Civic Resistance for Environment Justice: A Study on Historical Conflicts of Waste Management in Kerala
Abstract: In the discourse of sustainable development in the state of kerala, waste management holds a multidimensional significance-socio-political and ecological. The improper waste management treatments are seen as a plot for persistent conflicts in the history of kerala. In these conflicts the grassroots participants question their right to have a healthy environment and life justice. Through a systematic review, the study aimed at tracing out the historical conflicts on waste management in kerala; to identity the key players and their dynamics in these conflicts and to analyze the overall cost and outcome of these struggles. This study identified more than thirty historical conflicts of the civic against the unscientific and harmful treatment of waste which was detrimental for their daily life and the big centralized landfills which polluted the native natural resources. The state government, private companies and the public were the key players in these conflicts. Environmental degradation, human health problems both physical and mental, legal conflicts, long lasting injuries from the conflicts between the police and the commoners were able to be identified as the costs of these conflicts. It was also found that these costs are being persisting through generations after. But these conflicts were a pathway to the decentralized waste management system in the state.
Keywords: Resistance, conflicts, environment, waste management
How to Cite?: Amrutha K. S., Dr. A. Balakrishnan, "Civic Resistance for Environment Justice: A Study on Historical Conflicts of Waste Management in Kerala", Volume 15 Issue 5, May 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 974-978, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26514103814, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26514103814