This World Environment Day, it’s time to turn the spotlight on this low-profile yet pivotal player in Kerala's environmental narrative.
Published Jun 05, 2025 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 05, 2025 | 11:00 AM
A beach in Kochi, Kerala. (iStock)
Synopsis: For the last 33 years, the Legislative Committee on Environment has quietly played watchdog, flagging threats, proposing safeguards, and shaping Kerala’s green future.
Kerala has a proud legacy of environmental activism. Its environmental story is rich with people’s movements and policy milestones — from the Save Silent Valley Movement to cleaning up the toxic Chaliyar River and taking on corporate giants in Plachimada.
However, away from the protests and public campaigns, there exists a lesser-known, relentless guardian of the state’s natural wealth.
For the last 33 years, keeping a vigilant eye on Kerala’s ecological wealth and nudging successive governments with crucial, if often overlooked, recommendations, the Legislative Committee on Environment has quietly played watchdog, flagging threats, proposing safeguards, and shaping Kerala’s green future.
This World Environment Day, it’s time to turn the spotlight on this low-profile yet pivotal player in the state’s environmental narrative.
As the bridge between the law-making and law-implementing bodies, the Legislature Committees play a crucial role in upholding transparency and good governance.
Entrusted with specific responsibilities by the House (the Assembly), these committees assist the Legislature in overseeing the Executive’s actions, ensuring that power is exercised responsibly and in the public interest.
Among them, the Committee on Environment, constituted by the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1992, holds a special place as a last resort for citizens grappling with environmental issues across the state.
Established during the Ninth Kerala Legislative Assembly, the committee is empowered to conduct spot visits, suo motu inquiries, and collect evidence on environmental matters affecting Kerala.
The committee has the authority to initiate examinations based on media reports or other sources, and can directly engage with industries, institutions, and citizens to address environmental violations.
Public participation is encouraged through petitions, suggestions, and evidence-gathering, making the committee a vibrant forum for people’s voices in governance.
“Functioning in a non-partisan and objective manner, the committee aims to identify administrative lapses, recommend corrective measures, and help maintain high standards of environmental protection. With a tenure of 30 months, it remains one of the state’s key welfare committees, actively working to safeguard Kerala’s natural resources,” reads an excerpt from the note of Kerala Niyamasabha.
First Committee on Environment.
It was on 2 February 1993, that the Kerala Legislative Assembly’s Environment Committee submitted its first-ever report — an independent study focusing on the state’s freshwater lakes.
The committee, headed by KP Noorudeen MLA, had been constituted for the 1992-94 tenure, marking a significant moment in the state’s legislative history as one of its two newest committees (the other being the committee on the welfare of women and children).
The rules for the formation of the Environment Committee came into force on 24 July 1992, and within three days, on 27 July, the committee was officially formed.
It commenced its work at a time when environmental concerns were becoming a global priority, and Kerala too was beginning to engage in serious discussions and studies about its ecological challenges.
Front page of the first report
The first meeting of the Environment Committee was held on 6 August 1992. This meeting served as a brainstorming session on the various environmental issues confronting Kerala.
It was decided to hold detailed discussions with officials from departments directly and indirectly linked to environmental management — including Electricity, Forest, Industries, Science and Technology, Environment, Health, Irrigation, Water Authority, Local Self-Government, Police, and Motor Vehicles — alongside environmental experts, organisations, and concerned individuals.
Through these consultations, the committee identified a range of pressing environmental challenges: Air pollution, water pollution, environmental degradation due to deforestation, hazards from improper hospital waste disposal, industrial pollution, pollution caused by vehicles and noise pollution.
Among the many issues discussed, a particularly grave concern highlighted by environmental experts was the alarming state of Kerala’s freshwater lakes — notably Vellayani Lake, Sasthamkotta Lake, and Pookode Lake.
Once celebrated for their natural beauty and critical role in Kerala’s freshwater supply projects, these lakes were rapidly deteriorating.
Recognising the urgency, the committee decided that its first independent study would focus on the freshwater lakes of Kerala. This decision culminated in the landmark 1993 report, prepared after extensive field investigations, departmental consultations, and expert discussions.
In the inaugural report, chairman KP Noorudeen outlined the committee’s broad objectives and aims, setting the tone for a proactive legislative intervention in environmental governance — a legacy that would shape Kerala’s ecological discourse in the years to follow.
A report of the committee on mining in Kottayam, submitted on 14 March 2017
Over the years, the Kerala Assembly Committee on Environment has tabled several insightful reports addressing diverse ecological challenges faced by the state.
Some of the significant ones include:
These reports have played a crucial role in spotlighting region-specific environmental concerns and shaping policy interventions in Kerala.
Speaking to South First, the current chairman of the Kerala Assembly Committee on Environment, EK Vijayan, called the decision to constitute the panel in 1992 “a landmark moment in India’s legislative history.”
“The committee was always committed to bringing environmental issues to the government’s attention and recommending remedial actions. While we don’t have the power to intervene directly, our role has been to channel public concerns to the government and demand accountability,” Vijayan said.
Former chairman Mullakkara Retnakaran (2016-19), reflecting on the committee’s work, pointed out that the panel had held its highest number of sittings on a single issue in the aftermath of the devastating 2018 Kerala floods.
“It’s presumed that once the Assembly Committee approves recommendations, the Assembly itself endorses them — meaning the government is duty-bound to implement them,” Retnakaran explained. “But our biggest limitation is the absence of a system to verify whether those recommendations were actually carried out.”
He admitted that while some proposals get implemented during a committee’s tenure, or officials might be summoned for delays, there’s a lack of seriousness in following through.
“The committee doesn’t have the authority to penalise those who ignore its recommendations. Yet, despite these constraints, I believe the committee on Environment has played a crucial, visible role in shaping Kerala’s environmental governance since 1992,” he said.
Both leaders agreed that the committee’s interventions over the years have not only impacted policy but also raised public and media awareness on environmental issues. “People have always believed that if they approached the committee with a grievance, it would be heard,” said Retnakaran.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
