History of Indian Environmental Movement: A Study of Dr B.R. Ambedkar from the Perspective of Access to Water

Abstract

The thought of Ambedkar, explicitly or implicitly, has fascinating ecological dimensions. His ideas on the relationship between human beings and nature are useful to put equity at the centre stage of environmental discourse. Environmental problems and degradation for Ambedkar are not only because of over-exploitation of natural resources, but also due to iniquitous access of different social groups to the resource base. Particularly on the issue of access to drinking water to socially marginalized sections such as Dalits, Ambedkar reflected deeply in his intellectual and activist life. This article proposes that the ecological dimension of Ambedkar's thought offers a theory of environmentalism from below which is useful to capture differential impact of environmental problems on socially marginalized sections in general and Dalits in particular.

The political ecology of small freshwater bodies in Kerala, India

“…They contend that the caste system, which denies a dignified existence for Dalit Bahujan communities, is at the core of the denial of access to commons like water. Foregrounding the relevance of Ambedkarite thought on access and utilization of critical resources like water, Dalit environmentalist scholars highlight that inaccessibility signified exclusion, indignity, and injustice (Kumar, 2016). It is argued that in the environmental history by Gadgil and Guha (1992) or in the anthropological accounts by Sivaramakrishnan and Agarwal (2001)—two seminal works on the history of the Indian environmental movement—the blame is on the British colonial rule for rural land alienation and ecological destruction (Kumar, 2016).…”

“…Foregrounding the relevance of Ambedkarite thought on access and utilization of critical resources like water, Dalit environmentalist scholars highlight that inaccessibility signified exclusion, indignity, and injustice (Kumar, 2016). It is argued that in the environmental history by Gadgil and Guha (1992) or in the anthropological accounts by Sivaramakrishnan and Agarwal (2001)—two seminal works on the history of the Indian environmental movement—the blame is on the British colonial rule for rural land alienation and ecological destruction (Kumar, 2016). These previous works tend to assume that the pre‐colonial environmental record in India was “ecologically more prudent” (Kumar, 2016, p. 3).…”

“…It is argued that in the environmental history by Gadgil and Guha (1992) or in the anthropological accounts by Sivaramakrishnan and Agarwal (2001)—two seminal works on the history of the Indian environmental movement—the blame is on the British colonial rule for rural land alienation and ecological destruction (Kumar, 2016). These previous works tend to assume that the pre‐colonial environmental record in India was “ecologically more prudent” (Kumar, 2016, p. 3). However, he noticed that a few studies like Sharma (2012) brought together the Dalit perspectives and environmental histories to initiate a new strand of environmentalism.…”

Reimagining Climate Justice as Caste Justice

“…For instance, anti-caste assertions such as the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927, which claimed Dalits' right to use public tanks and demanded equitable distribution of resources, have not been recognized as environmental struggles. Widening the canon of environmental thought in India and recognizing anti-caste philosophers such as Ambedkar as ecological thinkers will allow for greater recognition of caste in environmental discourse (Kumar 2016).…”

Science and Environment Education in the Times of the Anthropocene: Some Reflections from India

“…India's environmental movement has combined ecological concerns with class and caste politics (Guha & Martinez-Alier, 2013;Kumar, 2016). It is pertinent that transformative science and environmental education in India that is critical of the Anthropocene discourse incorporate these concerns.…”