Rameshwar Singh Jamwal
The whole of South Asia is under attack, this time from nature and hundreds of persons have been killed, and property worth thousands of crores has been lost. In India, from Maharashtra to Rajsthan, from Bihar, to Himachal Pradesh and now J&K, all the regions of India are facing nature’s fury that has led to massive human and monetary losses. J&K is the latest addition in this trail of death and destruction, not seen at such scale in many decades. For a poor UT like J&K, where we have to look for aid from Centre for every such tragedy, we are yet to see any futuristic approach for preventing such disasters, that have been mostly created by human beings. We had not recovered from the massive human tragedy at Chasoti in Kishtwar when another similar tragedy struck at the revered Trikuta hills, near Adh Kunwari, which religious place attracts millions from all across the globe. To make matters worse, the swollen Chenab and Tawi, two major rivers of Jammu region and scores of other small rivulets dotting the entire Jammu region caused mayhem at unprecedented scale. We will see a flurry of activity from politicians announcing doles out for the affected, some cosmetic repair work and then life will return to normal within a fortnight, when everyone will forget about the traumatic experiences undergone during these times and will hardly ponder as to what is required if such things are to be prevented in near or distant future. The rulers, the politicians from any political party, have hardly any knowledge about the term Environmental Crimes or the ways to curb the malaise and the bureaucrats are busy in other mundane things and hardly have any time for tackling crimes of such nature that have far-reaching consequences, ranging from the Ecological Harm, the Human health risks they pose, the economic disruptions these disasters cause and the security threat they pose, in fueling armed conflicts or assisting the enemy nations in making use of the conditions. The factors which contribute to majority of environmental crimes range from poor governance at various levels, from Central Government to UT of J&K Government, wide spread corruption, negligible or poor funding for environmental safe-guarding agencies, weak regulatory measures and poor Justice delivery system that has failed in punishing the environmental law violaters (As mentioned in detail in my book; Misgoverned Kashmir, the Indian Bane). Environmental crimes in our country have often been viewed as low and last priority and the penalties, that have been provided for violating such laws are rarely to be seen at the ground level.
How many persons have been punished for capturing government lands and ‘Khads’, or convicted for violating laws for lifting minor minerals (stones and gravel) from the Khads of Jammu, especially from places near pillars of bridges, which activity earlier caused damage to two vital bridges in Kathua or many other places in the past. How many from the Government officials from Mining to Police to revenue department to private individuals, who changed the course of ‘Sahar Khad’, will be charged and punished will be an interesting aspect to be watched in near future. The massive damage and discomfort, such acts cause to millions of persons is hardly dealt with the kind of response they should be given and unless and until the cost factor is increased manifold for such law violaters, you cannot expect willful law compliance.
Majority of environmental offences are committed with greed factor, and the costs should be manifold for such violations but here in our country, hardly anyone thinks about the crime theories that talk about the steps required before framing laws, especially those which deal with such aspects. Environment provides us everything for our sustenance to our survival and our protection; our health, food security and our economy is dependent upon it and yet we are so non serious about protecting it.
Since most of environmental crimes are not victim specific, we often expect others to protest without getting involved in protesting against the violation of environmental laws. The same situation existed in most of the countries of the world a couple of years ago but a lot of nations have realized the gravity of the problem and they have risen in unison to tackle it and the same type of movement, at public level is required if we want our future generations are to survive.
In Indian philosophy, we say that there are three creations of nature, the interplay of which gives us pleasure or pain :Adhyatam – the category deals with things directly connected with or concerning Human beings, like Intellect, pride, desire, sense organs and body. (Adhibhhot)-Those concerning other living beings like animals, birds, plants etc. (Adhidev)-Extra terrestrial bodies like Sun, planets, solar systems, and the rest of universe. We get three types of pleasures or pain out of these three above mentioned categories. Each such category can be further divided into two sub categories- pleasure or pain. Adhyatmik pleasure and pain:-If your body is strong, healthy and active etc. you get body pleasure or happiness. If body is weak, afflicted with diseases and weak, we are in pain, sad, and in discomfort.
Adhibhoutik pleasure and pain;-We get this pleasure from other living beings like milk from animals, riding horse, etc and pain from these things like when we get stung by snakes, scorpions, or get hurt by deadly sea animals or dangerous wild animals. Adhidevik pleasure and pain:-We get pleasure from extra terrestrial bodies like sun energy, light, etc and pain like when flooding takes place, lightning strikes, earthquakes occur, etc. So, if humans want to lead pleasurable and peaceful lives, while acting and devising their plans, we have to keep in mind our foremost duty to protect the balance of these three creations and must make our leadership and all humans understand their duty for preserving the nature and let all understand that the ultimate aim of governance is to provide pleasure to all its subjects which is impossible to be achieved if we violate the laws of nature and for letting nature provide pleasure to all living creations, you will have to not only devise plans and strategies according to these factors but also implement them with the object of achieving the maximum for all creations, only then we will be able to live peacefully and pleasurably, in harmony with the forces of nature.
(The author is a practicing Advocate of J&K High Court & President, Criminologists Society.)
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