Bringing the focus back on the civil nuclear energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the world should support India's civil nuclear energy programme even as he strongly pitched for old Indian traditions to counter environmental degradation.
Inaugurating a two-day state environment and forest ministers' conference here, the prime minister also blamed the changing lifestyles of people and increasing consumerism for the climate crisis.
Before embarking on a visit to France, Canada and Germany, where green issues evoke harsh response, Modi took on the developed world which "lecture India" on climate change while denying nuclear fuel for clean energy. "See the irony. The world gives lecture on climate but if we tell them that we want to move forward in nuclear energy as it is a good path for environment protection and when we ask them to provide necessary fuel for nuclear energy, they refuse," the prime minister said. "Indians have always conserved nature, and even today we have among the lowest per capita carbon emission globally," he added.
The prime minister also emphasised that development and environment protection are not at loggerheads as he detailed how the two can go on hand in hand. But he attributed the climate's ills to the lifestyle problem. "I have said it many times that we are making all the rules to curb carbon emissions... but we are not willing to change our lifestyle. The problem is that the humanity kept increasing its consumption and the nature is harmed most where consumption is the most," he said.
Taking the government's 'Swachh Bharat' campaign to the next level, the prime minister asked the urban local bodies to take up waste water treatment and solid waste management on priority. "There is a huge waste business. You (urban bodies) have to create wealth out of it and develop entrepreneurs in this area. Initially, 500 cities with one lakh population can be taken (for waste management). If this is not done, thousands of acres of land in each town would be required for landfills, which is not possible," Modi said.
The prime minister also asked the urban bodies to treat waste water in cities and give it to the villages situated near them for irrigation, which would act as bio-fertilisers and would enable farmers to send the organic produce back to the cities for consumption. This integrated approach, he said, would go a long way in reducing the health budget also.
For the urban bodies that implement this, the PM also offered the share of subsidies on chemical fertilisers, in the form of Viability Gap Funding. The PM also offered the share of LPG subsidies to cities producing gas from solid and liquid wastes.
