He wants future generations to have much more than just safe water to drink and clean air to breathe. M  C  Mehta has filed a record number of Public Interest Litigation's in the Supreme Court the Ganga Pollution Case, the Delhi Pollution Case, the Taj Mahal Case, the Child Labour Case; the Rajasthan Gound-water Pollution Case, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Case and the Expansion of Article 21, "The Right to Life". Most recently in the news for the Vehicular Pollution Case, a demand for lead-free petrol and CNG, and the banning of sales of vehicles not conforming to Euro emission norms, this Magsaysay Award winner (1997) used his prize money to establish Swastigram, an "eco-ashram" near Rishikesh.
Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.


    "You could say I'm an active citizen, I'm not an activist," says Mehta, who believes that a people's movement for the betterment of environment, is slowly gathering momentum. "It has begun already. How long will you suppress it? If there is a need today, it is an education about the rights of the people. At the same time, it is very important to know your duties. We talk about our rights, but why not duties? We literally gather our ghar ka kuda (domestic garbage) and throw it outside. We have been so pampered. If there is no water, what will the politician do? Apne ghar se paida karega (Will he produce it from his house)? There has to be an understanding that unless you save water in your homes, there will be none. It does not come from an unending source. Simple things like saving on electricity are very important. There has to be environmental awareness. The process has begun, but right now, it's like there is a tremendously huge fire, and you're dowsing it with one bucket of water. That won't help, the fire will not be put out unless everyone comes together."

   'Everyone' means NGOs and grant institutions too.  "There

If you have a law, obey and respect it; it is the duty of the executive to implement it. If it cannot be implemented, don't make fools of bonafide and law abiding citizens

---

needs to be coordination between avenues, the NGOs too. Then, there will be a strong impact. There are different fields - health, environment et cetera. But, those who are working on identical issues need to get together, so the impact can be strong," says Mehta. He himself works alone because sometimes, "small is beautiful. That's important. It's necessary to work at the grassroots level".
   "People who have lived in the cities all their lives don't even know where wheat grows - on a tree, perhaps?" laments the Supreme Court lawyer. "I ask children questions during some programmes, and one child actually said that milk comes from Mother's Dairy. It has become a joke now. How would the child know? He has only seen that, he doesn't know about the gaay (cow) and the bhens (buffalo)." I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man.

   In 1991, Mehta filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) arguing that 'environment should be made a compulsory subject in schools and colleges in a graded system, so that there would be a general growth of awareness'. Among other things, the judgement recorded that the application was filed "by a practising advocate of this court who has consistently been taking interest in matters relating to environment and pollution". The decree accepted "on principle" that education could bring about awareness of the environment and its problems related to pollution, and that environment should therefore be taught as a compulsory subject. But, as education is a state issue, and the central government is only associated with education at the undergraduate and post graduate levels, the only directive of the court was to the University Grants Commission. The UGC was to consider making environment a compulsory subject at every level in college education. All state governments and every education board connected with education up to the matriculation or even intermediate stages were also directed to have "compulsory education on environment in a graded way". The time frame set for the directives to be implemented was one year. The Supreme Court also did not consider it "necessary to hear the state governments and the other interested groups as by now, there is a general acceptance throughout the world as also in our country, that protection of environment and keeping it free of pollution is an indispensable necessity for life to survive on earth. If that be the situation, every one must turn his immediate attention to the proper care to sustain environment in a decent way".
   A very positive verdict; one would feel delighted by the response. But, one of Mehta's principal complaints is that we already have laws that protect varied interests of the people as well as the environment, which are not followed. "In all my fights, I'm simply saying, If you have a law, obey and respect it; it is the duty of the

There is eco-illiteracy among our political parties,
parliamentarians, bureaucracy, journalists, lawyers.
This is a vicious cycle. There has to be education
at the nursery level

executive to implement it. If it cannot be implemented, don't make fools of bonafide and law abiding citizens.' The executive is under obligation to respect your constitutional rights and duties. That's the Right to Life, Article 21 of the Constitution. If you read the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957, you can see that the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi enjoys a lot of power; he can do many things. But, if the entire organisation is paralysed, saari sanstha collapse kar rahi hain, ghaple hi ghaple, what can you expect? Or the DDA Act, or the Delhi Master Plan 1962 - if the implementation were according to the design, there would have been no problem. It just has to be done in one city, not even saara Bharat varsh (in the whole of India).

   If even one city, the capital city, which you call 'First City', were made beautiful, and was run by the laws, then it would set an example to the rest of the country. Delhi's master plan was made after much thought and deliberation - there are flaws there - but what I'm saying is that if you have made something, uske anusaar chalne ka prayatna to kariye. If there is a lack in it, then that's a different aspect - one can remove that weakness. But, if you can't implement your laws and ensure that people abide by them, scrap them. It will become a lawless society, so be it. Anyhow, there is lawlessness now too, it is complete hypocrisy. Kanoon ki to dhajjiyaan ud rahi hain, bilkul paalan hi nahi kar raha hain koi, that means you are heading for a lawless society and absolute anarchy and violence in the country." Mehta contends that it is worse to have a society that does not follow existing laws, than having a lawless one altogether. "People who have the muscle power and the money will do whatever they want, they can manipulate laws and get their work done. Those who are law abiding are the worst sufferers today."
   We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it. he moves on. He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birth right are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.
    Mehta is particularly distressed at the short-sightedness of the political leaders, "It is like the blind leading the blind. They are taking everybody into the deep morass, the deep ditch. There is something called eco-illiteracy, and our political arries, parliamentarians, bureaucracy, journalists, lawyers are all involved in it. If your hope rests on the political parties, or the bureaucracy which is so corrupt today, please abandon it. Desh ka diwala to nikaal hi diya 50 years mein tabaahi to kar hi di (The country has been soaked dry, the destruction's happened in a mere 50 years). Let's do something for the future generations." Don't repose your faith in the media either, advises Mehta. "Are they sensitive to any of the issues? They say our newspaper or magazine doesn't sell. Himmat nahi hai (there's no courage). It's not that everyone is like that.

   I have encountered many dedicated journalists, who bring out articles after blessed effort and there's a huge impact on the society. The Yamuna Valley story in Hindustan Times became a court case. In a team of 10 - if there is even one person active, a little sensitive, then he or she can make a difference. That is my effort - to work at my level - whether it's environmental or other social causes. There are good IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers in the bureaucracy too, who have taken major risks in their career, to do effective work. Our nation is passing through a paralytic state of affairs," Mehta breaks off in distress. "When the Budget is being planned in Parliament, has Jaswant Singh ever called people working on issues of environment, corruption, women's rights, and heard them out? All those involved in white collar crime are sitting there."
    After commending me for not drinking tea (contains nicotine and caffeine!), Mehta, returns to his solution to the paralysis of the country- we can only spearhead a movement ourselves. "Once it becomes a mass people's movement, the malpractice will gradually stop. These lightweights who have no concern for the country, will fly away like a tin roof does in a storm. The same politicians will talk about a corruption-less society. This is a very vicious cycle. There has to be education at the nursery level. Education about water, its value... most children today don't even know the composition of the foods they consume." You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children that we have taught our children that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. (...) This we know; the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know.
    The geography books that I studied 40 years ago are being used to this day, Vaatavaran badal gaya hai (Circumstances have changed now). In reality, the rivers talked about in those books, have dried up. The interest has to be revived in the children. Their curriculum has to be revised. The role of the teachers is important. Cramming is not the solution. Children have to be given extra incentives. They need to be sent out into the world, rather than be cooped up in the classroom. Only then can they be good citizens, and that's very important. The message being given to them right now is that 'You're a good citizen only if you have a good bank balance, four cars, a nice house'. The perception has completely changed. I'm from a village and the way it was, was that the oldest man, no matter how illiterate he was, was considered the wisest; he wouldn't do wrong. They always dispensed the right justice. Now, if you have a car, everything's right."

    How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. (...) We are part of the earth and it is part of us. (...) This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. (...) The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. To recognise the dignity of labour is important, feels Mehta. "Whenever I go abroad, for lectures in universities, I ask the Indian students there - what did you do in your own country? Yahaan to tum bartan bhi maanj rahe ho (Here, you're even washing vessels). You didn't do that in our country, Aadmi ka kaam nahi hai kitchen mein ghusna. Galat baat hai. Jhadoo maarna mere dignity se below hai (It isn't the man's work to enter the kitchen. That perception is wrong, that it is beneath my dignity to use the broom). Children of rich industrialists are working as waiters in canteens abroad. That's a good thing. If only we had dignity of labour in our nation. In Stanford, I was asked a question on population. I said, 'You are the people responsible for devastating the resources of the world. One American kid is equal to 20 Indian kids'. I asked them if they were ready to change their own habits. They're not, and they want to be leaders of the world; they claim to be the leaders. I told them their claim is wrong, they have no sensitivity whatsoever towards the environment, they want no responsibility, they are producing nothing, and they are spreading trash culture all around the world. If they let it stay in their own country, that's still okay. But, they're spreading it, the plastic culture is in India now-use it and throw it." But in your perishing you will shine brightly fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.
    But, Mehta concedes that the American people are very civic conscious, "No one litters the roads. In India, that's not the case. So, it's choking the drains. One doctor operated a cow and found 52 kilograms of plastic. This is an injustice to the animal, which feeds on the garbage and eats our discarded stuff that's wrapped in plastic,

What will people do with computers in their homes, if they don't get water? We talk of a cultural revolution. What our country needs is an environment and resource revolution

and it cannot come out of the animal (as excreta). It's slowly deposited, and eventually, there's so much accumulation that the animal suffocates to death. At least dispose the plastic with decency. The residents' welfare communities need to get involved, hamara ghar se farz banta hai (it is the duty of every household). But, no one's ready to do it. Burning plastic is carcinogenic - you breathe that air, someone will get cancer. Education is imperative. If people know that this one deed of mine will have such an adverse effect on society, on environment, on health, there will be a change."
    Mehta's 1991 FII. that made a case for environmental education, also pushed for environmental awareness through film campaigns. "In every cinema theatre, there needs to be a slide that puts across a message for environmental awareness." The court issued directives ruling that if all cinema halls, touring cinemas and video parlours did not exhibit at least two slides/messages on environment in each show undertaken by them, free of cost, their licenses would be cancelled. The Ministry of Environment was directed to bring out appropriate slide material on various aspects of environment and pollution. Further, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was directed to produce short, information films and screen them once a day. By and large, the court agreed on the seriousness of the issue, but the problem again, is implementation. 'The government still has to do it," informs Mehta. "I have filed a contempt against

it in court. I always tell people who are concerned to go to the theatres and check if any such films are being shown. And if they're not, then you can tell the District Magistrate."
    Originally from Kashmir, Mehta practised law, as "an ordinary lawyer, jaise ki hota hai then joined the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 1974. He shifted to Delhi in 1983. It wasn't because of shifting to an urban space that he turned into an environmental lawyer. "12 million people live in Delhi, they're breathing the polluted air everyday, drinking the contaminated water everyday. They don't become sensitised." The catalytic incident in Mehta's career is now legendary, "It was an incident in a party... someone came to me and said the Taj Mahal is dying and getting yellow and pale. He said lawyers didn't care. That one incident really changed my life. I started reading about environmental issues, concerns, how pollution is affecting people's lives, health, environment, how it is disastrous to a civilisation, a country, the whole globe, if we degrade the environment. Anybody can become sensitive then, if he has the mind." The air is precious to the red man for all things share the same breath, the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days

Children of rich industrialists work
as waiters abroad.
That's good. If only we had
dignity of labour in India

he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
    Mehta feels that being a lawyer has been a boon. "Of course, it would have been very, very difficult otherwise. Being a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court, I could sustain myself for over 20 years doing environmental cases and other social cases. If you are going to the court and say, you're coming all the way from Maharashtra, then, you need a lawyer over here. Lawyers demand money and then, they might not agree to fight your case. Whether it is an environmental case or any other case against injustice, it becomes an unequal fight. On the one hand, you have this huge,  organised mafia, who practise white collared crime everyday. The industries are so powerful. They have their CII (Confederation of Indian Industries), chambers of commerce, so many associations... They're organised they protect their interests. They have the money and an entire infrastructure in place -they can hire any number of lawyers, scientists, they can make studies overnight, they have political clout, everything. What does a citizen have? If you go to the court, what do you have? The people are afraid of joining you. There are fence sitters, who say,' You're doing very good work but we can't help you'. And then when people say 'we can't come forward but help us out' - how long can you sustain the effort?"
    In a PIL, the client is an ungrateful, most often also an unaware public, so the question of the lawyer being paid does not even arise. Despite the despair, Mehta has devised a way of supporting himself with cases unrelated to environment and social justice, continuing to devote time and energy to PILs. "You have to. If you become a dedicated journalist or a dedicated lawyer or a dedicated doctor - anybody - then your conscience is not clear, if you don't do it. I've fought many cases in my name since 1985. They are still going on. For instance, the Taj Mahal case was filed in 1984; it is still going on.

   The others are the people who come to me - I fight on their behalf, as a lawyer. There is no fee - at the most, they'll pay me photocopying charges. That's why it's an unequal fight. If a man is bringing a case of pollution against a mighty industry... the industry guy has the minister in his pocket - politician, bureaucrat - they're all in his pocket. Ab kya karoge aap (Now, what will you do)? The industrialists have a strong influence on administration, on politicians, I get so many letters everyday-they don't even get to meet any officer. Even if they do, he says  'Kar denge, tum jaao. Bichara aadmi kya karega, jiska ghar is factory ke paas hai, dhuaan aata hai, dame ki beemari hai ('we'll take care of it, you can go'. Now what. the poor man do, who has a house beside a factory that emit polluting smoke, causing asthma)? How many times will he approach the authorities? Where will he go? The nexus is vicious. If you read the newspapers everyday, you'll see the MCD nexus, the NDMC nexus, everyone's corrupt It gives such a sad picture, hum apne samaaj ko kya bana rahe hain? Hamaare samaaj ke har ang ko paralysis ho gaya hai (What are we turning our society into? Every limb of our society is paralysed)." I do not know. Our ways are different than your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of the insect's wings. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with pine.
    Things are becoming more and more urban. "We are swallowing prime agricultural lands; it is having an impact on our food security. In town planning, there should be no mixed zones.

Cramming is not the solution. Children have to be sent out into the world. You're (not) a good citizen only if you have a good bank balance

There is no self-obeisance of the law. So, zones need to be created. There shouldn't be a residential area with industries next to it. Clean and hazardous industries cannot be adjacent. If you go to Faridabad, there are industries on the right and residential colonies on the left. The pollution in the air is affecting the people living there. It can't be right across the road. With the existing places, hard steps need to be taken and for all new places, civic bodies have to be made accountable. In the parking lot today, all you have to do is fine the guy parking on the road Rs. 500. The public road is not a garage. Our old stalwarts, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Subhash Chandra Bose had those ethics. They had their differences too, but they sacrificed them for the betterment of the nation. People blame the Emergency and stuff. It's been 20 years, so what's the problem now? There's a plague in the country. There needs to be a youth movement; they are less corrupt and have a spirit of sacrifice. They form a large percentage, and if there is awareness among them, we don't need any thing else. I'll tell you a story: There was a child whose parents called me up and congratulated me on the change they noticed in him. The child refused to sit in his father's car, which was to drop him off to school, because there was smoke coming out of it. He wasn't worried that he's going to be punished for being late to school. Only when another car came, did he go. He demanded rectification. The children can do that, say it to the face of their parents. That's what we need for the revolution..."
    Concerned murmurs are being heard in several places, some loud, others hesitant. Teachers, administrators, environmentalists... Some even suggest it is the new fundamentalist force. Capitalism is the new danger. Mehta's concerned too, "What is the point of reducing custom duty on cars? It's

The country needs public transport, not cars. We are in debt because of petroleum products. The multinationals are draining our resources

the same thing, industrialists can hold the hands of the politician and get them to sign anything. Custom duty on public transport should be reduced. The country needs public transport, not cars. The ministers don't understand that. In the entire country, is there a sound public transport system? Why is out nation in debt? Only because of the petroleum products. We import it, and the netas, the finance minister, the Prime Minister need to think about it. A few people, at the cost of the whole society, want to use cars. The common man does not need a car that costs ten lakhs, he wants public transport. Even if he can buy a car, it is not a long-term solution. There should be disincentives on buying cars in the cities. The roads are congested because the government is encouraging and buckling under extreme pressure from this vehicle lobby. Why should there be loans for cars? The multinationals that are coming into this country are here to drain the resources of our country; this is their trade. Make the country helpless, and then, we talk about them as benefactors - Coca Cola or Campa Cola or whatever� that is complete stupidity. The train had to go to Kanyakumari, instead it has taken off in some other direction. Now., to derail the train, we need courageous people. We should not be pessimistic. We need statesmen who, with proper sincerity, think of national interests, not political ones. They need to be asked what they were doing, how did all this mushroom? All of them from 1962 need to know that their property can be confiscated.

If he comes thinking that he's here for a couple of years and he should make as much money as he can, then that's what he'll do..."
    Population has been a major factor, a cause for the further draining of natural resources. Mehta agrees, but counters that what is worse is that political parties cannot come to a consensus on the issue and in fact, do not even address it. "Why can't we have a uniform policy about the major national concerns? Including population control, crime, environmental subjects, corruption. There should be no difference of opinion on these issues. They want vote banks, and that's what they get caught in. Incentives and disincentives should be in place and working. People who have two children should get free education in the best schools, and those who have five, should be given disincentives, they're responsible. It's the same question, who will bell the cat?" But, the very population that is seemingly a burden now, can be turned into a strength, argues Mehta. "We are unlucky and lucky also. We have two billion hands, we don't need machines. Give these two billion hands work. There's a craze in countries abroad of handwoven things. We can use that."
    This passionate advocate of environment feels very strongly about many issues. His voice is filled with torment as he says, "You don't need Coca Cola and Pepsi on your table, you need coconut water. If you go towards Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, you'll find many chemicals and detergents converted into milk, which comes into your homes in plastic pouches. There are heavy metals in the vegetables. Mercury levels are higher than all permissible levels in your milk, vegetables, fruits. I have filed a petition about it. Babies that are born are displaying symptoms and defects. Do we want development at this cost? We don't need these artificial citizens that are being prepared, English speaking. Ultimately, what are they going to do? What will the majority of the people do with the computer in their homes, if they don't get water? We talk of a cultural revolution. What our country needs is an environment and resource revolution, to save our resources. Everything is interrelated. 70 per cent of our diseases are water borne. It is the duty of the municipality to provide clean drinking water. We're paying taxes for disservice. You can't keep saying that there's keechad (mud) and hold a cloth to your nose."

Mehta feels the pressure sometimes, of the tremendous faith that is reposed in him. "I don't have hundreds of lawyers working for me, I don't have that infrastructure. But I don't take a client's word at face value. Some people bring picture, or videos, but only when you go there on site and see things for yourself, do you get a perspective on what the case is. People are so scared. Let me tell you something. There's a genuine problem, and with great trepidation, someone musters the courage to call me. He's not raising his voice, or being emphatic, he's talking very softly even over the phone, saying, 'My children are dying, they're getting diseases.' If I ask him his name, he's so scared, he's silent. He'll be harassed if he tells me. To kaun karega phir (So then, who's going to help him)? People call me and I can't even help them. I don't take cases that help one, 10 or 20 citizens. I try to take cases that can help a million or 10 million people. If you have to prepare for a case like that, you need a lot of energy and information." Yet. he does not have expectations of gratitude or reward for his efforts, "If people get clean -water and air, and I can do something as a citizen of the country, then that's a wonderful thing. Unless we don't all get together, it won't, happen. I tell people to do something at least once a week. They tell me they don't have time, they're too busy. I tell them, 'Do you have the time to die'? You'll keep living like this and tomorrow your wife will get cancer, or one of your kids, or you will fall sick, then will you have the time? They don't understand. This is shortsightedness. The perception needs to change in our heads. One has to take time out for good work, there's no other way. Write a letter to your committee, make a phone call, do something..." Otherwise we will be asking ourselves, Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.