New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) Calling his job as environment minister to be "thankless and friendless", Jairam Ramesh Wednesday said he has no friends in the cabinet and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is his only supporter.

"I have no friends, it's only the prime minister in the cabinet (who backs me). I believe the job of environment minister has to be a friendless and thankless job," Ramesh told women journalists during an interaction.

Ramesh said that it is the nature of his job if you take it seriously, controversy is bound to surround you.

He said that sometimes he felt like he was "fighting a lost battle" and that within Indian politics few took a stand on environment and forest concerns apart from the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi.

"If you are serious about your job here, then you are bound to displease somebody or the other.

"Probably one of the reasons that I am in the midst of controversy is because I am taking the decision, not lobbying the decision. I was opposed by civil aviation minister when I raised a whole lot of questions on the Mumbai international airport which is going to destroy 400 acres of Mangrove forests and divert two rivers. I was opposed by agriculture ministry on Bt Brinjal and opposition from scientists when I said no to the Neutrino Observatory in the Nilgiris," he said.