If there is a Nobel prize for filth, India will win it: Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI: Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, known for courting controversy and making candid remarks, on Friday said if there was a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India would get it.

“Our cities are the dirtiest cities of the world. If there is a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India will win it, no doubt,” he said at a function to release a report ‘Green India 2047’ by The Energy Research Institute (TERI).

The minister was talking in reference to poor facilities for disposing municipal waste in a majority of Indian cities.

“I think our cities have the dubious distinction of being the dirtiest cities in the world. There is no doubt about it. But if there is a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India will win it hands down. There is no competition for that and we have to do something dramatic on municipal solid waste,” Ramesh said.

The report he released states that unclean air and water could be responsible for the death of eight lakh people every year in the country.

“Our limited analysis suggests that unclean air and water may be taking a toll in terms of over eight lakh deaths in the country each year and morbidity costs amounting to 3.6% of GDP,” the report said.

R K Pachauri, head of TERI and chairman of the Nobel-winning UN IPCC said, “It is important for every sector and every section of society to understand that protecting the environment is not a luxury. It’s an intimate part of promoting the economic welfare of people.”

He added that about 45% of the population did not have access to safe drinking water and the air quality was poor in most Indian cities.