Tamil Nadu is looking at ways to tap the treated wastewater for its irrigation system, said a climate change expert on Monday.

Speaking during a media workshop on climate change and its impact on agriculture and food security, Dr A A Nambi, who is also part of a committee to prepare a report on water management, said that a working group has been set up to study wastewater for irrigation systems.

In the wake of growing competition for freshwater from industries and cities, even policymakers worldwide are looking at treated wastewater for farming and other purposes. An international study predicts a rapid increase in the use of treated wastewater for farming and other purposes worldwide.

Nambi said that more than 80 per cent of the State’s water resources are used for irrigation purposes. Interestingly, a study by Japan’s Tottori University and the United Nations University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) claims that agriculture in developing countries will increasingly rely on alternative water resources, such as wastewater generated by non-agricultural activities in urban and peri-urban areas.

He also warned that the climate change could affect the country’s production while stressing the need to address the cost of climate change and consequence of climate change.

Noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan said that The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change is encouraging as the fear of temperature rise by two degrees centigrade could take more time. However, he warned that developing countries like India don’t have enough resources to adapt to climate change. “We don’t have investment like New york, which predicts $1 trillion to cope with climate change. On the other hand, a country like India can’t invest that much,” said Swaminathan. He also stressed that the indigenous food production should not suffer at any cost as this will result affect the nation’s food security.

Unfortunately, climate change is already bringing in changes in the state. Nambi says that mosquitoes are breeding in high-altitude areas which was unheard of earlier. He also warned that Chennai, which is a low-lying area, faces threat of inundation. He says while the temperature may have risen by .5 degree on an average across the nation at some parts the temperature has gone up by two degrees.

Madras School of Economics professor K Kavikumar questioned the goals of the global scientists to keep the rise in temperature to two degree centigrade.

“Given that the world has already warmed more than 0.7 degree centigrade and will warm another 0.6 degree centigrade even if all emissions are reduced to zero, the target to have a minimal rise of only two degree centigrade is too low to be an achievable target.”

However, the climate change experts are at loss of words to explain whether the global carbon emissions can be contained.

With Asia rising and more and more industries is being set up to fulfil the consumption of the world’s largest populated continent, it seems unlikely that there would be any short-term measures available to adopt any of the climate change instruments.