Jairam Ramesh talks about ecology and environment during the session 'Green signals :Ecology ,Growth and Development in India'

One anecdote that had the entire hall clapping away was on Jairam Ramesh’s solution for half-burnt dead bodies that pollute the Ganga. When he was environment minister, he developed a turtle breeding farm near the burning ghats of Varanasi because they are “the best scavengers for unburnt bodies.” “I got a lot of flak from VHP type people because it was anti Hindu. My answer to them was in dashavtara, Vishnu is first was matsa or fish, second was kuruma or turtle and then varaha. So why not?” On a question about why river-linking is being delayed, Jairam Ramesh said all was fine with the concept of linking rivers except “some minor problems” like relocating millions of people, large swathes of forests getting submerged and if you link international rivers like Ganga to Cauvery, Bangladesh has warned us of taking the matter to the United Nations. “It’s a very macho project but I am not persuaded by it,” he said, the audience seemed amused by the wit.During the Q&A, a person from the audience said he wanted as a very important question but ended up sharing a childhood memory of immersing an idol when he was in class 4. He narrated his experience for a few minutes while several hands went up waiting for their turn to ask questions. Jairam Ramesh, impatiently asked him “Have you reached class 12 now?” Audience was in splits. Jairam Ramesh in conversation with Amrita Tripathi during the session 'Green signals :Ecology ,Growth and Development in India' on concluding day of Times Litfest in Delhi.