Constitutional Provisions for the Protection of Environment in India

Abstract

Environment is the surroundings where we live in. It is necessary that we should conserve, protect or preserve the environment. Human beings are social animals. Basically it is the human right of every individual to live in a pollution free healthy environment. The Constitution of India provides various provisions which are essential and helpful for the protection of environment. As per the Hohfeld analysis of Jural Relatives, if you have Right then, you will have a corresponding Duty. Rights and duties are very important elements of Law. They correlated to each other in such a way that one cannot be conceived without the other. A right is always against someone upon whom the correlative duty is imposed. But as the time passes the citizens became conscious about their rights and thereby neglected their duties. Constitution of India has provided certain fundamental rights and fundamental duties to the citizens of India. The intention behind it was that the citizens and the State would shoulder the responsibility to protect the Constitutional order as their moral duty. In this paper, an attempt has been made to briefly outline the laws provided under the Constitution of India which are mainly relevant to protect and improve the environment.