Has Indian environmentalism come of age?

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Even the most ardent proponents of industrialism would acknowledge that we are in the midst of an environment crisis. Rates of species extinction are 1000 times more than what they were before human beings dominated the earth. The rate of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is 30 times more than when the Industrial revolution started. Urban India is slowly waking up to this inconvenient truth.

The Outlook-CNN-IBN-CSDS "State of Environment in Indian Cities" is an attempt to gauge precisely this- assess the level of awareness, attitudes, perception and concerns of the people about the state of environment in their country

The survey- has thrown up some startling results. Indians consider environment to be the Number Two problem beating unemployment, law and order and even corruption. In a similar survey conducted in the UK the British considered environment as Number Five on their list of social problems, which the government should tackle. Indians in the first ever environment poll are clearly feeling the heat.

Does this mean Indians are environmentally responsible? Being aware does not always translate into responsible action more than half - 53%don't segregate their garbage, 43% never switch off their lights. And they may not always be aware- 45% believe the biggest contributor to air pollution is industries and not their own private vehicles, 53% believe the main reason for pollution in the rivers is because of industrial waste - only 18% see a connection between their own sewage and the state of our rivers. A majority are willing to give up their cars if a better public transport is in place and would vote for a politician who promises a clean environment.

In the maze of high-rise apartments, glitzy shopping malls and lifestyle diseases urban India is also waking up to the perils of life in a rapidly concretizing jungle. Perhaps the biggest lesson from this survey is that for urban Indians environmental problems are no longer 'out there' -they are right here in our cities- wetlands which used to act as carbon sinks in cities are being built on, rivers like the Yamuna are dead, the once common house sparrows are now hard to see and gadgets like reverse osmosis, and inhalers are integral to every household in our cities. Drive just a few kilometers outside any city and the devastation is visible - a stark brown landscape and big craters in agricultural fields -soil being used as bricks for a city's high rise dreams.

But Indians are also fighting back. While Indian environmentalism was associated with rural Indians fighting to stop mass destruction of trees through the 'chipko movement' of in the 1980s- urban Indians are catching up- As the environment editor at CNN-IBN I am flooded with calls daily from a university professor fighting to save trees from being cut down, an RWA fighting against encroachments of green spaces by builders or an architect fighting to save the Yamuna. These are ordinary middle class Indians turned eco-warriors. They may use gandhian methods of dharnas, and agitations but they have access to other tools- sms campaigns and mass emails - they know how to work the government systems and the media to fight their green wars.

Sadly one institution which has not kept pace with this movement - the Ministry of Environment and Forests- in the dusty corridors of its innocuous building in South Delhi some of the most vital decisions are taken for destruction of this country's vital natural resources. Environment clearances are handed out like driver's licenses at your local RTO, on the basis of technical reports that conveniently overlook globally endangered wildlife species may inhabit the forests. To date - the Ministry has cleared every single project sent to it for environment and forest clearance. In other developing countries like Kenya or Brazil there is a fear of the Ministry and its policing institutions. Portfolios like environment are handed to articulate, savvy and strong politicians. Ask any person if they can recall even one environment minister of India - and their memories may fail.

Critics of environmentalism have so far brushed aside the movement is being too 'apocalyptic' or driven by a left agenda. But urban Indians have given their verdict- the deteriorating environment is a mainstream social issue. The environment is suddenly everyone's problem. As a young mother on the CNN-IBN State of the environment show put it- access to clean air should be declared an essential commodity. This World environment day perhaps its time to unleash Indian environmentalism from the shackles of being perceived as a jhola- clad activist's agenda to an essential service, which urban Indians want. The period of denial is over.