Drought-proofing key to tackling climate change

We need emergency responses beyond standard relief measures.

Drought in half of India. Extreme heat. Intense urbanisation, leading to heat islands , not to mention massive loss of farmlands, forests and wetlands as cities expand. This is exactly what climate emergency feels like to start with.

We’d need a total moratorium on tree cutting. We’d need to ration water to big users. And our agriculture policy will have to find incentives to shift water guzzling crops like paddy to more drought resistant crops and varieties. (AFP File Photo)

We need emergency responses beyond standard relief measures. Some aspects of this have to be draconian -- a big, almost extreme, state-led campaign in major cities to close down swimming pools except for competitive athletes, stop fountains across India, and call for a race against time to set up water harvesting is key to save any water that the rain might eventually bring.

We’d need a total moratorium on tree cutting. We’d need to ration water to big users. And our agriculture policy will have to find incentives to shift water guzzling crops like paddy to more drought resistant crops and varieties. The MNREGA scheme will have to focus on drought proofing for the entire year.

The big picture is that India has been seriously hit by climate change. The intense cyclones, the drought, the heat. We are bearing the brunt of the consumption and development by the developed world. But it’s clear, they won’t be paying us to handle any of this.

Bharati Chaturvedi is Founder and Director, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group