Environmental Justice for Marginalized Communities in India: Addressing Caste-Based Exclusion and Disproportionate Pollution Burdens through Legal Reform

Abstract

India's environmental burdens are not distributed randomly; they map closely onto caste hierarchy. Communities classified as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and other historically marginalized groups are disproportionately exposed to particulate air pollution, hazardous industrial waste, urban heat, and the physical dangers of sanitation labour. This paper reviews empirical evidence on caste-based environmental exclusion in India, situates it within the country's existing legal architecture — including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989; the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013; and the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 — and identifies structural gaps that limit their effectiveness for caste-marginalized communities. Drawing on recent peer-reviewed research, state-level power-sector mortality modelling, racialization theory, and judicial decisions up to 2025, the paper argues that environmental law in India remains largely caste-blind in design even where its consequences are caste-patterned in effect, and proposes a set of legal reforms centred on equity-explicit standards, enforceable rehabilitation, and inclusive environmental adjudication.