future generation against capital market values through development. The main focus of environmental economics has been to value the non-marketed benefits and costs. When a particular development issue is involved only the financial benefits and costs physically received by the stakeholders are taken into consideration. The environmental resources on the other hand generate economic values, which does not pass through the market system. These benefits are broadly divided as use and non-use values. A. Use values: In the case of environmental goods this could include current use, expected use and possible uses.

1.     Direct use values are received directly by users of environmental resources such as forests, marine and freshwater resources. These direct use values are, further divided into

¨ Extractive uses: fish production, logs, forest products

¨ Non-extractive uses

¨  eco tourism, recreation and scientific studies

2.       Indirect use values support and protect economic activities

¨ On site: Soil fertility, trees

¨ Off site: down stream watershed protection

3.       Option value: The value placed on future direct and indirect use values by the current users. It is the value of keeping open the options of using the resources in future. 4. Preservation values: It refers to inherent benefits in maintaining a resource in its pristine state. These values can be quantified through

¨ Direct market prices

¨ Surrogate market methods

¨ Constructed markets based on hypothetical markets

¨ Ability to pay and willingness to pay

B. Non-use values: Nonuse value is a gain in a person's utility without the person actually using the good.  For example, we may value the marine ecosystem not intending to use directly but the wilderness that makes us to feel good. There are three basic types of non-use values such as existence value, altruistic value and bequest value.

¨ Existence value is the value of consumer attracts to knowing something exists (for example dense forests of Western ghats).

¨  Altruistic value derives not from my own consumption but from the fact that I derive benefits when someone else gains utility.

¨   Bequest value is similar to altruistic value though associated with the well being of future generation.

Research Results

The increasing threat posed by the industrial development in coastal Kamataka due to fragile Western ghats and marine ecosystem, has become a growing concern of many environmentalists.   Majority of the urban population in coastal cities like Mangalore etc. are exposed to environmental degradation in terms of quality of air, water etc. untreated waste water, hazardous chemicals etc. The inadequate and poor quality of water on the other hand imposes additional costs to the society. Increased household expenditure on treating water, washing, private medical expenses are among such costs. In Mangalore, only two @ third of the urban population are said to have good drinking water, only 1/2 of the households have drainage system.

The present study is an attempt to evaluate the opinion of different stakeholders on the reasons for deterioration in environmental quality and awareness of environmental law. Following tables shows some of the salient results.

Market and Policy Failure

Market failure occurs due to malfunctioning, distorted or absent markets. Prices generated by such markets do not reflect the social costs and benefits of resource use. Prices, where they exist convey misleading information about resources scarcity. Major sources of market failure include:

¨ Externalities: in which the effect of an action on another party is not taken into account by the producer / consumer.

¨ Missing markets for environmental services and open access public goods.

¨ Market imperfections such as lack of information and knowledge, which causes uncertainty and monopsonic competition. Policy failure occurs when state fails to take actions to correct the market failure and when policies are implemented which further distract prices and causes disincentives for sustainable resource management. Common examples are:

¨ Land tenure legislation

¨ Low / fees or under price

¨ Subsidized credit and chemicals

Conclusions

¨ From the analysis of the responses of 306 households surveyed in Mangalore urban and rural areas regarding their perception of the coastal ecosystem and awareness of environmental laws, it is quite clear that those respondents with very high dependence on coastal zone resources have better knowledge of the biodiversity and its losses.

¨ The respondents with higher income and elite jobs have poor knowledge of biodiversity and favour rapid industrial growth.

¨  Interestingly, the government officers working in various departments also do not have proper perception of the deterioration of coastal ecosystem but found to favour rapid industrial growth as a means to create more jobs and income.

¨ Thus the majority of the actual users such as fisher groups, farmers, for commercial purposes and housewives, students etc. who use for recreational purposes have expressed their strong concern for the deteriorating environment as against the respondents from industry and government who are not directly receiving benefits from the ecosystem.

¨ It is very important that the real stakeholders are properly represented in the policy making process which has direct impact on their livelihood.

¨  The outcome of this study shows that those who are directly dependent on these coastal resources such as fishing and farming communities have better knowledge of the resource system and the factors associated with the development, which would eventually deteriorate these resources.

¨ Though higher education seem to have a positive impact on the knowledge of the ecosystem, higher income did not lead to such an awareness and positive opinion for ecosystem conservation.

¨  Further, awareness on different environmental regulations is lacking among higher income, higher profession and educational groups.

¨ The government officials also do not have proper knowledge of the ecosystem and the complexity of issues.

¨ Only when government officials are aware of the problem, they will be able to impress the government for appropriate policy decisions, which will not affect the majority of the stakeholders.