The Indian Law Institute

Transcription

1 CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION (2 nd Revised Ed.) (1999). ByN.S. Kamboj. Deep and Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Pp Price Rs. 350/-. THE ANCIENT Indian culture put emphasis on Santi (peace of mind) and required people to practice meditation, a way to salvation ingrained in the Indian ethos. But the tragedy is that today we have forgotten the basic human life precepts, the conservation ethic, and we are out for wanton destruction of environment. The cost of regeneration is so exorbitant that it is not possible to compensate the loss and put the environment back on its then existing position. The conservation of environment, an inseparable part of our dharma and an act of punya, has taken the place of degradation, a paap. The result is that in the modern times the man is living in a disturbed condition. All this is man made situation. Before the slow poison of shattering noise destroys ourselves and the generations to come it is time that we try to build up a peaceful atmosphere. This will make us happy and free from any difficulty. It is found that the noise terror stricken people of the west take shelter in healthy noise resorts. The present publication has come out as the "Second Revised Edition" but it has not been fully revised, a loss to the readers of the new revised edition. Here comes the role of a book reviewer. It is generally seen that the books are reviewed in a page or half pointing out only its good points here and there. This is an injustice to the book and its review. A detailed and an impartial review would require the author to consider the suggestions/comments before going for the revised edition of the book. And further that it will disseminate more information on new arfeas to the readers, which an author would have failed to highlight. Kamboj, is divided into six parts: The introduction part is divided into three sub-heads: First, the title is "the environmental protection as a global issue and its legislative history in India". 1 But in this three and half pages treatment one finds hardly any specific substantial contribution in the field of noise pollution. *Hereinafter referred to as Kamboj. 1. It may be pointed out that the author had worked for his LL.D. degree on "Noise Pollution and its Legal Control in Indian Perspective" an appropriate topic, which is changed in the present work to "Control of Noise Pollution" a misleading title which hardly indicates the area of subject study and its geographical limit, a practice with some authors/publishers to capture a wider market of multi-discipline readers.

2 136 JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN LA W INSTITUTE [Vol This head meets out injustice to the ancient Indian scripts and also the information available during the British Raj. Second, it deals with the noise as an environmental problem in India. The author, instead of going into the issues, points out comparative noise pollution law at this stage, which is misplaced in the discussion. The readers expects information on issues like: the kinds of noise: short term and long term, serious and minor, vast and varied, etc.; the sources of noise pollution; the culprits and victims of noise pollution; the geography of the noise pollution areas - big and small cities, rural and urban areas, congested and isolated places, silent and noise zones, etc; the mechanisms to combat intolerable noise, the politics and economy of the unbearable noise; the authorities to prevent and control the pollution; and last but not the least, the issues involved in techno-science advances made in this field. These are some of the aspects, which unfortunately have been totally neglected in the present work. And third, the sub-head highlights the objectives of the work. This is nothing but a Ph.D. thesis treatment, insignificant for the law students. Part two deals with the effects of noise. Kamboj looks to its effect on human beings, animals, birds, society and the nation at large. Here one finds a detailed interesting fusion of medico legal studies on the effect of noise pollution on human beings. This part closes with the conclusion of "a strict ban on the indiscriminate use of loudspeakers", which, according to the author, "has become an urgent need of the hour". This is only a small fraction of the sad story of noise pollution. There are many sources of noise pollution, which Kamboj has hardly touched upon. Once we deal with different means, which produce supersonic boom or terrible bang, or intolerable noise then the question will be: do we require a separate and specific legal treatment of each means of noise pollution? The answer will be that in India presently there is no specific law to control and prevent noise pollution as such, and, therefore, it is too early to advocate for specialized branches of noise pollution law but sooner or later we will have to have them. Further, the effect on plants is left out in the present work but the scientific studies show that the noise pollution also affects plants. There is one more thing, which a reader would like to know about the different mechanisms to control noise pollution, which has not been dealt with in Kamboj. The techno science researchers throw immense light in this area and have provided new control mechanisms. For example, the layman knows the traditional role of neem tree but it has been identified to have a good acoustic quality. These informations cannot be left out in a publication on noise pollution, a multidisciplinary subject. The next part introduces the subject of legal control of noise pollution. It tries to expose the international efforts with hardly much of use in the present area. The history of international environmental law traced from

3 2002] BOOK REVIEWS 137 the U.N. Treaty, 1945, the Stockholm Declaration, 1972 and down to Earth Summit, 1992 do not make any direct and specific contribution in the field of noise pollution. Such elaboration could have been avoided in the treatment on the specific area i.e. noise pollution. Coming to the comparative noise pollution law discussion, it deserves appreciation for two reasons: one, the comparative law literature is becoming gradually an extinct specie in most of the law libraries in India; and second, it will help an interested scholar to develop a critical approach by knowing the merits and demerits of the laws of other countries and their experiences could be used to enrich the Indian law researches. However, the bird's eye view treatment in Kamboj, it is suggested, could be substituted with detailed information having critical analysis on the leading provisions of the U.S.A., U.K. and Japanese noise pollution laws. This would cater to the needs of students pursuing higher studies as well, enhancing the importance of the present work. This part ends with the suggestion that, "(S)ome effective legislation to control noise pollution in Indian perspective has become an urgent need of the day" (emphasis supplied). The word "effective" has come from the author's self reading of the comparative legislations as he opines, "the people in these countries enjoy better protection against the problem of noise pollution, due to the existence of effective legislations on noise control". There is nothing in the present work to support effectiveness of the existing comparative legal control. If one recalls, in Japan the government had given permission to Concord to land on one of the airports of Japan but it was not the legal control rather the mass agitation which did not allow the then existing noise level to be subjected to a tragic hike. The increasing offshoots of noise pollutions and their far reaching effects and also the growing litigations tell a different theory of the so-called effectiveness of the comparative legislations in those countries. The role of Indian law is covered under the next part. It deals with two important facets: first, the constitutional law scenario; and second, the general law treatment which includes the civil, criminal and other laws-centre and state legislations. This is an area where there is lot of scope for critical appraisal which the present book misses the opportunity. Coming to the constitutional law aspect, three points need consideration: One, the revised edition is of the year 1999 whereas Kamboj has confined the discussion on the case law up to If one opens the Indian law reports since 1987 till to date or the Annual Survey of Indian Law, the environmental law section, he will find that the apex court and in particular, the high courts have handed down number of interesting judgments exposing the emerging challenges before the control and prevention of noise pollution. Two, the subject of noise pollution, it is advocated by Kamboj, be placed in the union list. The legal control of noise pollution will require all out efforts and cooperation right from Parliament down to

4 138 JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN LAW INSTITUTE [Vol 44 : 1 the grass root legislature. And, therefore, the correct course of action would be to have a cooperative and coordinated approach in this field rather than making it an exclusive responsibility of Parliament alone. And three, comes the suggestion that, right of the people to enjoy "noise free atmosphere" should be recognized under part III of the Constitution. It unfortunately overlooks the dynamic role played by the Indian judiciary in the field of the fundamental right to environment. The courts not only expanded the frontiers of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty but also gave new shades to the fundamental duty [article 51 A(g)] and the directive principle (article. 48A) in evolving the fundamental right to live in a clean environment. In the rest of the pages a student will find that Kamboj tries to expose the fragmented approach of the Indian legislatures. The book exposes the readers with a comprehensive historical background of the legal control of noise pollution in India. It goes as far back as the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and comes down to the Environment (Protection) Act, These are the basic experiences, narrated by Kamboj, on which a comprehensive noise pollution law can be woven. It is time to fill the vacuum in India otherwise the serious noise assaults may endanger not only the lives of human beings, animals, plants but also the environment in general. No serious study can be complete unless the theoretical discussions have been co-related with an empirical study. The response of public opinion gives strength to the legislation and its enforcement agencies. It also points out the future perspective for the law in action. On this count, Kamboj deserves all appreciation. However, one expects seriousness in data collection, data processing and analysis. In the present exercise it is said on the one hand that the vast majority of the respondents have liked the idea of the enactment of some strict legislation on noise control, and on the other, it has been pointed out that 45 per cent respondent do not want noise pollution to be labeled as an offence. How can both stand together? Further the study does not specify the categories of the respondents, which is an important factor in analyzing the data, and this could have given one more dimension to the empirical study undertaken in the present work. Kamboj closes with "conclusions and suggestions". This part will be of interest to all those who are concerned with the rising graph of noise pollution and also of the functionaries and institutions, including the law makers, involved in the control and prevention of noise pollution. However, it may be pointed out that each part of the present book gives conclusions and suggestions, which again find a place in the concluding part as well. Such arrangement could have been avoided to save the readers from repetition and the cost of publication. And finally comes the bibliography to the second revised edition of 1999, it hardly travels beyond the year 1987, an injustice with the readers.

5 2002] BOOK REVIEWS 139 If one opens the pages of the indexes to legal literature and periodicals on the legal control of noise pollution, even for the last one decade, he will find references on the studies under taken in this area having comparative and the also Indian perspectives. The above points are in no way to minimize the amount of exercise undertaken by the author on an underdeveloped area of legal research in India. The present observations/comments may encourage the writer to go for dissemination of more information on noise pollution in the next edition. This way Kamboj can cater to the needs of not only LL.B. students, as envisaged by the author, but also the students involved in higher studies in law and multi disciplines in the present field. At the end it may be said that the Indian environmental law is in a developing state, and the subject of Indian noise law has yet to take off on the Indian runway. In such a situation Kamboj is a welcome addition to the Indian environmental law literature. It is an important attempt to educate the illiterate masses, and in turn building up public opinion against noise pollution. The noise literacy also will inbreed a minimum noise pollution culture, compensating the loss to the past glory. The publishers also deserve praise on three counts: one, Kamboj has a good get up and flawless printing which is on deterioration in the present publication market; two, the letters are given in a font which can be read with hardly any difficulty; and three, looking to the amount of information supplied and the cost of publication, the price of Rs. 350/- can be said to be reasonable. CM. Jariwala* * LL.M.,Ph.D. (London).Emeritus Fellow (UGC), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Member Environmental Law Commission, Switzerland and also the International Council of Environmental Law, Germany.