though India has a number of rules and regulations to protect the environment, they have not achieved their purpose. The growth of environmental laws is a reflection of the speed with which environmentalism has established itself as a potent political force. But many of the laws are either trivial or short-lived and vulnerable to political pressure.

It is not so much that politicians violate laws, but that they modify laws to suit vested interests. Environment regulations may thus be modified to tap the tourist potential of an area or to set up some other industry. There have been many instances where laws have been changed to accommodate commercialisation in hill areas.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, gives wildlife wardens the power to protect animals in wildlife parks and sanctuaries. But we also find that these wardens exercise their power on traditional entertainers like bhaloo (bear) and bandar (monkey) wallahs, confiscate the animals and put them behind bars. At the same time, the state earns money by putting wild animals on exhibition in zoological parks and permits circus companies to train animals for entertainment to earn profit. Environmental values are difficult to integrate into Indian law.

"Civilisation' as we use the term, is not just cities, industrial development, miles of highways and enormous air fields. By destroying the environment for civilisation we are just negating the meaning of the word. Does progress require polluted rivers and lakes, choking air, birds dying of pesticides and young people having heart attacks? In words of Steward Udall, "Man is a part of vast web of life and cannot escape the natural consequences of his actions. The sheer power of population and technological revolutions may make man himself an endangered species in many parts of the world.'

Though regulatory controls have become more strict, the state of the environment has not improved because of financial crunch, absence of basic infrastructure, reliance on litigation, absence of comprehensive industrial location policy and absence of relevant technology.

In India, several legislations have been passed to check pollution, such as the Air (Prevention of Pollution) Act, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Environment (Protection) Act. The legislation on air has some loopholes since it does not provide for the prevention of inter-state air pollution. It deals with the control of noxious emissions from specified industrial processes, automobiles and noise pollution. Smoke and other non-noxious emissions are not covered under this Act.

In 1988, Section 49 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was modified to allow citizens to bring actions under its domain. Now a state board must make relevant reports available to citizens, unless the board determines that the disclosures would harm