IMPHAL, February 17: The State government has already drafted the Manipur State Action Plan on Climate Change but the only thing is, it is yet to be implemented, Centre for Research and Advocacy Manipur secretary Jiten Yumnam said during a press meet today at the Manipur Press Club.
The press meet was organised jointly by North East Dialogue Forum and CRAM.
Speaking at the press meet, he urged the State government to implement the action plan at the earliest in the hope of checking the rapidly changing climate.
Developmental programmes in the State have brought more adverse effects than positive ones, he said.
Jiten elaborated although dams are constructed to produce electricity and ensure proper irrigation for the agricultural fields; it is just the opposite and they have only resulted in large tracts of agricultural lands being submerged underwater.
This has only adversely affected agricultural production, he said.
People still have to buy drinking water from the commercial water tanks that get their supplies from the Water Supply that was supposed to provide water to the public in the first place, Jiten observed.
The water supply schemes are providing water to the commercial tankers and to tankers of the Army and other paramilitary camps but not to the public, he observed.
Climate change is a global issue and if every corner of the earth do not contribute, it will be really hard to contain it, he said observing that Manipur has also already felt climate change.
He further that it would be better for the government to make the Manipur State Action Plan more accessible to the people once it is implemented.
The call for implementation of the State action plan should be a priority for the members of the State Legislative Assembly during the upcoming Assembly session, he added.
The press meet was also attended by members of NEDF, Victim of Lamphel eviction, convenor Environment Conservation Network Kh Rebati Raman and other members of environment NGOs.