The announcement of the schedule for India’s parliamentary elections came hot on the heels of the country’s met department issuing a warning of an extreme heat wave that would singe most regions between April and June with temperature hovering between normal and above-normal (40-plus degrees Celsius land 50 degrees).

The extreme heat, according to the Indian met department, is attributed to a transition from El Niño to ENSO-neutral which is expected by April-June. The staggered seven-phase polling begins on April 19 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4, a timespan covered by the weathermen’s projection of a searing heat wave.

It would, therefore, be quite natural if the climate change crosses the mind of Indian voters when they come out of their homes and queue up braving scorching summer to exercise their franchise or when candidates and political workers campaign.

However, concerns over climate change and its devastating impact on human beings, particularly the poor, has seldom been figured in political discourse in India. The coming parliamentary elections are no exception. No politician across the divide talk about it in their speeches in election rallies.

Given this, it was significant that the Indian Supreme Court made public its ruling on April 6 in which it included the right to live in a healthy environment as part of the fundamental right to equality before law under Article 14 of the Constitution and the right to live under Article 21. This is for the first time that the right to live in a safe environment has been recognised as fundamental rights.

The Supreme Court judgment, expanding the scope of Article 14 (right to equality before the law) and Article 21 (right to life) to include the "right against the adverse effects of climate change", came on a petition about the need to conserve the Great Indian Bustard -- a critically endangered bird species.

One hopes the Supreme Court’s verdict will serve as a wake-up call for the Indian political class and spur the parties into undertaking some serious conversations and actions on climate change. And here lies the scope for a fresh debate and interaction between the leaders and the voters. The top court rightly advocates a right balance between development needs and environmental conservation.

Interestingly, the court ruling came while recalling its order of April 2021 that required undergrounding of overhead transmission electricity lines across an area of over 80,000 sq km in adjacent Gujarat and Rajasthan states in the two states in order to save the critically-endangered species of Great Indian Bustards.

The sharp decline in the numbers of the Great Indian Bustards is attributed to their frequent collisions with overhead power transmission lines, including those of solar power plants, near their habitats. The GIBs have lateral vision as their eyes are on the sides of their head and they find it difficult to change their course of flight when confronted with a live wire.

The apex court had in its 2021 order directed the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan to replace overhead electric cables with underground cables, wherever feasible, and install bird-diverters in priority areas where GIBs live.

However, in its fresh order on April 6 this year, the apex court said lack of reliable electricity supply for many citizens not only hinders economic development but also disproportionately affects communities, including women and low-income households, further perpetuating inequalities. This not only reflects the dilemma but also works out a balance between developmental needs and concerns over ecology preservation.

India has pledged to be a net-zero country as far as greenhouse gas emission is concerned which calls for a decisive transition to clean energy to fight climate change. But green activists say environmental concerns should not lead to social injustice.

For instance, says climate activist Harjeet Singh, while the top court judgment underscores that citizens possess an inalienable right to a life protected from the adverse effects of the climate emergency, India's transition to clean energy, particularly solar power, "must not replicate the environmental injustices entrenched in the fossil fuel legacy".

Priya Pillai, head of programme - state climate action at the Asian Society for Academic Research, pointed out that renewable energy projects in states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are impacting marginalised communities of landless labourers, small farmers and other pastoral communities who rely on natural resources because their land is taken over for solar power plant developments.

She cited how a solar park in Karnataka impeded small farmers and landless labourers' access to open natural ecosystems and forced them to sell their sheep and goats or migrate. Manshi Asher, a researcher and an activist working on environment justice issues, pointed to the effect of renewable energy projects on forest rights and the environment in the Himalayas.

The gathering threat of climate change does not leave any option of choosing between governmental actions and environment activists. It underlines the need for a synthesis between the two.

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The writer is a veteran Indian journalist