Sustainable or Pseudo Development—Looking at Natural Resource Management in a Developing State, Kerala, India

ABSTRACT

India’s mainstream political discourse is yet to grant genuine space to environmental issues or sustainable development; their priority being economic development. This is despite noteworthy environmental conservation movements and civil society organizations committed to the cause of the environment. Although the country has an array of competent environmental regulations, the environmental sustainability of the development programmes remains the least addressed. The case is not different for the Kerala state, despite its high literacy and human development matching many developed countries. The “Kerala Development Model” has been highly praised for its high-level social development. The apparently well-informed population of the state also outscores most states regarding environmental identity. In this context, this paper explores the Athirappilly hydroelectric Project pursued by the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited and other interest groups. It appears that the contemporary socio-economic-political scenario is urging the state's highly literate and politicized public to a post-nature or post-truth society increasingly engrossed in a consumerist lifestyle at the cost of the unique environmental setup. The present study also highlights how the Kerala population, once dominated by socialistic/liberal ideologies with egalitarian values, has been riding the neoliberal development wave giving little importance to nature and long-term ecological security.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable development
• Kerala development model
• Athirappilly hydroelectric Project (AHEP)
• Kerala
• socio-economic-political viewpoints
• post-truth society

Acknowledgement

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments that helped improve the article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).