India's environmental laws and COVID-19

The paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in India's environmental governance, noting that while lockdowns temporarily improved air and water quality, the period also saw a rise in industrial disasters and the dilution of environmental impact assessment rules. It highlights the intersection of environmental degradation—such as deforestation and pollution—with increased vulnerability to pandemics and climate-driven extreme weather events. The author concludes that India's economic recovery packages lack long-term environmental vision and calls for the stringent implementation of environmental laws to build socio-ecological resilience.

• The COVID-19 lockdown led to a rapid improvement in air and water quality across India due to the suspension of transportation and industrial activities, including coal-based sectors, in a country where 15 of the world's 20 most polluting cities are located.
• India's vulnerability to future pandemics is increased by anthropogenic threats to biodiversity and ecosystems in protected areas, including poaching, deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, and the opening of protected areas for road construction and mining.
• The Indian government has consistently weakened its environmental regulatory regime, most recently through the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020, which removes judicial control and exempts various projects from public consultation.
• India's food security and ecosystem resilience are threatened by the expansion of commercial farming, the use of genetically modified crops, and the loss of genetic diversity, driven by transnational corporations and internal production policies.
• The economic recovery package announced by the Indian government following the COVID-19 outbreak focused on short-term coping mechanisms and lacked a long-term vision to make the recovery 'greener' or pro-environmental.

APA

Datta, D. S. (2020). India's environmental laws and COVID-19. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/indias-environmental-laws-and-covid-19

Chicago

Datta, Dr. Satabdi. India's environmental laws and COVID-19. Green Economy Coalition, 2020. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/indias-environmental-laws-and-covid-19.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Datta |first1=Dr. Satabdi |title=India's environmental laws and COVID-19 |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=24 July 2020 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/indias-environmental-laws-and-covid-19 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{datta2020indias, author = {Datta, Dr. Satabdi}, title = {{India's environmental laws and COVID-19}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/indias-environmental-laws-and-covid-19}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }