Human greed, Wayanad disaster, climate change: What Justice BR Gavai said in Kerala

Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai on Saturday stressed upon the need to have sustainable development instead of mindless destruction of environment. .He said that human greed should not cross a limit that we cease to care for the future generations.In this regard, he highlighted the recent tragedy in Kerala's Wayanad where over 230 died during in landslides at Mundakkai. "Today's conference and particularly the location where it is being held - Kerala is known to be the God's own country, it is such a beautiful country - particularly in the backdrop of what is a result of a human greed which has been noticed in the recent past about 100 KMs away from here, holding of such a conference on the sustainable transport, tourism and technological Innovations is very important," he said.Justice Gavai was speaking at Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA)'s International Conference on 'Law and Technology: Sustainable Transport, Tourism and Technological Innovations' in Kerala's Kumarakom. "We have seen that on account of conflict between the development and environmental concerns, in the last decade we have suffered many tragedies," the Supreme Court judge said.While Justice Gavai emphasised that development is necessary for progress, he also said that all the three wings, legislature, executive and the judiciary, have to work together to balance development with environment."No doubt that development is necessary for progress but it cannot be at the cost of the environment. Man has always been said to be greedy but the greed should not go beyond limits where there is no concern for future generations. Therefore, the concept of sustainable development over the last couple of decades has taken importance," he added.The top court judge also said that while Constitution requires the State to protect the environment, the citizens also have a fundamental duty to protect the nature. .Justice Gavai also spoke on how environmental jurisprudence has developed in India in the past few decades and referred to the Supreme Court's orders of 1990s regarding public transport in Delhi."Taking note of pollution causing buses in Delhi, in one of the first MC Mehta case, the Supreme Court issued directions to remove such buses and the pollution from buses in Delhi has reduced substantially," he said.Speaking regarding his personal experience heading the Green Bench at top court, Justice Gavai said, "On one hand we have demands of State governments to permit dams to produce electricity but on the other hand there are environmental concerns that it would threaten already fragile ecosystems.".Justice Gavai in his address also commented on Artificial Intelligence, eco-tourism and man-animal conflict."Artificial Intelligence certainly plays an important role but it cannot be a substitute for the human mind. Conflicts with man and the wild have also to be taken into consideration when looking at the tourism, eco-tourism. Eco-tourism is an important aspect because in order to protect the environment, the important stakeholder is the resident of the area. Unless he gets a livelihood of environment, tiger reserve, he would have no interest in protecting the environment... these are all complex issues.".The judge said that the adverse effects of climate change need to be examined seriously. "It has been said development is necessary but as has been [also] said anything else you are interested in can't happen, if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this time, do something. You are by accident of it alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet. The challenges of climate change are being noticed world wide. The adverse effects are one of the aspect which need to be looked into seriously".Justice Surya Kant, who was also present at the event, said there was a need to enact new laws to address issues related to sustainable tourism development and transport."We need new legislation to address emerging issues," the top court judge said.The legal framework should not only ensure economic growth but also address environmental protection and social equity, he underscored..Kerala High Court Acting Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque also spoke on the occasion and said Wayanad landslides were a grim reminder that development must be sustainable.Sustainable development cannot be treated as a mere buzzword, he remarked."I must thank the organisers for choosing Kumarakom to hold this conference which is a very apt location. The landslides in Wayanad will remain a grim reminder for all of us as we discuss the topic today," Justice Mustaque said. .Attorney General for India R Venkataramani said that to express solidarity with lives lost in Wayanad, a donation will be made to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund."We are all gathered here as global citizens. We first thought of keeping AI as the topic but we, the organisers, thought we should keep something more important and real as the topic for this conference," he said.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta also expressed solidarity with those who died in the natural disaster."The incident is a reminder to all of us of what happens when we tinker with the environment, climate and nature. The subject today is very apt," he said.Mehta also spoke about public transport and judiciary's role in aiding the State in implementing innovative measures towards environmental protection."We need a better system of public transport... In some countries there are days which have vehicular curfews. But such measures will require collaboration with executive, legislature and judiciary. But will the legislature be able to introduce something experimental and innovative? Even if it is implemented, it will be challenged before the courts maybe on new grounds like right to privacy, autonomy, freedom of movement. These are the challenges with which judiciary will have to grapple. All of us have to collaborate to ensure we leave this earth a better place for coming generations," he opined.