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Let planning reflect the PM’s LIFE mantra
Last year, at COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, PM Modi introduced the idea of LIFE, or ‘Lifestyles for Environment’.
When Prime Minister Modi pledged toilets for every home, we got the far-reaching Swachh Bharat Mission. When he pledged to eliminate single use plastics, we got the excellent Plastic Waste Rules, 2021. Now, as he presents the country with LIFE, or Lifestyles for Environment, it seems that this time, key agencies are not up to the task. The National Capital Region Planning Board is an example. In its latest proposed 2014 plan, LIFE priorities are absent.
Indians have historically lived in harmony with nature. The new plan forgets this – visible in the changes between the Regional Plan 2021 and the draft 2041 plan. The new 2041 plan wipes out conservation, as a term and practice. Previously, Aravallis and all forest areas, notified or not, were Natural Conservation Zones (NCZ). Now, apart from dropping the name Aravalli, all forest areas lose automatic NCZ protection. Only forests already notified under a central or state act plus recognised as such in land records will be recognised as Natural Zones.
But many are deemed or in court to be deemed forests via judgments. Are courts irrelevant? Even the target of bringing 10% of the area under forests is gone. Allocation of wastelands for forest has gone. Wetlands suffer similarly. Most damaging, the 0.5% limit on construction, only for regional recreational activities, is removed, making it possible to construct anything, anywhere.Such planning is the antithesis of LIFE, set to eliminate our authentic Indian ethos. And for this reason, the 2041 plan must be revised and nourished to overcome shortcomings.
(The writer is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)
