Double Speak

So much for the green Commonwealth Games, Yamuna and our insatiable stupidity.
Here are a few links:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt-nod-for-DTC-parking-on-Yamuna-flood-plain/480102/

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/taxonomy/term/1266

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/india-to-host-green-commonwealth-games_100201381.html


And here is Double Speak on the issue of “Degraded Forests”.
Which one do you believe?

1.
I believe forest cover is better than monoculture plantations, for the former are multi-layered eco-systems. Our first challenge is to preserve the existing forest cover, roughly 24 percent, and to improve its quality. Nearly 60 percent is degraded forests, which we must improve to high-density forests. That will have a tremendous impact on carbon sequestration. But India’s targetted 33 percentgreen cover can only come from afforestation.

Jairam Ramesh in an interview to Tehelka. Here is the interview:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub270609the_forest.asp


2.

Bloomberg cited Mr Jairam Ramesh environment minister as saying that India will expedite environmental approvals and allow mining in degraded forests to double the nation’s coal output.
Mr Ramesh said the country needs to increase coal production to 1 billion tonne in the next 7 years to feed new power plants. He said “Our power plants won’t materialize unless we produce a billion tons of coal.”
He said “As far as we are concerned, all degraded forests are go and all medium or heavy density forests are no go.”

Is anyone listening? Hello?