Prakash Javadekar blames unplanned growth and urbanisation for floods

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the flooding woes in various parts of the country stem from unplanned urbanisation rather than climate change and are a "legacy issue" that the government is correcting through its smart city programme. He also said that cities should have been planned better. "Cities should have been planned better but that did not happen," he said in an interview with PTI.

'Unplanned urbanisation took place in the country'

In the interview, he said that unplanned urbanisation took place in the country.

"It is not science to say it (floods) happened because of climate change. But it is true that unplanned urbanisation took place in the country. We planned Chandigarh, then Gandhinagar, while protecting and ensuring proper drainage outlets. It did not happen in other cities," the minister said.

Javadekar said rules applied during the building of Chandigarh should have been applied while building other cities as well.

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The Environmental Minister said, "It is a legacy problem. Lutyens Delhi is 130 years old. After that Chandigarh was made other cities were prepared after Chandigarh. The rules followed while setting up Chandigarh should have been applied while building other cities."

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Javadekar rejects IPCC report 

Javadekar also rejected the findings of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on Oceans and Cryosphere according to which some Indian cities like Mumbai and islands like Andamans and Nicobar are expected to gradually become uninhabitable by 2100 due to the rise in sea level.

"No, the IPCC does not say this. There was a movie '2012'. It was made as many people were predicting the earth will be doomed that year. It didn't happen but the movie did roaring business," he said.

Javadekar blames developed countries for climate change

The Minister further blamed developed countries for climate change. "Climate change is a reality, it is a manmade disaster created by so-called advanced countries which profited from carbon emissions for years together, he said. That is why we have the problem of greenhouse gas emissions," the minister said. Asserting that India is doing its best to save the environment, Javadekar said Indian lifestyle is environment-friendly. "We regard the whole nature as one family. We worship the living, trees... nature is regarded as god in Indian culture," he said

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(With PTI inputs)