There have been attempts in India at improving mechanisms for protecting the environment. Some MPs sent out an SOS when Saifuddin Soz piloted the Bill to amend the existing Act. In all sincerity, the minister promised to take a comprehensive look at the reforms. Alas, the minister himself got caught in a political landslide.

Thereafter, only supreme indolence, an anthology of frozen incoherence! An alert public alone can retrieve the situation. Such as the one in England. It has been rightly emphasised by environmental writers that in that country, a few dead fish in the Thames brings a sheaf of letters to the Times and a series of actions inthe courts.

In our region, it's a different story. As a recent study (Text and documents: Belgium and Asia) points out: "East and Southeast Asia had the highest level of deforestation in the world in the period from 1981 to 1990."

The comment on the action taken to meet this crisis is not very complimentary to the governments concerned: "At the moment, it is usually up to non-governmental organisations to tackle the problems." Very true. The decision of the High Court of Australia in the case brought by the Environment Defence Organisation demonstrates the optimism of environment groups.

Even a note of dissent by a Justice Kirby would cheer up the environmentalists. Sometimes, a litigation by itself brings good dividends. It happened in the Memphis Park case in the US. A classic commentary pithily summed up the result: "Even when the case was lost, the cause was won." The administration revised its earlier stand. It was not merely in the capitalist world that environmentalists emerged victorious.Hungary reversed its policy on the hydel project damming the Danube and took the matter to the International Court of Justice when disputes arose with Slovakia in the process.

The performance of Indian NGOs is not very satisfactory. Some of them are perfectly satisfied holding seminars in five star hotels. A shrewd environment minister once noticed that the delegates attending a conference did not represent even a tenth of the NGOs on the government's rolls.

There is, however, a ray of hope. The report states: "Asian governments are slowly realising that one of the priorities in the years to come will be environmental concerns, but they remain suspicious of the warnings issued by the rest of the world."

One easy way is to study what happened in countries noted for their environmental excellence. Austria, for example. The country sets apart about 3 per cent of its gross domestic product for environmental conservation programmes. In 1996, the figure was 45 billion ATS. The federal and provincialauthorities, the power sector, industry, private households, all contribute to the process.

In the immediate context, let us look at the forestry measures they have taken. Austria, is a country with mountains of dizzy heights and long, long valleys of flowers. Austria has established an extensive system for forest observation. It is safe to pick up a sentence from the authentic publication:

"The following studies are carried out on more than 500 observation areas which have been set up: assessment of tree-top conditions, evaluation of infra-red aerial photographs, examination of forest soil condition, bio-indicators, air analyses for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone, and pathological forestry examinations."

The Ministry of Agriculture in Australia is not indifferent in this matter either. A national programme has been set up for the restoration of forests. Restoration of forest may be described as a difficult and time-consuming task. But this is a total self-deception.

Schumacher, when askedfor a solution to India's perennial problems, referred to the Buddha, who exhorted his disciples to plant a sapling and to see it as a tree. If only all of our many millions were to follow his guidance, India would have enough food, fuel and fresh air, he said.

Thanks to judicial activism the Doon Valley, which was perilously near extinction, has been salvaged. It's a revolution performed by the Army, with all its rigour. The nation owes much to those dedicated and disciplined souls. The `boundless contiguity of greenery' and the increasing population of wild life should be a lesson to us.

Another Austrian device is equally novel and interesting. "Nationwide measures have also been taken to prevent excess leisure time use of the forests by mountain bikers, paragliders or skiers." In India, controlling the excess use of bikes may alone be sufficient.

In this age of decentralisation, planning and execution has to happen at the grassroots level in environment management. In the wake of the 73rd and 74thAmendments to the Constitution local units have been entrusted with the responsibility of environmental protection. Curiously enough, they have no powers, even in a progressive state like Kerala. It is time now for good administrators and citizens at all levels to do their duty -- incidentally, a Fundamental Duty under Article 51A of the Constitution -- taking an interest in environmental matters.

Parliament and parliamentarians should also take some interest in keeping pace with environmental legislation all over the world, familiarise themselves with the Rio doctrine and the Basel Convention, and think on enactments like a Waste Treatment Act, a Packaging Regulation, a Detergents Act, an Environmental Information Act, an Environmental Compatibility Act and a Promotion of Ecological Activities Act.

When executive and legislature both betray the cause, the courts have to come to the rescue. In the ultimate analysis, they are the last resort of an aggrieved citizen. Protagonists of the public cause mustensure that public interest litigation is properly used.

If everyone is really involved, tragedies like the landslides in the UP hills will become dim and distant memories.

The writer is a former judge of the High Courts of Mumbai and Kerala