J&K govt forms plan to tackle climate change

To address the threat of climate change in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government has formulated a five-year 'Green India Mission' (GIM) perspective plan by adopting measures primarily through forestry sector at the cost of Rs 250 crore.
Principal Secretary, Forests, Rakesh Gupta today chaired a meeting and discussed the salient features of the Perspective Plan of Green India Mission. As part of the State Action Plan of Climate Change (SAPCC), GIM is one of the ten missions, which takes into consideration landscape development approach including massive afforestation, biodiversity conservation, soil and water conservation, environmental services, agro-forestry and capacity building, an official spokesman said. Estimated to cost Rs 250 crore, the project spreads over to five years with three years maintenance and covers all the geographical areas of the state, he said.

He said the steps are aimed at addressing the pressing need to reverse the impact of the Climate Change, which is affecting the livelihood of people in the most vulnerable state of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that during the meeting it was observed that the forestry sector provides a great opportunity to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure food security, water availability and livelihood to communities dependent on forest.
The plan envisages greening of landscapes through afforestation of degraded forest areas and enrichment of open forest areas, so that the impact of the climate change on the people living in the fringes of forest is reduced to a large extent, he said.

One of the major targets of GIM will be to improve the density of the forest cover with landscape based approach by treating the watersheds, he said.

Some crosscutting interventions for promoting alternative sources of energy, improvement of livelihood measures, conservation of biodiversity and water conservation have been included in the project.
Peoples' participation through creation of joint forest protection committees forms the integral part of the project, he said.
Cultivation of Seabuck thorn in Ladakh on private / community lands also forms part of project, he said.