of that approach has also been highlighted (Venkatachalam, 2005).5
Programmes Iikejointforest management (JFM) can also be mentioned
here, with direct involvement Ofstakeholders, which has helped natural
resource management to a great extent (CBD, undated; Balooni, 2002).6
Apart from the internal factors like economic liberalisation,
external factors have also influenced the environmental scenario in
India significantly. Trade and Environment remained an important issue
for discussion at the WTO forums since the inception of the multilateral
body in 1995 and standard-setting has been a continuous process.
Indian firms, especially doing business in sectors like textile, marine
products, leather, chemicals etc., have often complained that the
environmental compliance norms for exporting to EU and US are too
stringent.7 Nonetheless, owing to sanctions and regular factory visits
by importing country officials, the compliance level in India has increased
over the years for several industries (Tewari and Pillai, 2005; Sankar,
2006; Schjolden, 2000), with obvious positive implications on the
5 For instance, setting up of the Local Area Environmental Committees (LAECs) with
the active participation of the local people for inspection, monitoring of day-to-day
development in hazardous waste affected sites; the Supreme Court Monitoring
Committee (SCMC) on Hazardous Waste has ensured strict compliance of the
Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 on the part of the
industries or any other agency involved in Hazardous Waste generation, collection,
treatment and disposal.
6 Sankar (1998) argues that the government may ensure participation of community
based organizations in management of local commons as well as in the enforcement
of environmental laws and rules.
7 In 1989-90 Germany banned the import of leather items containing more than 5
mg∕kg of Pentachlorophenol (PCP). It again banned the import of leather (and
textiles) treated with azo dyes (benzidine) in 1994 (Chakraborty and Singh, 2005).
In case of marine products, the requirement to clean the floors of the processing
units with mineral waters has been too stringent (Kaushik and Saqib, 2001).
domestic environment.8 On the other hand, pollution level in upcoming
sectors like electronics components industry is on the rise (Saqib et al,
2001).
In this background, on the basis of a secondary data analysis, the
current paper attempts to analyze the relationship of environmental
quality with human development and economic growth separately for
14 major Indian States over 1991-2004. For a closer analysis of the
impact of the reform element on environmental quality of the States,
the sample period is bifurcated into two sub-periods - Period A (1990-
1996) and Period B (1997-2004) respectively. This period marks an
evolving attitude of the country towards environment, although in a
gradual manner.9 The paper is organized as follows. A brief literature
survey on environmental sustainability, human development and
economic growth is followed by the discussion on the methodology
adopted in this paper, the results and the policy observations
respectively.
8 However, environmental NTBs significantly affect Indian exports (Bhattacharyya,
1999; Chaturvedi and Nagpal, 2002; Mehta, 2005), and it is believed that too much
emphasis on environmental standards might lead to loss of comparative advantage
for India (Mukhopadhyay and Chakraborty, 2005).
9 India introduced the Environment (Protection) Act and the Hazardous Wastes
(Management and Handling) Rules in 1986 and 1989 respectively and became a
member of Basel Convention in 1992. However, the national rules on hazardous
wastes were brought into conformity with Basel norms only in 2000 (Sharma, 2005;
Divan and Rosencranz, 2002).