IMPHAL, Oct 12 – The draft report on the Manipur State Action Plan on Climate Change, covering sectors like ecosystem, bio-diversity and livelihood sustainability, water resources, agriculture, health, forest, energy, urban planning, resource and development, human resource development, etc., is likely to be published soon.

To finalise the State Action Plan to be implemented with Environment and Ecology Wing of the Government of Manipur as nodal agency, a State-level consultative workshop was held at Hotel Classic here recently.

The inaugural function of the day-long workshop was attended by Principal Secretary of Forest and Environment Dr J Suresh Babu, IAS as chief guest, team leader of International Resources Group Systems South Asia Private Limited (IRGSSA) India Dr Surjit Singh as president and senior advisor on Climate Change Adaptation, GIZ, Germany Dr Sanjoy Tommar as guest of honour.

Dr Babu, speaking on the occasion, observed that change in climate and its resultant global warming has started posing threat to the existence of human beings on earth. Around 25 years back we did not require air-conditioning. But today, with mercury level rising, it has become a necessity. This is a sign of the impact of climate change, Dr Babu felt.

To combat climate change in India, the Ministry of Environment and Forest has already formulated a National Action Plan, and following instructions in this regard to all State governments, the Government of Manipur too has drafted a State Action Plan. The implementation of the State Action Plan would require collective efforts of various departments and line departments.

Senior Scientific Officer of Environment and Ecology Wing, Dr M Homeshore, who made a presentation on the topic ‘A profile on climate change in Manipur and preparation: Its action and plan’, said that today Manipur is no exception to the impact of climate change and the annual rainfall rate has come down from 2217.90 millilitre in 1968 to 916.90 millilitre in 2007 while rise in temperature has been recorded from 25° C in 1969 to 29.72° C in 2008.

The impact of climate change has also affected the rich bio-diversity of the region and the degrading environment has led to low productivity, thereby giving a serious setback on the economic growth of the State, Dr Homeshore said.

During the workshop, Dr Tommar and Dr Singh also spoke on the topics of ‘Progress of preparation of State Action Plan on Climate Change’ and ‘Sectoral issues and adaptation strategies in agriculture, water and forest in Manipur’, respectively.