Photo Courtesy: nenews
Guwahati: Development at the expense of the environment fails the test of sustainability. Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered this message Saturday in Guwahati. He spoke during a public lecture hosted by the local group Dharitri Suraksha Mancha. "There cannot be any conflict between development and ecology. Any activity detrimental to society cannot be sustainable," Bhuyan told the crowd.
Politicians rarely prioritize the environment because these issues lack immediate political payoffs. This oversight leaves ecological health off the table for many parties. Senior advocate K.N. Chowdhury joined the conversation to slam the erosion of constitutional protections. He argued that officials frequently bypass legal mandates to push through projects.
Chowdhury highlighted the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. This law requires central approval for non-forest activities in protected zones. He noted that executive power has slowly gutted these safeguards. He pointed to recent flooding in the Sivasagar district as proof of his concerns. He blamed the disaster on illegal coal and sand mining along the Dikhou river. "It was a man-made disaster, primarily caused by illegal sand and coal mining in the Dikhou river," Chowdhury said.
Mahesh Deka, the chief convener of Dharitri Suraksha Mancha, organized the event to spark public debate on these risks. The group wants more cooperation between judges, lawyers, and citizens. They insist that true growth requires keeping ecological security at the forefront of policy.
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