NEW DELHI: A day after a global report put India almost at the bottom of its green ranking, the government on Wednesday said the country was doing its best on multiple fronts to protect the environment and many institutions, including the United Nations, had appreciated its efforts. However, activists claim that the government needs a quick course correction to deal with the threat of pollution.
"We don't get demoralised by such ranking. We have been working quite sincerely and we will keep on working sincerely (to protect environment)," said the country's environment minister Harsh Vardhan, reacting to Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report.
The biennial report, which was released in Davos and was brought out by the Yale and the Columbia Universities in collaboration with the WEF, put India at 177th position in the list of 180 countries this year as compared to its ranking at 141st position two years ago.
Harsh Vardhan without getting into technicalities of the rankings said the country had taken several steps towards environmental protection and global institutions like the UN Environment Programme had praised the country's efforts.
"We have been doing very well. We are moving quite fast on the clean energy front. I would just like to say that we will keep on doing our works sincerely and the ranking will then improve on its own", said Harsh Vardhan.
Environmentalists, on the other hand, emphasised that the government really needs to get its act together. "Howsoever the ranking may be flawed as far as its objectivity is concerned, we need to act and act quite fast. India is struggling because of air pollution. As far as forests are concerned, we haven't even found a way how to grow forests", said Sunita Narain, director general of the Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
She said the country's 'Make In India' efforts must be in sync with its efforts to make it "liveable India" and "breathable India".
Another environmentalist Manoj Misra told TOI that India's slippage in the green index ranking is sad but hardly surprising. "The manner in which the environment ministry's role as the protector of India's nature and natural resources has been compromised at the altar of development at any cost, it would have been a surprise if the rank was otherwise", said Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
He said, "A course correction is urgent and hopefully the state will rise to it."
Though the report on 2018 EPI has noted India's efforts in many areas, including its 'Ujjwala Yojana' which is meant for LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households, it flagged how poor air quality took its toll on public health.
The report noted that air quality (household solid fuels and PM2.5 exposure) remained the leading environmental threat and the countries such as India and China which scored badly on air quality front "face public health crisis that demand urgent attention".
