NEW DELHI: The first phase of Delhi's climate change agenda came to an end in 2012 and the government is now set to bring out its new edition. Within two months, an extension of the existing plan, based on guidelines issued by the ministry of environment and forests, will be released. It will look at both short and long-term agendas for reducing Delhi's carbon footprint.
"The new guidelines are based on the climate profile of each state and will be an adaptation of the national action plan on climate change. For Delhi, it includes several chapters in addition to what has already been taken up in the 2009-2012 report. A lot of work identified in the first plan is still in progress and has been included in the new agenda," said environment secretary Sanjiv Kumar.
A major criticism of the first plan was the lack of legally binding actions for each government agency. With Delhi going to polls this year, sources say suggestions in the new plan may also not see the light of day for a while. "We need to take certain hard decisions that may not go down well with the political brass in view of the elections. The new plan has incorporated several suggestions like congestion tax on vehicles, regulation of private vehicles, preferential duty etc," said sources.
Thankfully, the new agenda talks of action plans ranging from five years to 30 years. If certain works do not get taken up immediately, there is hope that they will be addressed sooner or later. Rakesh Mehta, former chief secretary of Delhi said: "The new plan needs a focused approach and innovative decision-making. It should also have a participatory approach to involve civil society."
The point is reiterated by Dr RK Pachauri, director general of TERI. "Public participation in such a plan is an imperative and possibly the government's Bhagidari scheme should be used to reach out to the people," he said.
