UK team goes local with climate change

The Times of India , Thursday, June 06, 2013
Correspondent :
KOCHI: For British cabinet minister for communities and local government Eric Pickles, the story of how a village panchayat in the state revived a river that had become a stream was not simply inspiring; it was one of the reasons why he was here with his team.

At an interaction with people's representatives on Wednesday, Budhanoor panchayat president Rukmini teacher spoke about reviving the Kuttemperoor river in Chenganoor and how women, under the rural employment scheme, widened the river flow area. The Kuttemperoor river, a tributary of Pampa and Achankovil rivers, had lost 90% of the flow area due to fall in water levels in Pampa.

The British delegation was in Kochi to interact with members of the legislative assembly, panchayat presidents and local government officials on tackling climate change at the grassroots level. The officials explained the use of climate change toolkit, part of the UK government-supported all India project, to simplify climate change messages for grassroots action. Speaking on the occasion, Eric Pickles said irrespective of the fact whether one lived in India or the UK, climate change was an issue that had to be tackled at different levels. "We are collaborating closely on energy security, climate change and healthcare with India. We are looking to work with different state governments also," he said.

"Local communities should be in the frontline of climate change and sustainable solutions," Pickles said.

In his address, British deputy high commissioner Mike Nithavriankis said that 52 cities in India would come under the master plan for climate change. He said Britain was interested in learning about the local experience and would like to support projects in different ways.

Latha Anantha, director, Chalakudy River Research Centre, spoke on the work being done by NGOs with local governments on river protection and management. MLA P C Vishnunadh and A M Arif were among others who spoke during the occasion.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/UK-team-goes-local-with-climate-change/articleshow/20450467.cms
 


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