By IANS
Sambalpur (Orissa) : An Orissa NGO based in this town has launched a campaign to create awareness about the threat from climate change among people in the state.
As Orissa celebrates Nuakhai, a harvest festival, on Sep 16, Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO), a wing of the NGO Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (Mass,) is sending post-cards to thousands of people across the state with information about the impact of climate change on human lives and agriculture.
“Agriculture being weather-dependent is going to be badly hit by climate change. We are going to launch this massive post-card campaign to generate public awareness on the issue and also to involve people in finding ways to fight this crisis,” Ranjan Panda, the convenor of the campaign, told IANS.
The campaign is expected to reach out to at least 5,000 people, Panda said.
The post-cards ask people to write down their experiences, perceptions and suggestions on how to fight climate change. People will not have to affix any stamp on the card. They only need to fill it up and drop it in a post-box.
The campaign by the WIO is the first such campaign in the region. It is targeted at agriculture communities and urban dwellers.
The feedback from the people will be taken to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), scheduled to be held in Bali, Indonesia, Dec 3-14 where representatives from 180 countries will converge to discuss and decide on climate change issues.
Orissa is one of the major victims of climate change. Rainfall in the state has become uneven and incompatible to agricultural schedules while floods often wreck havoc even in the years where the average rainfall has been less than average.
“Only seven of the last 25 years have had normal or more than normal rainfall, other years saw deficient rainfall in the state,” Panda said.
“Disasters have spread to new areas. Drought prone districts like Bolangir, Kalahandi and Koraput are facing recurrent flash floods and heat waves have begun hitting coastal regions,” he said.
“Similarly, while the average maximum recorded temperature in various centres of the state has gone up by up to six degrees Celsius, the average minimum recorded temperature has come down by over five degrees Celsius in the last decade alone.
“All these climatic changes have overwhelmingly affected agricultural production and land quality. In 13 years, more than seven percent of the total geographical area has turned barren and unfit for agriculture,” he added.
WIO has come out with an analysis on how agriculture production of all major crops, including paddy, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables are gradually falling in the state inspite of high external inputs in the form of chemicals, fertilizers and use of machineries.
“With all these worrying indicators, WIO has cautioned that if things deteriorate at the present rate, then in another 150 years Orissa will be a desert,” Panda said.