Ecological inequality requires constitutional protection, says op-ed

Hindustan Times has argued that ecological inequality is a largely unrecognised form of inequality in India that needs constitutional protection. An opinion piece in the newspaper says forest-rich states like those in the Himalayas, Northeast and Western Ghats bear a disproportionate burden of ecological fragility, watershed responsibility and disaster mitigation, while the benefits flow to the entire nation.

The piece contends that uniform national environmental policies applied to states with radically different ecological burdens create inequity. It says judicial interventions have not recognised ecological inequality between states, and calls for positive discrimination through fiscal transfers, differentiated regulatory burdens and asymmetric development pathways.

The article also criticises the Forest Rights Act for lacking ecological feedback mechanisms and the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act for failing to deliver ecological justice. It argues that the Constitution does not prohibit asymmetry, only arbitrariness, and that differentiated ecological support is an expression of equality.