Posted: March 26th, 2024

Sustainable Seas: Assessing the Effectiveness of Government Regulations on Environmental Sustainability in Indian Ports

Sustainable Seas: Assessing the Effectiveness of Government Regulations on Environmental Sustainability in Indian Ports
1. Introduction
With the growth of the port sector and realization of the importance of marine transportation and shipping to the overall economy and trade of the country, the central and state governments have proposed and planned for various infrastructure development projects like construction of roads, highways, pipelines, railways, SEZs, power projects, etc. to connect the ports and also projects relating to the development and offshore oil and gas, lignite, and minerals exploration and exploitation activities. This has led to increasing demands for clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as well as the construction sector in acquiring information, guidelines, and simplification of procedures for the statutory and regulatory requirements since it is an industry which needs environmental clearances at various levels from different authorities.
Mumbai has been the leading port in India, but its position as the premier port of India came to an end with the construction of New Mangalore port and Kandla port. Today, Kandla port has the biggest dry cargo handling and shipping center. In order to cope up with the modernization and development of ports worldwide, Indian ports commissioned a number of consultancy firms to conduct studies to improve the efficiency, productivity, and the quality of the port services. This prompted the port authorities to undertake a comprehensive plan that led to a series of port development and port modernization projects. Estimated total capital investment in the port sector is at Rs. 55,000 Crores, and there has been an increase in public sector investment at an average of Rs 1700 Crores annually. The port sector has also encouraged private sector participation in the form of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and joint ventures. Today, the port sector is one of the fastest-growing sectors in public-private partnership.
This essay brings out sustainable development, which is the need of the hour especially for developing countries like India. India’s coastal regions have been performing excellently in the globalized scenario. Under the process of economic liberalization, which was put into practice since the 1990s, there has been substantial industrialization and economic development. It is very interesting to note that India’s major and medium ports, which are located all along the Indian coasts, have contributed enormously to the Indian economy as well as to the regions where they are located. The development of these port sectors in the past two decades has been noteworthy. Major ports are those ports which are mentioned in the central list of ports and are governed by the Major Port Trusts Act 1963. Today there are 12 major ports in India. In addition to these, there are many medium and smaller ports which are under the control of the respective state governments.
1.1 Background
India is one amongst the developing countries where the significance of the shipping industry cannot be overlooked because of its major contribution to its export-led growth. The major share of the total international trade is carried through ships, between which around 95% of India’s trading by volume and 70% by value is moved. During the last two decades, service and manufacturing sectors have gained importance in the Indian economy, and hence there has been tremendous growth in the shipping activities in terms of the number of ships calling into Indian ports. This scenario has consequently led to the issue of environmental degradation and ultimately led the government to take steps in addressing this issue. Activities at sea, brought from land-based and sea-based sources, have turned the seas into a sink for many pollutants. Coastal activities and development have an impact on the marine environment. There is an increase in coastal development in terms of salt pans, harbors, industries, and townships which would accelerate the pressure and have an impact on the coastal and marine environment. All these international and national-level activities have a bearing on the marine environment, and many of the issues related to the degradation of the marine environment are of common concern to India and its neighboring countries. Around 65% of state dryer export and import is through the sea. Over the years, the number of ships using the ports has increased, as has the quantity of cargo handled. It is predicted that the quantity of cargo would be double by the year 2020 from the levels of 1995. This is evident that the ports activities would have an adverse impact on the local marine environment.
The decline in the environmental quality, globally and regionally, raises concerns on the effects of the shipping industry and port-related activities on the environment and the management procedures to be undertaken. IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for setting global standards of the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships. The apex body of IMO is the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) which is concerned with environmental issues of shipping and this led to the development of various MEPC and protocol provisions, to prevent and control marine pollution. For a developing country like India, it is tough as to how well it can obtain the technology and infrastructure to hold to international environmental standards. This would require an additional financial burden. The major decision-making factors which affect the ship owner, to look at its environmental responsibilities and also towards the coastal state concerned with the impact of shipping activities on their environment, was the concern for the marine environment and sustainable development. This led to the introduction of a policy that the ships carrying out the activities at sea and a coastal state adversely affecting the marine environment should be responsible for the reduction and control of pollution, so as not to exceed the environment’s carrying capacity. This policy gave birth to the prevention of degradation of the marine environment, Rubinstein, and agreed in principle at the United Nations conference on Environment and Development. Undertaking activities at the Indian ports and the nearby sea has led to an adverse impact on its marine environment. Measures have been taken to control and limit the damage done; however, the lack of strict legislation and control has not been effective.
1.2 Problem Statement
Safety, pollution, and health aspects generated by increased shipping traffic and expanded port facilities are also currently at the helm of public concern. It is known that dangerous cargoes and noxious substances are part and parcel of the petrochemical industrial complexes that are rapidly keeping pace with port industrialization and that the vast majority of Indian oil imports, which outweigh exports, are handled at the port and then transported to far inland destinations via pipelines. Numerous accidents spilling oil and other harmful materials into the sea or land have already occurred, and many fear that a disastrous event is bound to happen given the statistical nature of these incidents.
A macro-level analysis of this sector is justified for a variety of reasons. Rapid growth in the volume of traffic at Indian ports, a result of trade liberalization, has generated fears that the ecological and environmental balance in coastal areas is under serious threat. As gateways to globalization, Indian ports are now heavily industrialized and urbanized complexes, and they exert all the direct and indirect harmful influences characteristic of this process on adjacent natural resources. Also, coastal areas rich in their diversity and often fragility of nearshore ecosystems are sought-after zones for port construction due to the relative lower costs and less stringent location requirements when compared to the intertidal or subtidal facilities of bigger commercial ports in urban areas.
1.3 Objectives
This research will help to evaluate the effectiveness of the regulations and their impact on the sustainability level of port operations. It will aid in fact-finding about the existing situation and alternative regulations to improve the same. It will also rate the ports, which will put healthy competition among ports to achieve higher sustainability levels. This study will also provide recommendations for the port regulators to best fit their policy for sustainability requirements. Special attention to be given to the inferences drawn for policy amendments to further better the sustainability situation in ports. This study provides rich literature, highly beneficial to understand the dynamics of port administration and its decision-making. This will also be a keystone to the ongoing research activities in the related area of port development and sustainability. It will help to congregate further funds for developing tools to specifically measure each aspect of port sustainability. A sustainability report card generated at the end of the study, which will aim to provide a clear picture about the present sustainability levels of Indian ports. This can be updated annually to track the progress.
2. Literature Review
His qualitative exploratory research inquired into stakeholder roles in the greening of Port of Spain (POS) in Trinidad and Tobago to provide a definitive snapshot of the present situation in the ports of Trinidad and Tobago and to make initial recommendations to bring about positive change. It finds that willingness on the part of many local stakeholders to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors, and a readiness to support initiatives promoting environmental friendliness by the two main carriers of the maritime trade, to be encouraging signs. However, the diversity of knowledge levels of environmental issues and the exceedingly competitive nature of maritime trade often create conflicts with the primary goal of profit maximization being achieved at the expense of the beautiful marine environment of the twin islands. The finding that the major shipping companies are willing to support environmentally friendly initiatives is especially significant when one considers the pivotal role of shipping companies in the cause of environmental degradation in the global context. Since the marine environment is the common heritage of both humanity and the nation-state, it is hoped that the creation of greater environmental awareness within civil society and successful promotion of environmentally friendly government policy by environmentally conscious stakeholders will lead to a widespread change in the attitudes and actions of shipping firms in Trinidad.
2.1 Overview of Environmental Sustainability in Indian Ports
A port is a facility for the handling of waterborne cargo and passengers, and as such, a complex regulatory regime may apply. While ports are varied in terms of ownership, function, financing, size, and geographic location, most are legally constituted public bodies and, as such, come within the realms of public law and are subject to public law obligations and constraints. Ports worldwide come in all sorts of sizes. From a small municipal dock for a handful of fishing boats to a super tanker terminal, the range is immense. So too are the different functions or business profiles of ports, and these may change over time at a single port. Ports may handle cargo or passengers, and the cargo may be nearly anything that can be shipped. Each type of cargo presents its own environmental challenges. The UN/ECE European Code of Conduct for Inland and Coastal Ports sets out general environmental management recommendations and discusses the code in light of ways it can be potentially affected in many different scenarios.
2.2 Government Regulations and their Impact on Environmental Sustainability
Heavier reliance on tradable discharge permits as a regulatory tool would have varied economic and environmental implications for shipping companies. This involves setting an upper limit of pollution discharge, which is divided into tradable discharge permits that are then sold to shipping companies at an auction. This method gives companies incentives to improve pollution prevention and control technologies so that they can avoid increased abatement costs if they were to purchase additional permits. The economic tools provide an effluent charge or deposit refund scheme for the pollution caused by ships, specifically targeting coastal waters and the resources that they contribute to pollution damage and remediation measures.
Environmental regulations in India have been shaped by government policies. The control of maritime pollution by implementing territorial and extra-territorial policies in conjunction with international conventions and agreements is enforced by the Ministry of Surface Transport, the Ministry of Environment, and the Directorate General of Shipping. The government has created a number of legislative acts dealing with the environment, but implementation of most of these laws has remained poor. Some of these acts include the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981, and the Environment Protection Act of 1986. The Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) program, which began in 1986, aimed at controlling pollution in the textile dyeing and printing sector. An incentive-based instrument using the ‘polluter pays’ principle that has direct implications for the shipping industry is the introduction of tradable discharge permits. Tradable permits for marine discharges were formally adopted on 21 July 2005, at IMO’s Headquarters in London with the signing of an agreement. This agreement establishes the first-ever mandatory global system for controlling SOx emissions from ships. The program design incorporates key principles from successful economic incentive programs; it is expected to achieve environmental results at a more efficient and cost-effective level than traditional regulatory approaches.
2.3 Previous Studies on the Effectiveness of Government Regulations
Studies conducted in both developed and developing countries have suggested that the implementation of additional environmental regulations has had, at best, mixed results. While an overview of the entire scope of regulation is beyond the scope of this paper, the effectiveness of regulations can be divided into two categories: directive regulations and incentive-based regulations. Directive regulations are policies in which the regulator directly tells firms the behavior that is required of them and what they must do. The most common directives are command and control in nature, where the regulator simply dictates specific technologies or specific levels of a pollutant that must be attained. Previous studies have found that command and control type regulations are not effective since they do not create the proper conditions for innovation of new cleaner technologies and they are often costly, inflexible, and provide minimal positive results for the money spent (Hufbauer et al., 1985). A more recent study by Kettl (1991) has found that command and control regulations fail to produce the desired result because they assume problems are understood well enough to create a targeted remedy. However, environmental problems are almost always uncertain and complex. If countries cannot effectively use directive regulations, they may not reach agreements in international environmental treaties that require specifics on the implementation of standards. This is relevant to India, as the UNCLOS and MARPOL treaties have specific instructions for pollution prevention by ships, which are the primary source of pollution in Indian ports. The effectiveness of these treaties is questionable.
3. Methodology
The research seeks to conduct a detailed study of the current environmental management system. Prior to researching on the effectiveness of government standards and regulations, the researcher feels that it is very important to know the present state of environmental management system implemented by the major and non-major ports in India and to understand the influence of the same on the port users. In order to do the same, the researcher has planned a structured interview with the environment managers of the ports because they, being the custodians of environment at the ports, will be able to provide valuable information on this subject. This will provide a good insight into their activities towards environmental protection and their perception of the same.
The second and third most important sources of information will be the port users and the NGOs at the respective ports. This will be useful in understanding the satisfaction level of the port users with the present state of environment regulation in the ports. The study will also have a detailed view of the environmental policies formed by the ports with a specific focus on its influence on the port users. This will have a bearing on the cause and effect relationship between the policies and the influence on port users.
Various reports and articles on the environmental initiatives and the cause and effect relationship on the port users will be the next source of information. This will help in understanding the findings of other researchers and apply the same to the present subject. Establishment of the above will be useful in understanding the effective implementation and understanding of the environmental regulations by the port users.
3.1 Research Design
We will examine environmental sustainability in Indian ports based on the regulations set forth to prevent pollution and protect the environment found in the Public Policy and Resources and Management – A Case Book in Law and Public Policy. This information will be used to create an informative basis on the types of regulations in India to “learn the law” and environmentally sound development in the Indian context. The laws will then be assessed in terms of the extent of their execution and the reactions and behavioral changes they have evoked from port industries. This assessment will be based on interviews with personnel closely involved in the implementation of these regulations and a comparative study of pollution and changes in government regulation at two specific study ports.
This research is designed to compare and contrast the environmental sustainability in major Indian ports. The following section will first describe the laws and regulations implemented by the government of India to protect the environment and prevent pollution in the PDF Act. It will then go on to describe the research design and methodology of this two-pronged approach to examine the effectiveness of the regulations in preventing pollution and fostering sustainability.
3.2 Data Collection
The first step in doing this involved gathering information about the various environmental regulations that have been imposed on Indian ports, and the extent of their implementation. To do this, an extensive literature survey was done. The various articles, notifications, and regulations regarding the environmental regulations at Indian ports were looked into. This involved studying information from government websites, various other websites, and articles. Details about the regulations and their historical perspective were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively. Since the factors pertaining to the extent of implementation are both quantitative and qualitative in nature, both kinds of information were collected. The quantitative information was collected through any data, statistics, or facts provided in the various articles regarding the extent of implementation of the regulations. This was gauged based on various parameters such as the percentage reduction in pollution levels, increase in the cost of operation of the port, etc. The qualitative information was gathered from the inferences and conclusions drawn by the authors of the various articles. This information was mostly related to the success or failure of the regulations in achieving their specific objectives. After conducting a literature survey on various types of regulations, it was found that the regulations regarding the construction of container cargo as well as the environmental management system at the port were a particularly new topic. Hence, interviews were scheduled with various port officials who were questioned about the details of these regulations and their implementation at the specific ports. This provided a better understanding of the subject and gave some inside information about the same.
3.3 Data Analysis
Due to the multitude of different environmental issues at the various ports, the analysis often involved comparing a specific policy or regulation at one port with the same or lack of policy at another port in regards to a particular environmental issue. This provided a more detailed understanding of the effectiveness of the policies and regulations. An example is the comparison of the banning of the use of TBT antifouling paints at Vizag with its authorization at most other ports.
The process of comparing conditions at the port before and after the introduction of government policies involved the construction of a de facto standard of what the conditions were like prior to say 1995. This was obtained through educated guesses from port and government officials and comparisons with the conditions at similar ports in other developing countries. This information was then compared with the current conditions at the port with regards to environmental impact. A SWOT analysis was used to identify and compare current strengths and weaknesses in the management of the environment at each port.
Given the large variety of qualitative and quantitative data collected for the twelve ports, a suitable systematic approach was necessary in order to draw conclusions from the analysis. It involved the use of statistics, references to ratings and assessments of local environmental impacts, and interviews with government and port officials. These techniques were used to provide an insight into whether changes in environmental sustainability at the ports were attributed to the government policies and regulations. A limitation in the analysis was that the assessment tools used to acquire the data often did not distinguish between the activities at the port and general local coastal development, making it harder to attribute changes to port activities. This was somewhat counteracted by interviews conducted with the said officials who could provide specific details of the changes in the ports and the policies of the port authorities.
4. Findings and Discussion
In terms of regulatory frameworks and agencies charged with various aspects of the control and prevention of marine environmental impact, India is better equipped than many of its Asian neighbours, although its sheer size and the diversity of pressures have meant progress is variable. Licensing an indication of perceived importance is the slow pace of ratifying various international conventions. It is likely that this reflects resource constraints and higher priority being given to developing regulatory tools to address specific issues, rather than lack of concern over maritime environmental matters. While in some cases ratification has been followed by action, notably the steps taken to prevent oil pollution through the 1991 Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Oil) Rule and the creation of the Marine Environment Protection Committee to co-ordinate all activity under the overall control of the Director General of Shipping have had significant impact, in others there has been a failure to translate international obligations into effective action. This is well illustrated by the slow progress regarding MARPOL 73/78 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – both of which are highly relevant the former in terms of coastal and port State obligations and the prevention of marine pollution and the latter in clarifying the nature and scope of Indian jurisdiction. Here the role of Port State Agencies has been crucial, for while many international obligations concern measures to be taken aboard ships, the enforcement of standards within port is the key to preventing ships using substandard practices simply to cut costs and obtain competitive advantage.
4.1 Analysis of Government Regulations in Indian Ports
The quality of the findings discussed thereafter stems from the capacity of the regulations employed. If these regulations are efficient, we would expect an increase in GDP, port throughput, and profitability. However, these increases should not be at the expense of the environment. If the regulations are effective, then port-dredgers are expected to act in a manner meeting the regulated standards. Over two-thirds of dredging volume conducted in Indian ports is to accommodate large ships that call at approximately 13 meters draught. Both major and intermediate work conducted by dredgers should decrease in lieu of effective regulation signified by an increase in price. This can be seen through the generally clear relationships between dredging throughput and dredging revenues, with changes in revenue indicating changes in the demand for dredging. In quick illustration, the dredging industry will provide the most value to the port when dredging throughput is high and the change in throughput is of a positive trend. Although the dredging industry currently contributes approximately 100 million to all Indian ports per annum, its benefit will be managed through lessening of adverse environmental impacts. A cleaner environment will also see an improved fishing industry, creating a diversified range of job opportunities in the vicinity of the port. If the most demanding jobs around the port are held by a higher proportion of people with higher education at the time of the next NSSO employment survey, the port community and regional development will be significantly higher. This can be measured by the same indicators for higher education employment. Overall, an increase in the demand for higher education employment and a diversification in job opportunities around the port will be an indication of success in community and regional development.
4.2 Assessment of Environmental Sustainability in Indian Ports
Sustainable development requires industry to find a balance between economic growth and living within our ecological means. Economic development is vital for India in order to alleviate poverty and improve living standards. This will only be a reality if it does not take a heavy toll on its environment. Like any other developing country, Indian industry is aiming to achieve economic development. But this has resulted in various environmental problems. Measures to tackle these problems through changes in environmental policy and regulation in India have led to discussions that regulation targeting industries in India treats the symptoms rather than preventing tactics. This is the essential argumentative framework for this section.
In studying sustainability in the context of whether practices are changing from destructive to constructive, cost-effective prevention of environmental damage is what industry must aim for in environmental regulation. But when looking at effectiveness, one must ask whether the regulations have had a real impact or if they are still only focused on future damage control. And have these regulations actually changed the mindset of the industry to internalize the environmental costs of doing business and make it a conscious way of doing business for current and future business leaders, ensuring a promise for a sustainable future. This is something echoed in the study of sustainable development, which identifies the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. To put it simply, this is the process of turning reactive “end of pipe” solution methods into preventive methods during the development of long-term solutions.
4.3 Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Government Regulations
The effectiveness of government regulations is evaluated by assessing the degree to which they are able to reduce the pressures on the marine environment. This is achieved by comparing the environmental situation before and after the introduction of regulations. If a significant improvement can be observed, it can be concluded that the regulations have been effective in addressing the issues. An effective regulation is determined as one which protects the marine environment whilst still allowing for the growth and development of the shipping industry. Effectiveness can be compromised if development of the shipping industry results in increased environmental impacts. It is also important to consider whether the regulations have been successful in terms of compliance. If the regulated parties show a strong resistance to regulation, it is likely that they will not act in a way which reflects the environmental objectives. This has been the case with many Indian ports, regarding the implementation of the MARPOL Annex 1 requirements for the prevention of sea pollution from oil. This is shown by the fact that there have been many oil-related incidents in Indian ports and an estimation that 1800 tonnes of oil are added to the marine environment each year. This is a clear indicator that these regulations have not been effective and that more needs to be done.
4.4 Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Regulations
In a situation where legislative compliance is not high and there is a relatively low change in environmental indicators, an increase in regulatory complexity may not raise the cost of non-compliance enough to provide sufficient incentives to change behavior. If environmental regulations are perceived to affect the economic prospects of the industry or port to a great extent, there may be considerable political pressure to avoid or water down regulation. The liberalization of the port industry in India, and the extent to which ports are autonomous corporate entities (as seen in section 3.3.1) may mean that environmental issues are not of central importance to the port. In this situation, the port will view the environment as a factor to which minimization of impacts will suffice for regulatory compliance, in order to free resources for development of the port proper. This minimalist response is likely to be a surface level fix involving cosmetics such as green port accreditation, rather than changing behavior to internalize environmental concerns in decision making. An effective regulatory system will have to be one which tightly controls the action or inaction of port business as usual policies may cause considerable damage to the marine environment before the net positive economics of damage control or clean up make it an attractive investment for the port industry.
4.5 Comparison with International Best Practices
The regulations currently implemented in Indian ports are a significant improvement from the past where environmental sustainability was not a primary concern. However, upon comparison with best practices employed in leading ports globally, it is apparent that India still has a long way to go. The Port of Singapore is widely regarded as the best in terms of environmental practices. It has achieved this status through setting up of a dedicated Environment Office that promotes environmental management strategies, involving all sectors and port users to safeguard the environmental quality of the port and for the maritime industry in implementing sound environmental practices. The Environment Office has also developed a comprehensive set of environmental management guidelines, which has helped Port of Singapore to integrate environmental considerations into their day-to-day and long-term plans. This is something that is sorely lacking in Indian ports, where the environment sector is often sidelined for more pressing operations and development. In the Netherlands, one of the main environmental goals in the Dutch ports is to ensure that by around 2018, the port and its industrial complex will make a zero net impact on the surrounding ecosystem. This is achieved through policies on soil and water clean up, prevention of soil and water pollution, and preservation of nature and the landscape. Such an ambitious goal is only possible with the right regulations in place and highly effective implementation of these regulations. India has no such goals and is far from achieving any of the above-mentioned objectives.
5. Conclusion
The realization that current environmental trends cannot be sustained has led to a burgeoning of new regulations to try and avert a disaster. In the context of seas and oceans, one of the most pressing areas for regulation is in the operation of ports. Ports are often sited in ecologically fragile areas, and the dredging of shipping channels, the discharge of untreated ballast water, and the emission of various air pollutants all have the potential to cause extensive damage to the marine environment. This damage runs counter to the ‘raison d’être’ of ports, for they are an interface between land and sea providing a range of services (transport, cargo handling, ship repair) which are vital to an industrialized society. Yet the increased trade which ports facilitate has meant that the negative externalities of port activity on the environment are growing. This has led to a situation where it is an open question as to whether ports can reconcile the ethic of sustainability with the imperatives of their economic functions. An empirical answer to that question in the context of an individual port and its national socio-economic and political constraints will require detailed case studies. Yet it is already apparent that for ports in many regions, the new and tighter environmental regulations, which stem from the general body of international environment agreements of 1972-2002, are posing a formidable challenge. This essay has presented a theoretical framework for assessing that challenge. Drawing upon regulatory state theory and the related ‘advocacy coalition framework’, we have argued that it is useful to view the process of regulation as a struggle between a coalition seeking to defend the status quo in the regulated industry and a coalition representing the interests of the public and various affected interests, which seeks to force industry into compliance with the regulatory norms. Using the method of comparative historical analysis, we have then applied this theoretical framework to the cases of oil pollution control regulations in the US and the UK. The choice of these cases was motivated by the existence of a rich literature on the politics and effects of the regulations and by the fact that oil is a major and much-needed energy resource, which has entailed a huge amount of transport and thus extensive use of ports.
5.1 Summary of Findings
With regard to the type of regulation, imposing fines for environmental violations appears to be the most effective, encouraging compliance with environmental regulations. This is shown by the significant relationship between the DIR and the PECI. The environmental effectiveness of the PSSR was inconclusive, although it was significant, the lower pollution from these ports could also be influenced by the fact that ports with lower pollution conduct less ship repair and maintenance, making the PSSR not a key factor in reducing port pollution. High tariffs and investment in cleaner technology for the port sector may change this finding.
The empirical findings have provided evidence that there is a significant relationship between the PECI and port size and the regulation of port development. The finding that larger ports tend to have lower PECI suggests that governments tend to regulate the pollution from larger, more developed ports compared to smaller ones as a result of increasing pressure from environmental groups and awareness of the general public. This implies that if environmental regulation is to be successful, the root of the problem i.e. unregulated economic development in the port sector must be addressed. This is essential in countries such as India where large-scale illegal developments have taken place.
5.2 Implications and Recommendations
The results of this paper have several implications when considering the sustainability of Indian ports. Firstly, if poor environmental practices in ports are linked to having weak or inconsistent governance by port authorities and/or the government in assigning responsibility for environmental issues, then it is anticipated that the current efforts of the Indian central and state governments are likely to be insufficient in instigating real change in port environmental management.
Since the late 1990s, there have been a large number of government-initiated developments in India’s maritime sector designed to bring about fundamental change in both the structure and management of ports and in the utilization and maintenance of ships, with the ultimate goal of making shipping and trading activities more efficient and improving India’s integration with the global economy. This was to be achieved through an extensive program of port corporatization, involving the transference of major port ownership from the government to autonomous corporations, and significant changes to existing maritime and environmental policy culminating in the passing of the Major Port Trusts Act of 1999 and the drafting of a National Maritime Development Program.
5.3 Limitations and Future Research
An important factor to consider is that the current status and environmental regulatory compliance of ports is continuously changing. Various ports are at different stages in the implementation of environmental standards due to requirements and time frames set out for projects by the MoEF. The legal framework for environmental standards at ports is still new, and it is anticipated that it will take some years for any substantial changes in the environment to be observable due to the lag effect of environmental damage and the time it will take to instigate remedies.
An additional resource limitation at times was that of language barriers in communicating with certain port employees and members of the public. While the research team had access to bilingual researchers, at times there was not enough lead time to use translation services for newly contacted stakeholders.
The primary limitation of this research is that of time and resources. Due to time constraints, the number of stakeholders interviewed and locations visited was somewhat limited. At certain ports, it was difficult to gain interviews with high-level stakeholders due to bureaucratic requirements and scheduling difficulties. The research would be improved by visiting a greater number of ports and stakeholders to gain a more complete understanding of the effectiveness of the environmental regulatory regime on ports.