India could win a Nobel for filth: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Nov 21: After his contentious statement on the upcoming UN summit in Copenhagen, Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh has stirred yet another controversy saying that if there was a Nobel prize for filth, India could win it.

"Our cities are dirtiest cities of the world. If there is a Nobel prize for dirt and filth, India will win it, no doubt," he said on Friday, Nov 20,

Mr Ramesh made this statement at a release function of a TERI report which states that over 8 lakh people have died in India due to environmental factors.

In the view of the report 'Green Indian 2047', which says that waste management is not given priority in local bodies, the minister regretted the poor facilities for disposing municipal waste in majority of the cities in the country.

The minister, who is known for making such blunt statements, earlier expressed pessimism over the upcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to held at Copenhagen.

“You should not have too much expectations from Copenhagen summit. The mandate to negotiate will get renewed. It seems there is a long haul before we arrive at a meaningful international commitment," Jairam Ramesh had said.

OneIndia News