India can cut emission intensity by 20-25 per cent” (December 4) is perplexing. It is difficult to understand what prompted Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to show his readiness for cuts in emission. And this comes at a time when wealthier nations like the US are reluctant to letting emission caps affect their own economies. India’s problems are very peculiar.
The other day, Ramesh was extolling the virtues of vegetarianism by pointing out that one billion cattle in the world need 17 times as much land, 26 times water, 20 times fossil fuels, and six times as many chemicals in comparison to a situation where people are purely vegetarian. What Ramesh conveniently forgot was that over 48 per cent of these cattle were in India. Research by scientists at the Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre has shown that the livestock alone emits nearly 12 million tonnes of methane annually. The Gandhian concept of tapping this by setting up gobar gas plants has been given a quiet burial. It is fashionable to talk of green buildings. However, most of the houses in Indian villages are green. The problem is often created by the urban population that is aping the West.
MM Gurbaxani, Bangalore
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