ECO-TOURISM VIS-A-VIS NATURE CONSERVATION: A STORY OF DEBATED WIN-WIN ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL GOVERNANCE UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL (NGT) IN MIZORAM, INDIA

Abstract

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution gives right to all citizens of the country to have clean and healthy environment and it also enshrines that it is the duty of the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country and bestow upon the citizens the duty to protect the environment through its dictates under the Directive Principles of State Policy. With the passage of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, NGT has become an important instrument in environmental jurisprudence. Chalfilh tlang controversy over the alleged construction under the eco-tourism initiative of the Government of Mizoram has been under the scanner due to the lack of formal approval obtained under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. This has catapulted intense controversies and setbacks, both for the state government and its machineries including the narratives created by the NGO Co-ordination committee. Centre for Environment Protection (CEP), with their environmental stewardship campaign has challenged the move of the state and now the case has been pending in the Hon’ble Supreme Court and NGT.