india

Updated: Jun 09, 2019 23:53 IST

Bharati Chaturvedi

Half of India has been hit by drought this year. Yet, we haven’t seen a good enough fight back from any single state. Yes, there’s drought relief, but we cannot operate in relief mode, because the climate emergency is now embedded in India. We need an overhaul.

States must modify climate action plans, if needed. Agriculture is key to millions of lives. Each state must identify crops viable to cultivate in this new scenario along with preventing farmer debts. States also must seek seed banks, containing traditional crop seeds best suited for local ecologies. Farmers might not find instant markets for some new crops but states must mainstream these in existing schemes. We’re less than a month away from monsoon, whatever shape it takes. There is no reason why a massive effort in at least some parts of the country to catch the rainfall should not be undertaken. Sure, not every state is prepared, but at least the 50 worse off districts could consider some action. Even large cities, which guzzle so much water, should have clear targets about how much they will harvest from the rain, year on year.

Several other policies and practices must come into play-and I won’t discuss them in this short column. At this point, every single state and union territory in India has to prepare for a long, hard, dry haul ahead. It’s the hardest thing for any government but it’s also the most germane to our survival.

(The writer is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)