Electoral agendas and manifestos are flush with economically detrimental promises of assured income, loan waiver, debt decriminalisation, free ration and the like – almost all of it sourced by taxpayer money. In the rush to win over the voter, real issues often take the backseat. Ecology, environment and population control are among them.

In the age of global warming and climate change, aggravated by population explosion, it ought to have been otherwise. Nature after all is a great leveller; it does not distinguish between vote banks.

The fact that it is the poor who bear the brunt of natural calamities makes a compelling case for political outfits to recognise the existential threats that overpopulation, deforestation and climate change pose, and allow these issues to rightfully occupy the electoral centrestage. That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case yet.

Ecology as an election issue, sadly, remains ignored in Indian politics.

With extreme weather events occurring at alarming regularity — further exacerbated by man’s increasing destruction of forests, grasslands, mangroves and riverbeds, the writing is on the wall. But population control and environmental sensitivity are bad politics — trees, rivers and wildlife do not count for votes after all!

It is time that the increasing human pressure on earth’s finite resources is restrained and reduced. It takes moral and political courage to accept the population problem and advocate drastic control measures. But with votes coming by far more easily, these issues continue to be untouched.

We cannot afford to ignore overpopulation on the pretext of demographic dividend, nor continue to clear forests in the cause of development and securing livelihoods — both which may turn out to be unsustainable in the long run. As a matter of fact, it is exactly the opposite which results. Clearing forests and colonising fallow grasslands to increase agricultural area reduces groundwater recharge, degrades soil and increases man-animal conflict — resulting in decrease in biodiversity and reduced agricultural productivity.

Highways through protected landscapes puts great stress on wildlife and brings pristine landscapes in repugnant human contact — aiding poachers and spreading plastic pollution to the forest heartland.

In addition to illegal mining and encroachments are frequent wildfires that ravage our wildlife parks and sanctuaries — the latest being the Bandipur blaze which reduced to ashes nearly 11,000 acres of prime forest in the Western Ghats, across three Tiger reserves. Forest fires are easy pickings for encroachers who gain a free passage to the treeless terrain.

The water crisis in India is matter of concern too, with reduced volumes and increased seasonality of river channel flows. The groundwater table is reducing at an alarming rate. There is an urgent need therefore to harvest rainwater and limit groundwater exploitation so that higher sustainability levels are achieved.

The electoral manifestos would have made for better reading were they to be suggestive of concerns for these events, or plans and promises to prevent their occurrence or mitigate their effects.

Animal rights also seem to figure low on priority. There has been a recent initiative proposing a ban on the use of animals in circuses. The Election Commission has forbidden the use of animals in election campaigns, which is welcome.

However, the cry for animal welfare and due recognition of animal rights issues are missing in the Indian electoral debate. Promises of animal welfare at best find a passing mention in election manifestos. Elephants continue to languish and suffer in private captivity, and horses and rabbits continue to serve as helpless subjects in industrial laboratories. Not to mention animal slaughter for meat and leather.

Awareness and concern for animal rights have risen manifold among the average Indian. A political establishment sensitive to animal rights is bound to rise in the voter’s esteem. National character is defined as much by the land’s rivers, mountains, flora and fauna, as by its people. The day is not far when a political establishment’s track record on green issues will form the yardstick for citizen voters to assess their vote worthiness.

The informed Indian electorate is already heading in a direction where the ecological sensitivity index (ESI) may soon come to determine the party to be voted to power. There will indeed be a lot of political capital to be made out of green policies.

The author is a former Army officer and a serving civil servant. Views expressed are personal

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