Effect Of Rapid Urbanization, Demographic Growth On The Constitutional Commitment To Right To Health And Environment Under Article 21 Of The Indian Constitution

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Roop Shankar Roy, Amity University Noida

ABSTRACT

While rapid urbanization, industrialization and other such developmental goals look attractive at the first blush, its impact on the environment and public health is quite alarming. Health in a way can be said to be the core of existence of any human being which again influences the overall development and growth of a given nation. And a healthy lifestyle or for that matter good health requires a clean and healthy environment to live in. Pollution standing in today’s time is one of the greatest concern where half of India, specially the metropolitan cities are breathing absolute impure air and hence their life expectancy is also decreasing gradually. All such factors like that of the urbanization, pollution, demographic growth, deforestation , soil erosion, rapid industrialization cater to being the barrier to the Constitution’s commitment to provide a clean and healthy environment with adequate healthcare facilities at large. The Indian judiciary by progressively interpreting Article 21 of the Indian Constitution has now broadened the scope and nature of the article to not just mean the right to life and personal liberty but to mean the right to live with dignity in a clean and healthy environment with the adequate healthcare facilities and nutrition. But still there remains a gap between that of the judicial pronouncements and the ground level implementation of the same by the administration and the citizens at large. Thus, the present research paper analyzes the impact of rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, demographic growth on environment and public health at large infringing Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It also assesses the loophole in the administration and governance and also the statutory provisions that fails to curb the environmental degradation and pollution which is increasing at an alarming rate.

Keywords: Urbanization, industrialization, demographic growth, deforestation, judicial pronouncement, dignity, loophole

190. EFFECT OF RAPID URBANIZATION, DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT TO

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