Supreme Court judge bats for strengthening pollution boards

CHENNAI: Supreme Court judge MM Sundresh advocated strengthening of pollution control boards and providing independent power to the boards, while speaking at the two-day 'Regional Conference on Environment' organised by the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal in Chennai, on Saturday.

"We have plenty of laws to deal with the (environmental) problem. But the problem here is that we have a very weak structure. Pollution control boards are to be strengthened with adequate staff. The board should be given independent power," he said while inaugurating the conference.

Explaining the importance of protecting the environment, Justice Sundresh added that huge human effort and money would be required to recreate the precious elements of nature. "From an economic point of view, the world is losing billions and billions of dollars due to climate change, water scarcity and other environmental degradation. Almost 10% of the GDP is getting lost," he stated.

Justice Aravind Kumar, who is also a Supreme Court judge, expressed that even before environmental impact assessment and clearance procedures, civilisations understood that human beings are not masters of the earth, but participants in a larger order.

"Article 21, as interpreted by our courts, tells us that the right to life is not the right to a mere animal existence, but the right to live with dignity in a clean and healthy environment. Article 51, 48A and 51A(g) remind us that protecting and improving the environment is not a hobby of a few nature lovers, but it is the duty of the State and of every citizen,” he said.

Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, chief justice of Madras High Court, Justice Prakash Shrivastava, chairperson of National Green Tribunal, Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, judicial member of NGT southern zone, and finance and environment minister Thangam Thennarasu took part in the event.