The year 2022 saw agitations against several projects ranging from the proposed Indian Neutrino Observatory in the Western Ghats to the Centre’s go-ahead to environmental clearance for genetically modified (GM) mustard crops.
Here are some of the news stories done by Down To Earth that chronicle environmental movements in 2022:
The year began with the Tamil Nadu government filing an affidavit in the apex court stating that it would not permit the construction for the proposed Indian Neutrino Observatory at Bodi West Hills in Theni. The reason given was that the project, if implemented, could affect the flora and fauna of the Periyar Tiger Reserve and Mathikettan Shola National Park in the Western Ghats.
In June, thousands of people protested the project to link the Bedti and Varada rivers in Karnataka. Environmental groups in the state too criticised the project, calling it ‘unscientific’ and a ‘waste of public money’.
The next month, the United Nations declared in a historic resolution that every person on the planet has the right to live in a clean, healthy environment. Also, climate change and environmental degradation are the most critical threats awaiting humanity in the future, the resolution underlined.
In August, a section of residents of Kendrapara district in Odisha opposed a proposed petrochemical investment in the state’s coastal pockets over environmental concerns.
In November, a constitutional court in Ecuador ruled in favour of the Shuar Arutam people against the country’s Ministry of Environment for granting an environmental licence for the Panantza-San Carlos mining project without consulting the communities affected.
And from October through December, protests took place in Delhi and Rajasthan over the central government’s decision to give the go-ahead for environmental clearance to GM mustard crops.