A Civil Society Perspective 44. The Paradox of India’s North-South Divide – Lessons from the States and the Regions (Samuel Paul, Kala Seetharam Sridhar), 2013. 45. Contribution of the Urban Poor: Pilot Studies from Chennai and Bengaluru, India (Kala Seetharam Sridhar and A.Venugopala Reddy), 2014. PAC Books by other Publishers 1. Holding the State to Account: Citizen Monitoring in Action (Samuel Paul), Books for Change: 2002. 2. Who Benefits from India’s Public Services? (Samuel Paul, Suresh Balakrishnan, K. Gopakumar, Sita Sekhar, M. Vivekananda), Academic Foundation: 2006. 3. State of Urban Services in India’s Cities (Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A. Venugopala Reddy), Oxford University Press India: 2010. 4. State of Our Cities: Evidence from Karnataka (Samuel Paul, Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A. Venugopala Reddy, Pavan Srinath), Oxford University Press India: 2012. 717171 71 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu 72 A Civil Society Perspective Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu 111 1 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu Public Affairs Centre Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a not-for-profit organization, established in 1994 that is dedicated to improving the quality of governance in India. The focus of PAC is primarily in areas where citizens and civil society organizations can play a proactive role in improving governance. In this regard, PAC undertakes and supports research, disseminates research findings, facilitates collective citizen action through awareness raising and capacity building activities, and provides advisory services to state and non-state agencies. Environmental Governance Group The Environmental Governance Group was formed within the Centre in 2010 to address the governance issues in environment and climate change affected areas. It was set up with a vision to improve the quality of life of the poor and marginalized sections of society in the environmentally affected coastal, highland, semi-arid and arid regions in India. The group aims to improve the security, ecological sustainability and climate resilience of various livelihoods and livelihood groups through its efforts. Thematic Areas üüü Action Research – developing Climate Change Score Cards, and Climate Change Monitoring tools. üüü Capacity-development of different interveners in environment and climate change focusing on good governance and improving social accountability. üüü Networking - by building regional and national coalitions on environmental governance. üüü Creation of policy dialogue platforms. üüü Knowledge Management through a Resource Centre within PAC on environmental governance. 2 A Civil Society Perspective Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu A Civil Society Perspective 333 PUBLIC AFFAIRS CENTRE 3 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu: A Civil Society Perspective ISBN: 978-81-88816-26-2 Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a not for profit organization, established in 1994 that is dedicated to improving the quality of governance in India. The focus of PAC is primarily in areas where citizens and civil society organizations can play a proactive role in improving governance. In this regard, PAC undertakes and supports research, disseminates research findings, facilitates collective citizen action through awareness raising and capacity building activities, and provides advisory services to state and non-state agencies. Public Affairs Centre No. 15, KIADB Industrial Area Bommasandra – Jigani Link Road Bangalore 562106 India Phone: +91 80 2783 9918/19/20 Email: [email protected] Web: pacindia.org © 2013 Public Affairs Centre Some rights reserved. Content in this publication can be freely shared, distributed, or adapted. However, any work, adapted or otherwise, derived from this publication must be attributed to Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore. This work may not be used for commercial purposes. Cover Design: Rajiv M.V. Printed in Bangalore at National Printing Press 4 A Civil Society Perspective Contents Abbreviations 6 Acknowledgments 7 Executive summary 9 Introduction 12 Environment Concerns in Tamil Nadu 19 Land and Water pollution 22 Agriculture 25 Impact of Industries 27 Forest and Biodiversity 32 Coastal Issues 35 Urbanization 40 Other Pertinent Environmental Concerns555 46 Environmental Impact on Livelihood and Health 48 People’s Movement to Safeguard Environment 54 Recommendations and Way Forward 57 Glossary of Terms 64 5 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu Abbreviations CSO Civil Society Organisation GoTN Government of Tamil Nadu IT Information Technology IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources MNC Multi-National Corporation MRTS Metropolitan Railway Transport System MSW Municipal Solid Waste NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NRM National Resource Management PCGTN People’s Coalition for Green Tamil Nadu PWD Public Works Department RHA Rice Husk Ash SEZ Special Economic Zones SoE State of Environment Report SPCB State Pollution Control Board TDS Total Dissolved Solids TNPCB Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board TNPL Tamil Nadu Newsprints Limited TSDF Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility VAT Value Added Tax WHO World Health Organization Note: Tuticorin and Ramnad are the Anglicised versions of Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram, respectively. 6 A Civil Society Perspective Acknowledgments PAC would like to express the deepest appreciation to all the lead organisations representing each of the regions in Tamil Nadu, that have played a key role in bringing the key issues of environment by harnessing support from various CSOs, networks and other resource organisations and individuals. Without their constant help this report would not have been possible. I thank Dr. Parivelan who coordinated with all concerned organisations and individuals for compiling a comprehensive document. I thank the team representing CSOs and People’s Coalition for Green Tamil Nadu who presented the draft document to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, GoTN, for their feedback and their attention to address the growing environmental issues in Tamil Nadu. I also thank the EnGG team members, Arvind, Prarthana, Ritwika Basu and other PAC team members for support at various stages in bringing out this publication. I also thank Suresh, Director, PAC for his encouragement, guidance and support to make this report into a publication and his constant guidance to the growth journey of EnGG and its team. 777 I also want to thank to IDRC-TTI and ANSA-SAR for their financial support in bringing out this publication. J. Jangal PAC–EnGG 7 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu 8 A Civil Society Perspective Executive Summary The realm of environment is complex and challenging; therefore it needs coordination between State and civil society in addressing them comprehensively. It is already accepted that one of the major sources of climate change, environmental degradation, and subsequent resource crisis is our present mode of production and consumption. The human-induced environmental degradation includes industrial pollution, deforestation, urbanization and such other factors. A major aim of the report is to provide the civil society perspective that will help drive the future environmental governance agenda for Tamil Nadu. It could be a reference for both government and civil society. A further aim is to inform and stimulate community debate on significant environmental issues that confront Tamil Nadu. The information in the report is structured around several major environmental themes and presented in 12 chapters: (i) Introduction; (ii) Environmental concerns in Tamil Nadu; (iii) Land and water pollution; (iv) Agriculture; (v) Impact of industries; (vi) Forest and biodiversity; (vii) Coastal issues; (viii) Urbanization; (ix) Other pertinent environmental concerns; (x) Environmental impact on livelihood and health; (xi) People’s movement to safeguard environment; and (xii) Recommendations999 and way forward. The Introductory chapter deals with the formation of ‘People’s Coalition for Green Tamil Nadu’ (PCGTN), now renamed as Coalition for Environmental Governance (CEG), which is a collective of individuals, civil society organisations, community-based organisations, think tanks, workers’ unions and other organisations that have come together with common cause to advocate for a greener Tamil Nadu. This chapter cites the context, the division of Tamil Nadu into five zones background for this report, objectives and methodology which are mainly from observations and primary sources collected by civil society members of PCGTN and through secondary data consisting of reports, newspaper articles, internet sources, etc. It is to be noted that this report is not an exhaustive one but covers certain preliminary observations. The report has its own limitations due to resources and time. It needs further research and follow-up. 9 Environmental Concerns of Tamil Nadu Based on the State of Environment Report (SoE), Tamil Nadu, the second chapter captures the main environmental issues as highlighted in the report. It includes agriculture, bio- diversity conservation, water and sanitation, urban and industrial impacts. Moving on from the environmental themes the third chapter dwells on land and water pollution which are crucial for sustainable development. Issues such as increased salinisation, inadequate/ ineffective storage of water, drinking water (decrease in availability), surface water (decrease in availability), drop in groundwater tables, urbanization (bore wells) and polluting industries, tanks and canals (neglect