

GANDHINAGAR: Having launched what was proclaimed to be Asia's first ever dedicated government department for climate change with great fanfare, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi appears to have lost interest in the subject and his government has junked the state's Climate Change Action Plan 2012-2017 draft report prepared by The Energy and Resources Institute ( TERI ).

While more than 25 states submitted their action plan for the Prime Minister's National Climate Change Action Plan , Gujarat failed to finalize its plan which was initiated in 2009. The climate change department stands defunct with staff shifted elsewhere.

Sources said, "Now there is no possibility of the draft plan's approval, as of five years (2012-2017) two are almost over and the draft needs to be revised accordingly. The high-level committee of secretaries headed by the chief secretary for finalizing the action plan has avoided discussing this. The draft has been stuck in the bureaucratic warfare of a few officials. The department has lost direction as the chief minister has stopped taking interest."

The draft action plan raised serious concern about the likely socio-economic and environmental impact of climate change on Gujarat, while predicting an adverse impact on agriculture, health and environment. It recommended huge investment in new infrastructure to mitigate the impact of climate change and also stressed on radical policy changes in the functioning of the government departments and overall policy changes for industries and other sectors.

The report noted that in almost all coastal districts, there is a gradual shift in cropping patterns, decline in area under horticulture and reduction in yields. Lack of fodder has also affected the animal husbandry sector. It also predicted serious sea level rise, increase in diseases like malaria, gastric problems, fluorosis, kidney stone and skin ailments.

The draft proposed that the government invest more than Rs 21,000 crore to create environment-friendly water resource management, public health projects, forest and environment improvement projects, agriculture improvement projects and a number of studies.

