Damming evidence

If there is one focus for the growing concern that UPA-II is characterised by policy incoherence,it could be the Union environment ministry. Yes,it must implement environmental regulations carefully. But that must not serve to encourage populist nay-saying; nor should it be used to undermine policy directions decided on by the cabinet. Yet these are precisely the directions in which the ministry has deliberately chosen to take its policy interventions. There is a careless irresponsibility at work here that threatens not only the UPAs authority but also the chances of a political consensus around a depoliticised,effective environment policy.

Consider the letter Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to the PM. It asks for all hydel power projects in Arunachal Pradesh to be reviewed and for a moratorium on further clearances. Is this a straightforward application of his job description? On first sight,perhaps but emphatically not if you consider the context of this intemperate demand. First: the development of Indias border areas has been prioritised,both as a strategic and a humane necessity. Humane,because these areas have for too long suffered from an infrastructure deficit that multiplies the negative effects on their peoples of their isolation; strategic,because,across the border,Chinas massive connectivity projects are creating a palpable infrastructure gap.

More context: the minister says that dams are bound to be the subject of agitation in Assam. He claims this on the basis of meetings with NGOs he has personally chosen to empower through a process of consultation that cuts out the people affected and instead engages those who are unelected that yet claim,for one reason or another,to speak for the affected. To stoke up trouble between upper and lower riparian states,and to link it to the Congresss prospects in

Assams assembly elections,shows that this minister,like some other members of his party,is unwilling to pay even lip service to the responsibilities that go with being in the council of ministers. In a country as complex as India,being a Union minister requires a combination of wisdom,intellect and,also,maturity. What the position should not allow for is grandstanding in any shape or form. Policy on the development of the Northeast was formulated with care,by an inter-ministerial group; poking holes in it is an action that should only be taken with an equal amount of care.