Government CCAP sketchy to say the least’

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Government’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) has come in for serious flak for its “naive approach” to aproblem as multi-dimensionl as global warming and its impacts onagriculture and food security. Hosted on its official website for public response, the plancharts out actionable points for 11 sectors with budget outlines.Objections and reactions will be accepted till June 25. Thereport can be view at http://orissa.gov.in/portal/occap.pdf.

However, most find the document ill-conceived since it does not provide for institutional delivery mechanism for many sectors.

“The priorities section does not talk about targets leading to achieving the objectives.

There is no mention about the mechanisms to execute the plan. Furthermore, the document deals more with researchand studies and adequate emphasis is not given on action points,” saidOrissa Civil Society in its response to the Government.

One of the key challenges that climate change offers is food security and it has not been dealt adequately by the action plan giventhe state of Orissa’s economy, its vulnerability quotient and theextreme poverty levels.

The State being extremely vulnerable to natural calamities such as floods and drought which occur regularly, food security assumesserious importance because Orissa banks heavily on agriculture.

Issue of food security, challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in agriculture has not been given adequate emphasis in theaction plan.

Similarly, system of rice intensification which is emerging as a sustainable paddy cultivation practice and contributing positively toarrest climate change by emitting less methane should be promoted amongthe farmers. Such practices like Sustainable Sugarcane Initiativeshould be promoted but are missing in the CCAP. There is no system to enhance farmer’s participation inplanning and implementing.

Besides, drought being a major impact of climate change, any mitigation plan not finding place in the documentis surprising. No focus on indigenous seed variety and traditionalweather-resistant crops are given any focus. The action plan is silent on how low carbon economy can be brought about which ideally should be the thrust.Stating that the document is completely silent on the follow-upactions to be undertaken based on the research findings which thegovernment intends to undertake in the coming days, the critics said,the budget of Rs 143 crore outlined for reviewing the presentagricultural policy is big waste.

According to Bijay Mishra of Vasundhara, creation of more forest in revenue areas to compensate the loss on green cover to miningand industries will cost the State dear. The loss is that of potentialagricultural land which could have been used for growing morefoodgrains to address food insecurity. He also felt that the Governmentshould have ideally given more time for gathering response instead ofhurrying through it. The CCAP was posted on the website June 6.

Himanshu

Vasundhara