Caste, Climate, and Justice: Reimagining Environmentalism in India Through Ambedkarite Praxis

Environmental justice in India is not merely a question of ecological sustainability or conservation, it is fundamentally a question of social justice, deeply entangled with the country’s entrenched caste hierarchies. The distribution of and access to vital natural resources like water, land, forests are mediated by caste, resulting in a persistent ecological apartheid that mirrors and reinforces India’s social stratification. The term “ecological apartheid,” originally coined to describe the systematic segregation of communities from environmental benefits and burdens along lines of race or class (most notably in South Africa), is here invoked to highlight how similar patterns of exclusion and discrimination are reproduced through caste in India (David Schlosberg, 2007). Mainstream environmentalism, dominated by Savarna (upper-caste) narratives, has systematically ignored or erased the realities of caste-based exclusion and violence. Against this backdrop, B.R. Ambedkar’s ecological-democratic thought emerges as a radical and necessary framework. Ambedkar’s vision insists that environmental justice cannot be achieved without the annihilation of caste, like the phrase there is no climate or environmental justice without social justice and that sustainability must be rooted in the redistribution of both resources and power. This article examines the failures of Savarna environmentalism, elucidates Ambedkar’s anti-caste ecological praxis, and demonstrates with contemporary data why any climate future for India is impossible without confronting and dismantling caste.

Ambedkarite Environmentalism: Democracy as Ecological Equity

As Ambedkar says, 'Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle'. While conventional environmental discourse often overlooks the profound ways in which caste structures India's ecological relationships, here I argue for a fundamental reinterpretation of Ambedkar's anti-caste struggles as inherently environmental in nature. This article reveals how India's ecological landscape has been systematically "caste-ized" through what scholars term "eco-casteism", a framework where nature itself becomes organized according to hierarchical Brahminical principles of purity and pollution. Under this system, water becomes "polluted" simply through Dalit touch, land access is mediated through caste privilege mostly notably the Manusmriti which codified caste based denial of property rights, and environmental resources are transformed into instruments of exclusion rather than sustenance. This environmental lens exposes how the ideology of Hindu Brahmanism has animated mainstream environmental activism in India, creating what Mukul Sharma identifies as "eco-organicism" and "eco-naturalism", in his book ‘Caste and Nature: : Dalits and Indian Environmental Politics’, approaches that conflate protecting nature with protecting the "natural" order of caste hierarchy.

Ambedkar's intervention into questions of land and water access epitomized in the 1927 Mahad Satyagraha, where Dalits asserted their right to drink from public water sources, thus emerges not merely as a civil rights struggle but as a foundational environmental justice movement that challenged the very notion of nature as caste-neutral territory. Still till now Dalit communities continue to bear disproportionate environmental burdens, facing higher vulnerability to pollution and waste, exclusion from natural resources, and are more severely impacted by climate change. I highlight here that environmental visions, rooted in Dalit experiences and resistance, directly challenge dominant, caste-blind frameworks by asserting that environmental justice in India is fundamentally inseparable from caste justice (issue). Recognizing this intersection compels us to see struggles for water rights, equitable land access, and resource distribution not as peripheral, but as core environmental movements that have long been rendered invisible by mainstream environmentalism’s failure to address caste-based exclusion and discrimination.

According to the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), approximately 67% of rural Dalit households depend on manual casual labour as their primary source of income, a strong indicator of landlessness as 56% of all rural households in India own no agricultural land.

Upper castes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) collectively control nearly 80% of India’s agricultural land, while Dalits, despite making up over 18% of the rural population, operate less than 10%. Upper castes also dominate access to irrigation infrastructure in many regions, often relegating Dalit communities to ecologically vulnerable areas with limited water access and heightened exposure to floods and droughts. This spatial apartheid is not accidental but it is the result of centuries of deliberate exclusion and violence, enforced through both custom and law.

This unequal distribution of land and water resources perpetuates a cycle of marginalization for Dalit communities, impacting not only their economic prospects but also their social dignity and environmental security. For example, in many states, Dalit settlements are often located on the least fertile, flood-prone, or drought-affected lands, far from common wells, canals, or other vital irrigation sources. This forced ecological vulnerability means Dalit farmers are more likely to suffer crop failures, water scarcity, and displacement due to climate-related disasters. Moreover, their exclusion from decision-making bodies like water user associations or village councils further entrenches their lack of access to resources. Such patterns reveal that environmental injustice in rural India is deeply intertwined with the legacy of caste, making it clear that any meaningful approach to environmental equity must also address these entrenched social hierarchies.

Historically Ambedkar’s 1927 Mahad Satyagraha, demanding Dalit access to public water tanks, was not just a protest for water, it was a direct challenge to the caste system of ecological apartheid. Today, the legacy of Mahad is visible in the ongoing denial of water to Dalit communities. A 2022 survey in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region found that 72% of Dalit households lacked access to safe drinking water, and 56% reported being barred from common water sources due to untouchability practices. Climate change is now amplifying these injustices. During the 2019 and 2022 heatwaves, Dalit and Adivasi laborers spent 43–49% of their work hours outdoors, nearly double the 27–28% for upper castes resulting in significantly higher heat stress exposure and mortality risks. Recent studies project similar disparities persist in ongoing heat waves due to systemic occupational segregation. (IIM Bangalore Study, 2024; Demography, 2025).

Ambedkar’s vision was not limited to redistribution of resources, but demanded the democratization of resource governance (Ubale,D.V.W. (2025), Mukul Sharma (2016)). This highlights his vision for just and democratic management of resources, not merely redistribution He called for state-led land reforms, collective ownership, and the institutionalization of constitutional morality to ensure that ecological democracy was inseparable from social democracy. In this, Ambedkar’s environmentalism stands as a direct repudiation of Savarna greenwashing, insisting that justice for the oppressed must be the starting point for any ecological future.

Savarna Environmentalism: Erasure and Eco-Casteism

Mainstream Indian environmentalism, shaped by upper-caste people and activists, has consistently failed to address the realities of caste. Instead, it often romanticizes a “spiritual ecology” rooted in Vedic or Gandhian ideals, erasing the lived experiences of Dalits and Adivasis. This erasure is not benign, it is a form of eco-casteism that perpetuates the violence of the caste order under the guise of conservation and development.

The displacement of marginalized communities in the name of environmental protection is well-documented. For example, in August 2020, the Supreme Court of India ordered the demolition of 48,000 jhuggi-jhopdis (hutments) along Delhi’s railway tracks to address urban pollution, an action that left over 200,000 mostly poor and marginalized communities homeless, even though the original case focused on environmental concerns rather than housing rights. Similarly, in Mumbai, the creation and expansion of Sanjay Gandhi National Park have led to the forced eviction of more than 50,000 Adivasi (indigenous) residents and slum dwellers since the 1990s, as authorities have demolished thousands of homes in the name of forest conservation and urban green space development. Many of these communities have lived in the area for generations and continue to face repeated threats of displacement.

Urban “bourgeois environmentalism” prioritizes green spaces for elites while criminalizing and displacing Dalit (waste) workers. In Delhi, the vast majority of sanitation workers are from Dalit communities, with studies and reports indicating that over 77% of sanitation workers nationally belong to the Scheduled Castes, and the proportion in Delhi is estimated to be even higher, often approaching 90%. Policy blindness to caste is evident in flagship programs like the Jal Jeevan Mission, which claims to provide universal water access but fails to address the caste-based violence that structures water access in rural India. For instance, in 2022, a Dalit student Indra Meghwal in Rajasthan was beaten to death for touching a water pot, reflecting a broader pattern of atrocities against caste oppressed communities asserting their right to water. The National Dalit Movement for Justice and allied organizations have documented hundreds of caste-based violence cases linked to water access since 2018, including lethal attacks, social boycotts, and systemic exclusion from public water sources . Even some progressive NGOs often focus on technological fixes, such as bio-toilets or water filters, without challenging the caste system that forces Dalits into toxic, dehumanizing labor. This “greenwashing” of caste violence is not only inadequate, but actively complicit in the reproduction of ecological apartheid.

Toward an Ambedkarite Environmental Praxis

A genuinely anti-caste environmental justice agenda must move beyond tokenistic inclusion and technocratic solutions. It must be rooted in the redistribution of both resources and decision-making power, and in the recognition of Dalit ecological knowledge as central to climate resilience.

Democratic Resource Governance:

Dalit leadership must be mandated in all environmental decision-making bodies, from village water committees to state-level climate adaptation boards. At least 30% of climate adaptation and mitigation funds should be earmarked for Dalit and Adivasi communities, with transparent mechanisms for accountability. This is not only a matter of justice, but of necessity. Case studies from Bundelkhand and Jharkhand demonstrate that Dalit-led community water management projects, such as women’s pani panchayats and participatory watershed programs, consistently achieve greater drought resilience and equitable outcomes compared to top-down government interventions, which often neglect marginalized communities’ needs.

Land and Labor Justice

In light of these persistent inequities and the erosion of legal protections under recent amendments to land and forest laws, land redistribution must be enforced, with a minimum of 15% of forest and agricultural land allocated to Dalit and Adivasi communities. The continued existence of caste-based occupations, such as manual scavenging, which claimed 339 Dalit lives between 2018 and 2023, must be criminalized under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, with strict penalties for violators and reparations for survivors. Mechanization of sanitation work, long advocated by Ambedkar, must be prioritized and fully funded.

Moral-Spiritual Humanism

Environmental education should be rooted in Ambedkar’s Buddhist ethics, which advocate interdependence, compassion, and the rejection of hierarchy, but it must also engage with the profound contributions of Dalit Christian theology. Dalit Christian thought interprets Jesus as a figure of solidarity with the oppressed, viewing his suffering and compassion as a direct call to justice and liberation for marginalized communities. Theologians emphasized that Dalit theology is not passive, it is forged in the lived realities of exclusion and struggle, where divine compassion becomes a mandate for transformative action (Sivasubramanian, David. M) . This tradition extends the values of sacrifice and solidarity beyond religious boundaries, making compassion a practical force for social and ecological justice.

By drawing from both Buddhist and Christian sources, Dalit moral-spiritual humanism becomes a dynamic framework that unites ethical reflection with grassroots activism. This approach urges the recognition and integration of Dalit ecological knowledge such as traditional water harvesting techniques in Rajasthan into national climate adaptation strategies. Honoring these intertwined traditions not only affirms the dignity and wisdom of marginalized communities but also grounds environmental praxis in a holistic vision of justice, compassion, and collective responsibility.

Conclusion: Annihilating Caste to Survive the Climate Crisis

Recent years have seen both the intensification of climate impacts and the resurgence of anti-caste environmental activism. The 2025 heat waves caused thousands of excess deaths, with marginalized Dalit and Adivasi laborers disproportionately affected due to their overrepresentation in outdoor occupations. Studies estimate marginalized caste groups face 25–150% higher heat exposure risks, compounded by inadequate protections in Heat Action Plans. By 2030, an estimated 160–200 million urban Indians will face annual lethal heat waves (wet-bulb temperatures ≥35°C). Marginalized castes particularly Dalits and Adivasis are disproportionately vulnerable due to occupational segregation (43–49% outdoor work hours vs. 27–28% for upper castes) and systemic exclusion from cooling resources (22% SC, 18% ST vs. 45% upper castes, Union ministry’s National Family Health Survey), housing, and disaster protections

Despite these challenges, there are signs of hope. Grassroots movements such as Vikalp Sangam, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights and the Deccan Development Society are centering Dalit and Adivasi voices in climate resilience projects. However, India’s climate policies including the National Action Plan on Climate Change still lack caste-disaggregated data, and India’s climate adaptation funding disproportionately bypasses Dalit-majority regions due to caste-blind policies and implementation. For instance, the National Green India Mission allocated just 6.82% of its budget for Scheduled Castes in 2023–24, despite Dalits constituting 16.6% of the population. Structural barriers such as landlessness and exclusion from disaster relief further limit access to climate resilience resources.

The persistence of eco-casteism in both policy and practice is a stark reminder that climate justice cannot be separated from social justice. As Ambedkar warned, “They cannot make history who forget history.” The history of environmental exclusion in India is the history of caste itself.

Environmental justice in India is impossible without the annihilation of caste. As droughts intensify caste conflicts over water, and cyclones and heatwaves devastate Dalit settlements, Ambedkar’s call to “Educate, Agitate, Organize” is more urgent than ever. The climate crisis is not a great equalizer, it is a force multiplier for existing inequalities. Any vision of sustainability that does not confront the caste system is not only inadequate, but actively complicit in the perpetuation of violence and exclusion. Here Ambedkarite environmentalism offers a radical, anti-caste blueprint for ecological democracy, one that centers the experiences, knowledge, and leadership of the oppressed. India’s climate future depends not on greenwashing or technocratic fixes, but on a revolutionary transformation of its social and ecological order. The time for incrementalism is over. Environmental justice demands nothing less than the caste free society and annihilation of caste.

References:

Rasve, S. (2025). Caste, Landownership, and Its Historicity: The Redistribution Question. Round Table India. https://www.roundtableindia.co.in/caste-landownership-and-its-historicity-the-redistribution-question/
Ubale, D. V. W. (2025). Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Visionary Contributions to Water Governance: A Foundation for Equitable and Sustainable Resource Management in India. International Journal of Advance and Applied Research, 6(32[A]), 103–107. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15421365
Mukul Sharma(2016) Ambedkar and the Environmental Traditio. Sabrang. https://sabrangindia.in/ambedkar-and-environmental-tradition/
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