Environmental Governance in India

Dr. Asish K.Ghosh,Director, Centre for Environment and Development, Kolkata had his education at the University of Calcutta, India and University of Wisconsin, Madison USA. A Fulbright scholar, he has 50 years of professional experience in India and abroad. He has authored 350 Research papers and books on issues of Environment and Development.

Environmental Governance is becoming a vital issue to ensure the process of Sustainable Development. An efficient system of governance demands adequate policy support, laws and standards supported by Institutional back up and trained man power. India, after 65 years of Independence, occupying 2.4 percent of global space and supporting 17 percent of the global population is deemed as the largest democracy in today s world. While the country is reckoned as one of the fastest emerging economies, the problems of Environmental Governance become increasingly more complex. This publication provides an insight into the system of governance, tracing the genesis from the pre-independence period to the modern times, focusing on the current controversies and on the increasing role of civil society, media and the judiciary as also stressing on the weakness and strengths of the system.