Srinagar, Dec. 21 -- The debate on environmental protection is often steered in a convenient direction-governments don't formulate policies, ministries are inactive, and laws remain confined to paper. This criticism isn't entirely misplaced. Looking at the record of environmental ministries at the central and state levels, nature often becomes the first casualty of development projects. Deforestation, river pollution, toxic air, and groundwater scarcity-all of these are attributed to policy failure. But this is an incomplete truth. The full truth is that the environmental crisis is deeply rooted in our own lifestyles. We have treated the environment as a government subject, as if it were a departmental file separate from civic life. This ...