National Media Consultation on

Climate Change Reporting

in the Himalayas Delhi, September 21, 2019
A Report

National Media Consultation on

Climate Change Reporting
in the Himalayas

Delhi, September 21, 2019

Jointly organized by Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) of
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and
Department of Science and Technology (NMSHE)

Venue: India Habitat Centre, Delhi

About Indian Himalaya Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP)

(Strengthening Capacity on Climate Science and Adaptation in the Indian Himalayas)

Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) is a project under Global Programme Climate
Change and Environment (GPCCE) of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In
India it is anchored under the Framework Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (2003)
between the Government of India and Government of Switzerland and is being implemented as a bilateral
cooperation programme with Department of Science & Technology. The IHCAP builds on capacity
and knowledge enhancement related to three pillars—scientific and technical knowledge cooperation
between Indian and Swiss scientific institutions; adaptation measures for vulnerable communities; and
mainstreaming adaptation policies for improved action in the Indian Himalayan Region. www.ihcap.in

About Centre for Media Studies (CMS)

Established in 1991, CMS is a not-for-profit, multi-disciplinary development research and facilitative think-
tank. It endeavors to work towards responsive governance and equitable development through research,
advocacy and capacity building in social development, environment, communication, media, transparency
and governance issues at local and national policy levels. Its flagship programme in environment sector is
Vatavaran, a leading international festival of environmental films.

Find more details at: www.cmsindia.org

 CONTENTS
Summary 2

Inaugural Session 4

Technical Session I 6
Climate Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayas Region
using a common framework

Technical Session II 9

Annex 1 – Agenda 11

Annex 2 – Media Registration 12

Media Coverage 13
 Summary
The twin issues of climate change and sustainable development have captured the attention of
governments, policy makers, scientists, media and the general public in the past two decades. The
interest has been sustained due to new scientific developments as well as climate change talks taking
place under the umbrella of the United Nations. It has been recognized globally that media has a
central role in not only in creating awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change, but
also in spurring action by governments and motivating communities to take action.

While the media coverage on climate change and sustainable development has seen significant rise
in the past two decades, several issues are inadequately addressed.

In order to fill this gap Centre for Media Studies(CMS), Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation
Program(IHCAP) of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Department of Science
and Technology (DST) has jointly organised one day National Media Consultation in New Delhi as a
culmination of the three years long media awareness program on climate change. CMS and IHCAP
have jointly organised 12 state level media workshop in the Himalayan region and three cycles of the
fellowship program.

In this series, the National Media Consultation was held on Sept 21, 2019 at New Delhi in India Habitat
Centre. Around 30 journalists writing on environment from all over the country including Himalayan
states had participated in the consultation.

The objective of the consultation was to share the experiences and outcome of the three –year long
media program and also showcase few state level adaptation measures with national media and
policy makers.

The IHCAP-CMS fellows, selected under the program gave the presentations about their experiences
and achievements during the media session in the consultation.

In addition, the experts from leading research institutes and Director SPICE of DST spoke about
different aspects of climate change adaptation. Media experts and participants also shared their
competences about writing on climate change issues.

2
Ms. Marylaure Crettaz, Head Swiss Cooperation Office and Counsellor, Embassy of
Switzerland in India said that people’s involvement, co-operation and awareness campaigns on
the impact of climate change is very much important for conserving and preserving the ecology and
environment in her opening remarks.

She said, “Climate change is growing concern of the world and mountainous region and young
people need to take action as soon as possible.”

“We need to formulate programs that strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities, capacity
building, risk assessment and raise public awareness on the impact of climate change,” she
added.

Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, head of the climate change program at DST, said in his key note address
that a pan India climate vulnerability assessment map is being developed under a joint project of the
Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology
and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

He said, “Such climate vulnerability atlas has already been developed for 12 states in the Indian
Himalayan Region, using a common framework,”

“Now this methodology will be extended to non-Himalayan states so that we can have a national
level climate vulnerability profile for India. The atlas is expected to be ready by the middle of 2020,”
Dr. Gupta announced.

Dr. Mustafa Ali Khan, Team Leader, IHCAP, talked about the mandate of IHCAP and how it has
been strengthening development cooperation between India and Switzerland in areas of climate
change adaptation in Himalayas.

He informed the audience about how climate change threatens the Himalayas. He said that by 2100
even if global warming is kept to 1.5 °C, warming in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region will
warm by 1.8 - 0.4 °C as per The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, 2019.

He said, “The key intervention areas for IHCAP in India are – Glaciology Springs and Disaster Risk
Reduction”.

Talking about the Media project on climate change he said that on the line of the CMS-IHCAP
fellowship, the state of Manipur has launched its own media fellowship program.

Ms. Annu Anand, Director Advocacy-CMS, presented the overview of the three year -long media
project. She shared with the participants that under the project CMS has oriented around 400
journalists from English and regional media other than media students and environment
scholars.

She also shared few examples of innovative initiatives of adaptation to climate change undergoing
in different states of Himalayan region.

Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao, Chairman CMS, emphasized in his special address that issues of Climate
Change are an opportunity for journalists to explore an unfolding phenomena with specific examples
- both for the print and electronic media.

Dr. Anamika Barua of Indian Institutes of Technology Guwahati, who led the vulnerability
assessment project for the Himalayan region shared in technical session that how IPCC’s approach
to vulnerability measurement has changed over the years.

She said, “Vulnerability is the propensity to be adversely affected and can be measured in terms of
both biophysical as well as socio-economic factors. Addressing vulnerability can help reduce risk
to climate change,” she explained.

3
 Inaugural Session
The National Media Consultation under the media sensitizing program on climate change was
held in national capital, New Delhi, on September 21, 2019 at India Habitat Centre. More than
30 participants from north east states, including Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Uttarakhand and
Himachal Pradesh had participated in the consultation. Scientists and experts from Department of
Science (DST), other scientific institutions, Swiss embassy and from states departments of science
and environment of Manipur and J&K spoke in the inaugural and technical session.

While delivering special address, Mr. Akhilesh Gupta, head of the climate change program at DST
said, “Climate vulnerability atlas has already been developed for 12 states in the Indian Himalayan
Region, using a common framework, now this methodology will be extended to non-Himalayan
states so that we can have a national level climate vulnerability profile for India.

“The atlas is expected to be ready by the middle of 2020,” Dr. Gupta announced. He also added
that by using a common methodology for assessing vulnerability was critical for comparison and for
planning adaptation strategies. It also helps in identifying what makes a state or district vulnerable
to climate change.

“The climate change research program of DST was being implemented as part of the National Mission
for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for
Climate Change (NMSKCC). Among the priority areas identified for research are glaciology, climate
modeling, urban climate, extreme events and Himalayan ecosystem studies. In all, climate change
cells have been in 25 states in the country and centres of excellence are also being established in
states for capacity building,” he informed the participants.

Speaking on the occasion Ms. Marylaure Crettaz, Head Swiss Cooperation Office and Counsellor,
Embassy of Switzerland in India, said that people’s involvement, co-operation and awareness
campaigns on the impact of climate change is very much important for conserving and preserving
the ecology and environment.

She said, that her team is helping and advising constantly to the government of India and the state
governments on achieving the national commitments on climate change mitigation and adaptation,
enhancing of water accessibility and rejuvenation of water resources, protection of wetlands and
other natural resources.

She said that climate change is growing concern of the world and mountainous region and young
people to take action as soon as possible.

4
“We need to formulate programs that strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities, capacity
building, risk assessment and raise public awareness on the impact of climate change”, she
added.

Presenting the overview of the project Ms. Annu Anand, Director, Advocacy, shared that it has been
a three- year long journey with its final leg coming to a culmination in 2019. Under the project we
have organized 11 media workshops all over the Himalayan region on climate change including one
national consultation which was held in Delhi during the CMS VATAVARAN festival in 2017.

She informed that CMS has oriented around 400 journalists in English and regional language media,
besides dozens of media students and environment scholars, during the project period.

The objective has been to create a culture of sustained interest in climate change, sustainability
and livelihood issues and today we feel sense of pride to share that more than 200 stories have
been published on climate change and adaptation in mainstream media like TOI, UNI, PTI, Hindu
Business line, The Hindu, The Outlook, Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran, TheTelegraph, First Post, India
Water Portal etc.

“The objective was achieved by designing the format of each workshop in a way that made it
interactive, while also exposing journalists to live examples and case studies through field visits”,
she explained.

She also shared few examples of innovative adaptation initiatives which they witnessed during their
field visits as a part of the media workshop in different states in the Himalayan region.

“In Manipur, we visited Phayeng Village which is being developed as a carbon-positive model village.
The initiative includes promoting integrated mountain farming, introducing climate resilient crops,
replacing biomass in cooking stoves with renewable energy. All this is being done with the help of
active community participation and blending with traditional knowledge,” she shared.

She also talked about an interesting project undertaken in Mizoram where under the Mission for
Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) farmers are focusing on cultivation of fruits and
flowers, spices, vegetables and aromatic plants. They are taking to dragon fruit as a climate resilient
crop.

“There are many such examples and stories which need to be explored, documented and may be
written about to spread the message at the ground level for climate adaptation,” added Ms. Anand.

The participants were also shown a film– An Uncertain Winter – by Munmun Dhalaria. The film
talks about how everything in life at Spiti revolves around basic survival and optimal land use in an
untamed place, where winter temperatures drop to -30 degrees.
5
 The film is an ode to life in the icy desert, and the resistance of women who call it their home. The
same snow that makes a large part of the year impossible to live is responsible for the harvest.

Dr. N.Bhaskara Rao, Chairman CMS, reiterated that Climate Change is an opportunity for journalists
to explore an unfolding phenomena with specific examples - both for the print and electronic media.
This is also an opportunity to unleash media power – there cannot be better preoccupation to justify
media’s traditional role as the Fourth Estate.

While talking about the CMS’s commitment to rigorous and objective analysis to support improved
policymaking. He mentioned that it is for journalists and the media to take the initiative – Journalists
are a better bet for the future and for preparing people for an adoptive behaviour to climate
changes

Technical Session I
IHCAP and overview of Climate Change Program by Dr. Mustafa Ali Khan, Team Leader, IHCAP.

Dr. Mustafa Ali Khan talked about the mandate of IHCAP and how it has been strengthening
development cooperation between India and Switzerland in areas of climate change adaptation in
Himalayas.

The vision of this coming together is about building collaboration based on common interests
and shared investments, with the ultimate aim of enhancing resilience of vulnerable mountain
communities.

He said some states had already started using the vulnerability assessment report, particularly while
revising state climate action plans and developing adaptation projects. Mizoram has launched a
state wide public awareness campaign on the basis of the assessment, while West Bengal has
developed a decision support system for prioritizing spring-shed management project sites using the
climate vulnerability map as an input.

He enlightened the audience about how climate change threatens the Himalayas. He said that by
2100 even if global warming is kept to 1.5 °C, warming in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region
will warm by 1.8 + 0.4 °C as per The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, 2019.

He informed the audience that the key intervention areas for IHCAP in India are – Glaciology, Springs
and Disaster Risk Reduction.

He also mentioned that regarding media sensitization, significant steps have been taken. Media
capacity building program for reporting on climate change issues have been inculcated. A Manual
for journalists to report on climate issues in Himalayas has been developed.

He also shared that the state of Manipur has launched its own media fellowship program on the line
6 of CMS-IHCAP fellowship program for media persons.
Climate Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayas
Region using a common framework
by Dr. Anamika Barua, Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati.
“Vulnerability is the propensity to be adversely affected and can be measured in terms of both
biophysical as well as socioeconomic factors. Addressing vulnerability can help reduce risk to climate
change,” explained Dr. Anamika Barua of IIT Guwahati, who led the vulnerability assessment project
for the Himalayan region.

“Among the socio-economic and demographic factors that determine vulnerability are population
density; percentage marginal farmers; livestock to human ratio; per capita income; number of
primary healthcare centres; and percentage of women in the overall workforce. Similarly, sensitivity
of agricultural production is captured by indicators like percentage area under irrigation; yield
variability; and percentage area under horticulture crops”, she explained.

Ms. Barua talked about how IPCC’s approach to vulnerability measurement has changed over the
years. For example, pre 2007 it used to around hazard-based impact assessments which entailed
superimposing future climate scenarios on an otherwise constant world to estimate the potential
impacts of anthropogenic climate change on a climate-sensitive system.

Between 2007 and 2014 it used to be about taking Vulnerability as a function of exposure,
sensitivity and adaptive capacity. And post 2014, it has been about, what they refer to as - The Risk
framework.

Climate Vulnerability Assessment and its usage by the state governments – Presentation from
Manipur and J&K.

Dr. Barua’s presentation was followed by two case studies. The first was by Dr. T. Brajkumar Singh,
Deputy Director, Directorate of Environment, Govt. of Manipur.

He opened his talk by underlining historical trends. For example, increase in winter temperature,
shifts in rainfall and agricultural patterns etc.

The same were then mapped to different places with different altitudes. An assessment of all these
lead us to a brief overview of the state’s vulnerability and the various challenges it presents.

7
 He reiterated the fact that the state stands committed to three principles.
Principle 1-
• To demonstrate the ambition and commitment of the State to address the issue of climate
change and state’s contribution to INDC.

Principle 2-
• To assess and show the real progress made by the state in addressing the state specific
vulnerability based on the priorities set out in the SAPCC

Principle 3-
• Develop a mid-term [2030] and long term [2080] climate action plan and policy aligned to
INDC with implementation and M & E framework.

His talk was followed by a session by Mr. Majid Farooq, Nodal Officer, Climate Change Centre,
J&K.

He opened his presentation by talking about the Hindu Kush Himalayan region and how many
people are impacted by it. (240 million people, 1.9 billion living downstream and 3 billion dependents
for food security)

It has four biodiversity hotspots, but is proving to be growing into a multi-hazard environment, being
prone to floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides, extreme temperatures etc.

With a population of 12.5 million the J&K region, comprises of three dominant climate zones. The
temperate Kashmir zone, the cold, arid Ladakh and the sub-tropical zone of Jammu.

All the three zones have been analyzed across the years for various indicators of climate change,
and the results are worrying.

Annual mean temperatures have risen and precipitation patterns have shifted, leading to more and
more extreme events such as avalanches, hailstorms, cloudbursts, flashfloods etc.

He also spoke about how they have classified different districts as per various indicators like slope,
population size etc. to arrive at a certain vulnerability profile.

Finally, he ended his presentation talking about the policy framework required to safeguard J&K and
the state’s vulnerability against climate change. This policy framework comprises of three pillars,
Knowledge, Skills and Attitude.

8
Technical Session II
Session II began with a session moderated by Dinesh C Sharma, Managing Editor, India Science
Wire, and chaired by Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, where the profile of the fellows was presented.

The last presentation was given by Dr. S S Randhawa, Pr. Scientific Officer, State Centre for Climate
Change, Shimla and Ms. Shimpy Khurana, Communications Officer, IHCAP.

They touched upon climate change and its impact on agri-horticulture and flood incidents and also
talked about the Banjar and Parvati valley in the Kullu district, where participants would visit the very
next day as part of the field visit of national consultation.

Mr. Randhawa took the audience through Himalayan Cryosphere and the studies carried out around
the same. He also talked about how Himachal Pradesh, being a Himalayan region is impacted by
Climate Change.

He mentioned the following major issues of concern due to the emerging threat of climate change
in Himachal Pradesh:
• Agrarian economy of 90% rural population and their livelihood.
• Dependence on rains for agrarian activities.
• Sustainability of hydro economy as dependency on snow and glaciers.
• Water sources for drinking and irrigation.
• Rural livelihood dependency on forest for fuel wood, fodder & non-wood products etc.
• Economy of the State on the medicinal herbs.
• Climate induced and other natural hazards threat in the state.

He also spoke about the climate change profile of various sectors and sub-sectors.

Ms. Shimpy Khurana, Communications Officer, IHCAP explained the participants that why Kullu has
been selected as an intervention area by the IHCAP.

She said, “Kullu has been identified as the most flood-affected district in Himachal Pradesh with at
least 66 floods since 1965. About 40% of all flood events over the 1950 to 2014 occurred in Kullu”.

9
 “It also has witnessed widespread increase in mean annual air temperatures (1981
– 2010) and has seen substantial retreat of glaciers leading to pervasive flood and
landslide problems.”

She asked, “What has IHCAP proposed for Kullu?”

IHCAP has put forward evidence based adaptation actions in Kullu, that has four broad
stages, she explained:
• Stage 1: Scoping to review baseline information, to identify vulnerable regions in
Kullu districts (2012-13)

• Stage 2: Development of framework for the Collaborative Research (2013-14)

• Stage 3: Integrated Vulnerability & Risks and Hazards Assessment in Kullu district
(2014-15)

• Stage 4: Identification of Adaptation options and development of proposals for

their implementation (2016)

She summed her presentation by saying that these adaptation initiatives touched the
lives of 200,000 people.

She said, that the next steps now are, securing funds for implementation of the
adaptation actions. These can be from state, national or international sources and more
such Interventions are planned across Himachal Pradesh.

10
 Annex 1 – Agenda


Aggendafforthe
Natioonal Meedia Consultation on C
Climatee Changge Repoorting in the Himalayas
Daate:Septeember21,2019
Venu
ue:JunipeerHall,Ind
diaHabitaatCentre,,Delhi
InauguralSSession
10:00am
m Reegistrationandfilm mscreenin ng
Film
mScreeniingAnUn ncertainW WinterbyMunmun nDhalaria,aboutth heongoingchangessin

climaate,thereesidentso
ofKibbervvillageinSSpitivalleyy,HP
Welco omeAddrressandO Overviewo ofMediaProgramonClimatteChangeeby
10:30am
m
Ms.AnnuAnand,DireectorAdvo ocacy,CentreforMMediaStu udies(CMS)
OpeninggRemarkssbyMs.M MarylaureeCrettaz,HeadSwiissCoopeerationOffficeand
10:45am
m
Counselllor,EmbaassyofSw witzerland
dinIndia
SSpecialAd ddressandPresenttationonNationalMissionfo orSustainningtheHHimalayan
11:00am
m Eco
osystemb byDr.Akh hileshGup pta,Advisser/ScienttistG,HeaadSPLICEEandClim mateChannge
Programme,Departmen ntofSciennceandTTechnologgy,Govern nmentofIndia
11.20am SpeciialAddresssbyDr.N N.BhaskaraRao,Chairman,CMS
SessionnI
ModeeratedbyDr.MustafaAliKh han,TeammLeaderIH HCAP
11.30am
m Prresentatio ononIHCAPandovverviewo ofClimateChangeP Programbby
Dr.MusstafaAliKKhan,TeamLeaderr,IHCAP
ClimateVVulnerabilityAssesssmentforrtheIndiaanHimalayyasRegionusingacommon
11:45am
m
fraameworkbyDr.An namikaBaarua,Asso ociatePro
ofessor,IITTGuwahaati
mateVulnerabilityA
Clim Assessmentandit’ssusagebyythestategovernm ments:P
Presentations
ffromMan nipurandJ&KbyD Dr.T.BrajaakumarSingh,Dep putyDirecctor,Direcctorateoff
12:15pm
m
nvironment,Govt.ofManip
En purandM Mr.MajidFFarooq,N NodalOfficer,ClimaateChangge
Centre,J&K
SessionnII
ModeeratedbyyMr.DineeshCSharrma,Man nagingEdiitor,IndiaaScienceWire
12:45pm
m MediaIn nteractionnandFello owsPreseentations
ChairedbyyDr.AkhilleshGuptta
Presen ntationon nBanjaraandParvaatiValley,Kulludistrict,Him machalPraadesh,
toh
highlightttheimpacctofclimaatechangeeonAgriͲͲHorticultu ureandfloodincidentsandthe
01:30pm
p
proposedinterventionsbyD Dr.S.S.Raandhawa,Pr.Scientificofficeer,StateC Centrefor
C
ClimateC Change,Sh himlaand dMs.ShimmpyKhurana,Com mmunicationsOfficer,IHCAP P
02:10pm
m VotteofThan nks
02:20pm
m Lu
unchBreaakandGroupPhotto
 Septeember22,2019
06:30am
m Assemb blyatYMCA&Dep parturefo
orKullu
09:00pm
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ullu
 Septeember23,2019
10:00am
m V
VisittoParvatiValleeytohigh hlighttheffloodincidentsand dtheprop posedinteerventions
 Septeember24,2019
08:00am
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09:00pm
m DepartureforDelhi

 Annex 2 – Media Registration
Abhijit Nath Kiran Bhowmik
Staff Reporter Reporter
Tripura Observer United News of India (UNI)
Agartala, Tripura Agartala, Tripura
[email protected] [email protected]

Afsana Rashid Mungchan Zimik

Freelance Environment Journalist District Correspondent
& Assistant Prof, J&K University The Sangai Express
Srinagar, J&K Imphal, Manipur
[email protected] [email protected]

Akshatha M N. Jagoi
Principal Correspondent Special Correspondent
Economic Times, Bangalore ANI, Kohima, Nagaland
[email protected] [email protected]

Anoop Kumar Naz Asghar

Deputy Chief Reporter Editor
Dainik Jagran India News Stream, Delhi
Haridwar, Uttarakhand [email protected]
[email protected]
Nidhi Jamwal
Archana Jyoti Freelance Sr. Environment Journalist
Special Correspondent Mumbai
National Bureau The Pioneer [email protected]
Delhi
[email protected] Nivedita Khandekar
Sr. Environment Journalist
Archana Phull Delhi
Bureau Chief [email protected]
The Statesman
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh Pankaj Dhungel
[email protected] Sr. Correspondent
Sikkim Express & East Mojo
Athar Parvaiz Ganktok, Sikkim
Sr. Environment journalist [email protected]
Srinagar, J&K
[email protected] Preksha Sharma
Assistant Editor
Babie Shirin The Indian Quarterly, Mumbai
Staff Reporter [email protected],
Imphal Free Press
Imphal, Manipur Seema Sharma
[email protected] Special Correspondent
The Times of India
Bilal Hussain Chandigarh
Freelance journalist, [email protected]
Diplomats
Srinagar, J&K Srishti Choudhary
[email protected] Science Journalist
Mint, Delhi
Devajit Baruah [email protected]
Correspondent
The Telegraph Taru Bahl
Guwahati Assam Sr. Health Journalist
[email protected] and Communicator, Delhi
[email protected]
Dinesh Kanwar
Correspondent Vineet Upadhay
The Tribune Principal correspondent
Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh New Indian Express
[email protected] Dehradun
Uttarakhand
Farhana Ahmed [email protected]
Correspondent
The Assam Tribune Santosh Kumar
Guwahati, Assam Program coordinator
[email protected] Doordarshan, Delhi
[email protected]
Gandhi Darang
Senior Correspondent Neeraj Kumar Soni
Echo of Arunachal AIR
Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh Correspondent, Delhi
[email protected] [email protected]

Kalyan Ray
Sr. Correspondent
Deccan Herald, Delhi
12 [email protected]
 Media Coverage




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p - suchh impacts of climate changee
nagivencycleeandalsohelpedthemhaarvestvegetablesinthreecycleseach
increasedtheiryieldin
are being ffelt in many parts
p of India, and
a not just inn the coastal arreas or hilly reegions. pesnearwheerethefarmerslive. The map
year.Thessesmalllandholdingsaremostlylocateedonhillslop p is being developed
d u
under a joinnt project of
o the Depaartment of Science
S and
To preparee communitiess and people to meet the chaallenge arisingg out of such cchanges, inforrmation speciffic  Technollogy (DST)) under the Union Minnistry of Sccience and Technologgy and
to a state or
o even districct is needed beecause such im
mpacts of climaate change aree not uniform. In order to
meet this need,
n a pan Inndia climate vuulnerability assessment mapp is being deveeloped. Swiss A
Agency for Developmeent and Cooperation (SDC)
(
The map is being develooped under a jointj project of the Departmment of Sciencee and Technollogy and the 

Swiss Ageency for Development and Cooperation
C (S
SDC).

"Such a cllimate vulneraability atlas haas already beenn developed foorivalleyin
FlashͲf floodpro oneKullu' 'sParvati 12 states in nHimacha alPradesshawaitss 
the Indian Himalayan
 PadamfarmerofBanjaarwithpomeegranate
Region, ussing aalertw
commowarningsy
n framework. Now ystem
this metthodology will be extended to non-Himallayan states soo
mate vulnerabillity profile forr India. The attlas is expectedd to be ready
that we caan have a natioonal level clim Link:http
p://www.ifp.co.in/page/iteems/61707/cllimateͲchangeͲcompelsͲhimachalͲfarmersͲtoͲ
Kullu's
by the midddle of 2020," sParvatiVD Valleyide
announced Dr. G entifieda
Akhilesh Gupta, asriskho
head of the otspot
climate chhange No
program
mmeear rly warnin ng system m yet for Kullu’s Parvati
P va
alley even n 25 yrs
 at DST forsakeͲappleͲfarming
while speaaking at a national media coonsultation on climate changge in New Dellhi. after big cloud burst tragedy
Monday, 3 30 Septembe er 2019 | Archhana Jyoti | Ku
ullu By Babie
e Shirin

Link: httpps://www.daiilypioneer.com/2019/indiaa/flashͲfloodͲͲproneͲkulluͲ Link: hhttps://www.
sͲparvatiͲvall eyͲinͲindianewsstrream.com/no
o-early-warnning-system--yet-for-kulllus-parvati-
 IMPHAL
L | Sep 26
himachalͲͲpradeshͲawaaitsͲalertͲwarningͲsystem.html valley-evven-25-yrs-aafter-big-clouud-burst-traggedy/
 Due to cclimate channge, farmerss of Banjar town
t in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh
P
Thewritin ngisonthew
wall:Kullu'sParvatiValley,,atouristdesstinationinHimchalPradeesh,hasbeen
The placce in Shaat village
v of Pa
arvati valleyy where watter rose to 30
3 to 40 feett during the have shifted their tra
aditional cultivation of apple
a to pom
megranates. The town has been
identifiedasamajorriiskhotspotfo ormonsoonfllood,landslid des,cloudbursstmishapsan
 ndpotential
August 1 11, 1994 clo oud burst . identified
d as an agricultural vuln
nerability hoot spot, baseed on quanttitative asse
essment and
d
glaciallakkeoutburstflo
oods(GLOFs)intheIndian nHimalayanR Region(IHR).
 farmers’ perception as per the Indian Hima alayas Clima ate Adaptattion Programmme
 By Naz A Asghar (IHCAP)).

ButtheCeentrecontinu uestolooktheotherwayaasaRs20cro oreproposalfforearlywarrningsystem Three yeears ago, wh hen producttion of applees decrease ed, farmers of Banjar shifted to
Sep 25, 2019
withlastmmileconnectiivitytocomm munityisgatheringdustwithUnionEnvvironmentMinistrysince other fruits like plum
ms etc, but due
d to rising g temperatures they furtther shifted to
2015.TheeinstallationooftheEWSassapreparedn nessmeasureeisoneoftheemainrecom
 mmendations
pomegra anate cultiva ation, said fa
armer, Pada am while intteracting with this IFP reporter
r
oftheIHC CAP(IndianHimalayasClim mateAdoptationProgramm me)oftheSwwissDevelopmmentAgency
 o the valley as a part off media workshop organ
during a field visit to nised by Ceentre for
forDevelo opmentandC Cooperation.TheEWShasstoimplemen ntedincoopeerationwithttheCentral
Media Studies unde er the IHCAP P.
Governmeent'sDepartm mentofScien nceandTechn nology(DST)w whiletheUniionEnvironm
 entMinistry
hastofun ndtheprojectt. mers further expressed that overall apple production in the
The farm e Himalayan region

 decrease
ed between n the year19
982 and 20005. This is due to increa ase in tempeerature
which ha
as further ca
aused a reduction of tottal chilling hours
h in the region, they
y said.
Therecommmendationffollowedastudyconducteedinthewakkeofthebigccloudbursttragedythat
Parvatiriver,atributaryoffBeasriverflows.Atleast27diedwhilee
struckin11994inthereegionwhereP It is said that a decliine of more than 9.1 un
nits per yearr has occurrred in the la
ast 23 yearss. 
severalwereleftinjureed. With i i t t th
h f d ti h t b hift d t hi h 
 
TheEWSaaimsatwarningthepopullationininPaarvatiValleyaandadjoininggareasinhabitedbyaround 
1,600villaagersandfreq
quentedbyto
ouristsregulaarly.

 � �� ��

DCThakur,asenioroffficialfromDeepartmentofEnvironmenttandScience&Technologgy,HPsaid:
Kullu (Hiimachal Pra adesh): Even Twenty fivve years aftter the cloudd burst disasster that
"ThepropposalispendingwiththeU nmentMinistrysince2015.."Heasserted
UnionEnviron dthatParvatii
struck Pa arvati valleyy in this district of Hima
achal Pradessh, the peop
ple of the arrea are yet tto
ValleyinttheIHRisath
highriskofflo developmentaalpressures,cchangesinlandholding
oodsduetod
get an ea arly warning g system(EW WS).
patternin
ntermsofurb banisationandtourismbesidesimpacttsofclimatecchangeandexxtreme

events.
The deva astation cauused by Auggust 11, 199
94 flash flooods is still fre
esh in the minds
m of the
 survivorss of the trag
gedy in Shaa
at and Ladaari villages of
o the valleyy.
Consideringthegeograaphicalpositionofthelocaalitywecann
notavoiddisastersbutinteervention
measuressneedtobettakentoensureminimumlosstolifean ndproperty,hhesaid.  
 ”It was a
all over in fiv
ve minutes. Rather it is just matterr of a minute e in such evvents.The 
Link:http
p://epaper.maailtoday.in/23
362937/MailͲͲToday/MailͲTTodayͲissueͲO
OctoberͲ8Ͳ20
019#page/13//1
The localss too voiced their concern demanding timely
t
water levvel in the rivver rose to 40
interveention measures "Even though cloud
4 to 50 feet high that fateful
f day, ” says formeer sarpanch
h

of ladari village Kammal Chand while
w recallin
ng the terrifyying flash flo
ood resultin
ng from a  




 
  
Link: 
http://time
esofindia.india
atimes.com/arrticleshow/714
453303.cms?u
utm_source=co
ontentofintere
est&utm_mediu 
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