DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

NAME OF THE PROJECT TOPIC

TRACING ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES IN COLONIAL INDIA

SUBJECT
HISTORY

NAME OF THE FACULTY

DR.VISWACHANDRANATH MADASU

NAME OF THE STUDENT: SHIVANSH PAMNANI

REGD NO: 2019LLB121
SECTION: B
1​ST​ SEMESTER

1​ | ​Page
2​ | ​Page
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to be extremely grateful to my History teacher, Dr.Vishwachandranath

Madasu for giving me an opportunity to do this project. I will be forever indebted to him lending
his extraordinary support during the process of making the project. I would also like to thank my
friends and family for encouraging me, thus helping me complete the project in a limited time
frame.

I would also like to thank DSNLU for providing all necessary resources and a suitable
workplace, thus helping me come up with a satisfactory project.

3​ | ​Page
 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………
2. EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DUE TO COLONISATION
…………………………………………………………….….
3. REALIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENT-IMPOSING
STRINGENT ACTS…………………………………………………………………..
4. IMPORTANT AUTHORITIES………………………………………………………
5. INDIAN FORESTRY LAWS…………………………………………………………
6. ACTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE INDIAN ENVIRONMENT………….
● WATER POLLUTION
● AIR POLLUTION
● MUNCIPALITY LAWS
● WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT
● MISCELLANOUS
7. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………….
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….

4​ | ​Page
 INTRODUCTION

Directly from mother's womb, one needs unpolluted air to breath, uncontaminated water to drink,
nutritious nourishment to ear and clean condition to live in. These components are sine qua non
for sound advancement of human character. Without these rare every one of the resources of man
develop to their fullest degree. Man so as to endure, adjusts to its condition yet he once in a
while gives due consideration for its improvement, either as a result of his impassion towards it
or due to his absence of capacity to improve or transform it or in light of his numbness of it. The
administrative association as well, had paid insufficient respect for it. In actuality. For the sake of
advancement and progress through modern and farming upsets, condition is being influenced
unfavorably step by step.

corruption is probably the most serious issue, the world is confronting today. The issue of
condition contamination is as old as the advancement of Homo sapiens on this planet. Man's
aspiration for boundless satisfaction and solace has driven him towards the misuse of nature's
riches so unpredictably thus improperly as to decrease nature's ability for self adjustment. Man's
ravenous hunger for assets and his wants to vanquish nature has placed him in impact course
with the earth. The interest for his unstable mechanical society forces extraordinary weight on
the condition of harmony with the earth.

The connection between individuals and his condition has fluctuated occasionally. It has
additionally been fluctuating here and there at a given purpose of time. This announcement is
very real to the extent India and its condition security approach is concerned.The Environment
insurance in India began some time before from the hour of Ancient India. In the beginning
times of mankind's history in India, people thought about nature as prevailing and that was the
reason, they venerated various angles like trees, woods, creatures, mountains, streams and so on.
These held an exceptional spot of adoration in Hindu religious philosophy. The Vedas, Puranas,
Upanishads, and different sacred writings of the Hindu religion gave a point by point portrayal of
Trees, plants and untamed life and their significance to the individuals. The Rig Veda

5​ | ​Page
highlighted the potentialities of nature in controlling the climate, increasing fertility and
improvement of human life emphasizing on intimate kinship with nature.

Atharva Veda considered trees as abode of various gods and goddesses.

Yajur Veda Emphasized that the relationship with nature and the animals should not be that of
dominion and subjugation but of mutual respect and kindness. Many animals and plants were
associated with Gods and Goddesses so that they were preserved for the future generations. As
they were associated with supernatural powers, no one dared to misuse the resources and
therefore there was a check on the excess utilization of resources.

King Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire did as much as he could to protect environment. He made
several laws for the preservation of the ecology of India. Same trend continued even at the time
of medieval India when Mughals ruled India though not at the same pace which was expected
from them. However, the strongest steps for the same came only from British. They contributed a
lot for the conservation of the ecological system of India by enacting several laws, which really
were missing in the ancient era. But at the same time, the British were equally cunning, using
India’s rich resources to satisfy their own selfish needs.​The colonial era was a watershed in
India's environmental history in a host of ways, but changes that were unleashed from the late
nineteenth century onwards have to be set against a long-term backdrop. States had long assisted
in and facilitated land colonization and clearance of marsh, jungle, and forest. But the scale and
kinds of intervention changed markedly in the colonial period, most sharply with respect to the
creation of state forests, the control of wild animals as game or vermin, and the creation of vast
tracts of canal-irrigated land. The complex and interwoven tensions around these projects played
1
out in different ways in a vast and diverse subcontinent.

EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES DUE TO COLONISATION

In India, frontier misuse is a long history spread over almost 200 years. It is smarter to take a
gander at the types of colonial abuse in India and its results. Abuse of India which was begun at
first as exchange, later on different types of misuse were made through speculation pay as profits

6​ | ​Page
and benefits and through installment of expenses of British organization as home charges. These
included pay rates of British armed force and common officials, installment of annuities, leaves
and different advantages and furthermore installment of enthusiasm on Sterling obligation. They
started exploiting the rich resources present India by employing the policy of imperialism.

By around 1860, Britain had emerged as the world leader in deforestation, devastation its own
woods and the forests in Ireland, South Africa and northeastern United States to draw timber for
shipbuilding, iron-smelting and farming. Upon occasion, the destruction of forests was used by
the British to symbolize political victory.

The East India Company as a trading concern was more interested in profit than in the welfare of
the people of India.14 Though some developments in infrastructure took place like development
of ports, the introduction of intra-portal navigation services, the connecting links between the
ports and the hinterlands and finally the introduction of railways but the underlying motive
always was to boost the British trade in India. India, which was once upon a time an opulent
repository of fine yarn and delicately woven fabrics that adorned the drawing rooms of
aristocratic European homes and used as status-symbol for the rich in England, had practically
lost all her splendor as a manufacturer of cotton goods of superb quality owing to persistent
policy of hostility and protection adopted by the British Parliament from the early eighteenth
century with its series of laws in order to prevent the Indian cotton goods from competing with
the newly emerging British manufacturers. By the large-scale import of English yarns to India a
considerable portion of the population engaged in spinning was thrown out of employment.16 In
this process traditional Indian artisan production declined. British officials and publicists tended
to accept the decline of traditional Indian artisan production as a fact, sad but inevitable. Some
scholars did not agree with this theory of deindustrialization. U.S. scholar Morris D. Morris
argues that deindustrialization itself was a myth. He says that precise statistical proof of the
decline of handicrafts is admittedly difficult to find, both for the pre-Census period and even
afterwards.

Monopoly of East India Company was snatched in 1813 and after 1 834 it worked as the
government's agency until the 1857 Indian Mutiny when the Colonial Office took full control of

7​ | ​Page
its colonial empire. The East India Company ceased to exist after 1873. With its end an
important chapter of modern history ended. East India Company drained India of its riches and
natural resources. Eminent scholar Dadabhai Naoroji made a rough estimate of the wealth
transferred during the entire period. IN his 'Poverty of India', while piecing together data on per
capita production, consumption etc., Naoroji remarked on the 'deficit of imports as compared
with the exports of India', the position in many other countries being the opposite, . . . 'normal
condition of the foreign commerce of any country is generally such that for its exports there is
always a return in imports equal to the exports plus profits'. For India, general commercial profit
at 15 per cent shall be quite under the mark, he held. On this basis, after allowing fpr foreign debt
for railways etc., for the period 1833-72 he arrived at a figure 'of about £500 mn. Which England
has kept back as its benefit, chiefly arising from the political position it holds over India

Evolution of Environmental Law and Policies during British rule

The overexploitation of natural resources and plundering of nature started in India during early
British rule. The abundant natural resources such as forest products and minerals became a chief
source of raw material for industries. During the days of East India Company rule ruthless
exploitation of timber from Indian forests and trade in natural resources transferred natural
wealth to Britain and Indians were pushed to misery and poverty. For the purpose of legitimizing
ruthless exploitation of timber forests and natural wealth Britishers introduced forest policy to
prohibit private exploitation of forest resources and public regulations authorizing the
government to exploit forest resources. Thus forest department was setup during British rule in
provinces and in some princely states. The first show of interest towards the conservation of
forest resource found the reservation of teak forests in Malabar in 1806, and it was dicted by
strategic imperial needs. This was the result of depletion of the Oak Forest in England and other
western countries and the increasing demand for timber for ship building industry and increasing
demand from railways.Devoid of good forests in Britain, Britishers realized the commercial
value of Indian forests and tried to establish a rigid system of control over them. One can trace
the beginning of the systematic forest policy to 1855, where the Governor General, Lord

8​ | ​Page
Dalhousie, issued a memorandum on forest conservation called the ‘Charter of Indian Forests’.
He suggested that teak timber should be retained as state property and its trade strictly regulated.

The first step towards the organized forest management was taken in 1864 with the appointment
of First Inspector General of Forests. The Forest Policy statement of 1894 classified forests into
four categories. They are (i) forests, preservation of which was essential on climate and physical
grounds, (ii) Forests, which supplied valuable timber for commercial purposes, (iii) minor forest
which produced only inferior sorts oftimber and (iv) pastures which were forest only for
namesake.The policy was opposed by many on the ground of lack of recognition of rights of
forest dwellers; it allowed unchecked exploitation by the Government and diversion of forest
land to agriculture and plantation and no provision for wild life protection and private forests.

During British rule forest management laws and several other legislations were enacted for the
purpose of environmental protection and conservation of natural resources. However, the Forest
Act, 1927 was enacted to give wide powers to the Government to exploit resources, to acquire
forest lands including private and village forests and other common property through simple
procedure even without making provision for compensation or equity.19 The Act also prohibited
cutting of teak,sandalwood grown in private land without the permission of forest department.
The Act established the Forest department for the purpose of implementing the provision and to
conserve forest.The Forest Act, 1927 divided forests into four categories. They are reserved
forest, village forest, protected forests, and non-governmental private forests. The provincial or
state governments are empowered to designate protected forests and may prohibit the felling of
trees, quarrying and the removal of forest produce,20 under section 26 of the Act it is an offence
to fell trees and acquire forest without prior permission of the forest department. It is also an
offence to fish in ponds and rivers in the forests.

FOREST LAWS IN BRITISH INDIA

9​ | ​Page
The first effort to regulate the Indian forests began in South India. In 1880, a commission was
appointed to enquire into the availability of teak in the Malabar forests. Following the
commission’s report, felling of teak below twenty one inches in girth was prohibited.
Subsequently, in 1805, a Forest Committee was constituted to access the capacity of forests. It
found that the more accessible forests had been over-worked. So a proclamation was made
declaring ‘royalty rights’ over teak trees in the south and prohibiting unauthorized felling of teak.
As soon as Brandis was appointed as Inspector General of Forests, Cleghorn was deputed to
assist him. They were responsible for the development of methodological system of forest
management in the early stages. They realized the necessity for ​separate forest enactment not
only for affording protection to the forests but also for bringing them under proper management
with adequate authority vested in the officers of the forest department for the purpose. In 1865
the first Indian Forest Act was passed. It came into effect on 1 May 1865. The Act empowered
the Government to declare any land covered with trees as Government forests and to issue rules
for conserving them. This was the first attempt at forest legislation by the British in India.

MADRAS FOREST ACT, 1882

The Act made provision for the protection and management of forests in the Madras presidency.
The Forest Act of 1865 was never extended to the presidency and the present Act is the first
forest law enacted for this presidency. The provisions of the Act were mostly taken,with some
necessary modifications, from the Indian Forest Act of 1878 and Burma Forest Act of 1881,
which had been successfully implemented in other parts of India27. The first objective of the Act
was to provide for the constitution of the more important forests as State reserves and either to
clear them under arrangements or due compensation, of private rights which militate against
forest conservancy or to ascertain and define such rights so that future extension of them and
fresh encroachments should be impossible.

To this end, the Act enabled the Government to empower the Forest Settlement Officers to
enquire into and to commit on record all private rights in areas to be selected for constitution as
reserved forests. Upon the decision of the officer appeals could be made to the District Court
within thirty days in case of claims involving proprietary rights and to the Revenue Officer with

10​ | ​Page
in sixty days in case of rights of way, rights to pasture, to forest produce or to the water course.
When the enquiry was completed and all claims disposed of and settled, the forest would be
declared by the Government as reserved and thereafter no fresh rights could accrue therein. The
Act contained provisions that were necessary for the protection of reserved forests.

The Act defined the powers of interference with private forests. It was considered useless, having
regard to the enormous claims for compensation which would arise, to attempt to restrain private
proprietors who were destroying their forests by reckless felling and this part of the Act was,
therefore, directed merely to securing protection against damage from fire. In these cases the
private proprietor would be called upon to adopt measures for protection and when he is unable
and unwilling to do so, the Government might assume control of the forest or land. The Act also
facilitated the conservancy of private forest or forests in which Government had part interest by
enabling them to be placed under Government management of supervision and by permitting the
extension to them of the provisions of the Act. The Act empowered the Government to make
rules for the regulation of transport of timber and for the use of property marks for timber and to
apply them in places where they might be wanted for the prevention of smuggling or the
protection of forest revenue. The Act also dealt with penalties. But the only one of those
provisions calling for special notice was that which empowered any police officer or forest
officer to arrest with -out orders from Magistrate orwithout warrant any person who committed a
forest offence.

Indian Forest Act 1865

The Indian Forest Act was introduced by the British in 1865 and was a first attempt at forest
legislation. The aim was to create forest reservations to meet national and regional long term
needs for resources such as water supply, soil conservation etc. However, the merits of a
particular block of forest chosen for reservation were determined by a revenue officer and not by

11​ | ​Page
a forest officer. The interests of the agriculturists, presumably were amply safeguarded during
the creation of the reserve forests. In the hill region 50 per cent of the forest area was generally
excluded from reservation and in the plains the non-reserved area set aside as village commons
were about three times as large as the reservation. In tribal areas, the needs of the tribes were
identified and provided for within the reserved forest. Shortly after it had been passed, the Act of
1865 was found to be insufficient, and as early as 1868 proposals for its amendments were
submitted to the government. At the Forest Conference held in Allahabad in 1873-74, the defects
of the Act of 1865 were brought prominently to notice. Baden Powell presented in the
Conference, a paper entitled, "Forest Legislation and the Defects of the Existing Law" and
criticized the act of 1865 severely: However, the main deficiencies were those noticed by Hope
in the Viceregal Council which met on 6th March 1878. He observed, "It drew no distinction
between the forests which required to be closely reserved, even at the cost of more or less
interference with private rights, and those which merely needed general control to prevent
improvident working. It also provided no procedure for enquiring into and settling the rights
which it so vaguely saved, and gave no power for regulating the exercise of such without
appropriating them". In 1875 a memorandum was published by O. Brandis, entitled,
'Memorandum on the Forest Legislation' Proposed for British India,' in which the subject was
discussed in all its bearings, and definite suggestions regarding forest legislation for India were
made.

Indian Forest Act of 1878

In the year 1878, the Indian Forest Act VII was passed, extending to all provinces of British
India, except Madras, Burma, the Hazra district in Punjab. Ajmer, Coorg, Berar and Baluchistan.
When the Indian Forest Act of 1878 was first draft, it was intended to create only one class of
demarcated state forests, viz. reserved forests, originally so-called because the areas were
reserved for cultivation; but as their formation would take time, provision was also made for the
protection of the government forest areas generally, until it could be decided what areas should
be maintained permanently as forests by constituting them demarcated or reserved forest. The
constitution of reserved forests was surrounded by every safeguard against any possible
infringement of private rights and secured a permanent settlement, whereas the second class of

12​ | ​Page
demarcated state forests, known as protected forests offered but an insufficient guarantee for
their stability and protection. Existing rights were recorded in such forests, but not settled. A
separate Act was passed for Burma in 1881, as the Chief Commissioner declined to extend the
Indian Act to his Province. Similarly, the Madras Government declared that the Indian Forest
Act could not be extended to Madras, as the formation of reserves, as contemplated by the Act,
could not be accomplished. The rights of the villagers over the waste lands and jungles were
considered to be of such a nature as to prevent government from forming independent states
property. Madras, therefore, preferred to legislate locally. Brandis was then deputed to Madras in
October 1881 and one of the most important results of this deputation was the passing of the
Madras Forest Act of 1882, which came into effect from 1st January 1883. The Burma and
Madras Acts proceeded on the same general lines as the Indian Act, but they differed on an
important point, that the general Indian Act recognized two different classes of state forests, i.e.,
reserved and protected, while the later enactments recognized only one class. The Burma Act, on
the other hand provided that any land at the disposal of the government could be constituted as a
village forest for the benefit of any village community or group of such communities. This was a
much more expeditious method of procedure, and in this respect also the Burma Act was
superior to the India Act.

The Madras Act contained no provision for the constitution of village' forests in the above sense.
In 1886 the Berar Forest Law was sanctioned according to which all waste lands in Berar were
declared as the indisputable and entire property of the state. The same year a Forest Regulation
was passed for Baluchistan in consonance with the Berar Forest Law. In ]887, the Upper Burma
Forest Regulation was passed. It moved generally on the lines of the Burma Forest Act, entirely
so with regard to the creation of reserves. As regards property rights and user, it was distinctly
laid down that the practice of shifting cultivation conveyed no right and could be abolished at the
pleasure of the government. In 1890 the Upper Burma Forest Regulation was extended to the
Shan states. Next year in 1891, the Assam Forest Regulation was sanctioned and was formulated
entirely on the Upper Burma Regulation. As a sequel of the passing of the Indian Forest Act of
1878, the area under the control of the Forest Department at the end of March 1888 amounted to

13​ | ​Page
79,710 square miles of reserved and protected forests. By 1889-90 the area of reserved and
protected forests had risen to 86,000 square ,miles.

Indian National Forest Policy, 1894

The next step towards forest management in India was the declaration of the forest policy in
1894, following the report of Dr. Voelcker on the "Improvement of Indian Agriculture",
published in 1893, which stressed the need for formulating the forest policy in conformation with
the agricultural interests of the country. The main objects of the forest policy were: 0) The sole
object to which the management of forests is to be directed is to promote the general welfare of
the country. (ii) The maintenance of adequate forests is dictated primarily for the presentation of
the climate and physical conditions of the country and secondly to fulfill the needs of the people.
With the above two safeguards, it can be stated that, (a) permanent cultivation had priority over
forestry, (b) to meet the demands of the local population free or at nominal rates, meant
overriding of all considerations of revenue, and (c) after fulfilling the above two conditions,
realization of maximum revenue was to be the guiding factor. The salient features of the forest
policy were to classify existing forests into four classes: (a) forests, the preservation of which
was considered essential on climatic or physical grounds, (b) forests which afforded a supply of
valuable timber, (c) minor forests, and (d) pasture lands. The forests of the first two categories
were ordinarily to be settled and declared reserved forests, and those under third and fourth
category, with extensive rights and to be managed mainly in the interests of the local community,
were to be declared as protected forests. New rights could spring up in a protected forest but not
in a reserved forest. Broadly speaking in a reserved forest everything was an offence that was not
permitted while in a protected forest nothing was an offence that was not prohibited. Although it
was not until 1865 that the formal structure of an all India forest department was set up, the
environmental debate in which state forestry originated had already been going on for three
decades before the promulgation of this Act, and these debates were dominated by
conservationists-cum-surgeons. It is obvious that when the Forest Department was constituted in
the 1860s, the state of those forests which were of easy access was extremely poor and chaotic
and the ideas for their management and administration vague. In certain areas the progress of. the
department was also slow. However, the establishment of the Forest Department gradually

14​ | ​Page
brought this wasteful system of exploitation to an end. The drafting of proper forest laws for the
different provinces was considered between 1869 and 1878. The first question which came up
for settlement was, to what extent the long continued right of user,. to, the free collection of
small produce such as fuel, grass, bamboos, grazing and shifting cultivation in the waste lands,
should be regarded as constituting a prescriptive right; on the other hand, it was acknowledged
that government as the guardian of all public interests must insist on the regulation of these rights
so as to render possible a good management of the reserved forests in the interests of the country.
However, the profit motive prevailed and still prevails. To obtain a sustained revenue from the
forests, Brandis evolved a very simple method based on the concepts of Dauerwold and methode
du controlle. This method required complete enumeration of the forests, and the permissible cut
was related to the actual increment in terms of the number of trees of all size classes. The
silvicultural system was, "Protection-cum-Improvement", an innovation and an unorthodox
departure, but eminently suited to the condition of the crop then prevailing. This definitely
resulted in improvement of the growing stock and was also a guarantee against over felling. In
the early days of forest administration another great difficulty was apathy and disbelief in the
destructiveness of forest fires. When the Forest Department came into existence, the great
majority of the forests in India were in an extremely poor condition, open and interspersed with
grass blanks, large areas frequently containing no tree growth whatever because of the
impossibility of extending fire protection.

When the whole countryside was ablaze, it was only some isolated pockets that could be
protected. Forest protection was thus introduced for the first time in Madras Presidency in 1860.
But the work did not progress and as late as 1882, only 300 square miles of forests, were under
fire protection in Madras. Concomitantly fire protection was also introduced in other parts of
India like the Central Provinces, North Western Provinces and Bombay, and at the end of
1880-81, about 11,000 square miles of forests were artificially protected from fire in India; by
the end of 1884-85 this area had been increased to 16,000 square miles and in 1900 it was 39,000
square miles.

ACTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE INDIAN ENVIRONMENT

15​ | ​Page
Main Acts in the field of Environment in the British Era Acts

Controlling:

Water Pollution

The Shore Nuisance (Bombay and Kolaba) Act, 1853

The said Act was enacted on 15th July, 1853. The purpose for which the provisions of this Act
brought into force, is to provide for removal of Nuisances and encroachments which were below
the High-water mark in the Islands of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Kolaba

The Orient Gas Company Act, 1857

If the said Company open or break up any street or bridge, or any sewer, drain, or
tunnel, without giving such notice as aforesaid, or in a manner different from that
which shall have been approved of or determined as aforesaid, or without making
such temporary or other works as aforesaid, when so required, except in the cases in
which the said Company are hereby authorized to perform such works without any
superintendence or notice; or if the said Company make any delay in completing any
such work, or in filling in or the sewer, drain, or tunnel so opened or broken up, or in
carrying away the rubbish occasioned thereby; or if they neglect to cause the place
where such road or pavement has been broken up to be fenced, guarded, and lighted,
or neglect to keep the road or pavement in repair for the space of three months next
after the same shall have been made good, or such further time as aforesaid, they
shall forfeit to the persons having the control or management of the street, bridge,
sewer, drain, or tunnel, in respect of which such offence, and they shall forfeit an
additional sum not exceeding fifty rupees for each day during which any such delay
as aforesaid shall continue after they shall have received notice thereof

16​ | ​Page
The North India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873

This act consisted of 11 parts which helped in the crubbing the polution present in the canals and
regulated proper drainage system it came into act in 1873

The Obstruction in Fairways Act, 1881

The Obstructions in Fairways Act, 1881 makes provisions to empower the CentralGovernment to
get rid of or destroy obstructions in fairways, and to forestall the creation of such
obstructions.The provisions of this Act shall not apply to vessels happiness to, or employed by a
contract created on behalf of the govt..Whenever, in any fairway resulting in any port in any of
the states per the Act, any vessel in done for, stranded or abandoned, or any fishing-stake, timber
or other issue is placed or left that is probably going to become, associate degree obstruction or
danger to navigation, the central government might cause such issue or any half therefrom to be
removed and if such issue is of such an outline roughly situate that it's not price removing, the
central government might cause a similar or any half therefromto be destroyed​.

The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897

The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897 contains seven sections. This act penalized the killing of fish by
poisoning water and by using explosive. Section 5 of the Act prohibits destruction of fish by
poisoning waters.

Indian Ports Act, 1908

The Indian Ports Act, 1908, has regulated water pollution caused by the use of oil or discharging
of oil in the port waters.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

17​ | ​Page
As regards to water pollution, Indian Penal Code says that whoever voluntarily corrupts or fouls
the water of any public spring or reservoir, so as to make it less fit for the purpose for which it is
ordinarily used, shall be punished with simple or rigorous imprisonment for a term exceeding to
three months or fine of five hundred rupees or both. The definition is confined to a voluntary act
and acts committed without any knowledge or accidentally would not be covered under the
present law. Moreover, it has limited operation to the water of public spring or reservoir. Further,
looking to the gravity of the offence it attracts only minor punishment. It is surprising to know
that in spite of the fact that this provision was incorporated to protect the public health, the cast
ridden society wanted to enforce this provision against the lower cast person taking water from a
public cistern but the Bombay High Court did not allow the above interpretation (R V Bhagi 2
Bom LR 1078). Chapter 14th of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is for Public Nuisance from section
268 to 291.

The Serais Act, 1867

The Act enjoined upon a keeper of Serai or an inn to keep a certain quality of water fit for
consumption by "persons and use of it by the animals" to the satisfaction of the District
magistrate or his nominees. Failure for maintaining the standard entailed a liability of rupees
twenty. It is to be understood that the amount twenty rupees was a very big amount at that time
and therefore should not be compared to the value of twenty rupees prevailing now in the
country.

Obstruction in Fairways Act, 1881

Section 8 of the Act empowered the Central Government to make Rules to regulate or prohibit
the throwing of rubbish in any fairway leading to a port causing or likely to give rise to a bank or
shoal.

Indian Easements Act, 1882

18​ | ​Page
It protected riparian owners against unreasonable pollution by upstream officer. Illustrations (f),
(h) and (j) of Section 7 of the Act deal with pollution of waters. Section 28(d) of the Easement
Act, 1882 on the one hand allowed a prescriptive right to pollute the water but it was not an
absolute right. The illustrations (f), (g), and (j) of this Section, limited this prescriptive right not
to unreasonably pollute or cause material injury to other.

The Bihar Wastelands (Reclamation, Cultivation & Improvement) Act, 1946

Land, a non-renewable resource, is central to all primary production systems. Over the years, the
country's landmass has suffered from different types of degradations. Degradation of land is
caused by biotic and abiotic pressures. An everincreasing population places enormous demands
on land resources. This is particularly acute in India, which has only 2.4 per cent of the world's
geographical area but supports over 16 per cent of the world's population. It has 0.5 per cent of
the world's grazing area but has over 18 per cent of world's cattle population. These pressures
have led to drastic changes in the proportion of land utilised for agricultural activities,
urbanisation and industrial development.

Air Pollution Acts

The Indian Boilers Act, 1923

The Indian Boilers Act-1923 was enacted with the objective to provide mainly for the safety of
life and Property of persons from the danger of explosions of steam boilers and for achieving
uniformity in registration and inspection during operation and maintenance of boilers in
India."Steam Boiler" means any closed vessel exceeding 22.75 litres which is used exclusively
for generating steam under pressure and includes any mountings and other fittings attached to
such vessel which is wholly or partly under pressure when steam is shut off.Every boiler owner
is required to make an application to the Chief Inspector of Boilers for the inspection of the
boiler along with the treasury challan of the requisite fees as per requirements of Indian Boilers
Act-1923. The requisite fee for the inspection of the boiler has been prescribed under Delhi

19​ | ​Page
Boilers Rules-1927.Under Indian Boilers Act-1923 Indian Boilers Regulation-1950 has been
framed. This Regulation deals with the materials, procedure & inspection techniques to be
adopted for the manufacture of boilers & boiler mountings & fittings. The boiler is inspected by
the Inspectorate as per the procedure laid under IBR -1950 and if found satisfactory, a Certificate
is issued for operation for a maximum period of 12 months

Motor Vehicle Act, 1939 (Repealed by Act No.59 of 1988)

The motor vehicles Act, 1939 ( 4 of 1939), consolidates and amends the law relating to motor
vehicles. This hasbeen amended several times to keep it up to date. The need was, however,
feltthat this Act should, now inter alia, take into account also changes in the roadtransport
technology, pattern of passenger and freight movements, developments,of the road network in
the country and particularly the improved techniques inthe motor vehicles management​.

The Poison Act, 1919

The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, prohibit, except under and
in accordance with the conditions of a licence, the importation into [Indiaacross any customs
frontier defined by the Central Government] of any specified poison, and may by rule regulate
the grant of licences..

Municipality Laws

Uttar Pradesh Municipality Laws, 1916

Section 1 - Short title and extent

(1) This Act may be called the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act (Uttaranchal Sanshodhan)
Adhiniyam, 2001.

20​ | ​Page
(2) It extends to the whole of Uttaranchal.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on 11th December, 2000.

Section 2 - Addition of new Section 10-A in U.P. Act No. 2 of 1916

After Section 10-A of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916, the following section shall be
inserted, namely:-

"10-AA. Temporary provision regarding administration of a Municipality until a new

Municipality is constituted.--Where the term of a Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat has
expired and a new Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat has not been constituted, then until the
due constitution of the new Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat--

(a) all powers, functions and duties of the Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat, its President and
Committee shall be vested in and be exercised, performed and discharged by an officer
appointed in that behalf by the State Government, hereinafter referred to as the Administrator,
and the Administrator shall be deemed in law to be the Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat, the
President or the Committee as the occasion may require;

(b) such salary and allowances of the Administrator as the State Government may by general or
special order in that behalf fix shall be paid out of Municipal Fund;

(c) the State Government may from time to time by notification in the Gazette, make such
incidental or consequential provisions, including provisions for adapting, altering or modifying
any provision of this Act, without affecting the substance, as may appear to it to be necessary or
expedient for carrying out the purpose of the section :

Provided that where the Administrator appointed under this section is the District Magistrate, he
may, subject to any general or special order of the State Government, delegate all or any of his
powers, functions and duties under this Act to any officer subordinate to him (hereinafter
referred to as the officer-in-charge) and thereafter the salary and allowances of the
officer-in-charge shall be paid in accordance with clause (b):

21​ | ​Page
Provided further that the Administrator appointed under this section shall have a term not
exceeding six months or till the new Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat is constituted,
whichever is earlier.".

Section 3 - Repeal and savings

(1) The Uttaranchal (Adaptation and Modification of the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Palika Adhiniyam,
1916) Ordinance, 2000 (Uttaranchal Ordinance No. 2 of 2000) is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the corresponding
provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916 as amended by the Ordinance referred
to in sub-section (1), shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding
provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916 as amended by this Act, as if the
provisions of this Act were in force at all material times.

Bihar and Orissa Municipality Laws, 1922

(1) In the event of failure to realise as a public demand the whole or any part of any tax the
Commissioners may sue the person liable to pay the same in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) Notwithstanding any decision of any court to the contrary, any proceeding instituted in
accordance with the provisions of sections 124 to 129B and pending on the date of
commencement of the Bihar and Orissa Municipal (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1962, may
be continued after such commencement and any such proceeding, or any order made, anything
done or any action taken therein, shall not, in any manner, be called in question merely on the
ground that the Bihar and Orissa Municipal (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1962, was not in
force when such proceeding was instituted, such order was made, such thing was done or such
action was taken".

Both of these laws were amongst the earliest laws for regulating the

environment conditions in the cities by the help of municipality laws.

22​ | ​Page
Wildlife Protection Act

Elephant Preservation Act, 1879

This act protected the hunting for Elephants that were happening in India for export of trunk and
skin due to this there was a huge decline in the hunting of elephants in India

World Birds Protection Act, 1887

Two significant legal enactments of these times were the Elephant Preservation Act, 1873 and
the Wild Birds Protection Act 1887. The Wild Birds Protection Act, 1887, sought to prohibit the
possession or sale of any kind of specified wild birds, which had been killed or taken during the
breeding season

Hailey National Park Act,1936 (Now Called Corbett National Park)

Jim Corbett National Park is the most seasoned national park in India and was set up in 1936 as
Hailey National Park to ensure the imperiled Bengal tiger. It is situated in Nainital locale and
Pauri Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett, a notable tracker and
naturalist. The recreation center was the first to under go the Project Tiger activity.

The recreation center has sub-Himalayan belt geological and biological characteristics.An
ecotourism destination,it contains 488 distinct types of plants and an assorted assortment of
fauna. The expansion in visitor exercises, among different issues, keeps on displaying a genuine
test to the recreation center's natural parity.

Miscellaneous

The Indian Forest Act, 1927

23​ | ​Page
This act was very comprehensive and contained all the major provisions of the earlier act and
amendments made thereto including those relating to the duty on timber. The Act of 1927 also
embodied land-using policy whereby the British could acquire all forestland, village forest and
other Common Property Resources. Section 26(i) of the Act makes it punishable if any person,
who, in contravention of the rules made by the State Government, poisons water of a forest area.
The State Government has been empowered under Section 32(f) to make rules relating to
poisoning of water in forests. This act is still in force, together with several amendments made by
the State Governments.

Criminal Procedure Code, 1893.

. Criminal Procedure Code, 1893 was one of the major acts, which provided some of the very
strict punishments for the environmental offences under the criminal law. Sections 133 to 144 in
the Chapter XII of the Criminal Procedure under the heading Public Nuisance provided for the
punishment under criminal procedure for the commission of any nuisance,
which affected the public at large. The environmental degradation was also included in it as any
degradation of the environment is automatically supposed to be affecting the public at large

24​ | ​Page
 CONCLUSION

Thus, it very well may be held therefore that a portion of the extremely solid advances were
taken by the British so as to shield condition from corrupting and to save it for the who and what
is to come. In any case, a portion of these laws demonstrated their ability on paper and not on the
reasonable grounds. Numerous laws and acts ordered by the British in our nation demonstrated
out to be increasingly valuable for them (British) when contrasted with us. They made a few
laws in order to make their assignment simple as by that they had the option to utilize the assets
and debase condition easily and legitimately.

A portion of the laws were in order to shield the assets from the locals itself, with the goal that
the British can use them for their own needs which were to pick up however much capital from
India as could be expected. Presentation of Railways in India is believed to be significant reward
for the Indians by the British and there is no uncertainty that it is one of the entirely important
endowment of the British for India. Yet, the British never carried rail to India with the idea of
profiting us however for their own advantage. They made laws for rationing the timberland and
in the process checked a great part of the territory as the property of the administration with the
goal that nobody could question as to he utilization of these backwoods by the British.
Regardless of whether a few laws were available which were useful for nature protection, at that
point they were not actualized appropriately for them.

The disciplines recommended under the laws were not exacting thus the guilty party was
effectively permitted to get away. Additionally, more often than not, the British themselves
exhausted the assets. The hypotheses like Sovereign Immunity constantly spared the
administration from being sued under open offense. The sayings like King can't take the blame
no matter what were applied to its full degree. Yet at the same time to state that the British
consistently thought of their own advantage would be an off-base explanation. The laws like
Indian Penal Code 1860, and Criminal Procedure Code 1893, were extremely successful.
Besides, the laws made by the British cleared a path for the Indian to think and execute new laws

25​ | ​Page
in this field itself. These laws were one of the principal exercises for the Indians to make laws for
the insurance of the earth in an increasingly cleaned manner later on.

26​ | ​Page
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) www. shodhganga.com

2) Modern Indian History by B.D Mahajan

3)​http://www.oxfordscholarship.com

4.) ENVIRONMENTAL LAW by H.N. Tiwari

5.) ENVIRONMENTAL LAW by Prof. Satish C. Shastri

27​ | ​Page