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ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
ACT, 1986

INTRODUCTION
Concern over the sale of envi ron ment has grown the world over
since the early sixties. The decline in environmental quality has been
evidenced. by , increasing Pol utIonloss o e dim and biodiversity.
excessive concentration of harmful chemicals, environmental accidents.
e tc . The world community resolved to protect and enhance the
environmental quality through the decision taken at the United Nations
Conference on Human_ Environmenfiieiei-n- Stblkholm. in 1972. India also
participated in the conference and strongly voiced the concerns and
suggested several measures. In view of the deliberations, there arose
a need for the enactment of legislation on environmental protection.
India has nearly 200 Central and State legislations on environment
Out of this hundreds of legislations, there are 12 principal statutes.
The prime among them is. the Constitutional (42nd) Amendment Act of
1976. This amendment made provisions for protection andpreservation of
environment by introducing Article 48A and Article 51A(g) under the
Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 48A ensures the State's
commitment to protect the environment, and Article 51A(g) indicates
that to protect and to improve the natural environment shall be the
fundamental duty of the citizen of India.
In order to observe the Directive Principles of State Policy, the
Central Government has enacted major legislations on environmental
protection. In addition to the common law statues like Indian Penal
Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, Civil Procedure Code,
1908, and Specific Relief Act, 1963, there are a number of statutes.
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