INDEX

EPW MAY 2019

1. The Fate of New Police Initiatives ......................................................................... 3

2. Exploring the 5G Saga............................................................................................ 4

3. Caste in the Midst of Cyclone Fani......................................................................... 5

4. Handling Nuclear Weapons with Responsibility ................................................... 7

5. Women’s Representation in Politics ...................................................................... 8

6. The Weight of a Vote .............................................................................................. 9

7. Challenges for Transgender-inclusive Sanitation in India ................................... 11

8. Undermining the Lokpal ...................................................................................... 13

9. Continual Diminishing of the Aravalli Hills .........................................................15

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 EPW MAY 2019

1. THE FATE OF NEW POLICE  Hierarchy: Colonial hangover in

INITIATIVES terms of the hierarchical set-up of the

Why in news? police and training and more endemic

issues like the lack of caste and
 As part of its community-policing religious diversity in the force, and the
initiatives, the Maharashtra police has attitude towards women constables
decided to institutionalise the “best and assistant inspectors.
policing practices” that were or are  Poor skills and means: It is also well
being followed in districts across the known that the overall dismal
state. conviction rates for most major crimes
 In this context, accountability to the stem from poor investigation, and
citizen must be paramount in forensic skills and means.
community-policing initiatives.  Opacity: But, while these and many
other issues need to be addressed
What are the issues with the police?
urgently, the most important are the
accountability of the police to the
 Human rights violation: The
larger community and their attitudes
shortcomings and downright
towards tribal, marginalised, Dalit
violations of human rights committed
and women complainants.
by the police are a major concern.
 Political interference: One aspect
 Vacancy: It has been repeatedly
that is constantly mentioned and
pointed out that India’s ratio of police
criticised is the “political interference”
persons per 1,000 people is 1.2, which
in police functioning and the political
is grossly below the United Nation’s
executive’s hold over the force.
recommendation.
 Work conditions: Problems of
What lies ahead?
overwork, lack of leave, poor dietary
habits due to long hours of duty, lack  Policing is, or rather should be, aimed
of decent housing and so on are just at providing a safe environment to the
some of the issues they face. community.
 According to media reports, the  As noted by experts, it is the only
introduction of eight-hour shifts in non-combatant organisation that can
Kerala and Mumbai has been use force against citizens and curtail
welcomed by the police therein. their liberty.

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  Such power must be tempered by its What is the significance of 5G?
own moral and social consciousness.
 China, and Huawei’s technologies in
 The initiative announced by the
situ—with 10% of the 53,345
Maharashtra police must take these
technology patents filed by China in
factors into account when it
2018 coming from the firm alone—will
institutionalises the best community
be at the heart of those technologies
practices.
that the governments worldwide have

2. EXPLORING THE 5G SAGA recognised as critical for the future of

national infrastructure.
What is the issue?
 The 5G, being spectrally more efficient
 The US has imposed a ban on than the predecessor technologies,
Chinese telecom giant Huawei. can transmit higher amounts of data
 This raises a question of whether it is across larger numbers of
a strategy of market competition or communicative devices at lower
state control of digital spaces. propagation latencies.

What is the reason for the current What are the challenges?
embargo?
 Capital intensive: As in the case of
 The recent embargo/moratorium on the previous generations of
the Chinese telecom giant Huawei by (tele)communication technologies, for
the US and its allies—especially those the 5G too, deployment during the
in the Five Eyes alliances—is initial/nascent phase of the
indicative of such technological technology appears to be highly
disintegration. capital intensive.
 The firm is noted for its proactivity in  At the same time, while it is almost
setting the technical standards for the ubiquitously accepted that 5G will
5G network, wherein China alone is generate new revenue streams
projected to deploy almost 33% of all through diversification of cyber
5G connections, world-wide, by 2025. products and services, how much of
 In contrast, the share of the US and this value can be captured by the
Western Europe, taken together, is carrier is uncertain.
estimated to be around 25% or so.  Instead of generating the anticipated
new revenue benefits for the carriers,
the LTE-enabled applications became
a capacity layer to help the carriers

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 grapple with escalating capital  Such control further enables the
requirements arising due to the blurring of ideological crises of the
exponential traffic growth from over- contemporary political systems.
the-top media services and the
declining average revenue per user 3. CASTE IN THE MIDST OF
due to intense price competition. CYCLONE FANI
 In such a context, network sharing What is the issue?
could have been a cost minimising
 The recent incident of caste
strategy for faster deployment of 5G.
discrimination in the aftermath of
 But the US and its allies seem cynical
Cyclone Fani in Odisha is different
of any such arrangements.
from the earlier cases of
How does the future look? discrimination during disasters such
as the 2004 tsunami and the 2001
 With a widespread perception that the Gujarat earthquake.
foundation of economic leadership will
 It is different, not in relation to
rest with the creation of value and destructive intensity, but more in
new uses of data, it is no wonder that
terms of its ethical dimension that
China’s 5G network density rate—5.3 seeks to completely devastate human
sites every 10 square miles, in relationships.
comparison to 0.4 sites every 10
square miles in the US—is a matter of How caste discrimination prevented
concern for its competitors. Dalits from enjoying their basic rights?
 By keeping the friction inherent in
 Denying the right to shelter: The
network deployment processes alive,
complete absence of human concern
the US and its allies are potentially
on the part of the upper castes was
building up a case for state
intensified in their response to the
intervention in the digital space.
Dalits’ fundamental need for safety in
 On the one hand, are protectionist
shelter.
interventions like subsidies that
 As reported in the media, the cyclone-
would give them a price advantage in
affected Dalits from a village in the
the global markets.
Puri district were not only barred from
 But more disconcerting is the
entering the public shelters but also
pervasive surveillance power that the
forced to vacate the shelters that they
state can openly exercise once its
had managed to occupy.
control over digital infrastructure gets
 The Dalit families were forced to take
institutionally acknowledged.
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 shelter under a banyan tree, which  However, the military personnel must
was also uprooted by the cyclone and have thought it sensible to drop the
shared the fate of the Dalit families. food and medicine packets on the
 One could have understood the upper terraces of the houses rather than
castes’ refusal to accommodate the into the flood water.
Dalits had it been a private shelter of  It is in this sense that disaster-bound
the former. discrimination is structural.
 But since they sought to convert a  It is structural because human bias
public space into a private fiefdom, is rationalised from the utility point of
this, by implication, eliminated the view.
ground on which the Dalits could  That is to say, in flood relief
have exercised their right to be operations, for example, what is
accommodated in the public shelter. important to keep in mind is the
 In fact, this was not a question of concern that food and medicine
upper castes failing to extend ethical packets are not being wasted.
generosity towards Dalits, since the
shelter was a government school What lies ahead?

which the latter had the right to enter.

 Natural disasters do not discriminate

What are the other instances of caste when they befall human beings.

discrimination in disaster relief?  They affect everyone with equal and

devastating force, without
 Caste discrimination was witnessed in discrimination.
the process of distribution of aid  The disastrous impact of nature is
following the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, uniform.
and the earthquakes in Kutch,  It is, however, the human beings and
Gujarat and Latur in Maharashtra. their protective capacity that creates
 Similarly, in the case of Bihar floods, the differential response to the natural
it was reported that the distribution of disaster.
aid was done in a way that did not
help the poor and the Dalits.
 Food and medicine packets were
dropped on the terraces of the
buildings owned by the rich.
 Obviously, the Dalits did not have
access to such terraces.

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 4. HANDLING NUCLEAR WEAPONS misinterpreted intentions can be
WITH RESPONSIBILITY catastrophic.

What is the issue?

Why restraint is significant while
dealing with nukes?
 Irresponsible election rhetoric over
nuclear weapons would only lead to a
 Environmental impact: A large-scale
mutually assured delusion.
nuclear war can produce mind-
numbing regional and global
How is India’s posture with respect to
nukes so far? environmental impacts.
 Health: Medical professionals had
 India had acquired minimum nuclear warned that the healthcare system of
deterrence capability in 1974 itself, any city or region will be totally
but was reluctant to acknowledge its paralysed after a nuclear attack and
status due to certain legal, technical, will be incapable to respond to the
and geopolitical reasons. needs of the injured, who will be left
 Even after proclaiming itself as a in a pathetic situation of envying the
nuclear weapons state in 1998 and dead.
initiating steps to develop a nuclear  The Cold War nuclear scenarios may
triad consistent with the doctrine of be less relevant for India and
“minimum credible deterrence,” Pakistan, but even a limited nuclear
India assured the international exchange can have terrifying
community that its nuclear weapons consequences for the region.
are for deterrence only and that it will  Unlike the Western and Soviet
not be the first to use them against societies, which were generally better
any of its adversaries. informed and educated by their
 However recent invocation of nuclear governments, Indian and Pakistani
weapons to seek votes contradicts societies are mostly unaware of the
India’s restrained nuclear posture and impact of nuclear weapons.
puts the country in the company of  The perennial border conflict between
irresponsible states. India and Pakistan has already
 Countries possessing nuclear invalidated the theory that nuclear
weapons should exercise extreme weapon states do not directly fight
prudence in their deployment posture each other.
and public conduct of its leadership  External intervention prevented a few
because the costs of miscalculation or crises spiralling into nuclear conflict,

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 and it cannot be taken for granted  Reservation also gains significance as
that this will save the day every time. the candidature of women by political
parties remains limited.
What lies ahead?
 Parties tend to bank on celebrity
status and “star value” of women
 Nuclear war will bring unimaginable
candidates or their dynastic links.
miseries to both India and Pakistan
 Most political parties neglect the
and should thus not be even casually
women workers who work closely with
talked about, let alone fought.
communities and instead choose
 The two Cold War adversaries deluded
candidates on other bases of
themselves that each would prevail
electability.
after a full-scale nuclear war, only to
 Even if women get tickets, the odds
realise that it produced a stalemate of
are heavily weighed against them in
mutually assured destruction.
elections, as they face a hostile,
 The Indian and Pakistani leadership
lecherous, and dominating male
should, therefore, avoid having a
cadre, are caricatured and minutely
mutually assured delusion of
scrutinised, or are sexualised and
prevailing in a nuclear war.
glamorised.
5. WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN  It is important, however, that women
POLITICS are able to break free from such a
reduction of their personality
What is the issue?
themselves.
 The culture of political opportunism
and hyper-masculinity fails the cause What are the challenges facing the
women representatives post elections?
of women’s representation.

 Entrenched misogyny: Even when

Why is reservation important?
women do get elected and gain
 To ensure a presence of women political power, this power may not
representatives in the political arena, necessarily translate in their
reservation for them is important. substantive participation in politics.
 It gets highlighted by the fact that in  This is quite evident in the fact that
the last Parliament, only 11% were even parties headed by women leaders
women, with only one woman are not able to invert the entrenched
representative for more than 9 million misogyny.
women.  However, studies have also shown

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 that increased representation of to forces that spread aggressive
women at the local level of governance masculinity and militancy.
has brought about a change in the
agendas and approach towards 6. THE WEIGHT OF A VOTE
political work. What is the issue?

What should be done?  NOTA as a passive device absolves

individuals of their responsibility to
 The number of women voters has engage with the political reality.
been increasing.
 There is need for representatives who What are the arguments surrounding
can raise and articulate their precise NOTA?
demands and create spaces for growth
 NOTA essentially tends to rest the
of a new political culture and groups.
moral initiative with a voter, who can
 These representatives, for instance,
then enjoy moral authority over their
can raise issues like the declining
constitutional duty.
workforce participation rate of women
 Further to it, NOTA is treated as
and the two crore missing women in
moral protest and hence has its basis
the electoral rolls, as these issues
in negative responsibility, which
have a direct impact on women’s
would mean that my NOTA vote is the
representation in politics.
result of the poor quality of the
 They need to broaden the
candidates, for which the voteris not
understanding of “women’s issues,”
responsible.
which are as much about the issue of
 However, there is a counter-view to
polarisation of society as about the
this argument.
issue of gas cylinders.
 In the case of NOTA, it is the holder of
 To be truly representative, the voices
the right to vote who puts value and
of women from different
moral authority behind a vote
constituencies and backgrounds are
by choosing “none of the above.”
needed, as they make space for a
different mode of politics and new
Who decides the weightage of a vote?
sensibilities.
 In addition to “lived experience,” what  It is not the voters, but the candidate
is needed is a belief in as well as the who decides the weight of a vote.
practice of values of democracy and  It has been the experience of the sex
feminism, and the posing of questions workers, Adivasis, and voters from the

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 minorities that they were never What are the concerns with NOTA?
approached by candidates for their
 It is not always the case that NOTA
votes.
acquires its moral strength based on
 These candidates seem to have
the universal criterion of assessing
assessed that the actual political cost
the calibre of a candidate on moral
is much lesser than the enormous
grounds.
moral gain they make by not
 It could be argued the specific social
approaching these sections.
character of reserved constituencies
 This is confirmed in the moral
that has some bearing on the decision
feelings of the electorally neglected lot,
to exercise NOTA.
who develop a sense of insult and
 The electoral politics in reserved
humiliation when not approached.
constituencies continues to be less
 The voters have an empty right to
competitive and, hence, makes it less
vote, but no right to be approached by
motivating for voters to avoid the
candidates on an equal basis.
NOTA option.
 They feel that they have the strong
 Lack of due deliberation: Arguably,
desire to vote, but feel that their vote
NOTA essentially is an unmediated
is considered less valuable as
judgment that is arrived at by a
compared to other voters who are
person through their singular reading
frequently approached by candidates.
about the falling standards of the
 These voters being approached would
people’s representatives under
thus grant equal value to them,
question.
irrespective of their social and gender
 However, this is not a judgment that
backgrounds.
is reached at after due deliberation
 While one’s age makes the “adult” a
with the candidates.
biological state of being that defines
 It is not reached at after the -
universal adult franchise, the right to
intervening power of the voter is
vote carries value not just as a
tested and not wasted in the “murky”
biological but also as a moral
political process that produces such a
condition by assigning equal value to
representative in the first instance.
every vote irrespective of gender and
 Separation of individual from
religion.
collective responsibility: NOTA
 It is in this moral sense that the right
tends to separate the individual from
to vote becomes universal.
the principle of collective
responsibility because the individual

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 does not take the responsibility of gender, and age within
being indirectly responsible for the the transgender community.
production of such bad politics.
What are the sanitation related issues
 Adopting the historically sensitive
facing the transgenders?
approach will shed some light on the
NOTA conundrum.
 As a consequence of the underlying
 Ahistorical: NOTA is also ahistorical discrimination against the
in the sense that it is defined in terms transgender community, toilets
of the absolute choice of a voter, and remain as sites of social exclusion and
not in terms of the choices that violence in their day-to-day lives.
emerge from the historical process
 Transgender persons are exposed to
that essentially involves the rejection
sexual harassment and violence if
of one candidate in favour of a
they use the men’s toilets and are
relatively better one.
unwelcome in both women and men’s
 This exercise falls within the realm of toilets as “it is widely believed that
the collective responsibility of they are seeking sex work when they
reflectively endorsing the relatively visit the toilets”.
better candidate and reflectively
 This leaves them with few options and
rejecting the “bad” one.
many of them continue to practice
open defecation, or wait to find a safe
7. CHALLENGES FOR
time to use the toilets.
TRANSGENDER-INCLUSIVE
 Thus, the transgender community
SANITATION IN INDIA
faces dangers of infection, violence,
What is the issue?
humiliation, and corruption in their
daily lives as they manage their
 Currently, the sanitation needs of the
sanitation needs.
transgender community are addressed
on the assumption that the
What is the Manipur’s model?
community is a homogeneous group,
and that public toilets earmarked for  The Manipur government has
them address their total sanitation introduced separate toilets for
requirements. transgender persons during various
 However, designing transgender- festivals and in some parts of Imphal,
inclusive sanitation requires a deeper a step that was appreciated by the
examination of the role of caste, transgender community.
 However, these toilets have

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 not addressed the issue of their safety  Transphobia: Transgender persons
and dignity. encounter everyday transphobia,
including while using public toilets.
What are the neglected dimensions of the
 Moreover, the definition of
issue?
transgender sanitation requires to

 Misconceived as homogenous: The expand and include the needs of

transgender community is frequently transgender persons who menstruate,

presented or discussed as a are disabled, or are post-operative.

homogeneous community that has  For example, countries in the West

more or less uniform needs from the such as the UK now use the term

public and community sanitation “menstruator” to indicate that other

systems. genders and not just women

 In reality, transgender communities menstruate.

are heterogeneous along the caste,

What is the way forward?
age, and gender axes; all or some
combination of these can determine a  Tackling transphobia: To have
transgender person’s access to public transgender-inclusive sanitation, it is
sanitation. essential to recognise the need for
 Child transgenders: The discussion tackling transphobia through policy,
about the transgender community in law, employment, and social
India centres largely on adult integration.
transgender persons.  Manipur can serve as an example of
 The sanitation needs of young adults how to initiate such dialogues and
and children have had a limited how sanitation can function as a
discussion in both policy and starting point into these discussions.
academics.  Recognition of their hetrogeneity:
 This requires a rethinking of not only The first step is to recognise that this
public toilets but also toilets in community is not a homogeneous
schools and colleges. group and there are significant
 Caste: Transgender persons from dynamics along the caste, age, and
disadvantaged caste communities, for other axes.
example, may find it more challenging  Addressing safety issues: Technical
to raise funds or resources as solutions can only meet their
compared to their upper-caste sanitation needs partly.
counterparts.  Although the central government

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 allowed transgender persons to use  In short, transgender-inclusive
the restrooms of their choice (male or sanitation requires a deeper
female) in public and community understanding of their social,
toilets, this move may not cultural, biological needs through
automatically ensure safety from various life stages.
violence.
 Transgender persons have reported 8. UNDERMINING THE LOKPAL
facing verbal and physical violence What is the issue?
while using both, the female and male
 Members of the Lokpal were
toilets.
appointed in 2019, more than five
 All transgender experiences are not
years after the law was passed, in a
the same and, therefore, the design of
manner that undermined public trust
the public toilets needs to provide
in the institution.
enough scope for privacy and
 In 2016, even before the Lokpal
anonymity to those who do not wish
became functional, amendments were
to single out their identity.
made to weaken key provisions of the
 Therefore, a one-size-fits-all “toilet for
legislation relating to asset
third gender” or sharing toilets with
disclosures by public servants.
women, will not automatically lead to
transgender-inclusive sanitation.
What are the concerns with the
 The next step is to acknowledge that appointment of Lokpal?
transgender persons have varying
sanitation needs at different stages  Composition: The L&L Act provides
of their lives, and school- and college- for the appointment of the
level transgender-inclusive sanitation chairperson and members of the
can be crucial during their formative Lokpal by the president based on the
years. recommendations of a committee
 While speaking to children might be consisting of the Prime Minister
challenging, it is possible to speak (chairperson), speaker of the Lok
with adult transgender persons to Sabha, the leader of opposition (LoP)
collect retrospect insights into in the Lok Sabha, the CJI or a judge
transgender children’s needs. of the SC nominated by them and an
 Finally, there is a need to expand the eminent jurist, as recommended by
meaning of sanitation for transgender the chairperson and other members.
persons to include menstrual hygiene  After the 2014 general elections, no
and reproductive care. one was recognised as the LoP in the

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 Lok Sabha. the Lokpal covered various categories
 The Court held that the appointment of public servants and multiple rules
of chairperson or a member of the regulating their asset disclosure
Lokpal will not become invalid merely norms needed to be amended to bring
because of any vacancy in the them in consonance with the Lokpal
selection committee, the L&L Act was law.
an eminently workable piece of  This was followed by amendments
legislation and the appointment could that severely diluted the asset
be made with a truncated selection disclosure provisions of the Lokpal
committee without the LoP. Act.
 Lack of transparency: Transparency
What are the necessary reforms?
in the functioning of the selection
panel could have helped allay fears
 Representation of the Opposition:
that the committee was merely
First, the issue of the constitution of
rubber-stamping the government’s
a balanced selection committee, which
choice of candidates.
does not have a majority
 However, the functioning of the
representation from the ruling party,
committee was shrouded in secrecy
must be addressed.
and no details of the selection process
 The composition of the selection panel
were placed in the public domain.
needs to be appropriately amended to
 Minutes of meetings of the selection
provide for the inclusion of the leader
panel, sought under the RTI Act, were
of the largest opposition party in the
denied.
Lok Sabha as a member of the
committee, in case no one is
What are the concerns with 2016
recognised as the LoP.
Amendments of the Lokpal Act?
 Transparency: Second, the selection
 Relaxing deadlines: Public disclosure committee must adopt a robust
of assets and liabilities of public procedure to ensure transparency in
servants was important to ensure that the appointment process.
people could make informed  The procedure should mandate public
complaints to the Lokpal. disclosure of particulars of applicants,
 The declarations were to be furnished shortlisting criteria, records of
within 30 days of the act coming into deliberations, including minutes of
force. meetings of the search and selection
 But the deadline was extended committee and material showing how
several times on the pretext that
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 the selected candidates fulfil the distract the agency and dilute its
eligibility criteria. efficacy, thereby defeating the basic
 Asset disclosure: The Lokpal must purpose for setting it up.
mandate a robust system of asset  The act, therefore, needs to be
disclosures for public servants, their amended to remove such
spouses and dependent children and functionaries from the definition of
these should be publicly available to public servants under the law.
enable people to participate in the
fight against graft by making informed 9. CONTINUAL DIMINISHING OF
complaints. THE ARAVALLI HILLS

 State level Lokayuktas: Fourth, Assessing Intergenerational Equity

much of the corruption that affects What is the issue?
common people, especially the poor
and marginalised, is in state and local  The Aravalli range is considered the

government agencies. “lungs” of the polluted National

 Therefore, it is important to have Capital Region.

effective Lokayuktas set up at the  The failure of Haryana and Rajasthan

state level, along the same lines as the governments to rein in the miners

Lokpal at the centre. despite the Supreme Court’s orders to

 Section 14 of the act, which lists the preserve the hills, has resulted in

categories of public servants against severe degradation of the hills,

whom the Lokpal would receive causing many of them to vanish.

complaints of corruption, extends the

What is the ecological significance of the
definition to include functionaries of
Aravalli range?
entities that are wholly or partly
financed by the government with an  Checks desertification: Historically,
annual income above ₹ 1 crore, and it is said that the Aravalli range
of entities receiving donations from checked the spread of the Thar desert
foreign sources in excess of 10 lakh towards the Indo-Gangetic plains,
per year. serving as a catchment of rivers and
 Burdening the Lokpal with complaints plains.
against lakhs of persons associated  Biodiversity: It is worth noting that
with private, non-governmental bodies the Aravalli range also provides
who do not exercise the kind of habitat to 300 native plant species,
influence and power which high- 120 bird species and many exclusive
ranking public functionaries do, will animals like the jackal and mongoose.
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  For Haryana, having the lowest forest  Although the Supreme Court
cover at around 3.59% of the total categorically banned real estate
forest cover in India, the Aravalli activities in the Aravalli range falling
range is the only saving grace, under Haryana, the Haryana
providing the major portion of its government not only gave a nod to the
forest cover. construction projects, but also
 But due to its overexploitation, the actively aided in the running of these
range is no longer an effective green projects.
barrier.
How is Intergenerational Equity being
What are the Court’s Orders and how are enforced?
they violated?
 India, being a party to Stockholm
 In a landmark order of 1992, the Declaration and the Rio
Supreme Court ordered that the Declaration, has built a running
Aravalli range should only be subject narrative of intergenerational equity
to mining and industrial activities that through its judicial pronouncements.
are preapproved from the central  However, the recognition of the rights
government. of the present as well as the future
 However, the order was not well generations has been ignored by the
implemented, and as a result, in state authorities.
2002, the SC banned all mining in an  Given that intergenerational equity is
area up to 5 km from the Delhi– the “law of the land” in India and
Haryana border, and had put Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
restrictions on the mining activities in recognises the “right to clean
the Rajasthan region of the Aravalli. environment” , it is imperative to see
 Subsequently, in order to bypass the the steps taken by state authorities as
purview of the SC’s order, the the violations of fundamental rights of
Rajasthan government, through an the future generations.
amendment, redefined “hill,” stating
that any raised area less than 100 m  Precautionary principle: In pursuit

cannot be categorised as a “hill.” of intergenerational equity, the SC has

laid down the “precautionary
 The SC, however, put a blanket ban
principle,” stating that the central
on mining in 2009, across all the hills
and/or the state governments, while
of the Aravalli.
considering a project, must foresee
 Yet, mining continued illegally.
environmental degradation and shall

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 prevent such degradation without  However, the state authorities never
waiting for scientific evidence to show justified their inaction towards
that there will be irreparable damage implementing the precautionary
to the environment. measures through evidence or any
 The NGT establishes that the scientific findings, nor did they come
precautionary principle has a twofold out with a range of actions that can
obligation: first, the project proponent be adapted to make mining and
must take all expected precautions to construction-related operations
prevent pollution resulting from its judicious.
activity; second, it has to take into
consideration the principle of What should be done?

intergenerational equity and therefore,

 However, the need of the hour is that
be cautious that it causes no
the authorities must learn from their
irretrievable damage to natural assets.
“history of (mis)conduct,” and state
 Environmental anarchy: However,
governments must constitute
the developments in the Aravalli range
committees to measure the
have been conducted in complete
anthropogenic impacts on the
oblivion of the laws, resulting in
Aravalli’s ecology over the past seven
environmental anarchy in the region.
decades.
 Factors: In addition, the
 After evaluating these impacts, the
implementation of precautionary
respective governments must
measures is considered on the basis
implement a strategy consisting of
of four elements, namely: the level of
precautionary measures taking into
threat that warrants action, the level
consideration the fundamental
of evidence required to avoid taking
rights of the future generations over
precautionary action, the range of
the Aravalli range.
actions that are under consideration,
and the necessary level of force of
the actions.

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