Rising Seas, Shifting Lives, and a Test of Democratic Values

Syllabus: GS3/Environment; Climate Change

Context

• As climate change accelerates sea-level rise, saltwater intrusion, and coastal erosion in India’s coastline affecting its environment, socially and politically.

About India’s Coastal Vulnerability

• India’s 11,098.81 km-long coastline is a vital ecological, economic, and cultural asset.
• According to the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), nearly 34% of India’s coastline is eroding.
• The District-level Climate Risk Assessment reveals that over 50 districts face ‘very high’ flood risk, while 91 districts are at ‘very high’ drought risk—some facing both simultaneously.

Democratic Values Related To Climate-induced Displacement

• Territorial Justice: It focuses on fair distribution of resources and protections across geographic regions.
  • It argues that states need to prioritize policies that offer urgent short-term improvements while enabling long-term justice for displaced populations.
• Deliberative Democracy: It emphasizes inclusive, participatory decision-making.
  • It supports grassroots movements and community-led planning as expressions of democratic agency.
• Pluralist Theory of Climate Displacement: It rejects the idea of a one-size-fits-all ‘climate refugee’ status.
  • It recognizes the complexity and diversity of displacement contexts, and advocates for context-specific responses and burden-sharing across institutions.
• Global Justice and Cosmopolitanism: It argues that wealthy nations bear responsibility for climate impacts due to historical emissions.
  • It supports international burden-sharing and rights-based frameworks for cross-border climate migrants, and calls for global cooperation and ethical migration policies.
• Human Rights-Based Approaches: It is grounded in constitutional and international law (e.g., Article 21 of India’s Constitution i.e. Right to Life).
  • It demands recognition of climate migrants’ rights to life, dignity, work, and housing.
• Environmental Democracy: It links ecological sustainability with democratic governance.
  • It advocates for transparency, accountability, and public participation in environmental decision-making, and supports movements resisting ecologically harmful development projects.

Related Concerns 

• Industrial Projects and Ecological Erosion: The Sagarmala port programme, commercial aquaculture, and energy projects have intensified coastal degradation.
  • Natural protective barriers — mangroves, dunes, wetlands — are systematically cleared, worsening climate vulnerabilities.
  • Environmental clearances often ignore cumulative climate risks, further endangering communities.
• Urban Migration and Labour Exploitation: Displaced populations often end up as informal workers in cities like Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai — taking up construction, brick kiln, and domestic work. It is added with systemic exploitations like:
  • Debt bondage: Families locked into unfair wage advances
  • Legal exclusion: Minimal protection under India’s labour laws
  • Gendered risks: Women domestic workers face abuse, underpayment, and trafficking.
• Democratic Values Under Pressure: Movements like Save Satabhaya (Odisha), Pattuvam Mangrove Protection (Kerala), and protests against Ennore port expansion reflect community resilience.
  • Environmental defenders face surveillance, intimidation, and criminalization—undermining constitutional rights to protest and association.
• Coastal Communities in Crisis: In Odisha’s Satabhaya, entire villages have been submerged, leaving residents in resettlement colonies with few means of sustenance.
  • Patterns of ecological and social displacement mirror across Karnataka’s Honnavar taluk, Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam, Gujarat’s Kutch, and flood-prone regions in Kerala.

Legal and Policy Gaps

• No dedicated law: India lacks a legal framework to address climate-induced migration.
  • Existing laws like the Disaster Management Act (2005) and Environment Protection Act (1986) focus on disaster response, not long-term displacement.
• CRZ Notification 2019: Criticized for favoring industrial and tourism development over community rights, leading to further marginalization of coastal populations.
• Labour protections: India’s Labour Codes do not extend specific safeguards to climate migrants, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
• Legal Precedents, Unrealised Protections: Supreme Court judgments in 1987 and 1996 affirmed the link between environment and human rights.
  • However, these principles remain poorly translated into community-centric protections.

Key Government Initiatives

• MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes): It aims to restore 540 sq km of mangroves across coastal states and UTs.
• Coastal Flood Warning Systems: Developed for vulnerable cities like Chennai and Mumbai.
• Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI): Maps high-risk zones using satellite and GIS data.

Way Forward

• Legal Recognition: Acknowledge climate migrants in migration and urban planning frameworks.
• Labour Protections: Extend India’s labour codes to informal and climate-displaced workers.
• Sustainable Coastal Management: Reinstate ecological buffers and prioritise community rights.
• Participatory Resettlement: Ensure displacement and rehabilitation are carried out with community consent and long-term support.
• India’s commitment to UN’s SDG 8.7 — eliminating forced labour and ensuring decent work — hinges on addressing the vulnerabilities created by climate displacement.

Source: TH