Uttarakhand’s action plan on climate change was on Monday approved by the Union government. The aim of the plan is to achieve development in an “environment caring manner” so that the progress is sustainable. The Uttarakhand Action Plan on Climate Change (UAPCC), formulated on the basis of the Centre’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), holds importance for the hill state as its several areas are disaster-prone. In June 2013, it was hit by flash flood in which thousands lost their lives. Committees tasked to find the cause of the calamity termed it as a man-made disaster. Illegal constructions on the banks of the Ganga River were one of the main causes behind the natural disaster. International agencies, like the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), will provide experts and funds while the United Nation Development Program will monitor the entire programme. The plan, which would require Rs 8,800 crore, will be implemented in two phases of three years each. Out of the total 15 sectors, in which the plan will be implemented, the emphasis will be laid on four sectors– disaster, water, energy and forest. Forest department has been made nodal agency. “The impact of climate change is being felt all over the Himalayan region with rising temperatures, scant rainfall, drying springs, landslides and floods etc. These factors are affecting communities and triggering migration. So, we need to have climate change plan, with special cell in all those departments which have a vital role to play. We must also have evidence-based planning,” said chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, who was present on the occasion. He also said that Uttarakhand needs knowledge-based forecast so that it is better equipped to deal with the calamities. Lokesh Sharma, chief engineer of PWD, admitted, “The trees are being cut on large scale. There is no master plan for roads due to which there is no road in some villages, while there are many roads in one village. At times there is no need to build multiple roads in one village for which a lot of deforestation is done. So there is a need for a filtering committee consisting of revenue, forest, rural and PWD departments before approving road for any place.”
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