Legal Framework For Aquatic Ecosystem Protection In India: Challenges And Policy Reforms

Abstract

With an astonishingly disproportionate portion of the national biodiversity, drinking water sources and rural livelihoods, the rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters of India are faces to a constant onslaught of industrial effluents, agricultural run-offs, urban sewage, sand mining and unplanned infrastructure projects. Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and the current legal and institutional framework governing the preservation of aquatic ecosystems in India are all examined in this paper. The research applies a doctrinal and policy-analytical approach by reviewing statutory provisions, judicial statements of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal and secondary scholarly sources to pinpoint invariably unfulfilled gaps between the textual provisions of laws and the ecological consequences. The review concludes that the main inhibitors to successful protection include fragmented jurisdiction between central and state governments, lack of effective enforcement capacity by pollution control boards, lack of baseline ecological information and the subordination of environmental clearance to development priorities. The paper proposes the following areas of reform: integrated river-basin governance, the enhancement of the enforcement authority of the National Green Tribunal, compulsory ecological flow standards, and the increased involvement of the community in the management of wetlands and coastal zones. It finds that reforming the law is not enough without investing in parallel in the monitoring infrastructure and institutional accountability.