Ramesh says he closes his ears when IT czars talk of green buildings

Ramesh made this remark while accusing the Information Technology(IT) industry of not adhering to green norms.

"The IT industry is a huge guzzler for air conditioning. IT buildings are horribly inefficient when it comes to meeting energy efficient levels. I close my ears when the IT czars are giving long lectures on green building," he said,

The minister also said that buildings of the IT industry are "poor advertisements of green habitats." Ramesh made these remarks while speaking at the "Green Landscape Summit-2011" organised by CIIhere  yesterday.

On other issues, Ramesh said India's ambitious target of bringing 33 per cent of its area under green cover is well out of reach given the size of the population and the pressure for development.

Ramesh instead felt that the focus should be on improving the quality of the existing green cover, rather than trying to extend it. "This is (the target) unrealistic in a country like India where the population is 1.2 billion and set to become 1.6 billion by 2040. With the population and development pressure in our country, to expect India to suddenly grow a green cover from the present 21 per cent to 33 per cent is totally unrealistic," he added.

He also pointed out that about 40 per cent of the Indian forest is open degraded forest land, which means when you look up, you easily see the Sun (In forests with good tree cover, it is not possible to see the sun except in glimpses).