The Uttarakhand government has prepared an action plan of Rs 9,000 crore to minimise the impact of climate change in the hill state, which is said to be one of the causes of frequent natural disasters in the hill state.

“At the first meeting of the State Council for Climate Change which was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar at the Secretariat, here yesterday, the action plan worth Rs 9,000 crore was presented to minimise the impact of climate change in the state,” an official statement said. Uttarakhand witnessed the worst floods in recent memory in mid-June that crippled the hill state and claimed thousands of lives.

The Chief Secretary directed that a final shape be given to the plan in ten days after obtaining input from all the departments concerned. The plan will be sent to the centre for final approval.

Under the plan, Rs 80 crore worth of work would be done in the agriculture sector. This will involve improvement of soil health in the plains, and conservation of soil and water in the hills. Apart from this integrated farming, rained agriculture will be promoted, along with research of various kinds, while ‘village knowledge centers’ will also be established. There will also be pre and post harvest management, crop insurance, marketing and technical support in order to increase the agriculture growth.

The government is also planning to spend Rs 108 crore on water resources under which a state water policy would be formulated, along with catchment area treatment, flood control, preventing misuse of water, etc.

Source - http://www.business-standard.com/