Environmental values are an important and integral part of our cultural heritage. Our Vedic hymns, some of the oldest spiritual texts in the world, resonate with these values. The Atharva Veda has 63 verses of the Hymn to the Earth, the 'Bhumi Suktam'. They express a worldview that highlights the spirituality inherent in nature and emphases a holistic and harmonious relationship between man and nature, and are among the most enlightened thoughts on the environment to be found in any religious literature anywhere in the world. Over the millennia, our sages and seers have stressed the sacredness of five elemental components of our environment - air, water land, fire and sky. They had realised, in their higher consciousness, that if we fail to preserve the natural environment's sanctity, the human environment will also collapse.

Through the long efflux of time this magnificent vision has eroded, and we seem to have entered a dark age. But it should not be difficult for us, with our rich heritage, to restate these ideals in a new form within the contemporary framework of scientific and technological advancement. We need a co-ordinated and orchestrated programme of public awareness through every available media to build up public opinion to protect the environment. Through our public hearings, we have been trying to inform and involve the people in environmental conservation and nurture, not a sense of panic, but a deep concern and commitment to action. If India is to survive and flourish in the coming millennium, we need a wide-spread coordinated national action in the twin spheres of development and the environment.

The initiative to set up the People's Commission on Environment and Development, India (PCED) was taken at a conference of NGOs from all over India on 1 August 1990. It was formally launched on 19 September 1990 in conjunction with the ECO'92 Public Forum held in New Delhi and chaired by Ms Gro Harlem Brundtland, then Chairperson of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Initially, it set itself the task of ensuring that a coherent package of inputs, representing the focus and diversity of opinion in the country, was available throughout the preparatory process of the Earth Summit and at the Summit itself. The format of 'public hearing' was adopted with a view to involve as wide a constituency of stakeholders as possible and to gather their insights on environmental protection and a new development paradigm.

Public hearing was a pioneering effort by the PCED in India, representing a novel way for the citizens to dialogue with government to find solutions to critical survival issues. It also provides an opportunity to all the constituencies to forge partnerships for change and to express their shared commitment to usher in a new paradigm of development consistent with social equity and environmental sustainability. After the Earth Summit, in response to public demand, we decided to continue to act as a forum for citizens and NGOs to share their concerns and perspectives on environmental and development issues.

We have held public hearings all over the country, from the Himalayan fastness of Leh to Port Blair in the Bay of Bengal, from Rajkot in the West to Kohima in the East. At these hearings, our attempt has been to listen to grassroots activists and concerned citizens, and to understand the problems and perspectives of the people of this vast and varied land. The result has been a rich harvest of insights and perceptions, which is presented in this publication.

I warmly acknowledge the assistance received from the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung of Germany for over nearly a decade, which has enabled us to organise the public hearings, bring out their reports as well as this publication with which we usher in the new millennium.