History of Indian Environmental Movement: A Study of Dr B.R. Ambedkar from the Perspective of Access to Water

Abstract

The thought of Ambedkar, explicitly or implicitly, has fascinating ecological dimensions. His ideas on the relationship between human beings and nature are useful to put equity at the centre stage of environmental discourse. Environmental problems and degradation for Ambedkar are not only because of over-exploitation of natural resources, but also due to iniquitous access of different social groups to the resource base. Particularly on the issue of access to drinking water to socially marginalized sections such as Dalits, Ambedkar reflected deeply in his intellectual and activist life. This article proposes that the ecological dimension of Ambedkar’s thought offers a theory of environmentalism from below which is useful to capture differential impact of environmental problems on socially marginalized sections in general and Dalits in particular.

Keywords

Environment equity Ambedkar Mahad Satyagraha Dalit water untouchability

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