The Bay of Bengal has never been simply water. It is an opera of commerce, travel, and geopolitics. In it, 54 rivers transport not only their rich silt, but centuries-old grievances, and 4,156 kilometres of borders make neighbours into threats to national survival. However, among all the actors shaping this region at present, the most important may be one that did not occur in a military command centre, nor in a diplomatic negotiating room, but at a ballot box in West Bengal.

India has many existing environment-related statutes, institutions, and judicial security. Despite this, activities damaging the environment continue at levels that tend to point to the opposite, namely, that of regulatory failure. Urbanisation-driven encroachments such as those witnessed in Bengaluru’s lakes, large-scale infrastructure projects in fragile Himalayan regions, extractive activities like coal mining in Hasdeo Arand, forest diversion in Central India, and persist