Civil Society Group Essay

Role of NGOs/Civil Society Groups

Earth is a living planet unlike any other in the solar system because it supports life. Air and water are the basic elements of life on the planet by which all living things survive. Nature is a dynamic system with a capacity to self regulate and maintain balance among all its components. This is what we call the ecological balance of nature.

Disruption in any component of this system will result in a state of imbalance, the magnitude of which determines the severity of the consequences thereafter. Air and water have no political or cultural boundaries, in a sense that everyone is affected by their disruptions.

In the context of water pollution by chemical and leather industries, it can be easily identified that the root cause of the problem lies in the way industries manage their wastes or by-products. By and large, most industries discharge their wastes into water bodies either directly or

In light of the above, it is therefore obvious to see that non profit civil society groups also play a very crucial role in checking the menace of water pollution.

Civil society groups or Non Governmental Organisations are a collection of individuals and citizens who work together to achieve defined goals and objectives in one or more areas of interest other than profit making. Since all types of pollution are closely related to one another, we have groups who focus on environmental pollution as a whole rather than on one type of pollution. They are what we call the Environmental NGOs or ENGOs(1).

NGOs are an important stakeholders in environmental issues. They represent the civil society and the common men and women who usually are affected the most by the