Govt’s delay in readying SAP-2 on climate change is worrisome: Science body

Guwahati, Oct 27: Both the governments in the state and at the centre allegedly have a lackadaisical attitude towards the credible sufferings of people under the impacts of the changes rapidly taking place in global climate. The responses of both governments towards the plea to announce the second version of the State Action Plan (SAP) for mitigating adverse impacts of climate change are there as proof, said the Assam State Coordination Committee of the All India People's Science Network (AIPSN).

The AIPSN State Coordination Committee is a conglomeration of the Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Assam; CRU (NER); and Ellora Vigyan Mancha.

Since 2022, the AIPSN Coordination Committee has been making pleas to the state government to announce the SAP-2. The SAP-2 was scheduled to be ready in 2020. But there occurred a time lapse due to the Covid-related crises. Since by 2022 the Covid-related situation improved, it was expected that the SAP-2 would soon be readied.

Strengthening this hope, the state's Minister for Science and Technology Department made a statement on the floor of the State Assembly on September 16, 2022, in reply to a question (No-69) from MLA Mrinal Saikia on the impacts of climate change on the state. The minister presented a very grim picture. He stated that according to climate change-related projections, the mean average temperature in Assam is likely to shoot up by 1.7 degrees Celsius to 2.2 degrees Celsius by mid- 21st century if the AD 1971-AD 2000 mean average temperature is taken as the base line.

The state's extreme rainfall events are also likely to go up in the range of 5% to 38%. Again, barring its southern districts, prospects of drought are going to rise in the state by over 75%, and there are 25% more possibilities of flood prevalence during this time.

Again, a 2019 Department of Science and Technology (DST) evaluation had ranked Assam as the fifth vulnerable state of the country with regard to climate change adverse impacts.

The above statement of the Minister gave rise to the belief that the State Government was serious in its approach towards mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, the Science and Technology Department had set up a climate change cell under the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) too.

But there was no response from the department to the coordination committee queries on the SAP update. This baffled the Coordination Committee, said its core committee member, Khanindra Talukdar. Therefore, since October 2022, it started writing to both the state's Science and Technology Department as well as the environment and forest department seeking information on SAP updates.

The Environment and Forest Department became open only after receiving an RTI application. The state's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HOFF) informed Talukdar on December 12, 2023, in reply to his RTI queries that the State Cabinet had approved the SAP-2 meant for the 2021–2030 period. But he maintained that it was waiting for the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's (MoEFCC's) approval.

Significantly, this top Forest Department official provided only negligible information on its consultation with 30 state government departments and 12 NGOs for the SAP-2 preparation. The department made the Coordination Committee also to make another communication on July 29, 2024, to get the information on the MoEFCC approval to the SAP-2, only to tell on August 16 that the Union Ministry had approved the SAP-2 on February 16 this year.

Thus, a delay of four years is allowed to occur in getting the SAP version 2 ready. This perhaps explains the level of sincerity of the state as well as the central governments on this crucial matter, said Talukdar.

By-

Ajit Patowary