Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
of her ministry's decisions. On the same day, Rahul Gandhi told a business meeting that he
understood their frustration over environmental clearances.
Ramesh continued to work in the same sort of areas when he moved to be minister for
rural development, notably implementing long-delayed legislation on the use of land for
industrial purposes and trying to develop areas previously held by Naxalite rebels. He used
to say that the nature of the environment minister's job was 'to upset politicians, industry
and environmentalists' and that he wanted to 'bring the environment into politics and pub-
in the environment-versus-growth debate.
The bottom line is that the profits made by spoiling the environment are just too big and
risky for a reasoned debate in India's present stage of development. In its rush for growth,
there is little fundamental public interest in protecting the environment, scant respect for
the rule of law, and widespread acceptance of corruption as a way of getting things done.
This does not, of course, apply only to India. Growth versus the environment is a glob-
al conundrum, but it is more urgent in this country because of the need and pressure for
growth, and because of the extent of the greed and corruption that has led to the environ-
ment being plundered.
Notes
'Uttarakhand is paying the high price of anti-environmentalism',
First Post India
,
World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - India: Adivasis 2008
,
Current Status of Tiger in India, WPSI website,
http://www.wpsi-india.org/tiger/ti-
'Wild India's Grim Reapers: Interview with Belinda Wright', WPSI,
Conservation
India
, 8 February 2011,
http://www.conservationindia.org/articles/trends-in-wildlife-
Database on Tiger Poaching, Trade & Wildlife Crimes, WPSI,
http://www.wpsi-in-
