Protecting and Improving Natural Environment

The right to a healthy environment or a sustainable and healthy environment is the basic human right that every citizen of the country must be given. This particular right is advocated by human rights organizations and environmental organizations to protect the ecological system providing human health. 

This right- the United Nations Human Rights Council acknowledged the right to a healthy environment during the 48th session in the year 2021. This specific right is interconnected with the other health-focused human rights, including the right to food, water and sanitation, and the right to health. 

A human rights approach is used by the right to a healthy environment so that the quality of the environment can be protected. This new approach addresses the impact that environmental damage can have upon individual humans.

Right to a healthy environment: Role of the state

The right to a healthy environment creates an obligation of the state to form, regulate, and implement the laws related to the environment, control pollution, and work to provide justice and protections for the communities that are harmed due to environmental problems. This particular right is considered a significant right for creating environmental legal precedents for change in climate litigations and other issues related to the environment.

What is meant by the right to water under article 21?

In India, the right to water under article 21 can be drawn from the other rights that are protected under the broad heading of the ‘Right to Life’ including the right to food, right to clean environment, and right to health, guaranteed under article 21 of the Indian constitution. This basic right acknowledges that clean drinking water is essential to each individual’s life. 

Article 21, 48, and 51 (g) of the Indian Constitution are interpreted by the judiciary in India to draw the right to water under article 21, but the fact is that there is. Specifically, no provision constituted explaining this particular right.

The very objective of this specific right is to prevent and control water pollution and maintain or restore water so that each citizen of the country can have access to clean and safe drinking water. 

What is the constitutional provision for environmental protection?

Following mentioned are the Indian constitutional provision for environmental protection:

• International Environmental Agreements

Multiple international agreements dealing with the protection of the environment have been made over the years, and India has been a signatory to it. It has been clearly stated in article 51 (c) of the Indian Constitution that it is the responsibility of the state to respect the international laws and the obligations of the treaties, specially made for protecting the environment. It is Article 253 of the constitution that allows the parliament to frame laws applicable to the whole or a part of the country in environmental protection. It is to be known that the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 and Environment Protection Act, 1986 were enacted by Parliament with the use of this power.

• The obligation of State and Environmental Protection

In 1976, that constitution was amended, and with this, Article 48-A was inserted in the Indian constitution. The main aim was to afford better provisions so that the environment could be preserved and protected. It is the provision of this article that imposes a duty on the state for protecting and improving the natural environment and safeguarding the country’s wildlife and forests.

• The

  obligation of Citizens and Environmental Protection

Not only do citizens have the right to a healthy environment, but also at the same time, they are obliged to protect it by not carrying out the activities proving dangerous for the society at large and all other living organisms. 

The Indian constitution’s drafters felt the need for transferring the burden of protecting the environment on both the state and its citizens. Therefore, the Constitution (Forty Second) Amendment Act, 1976 inserted part IV-A, which deals with the fundamental duties. It is article 51-A(g) that deals with the fundamental duty of the citizens for protecting and preserving the natural environment. 

• Right to Life and Environmental Protection

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution provides for the fundamental rights of life. It is stated that no individual should be deprived of his rights to life or personal liberty. The right to life, along with the right to have bare necessities like food, clean water, shelter, clothes, also extends to having a clean environment in which a person can live safely without any threat.

This right is considered an important right from the viewpoint of the constitutional provision for environmental protection, as the right to life can only be fulfilled when one lives in a clean, safe, and disease-free environment. 

Conclusion

Once, the word ‘environment’ was not mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and no specific provisions were drafted to protect and preserve the environment. But now that environmental hazards have increased, the need to protect and preserve the environment has also increased. In this article, you will learn about the right to a healthy environment, the right to water, and Constitutional provisions for protecting the natural environment.