Himalayan glaciers won't melt by 2035: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) Himalayan glaciers are "indeed" receding, which is a cause for great concern, but the view that these rivers of ice would melt down completely by 2035 due to global warning is "alarmist" and without any scientific basis, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Monday.

"It is a serious issue. Most of the Himalayan glaciers are in a poor state, but the report that suggested that the glaciers will vanish completely by 2035 is alarmist and misplaced," Jairam Ramesh told reporters.

He was referring to the study by the Nobel prize winning group - United Nations Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - that claimed that most of the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.

The Rajendra Pachauri-led UN panel had warned that the melting of glaciers would have far-reaching consequences for India. However, new evidence has emerged to suggest that the IPCC may have been mistaken.

The IPCC's claim was based on an article in the New Statesman, London, which had borrowed the statement from India's glaciologist and Padma Shri recipient Syed Iqbal Hasnain.

"The study was not made on any scientific evidence," Jairam Ramesh said.