Mumbai: With Maharashtra state reeling under severe impacts of climate change year after year, several state-based environmentalists have not only urged but also plan to write to Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr Eknath Shinde, who holds the department of environment and climate change, to take key learnings from Tamil Nadu and implement its Climate Resilience model.
The top sources of Greenhouse gas emissions in Maharashtra include energy and power (48%) followed by industry (31%), transport (14%), domestic cooking fuel (3%), and agriculture (2%) among others (2%).
Year 2023 most ideal time for Maharashtra
Mr Bhagwan Kesbhat, Founder of Waatavaran Foundation said that with the onset of the year 2023, this is the most ideal time for Maharashtra to launch a dedicated and similar mission to the one being implemented in Tamil Nadu. It's important that this mission is under the leadership of the Chief Minister as it will ensure accountability and implementation on the ground,” he said.
Maharashtra state compensated Rs 19,637 crore to victims of climate change-related incidents over six years across 35 districts, data from the state government has shown. Nanded, Beed, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nashik & Sangli districts are most impacted by extreme weather, floods, cyclones, etc. with over Rs 1,000 Cr paid in compensation for each district. Between 2016 and 2021, the state paid Rs 8,126.96 crores for damages caused by untimely rains, hailstorms, and stormy winds, Rs 4,126.04 crore for excessive rains and floods, Rs 3,992.7 crores on heavy rains alone, Rs 769.85 crores on flood damage mitigation, and Rs 2,666.47 crores for damages caused by cyclonic storms.
Impact of climate change
Leena Buddhe, Founder of Nagpur-based Centre For Sustainable Development (CFSD) stated that the entire belt of Vidarbha and Marathwada was highly vulnerable to climate change. “One of the main predictions made in the most recent IPCC report was that heat waves would increase, having a particularly negative impact on the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Both urban and rural regions must make this adjustment. There are some areas of Maharashtra that lack water as well. Although there are watershed management programs underway, they need to be stepped up given the impending threat of heat waves,” she said.
Mr Anjal Prakash, Research Director and Adjunct Associate Professor, Indian School of Business & Lead IPCC Author said that the recent floods in Sangli and other areas has actually exposed the vulnerability of Maharashtra while some parts of the state are also drought prone- to an extent that water trains had to be used.
“We have seen the monsoon patterns have changed and have been impacting agriculture a lot more. Some of the semi-arid, arid and dry regions are also impacted due to the heat wave and rise in temperature. This is something that the Maharashtra state will have to concentrate on. It's important that the climate change council must be strengthened and take it forward to what Tamil Nadu has done recently and a similar effort should also be taken up by the State,” he said.
A presentation made to the Maharashtra Cabinet by the Environment Department earlier this year showed that if the world warms by 2°C-2.5°C (as per the IPCC) the tropics (areas in central India such as Maharashtra) will be worst impacted, and severe impacts will be felt in coastal tropical areas including the possibility of submergence (Mumbai and Konkan coast), extreme droughts (for areas like Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha), and extensive forest fires that will make forests a source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a carbon sink.
