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Looking at the growing population and demand for infrastructural
development, the target of getting 33 per cent of the country’s land under green cover is not realistic, Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam
Ramesh said on March 19 in Hyderabad.

‘In a country like India where the population is 1.2 billion
and set to become 1.6 billion by 2040 and there is a huge development
pressure, to expect to suddenly grow a green cover from
the present 21 per cent to 33 per cent is totally unrealistic,’ Ramesh said
during Green Landscape Summit-2011 organized by CII.

Ramesh
also highlighted the fact that about 40 per cent of the Indian forest is open
degraded forest land, which means when you look up, you easily see the sun. In
forests with good tree cover, it is not possible to see the sun.

Ramesh targeted
the IT industry for not adhering to greenhouse norms.

‘The IT
industry is a huge guzzler of air conditioning. IT buildings are horribly
inefficient when it comes to meeting energy-efficient levels. I close my ears
when the IT czars are giving long lectures on green building while their
own offices are poor advertisements of green habitats,’ Ramesh let it be known.

Washes hands off Jaitapur project
Talking about
the controversial Jaitapur nuclear power project in western India, Ramesh claimed
that the impact assessment for the plant has been done by National Environment
and Engineering Research Institute and not by his ministry.

‘As
far as safety and radioactive waste management is concerned, that is not our
responsibility. That is the responsibility of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,’
Ramesh said on the sidelines of the event.

Ramesh admitted that India needed to
review the safety of its nuclear plants following the recent natural calamity in Japan, but the country cannot afford to abandon its nuclear energy programme.

‘What has happened in Japan is very
serious. We will have to learn appropriate lessons and must take whatever
additional safeguards and precautions are required,’ said Ramesh.

The nuclear project at Jaitapur, being
built in collaboration with French firm Areva, is facing protests from the
locals on the basis that the plant will harm the local environment and risk people’s
lives.

Pic: Indiashots.com