MUNICIPAL LAW AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING.

Municipal law which had its origin in India during the British period does not deal with environmental planning as such. However, municipal enactments contain provisions which deal with various aspects of planning and development and if these provisions are put together and used purposefully and properly may bring about a planned environment. This paper examines briefly the relevant provisions in the municipal law to ascertain the adequacy or otherwise of the law in environmental planning. While the municipal law contains a number of provisions for environmental protection, they are neither uniform nor adequate. Even existing provisions are not capable of effective implementation in the absence of any basic standard of measurement to determine the degree of pollution and of adequate administrative machinery. Since the problem of pollution can be effectively tackled only at the local level, the existing provisions in the municipal law should be strengthened with necessary assistance from the state government and the central government for their proper enforcement.