Friday, October 19, 2018

$43 mn Green Climate Fund to support Coastal resilience

This project will be implemented in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for Mangrove restoration, building community resilience and other aspects for 6 years to support India's Paris Goals.

More here: http://adaptation-undp.org/green-climate-fund-approves-us43-million-undp-supported-project-boost-climate-resilience-millions

Ranjan Panda
Convener, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver

Monday, October 15, 2018

Titli Update: Storms and aftermath - pollution of the Sea - Ranjan Panda


(Image: FB page of Special Relief Commissioner, Odisha)


The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm "Titli" has done a lot of damage to Odisha coasts, with high speed wind and the extreme rainfall that followed.  Titli crossed the coast near Palasa in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh to the southwest of Gopalpur with estimated maximum sustained surface wind speed of 140-150 kmph gusting to 165 kmph between 0430 and 0530 hours IST of 11th October 2018.

Like the Phailin in the same time of the year, back in 2013, the rainfall in the aftermath caused floods and other devastation that the government had not anticipated well.  About 24 human deaths and more than 24000 livestock casualty recorded so far.  The actual figure may be more.  There is no estimate available for the casualty suffered by wildlife. A television news channel report this morning showed how elephants were being washed away due to heavy floods in Mahanadi but I could not confirm the details as yet. 

The heavy downpour that followed the landfall of Titli flooded the Rushikulya and Vanshadhara rivers affecting 16 districts of Odisha.  As per reports shared by the Special Relief Commissioner of the state, more than 5.7 million people in 7229 villages of these districts have been affected by the rainfall and the floods.  Agriculture in these villages has received a heavy jolt as more than 2.3 hundred thousand hectare of crop fields have been damaged.    

Going beyond politics, some real questions need to be asked -

Odisha's opposition parties are already criticising the state government for not being able to keep its promise of 'zero casualty' but the government seems to have given more attention to the relief and rehabilitation works, rightly so. 

The political debate will not settle soon. We will all participate in that, to understand where the failure lay and how to change our plans in future. Did the weatherman fail in proper predictions of the aftermath? Did the government fail to gauge the gravity of the predictions?  Did the local administration not act in line with the Disaster Management Plan? Did the local Disaster Management Committees (supposed to have been formed and trained by the government and other agencies) failed in carrying out the due procedures?  All these questions will haunt the state of Odisha that's currently engaged in relief and preliminary rehabilitation efforts.

The Debris that go into the sea –

In this post I am trying to flag an important issue that is normally not discussed as a major issue in such storm stroke aftermaths.  I am talking about the debris that is washed away from the inlands to the sea.  Today morning Himanshu Thakkar of SANDRP twitted to me a video https://youtu.be/9wazyFvJZbU that shows how the mouth of Rushikulya river has received loads of garbage and other debris due to Titli and floods. 

(Image: Screen shot of YouTube Video by Times of India)

We often forget that our rivers are carriers of all our wastes into the sea throughout the year, more so during the monsoon months.  Disasters such as this add to the force of the water that go into the sea and bring along more of our wastes into the sea.  Earlier I have already written extensively how plastic pollution of the sea is causing huge damage to the oceans as well the earth.  http://bit.ly/2QRjOEB

(Image: Screenshot from my article published in www.sixdegreesnews.org)

Time our disaster planning factors in these menaces along with other damages being done.  Climate change is already causing more storms and aggravating the damages.  Some studies point out that the frequency of storms in the Bay of Bengal is increasing, more than any other bay, due to climate change. 

We need to combine our brains on this and have more discussions, studies and action plans. 


Ranjan Panda

Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver  

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Finding a friend in a stray dog

Coco (as Khushi, my daughter,has named her) is now a regular visitor to us. She is a stray dog and was very weak when we first saw her. She feared everything, and was scared even to eat something we would offer. We had to leave the food a few yards away from our main gate and close it. Initially she watched us and the food from several yards away and after about 10 minutes of our invisibility she used to come and eat. In about 10 days she is now a friend and eats from Khushi's hands. That's an improvement. Hope she will continue to grace us with her acceptance of our friendship!

Ranjan Panda

Nothing is insignificant in Mother Nature's scheme of things

Good Morning!

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Festive season wishes with a thought on Mother Nature

Today is the day of prayer, of building hope that we can tide over the storm and also of confirmation that real God is Mother Nature; and that, she doesn't stay in the glitzy and lavish pandals...

Good morning!
Have a great Sunday & Festive Week ahead!!

Inequality Index - India in bottom 15 rank

Oxfam's Inequality rank has this bad news for India. While we claim to be among fastest growing economy, the growth seems to be happening only for the super rich.

The index ranks 157 countries on their policies on social spending, tax, and labour rights. As per the report, countries such as South Korea, Namibia and Uruguay are taking strong steps to reduce inequality. However, countries like India and Nigeria did very badly.

https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/inequality-index-india-ranks-in-bottom-15-out-of-157-countries-on-efforts-to-reduce-disparity/1342770/

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Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com

Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Friday, October 12, 2018

The peace dialogue over Mahanadi river must continue: Ranjan Panda

Good #MahanadiTribunal is all set to start hearing, however #dialogue must continue.

#MahanadiPeaceInitiative

Mahanadi tribunal hearing to begin tomorrow

Read #MahanadiPeaceInitiative views as the #MahanadiTribunal starts hearings on the dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi river water sharing.

Commons help us fight extreme precipitation events!

#Commons help us adapt to #extremeprecipitation caused flash #floods & related woes. Let's protect them in both #urban & #Rural areas...

#CommonsAwarenessWeek #CAW

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Chilika lake under increased risk of climate change!

As the state of Odisha engages itself with relief & rehabilitation activities, some larger challenges need to be addressed. Increased #stormsurges are caused in the #BayOfBengal by #climatechange.
Severe #CyclonicStormTitli

Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com

Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

8 killed in AP: Severe Cyclone Titli update

Severe #CycloneTitli updates!

https://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/eight-killed-lakhs-without-power-as-cyclone-titli-slams-andhra-odisha/story-8bBZjpA2VrzU4hC6nOuE1N_amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

Water commons and migratory birds: the intricate links!

Many #watercommons keep us in global maps for better reasons, besides being very important locally. #Chilika is such an example!

#CommonsAwarenessWeek #CAW

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Know the corporates with max plastic pollution footprints

This DTE piece shows you the details:

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/water/coca-cola-pepsico-nestl-worst-plastic-polluters-in-global-cleanups-brand-audits-61834

Conserve commons to fight disasters: Ranjan Panda

Commons help us fight impacts of #disasters. Let's conserve #commons for our own survival and progress...
#CommonsAwarenessWeek #CW

Monday, October 8, 2018

My response to IPCC 1.5 Deg C Report: Indigenous People, Natural Solutions key - Ranjan Panda



Indigenous Communities and Natural Solutions key to achieve 1.5 Deg C target: My quick response to IPCC SR15 – Ranjan Panda

Just released: The much awaited IPCC report on climate projections at 1.5ºC level as against the previous estimations that had been done keeping in view the 2ºC level.

The report, known as The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC or SR15, highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, by 2100, global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with 2°C. The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with at least once per decade with 2°C. Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming of 1.5°C, whereas virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC.

“In model pathways with no or limited overshoot of 1.5°C, global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030”


The three years of research, referring more than 6000 scientific studies, had to face challenges to get through the brains of policy makers during a week long discussion that was held at Incheon, Republic of Korea, last week.  The scientists reportedly tried to push their points with regard to devastating impacts that we are already facing throughout the globe due to increased global warming, but the government representatives tried to hard sell their views on how it was important to go ahead with the current model of economic progress and living standards even if it meant a compromise on vital issues such as ecology. 

The Summary for Policymakers has been able to survive the policy makers’ challenges, even though some compromises might have been inevitable, suggest reports. It is now clear that the world is heading towards a catastrophic global warming level of 3ºC if business as usual continues.  The IPCC has said, “Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. With clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society.”

The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.

My take -

According to me, IPCC has tried to make a balanced view (in the summary for policy makers) on several alarming aspects even though it needed to be bolder.  Still, the message is clear.  Global warming cannot be ignored any further, despite of the USA pressure and deliberate ignorance, and that the real solutions needs to be emphasised upon more forcefully than ever before. Many efforts to limit global warming are underway and there are many positives, as the IPCC mentions.  However, the fight against climate change needs to integrate the role of ecosystems and local indigenous communities in much solid ways than at present. 

The IPCC report says, “Allowing the global temperature to temporarily exceed or ‘overshoot’ 1.5ºC would mean a greater reliance on techniques that remove CO2 from the air to return global temperature to below 1.5ºC by 2100. The effectiveness of such techniques are unproven at large scale and some may carry significant risks for sustainable development.”

I have been maintaining for quite some time now that Nature is the primary, original and supreme technology.  All other man-made technologies can cater only to some aspects of the fight against global warming.  However, working with natural solutions would be the first and foremost requirement if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

And when we talk about natural solutions, the role of local and indigenous communities is key.  All across the world these communities have proven to be the best stewards of the local natural resources and have shown real ‘carbon neutral pathways’ in their socio-cultural and economic practices.  What the governments now need is to seriously integrate their knowledge, wisdom, practices and institutions in plans to fight against climate change. 

For that, their customary and other rights (provided under laws of the land) need to be recognised over the local resources and all possible safeguards be provided to them against the powerful people& corporates who are destroying our natural forests, rivers, mountains and all other natural resources.  Many activists are being subject to harassment, abuse and even death during their fight to save their local natural resources.

If we are serious about science in the IPCC report, then we have to be serious about the supreme science that is Nature.  Nature and nature alone can save us from the climate onslaught.  And local indigenous communities can lead us in this fight.  They have proven it.  Now we need to support them.

(We will write more pieces on this report http://bit.ly/2y2DnTx later).



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Ranjan Panda


Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver  

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Unsustainable urbanisation is leading to farmer distress in India: Ranjan Panda


(Image: NASA Earth Observatory)


Yesterday, on International Day of Peace (celebrated on birth day of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of Nation), the Delhi police used blatant and open non-violent methods to stop 70, 000 farmers. http://bit.ly/2Ozb5td    Farmers in this country are not only facing an aggressive assault on their croplands but serious governmental apathy as a result of which they have been a distressed lot, and have to resort to such agitations (always peaceful) like the yesterday’s ‘peace march’ to demand better price for their crops, better crop insurance, basic amenities, better and humane treatment by the policy makers. While the debate around farmers normally centre on the plight of the farmers at their place of habitation, what we forget that the growing urbanisation is adding to their woes the most.

Indian farmers are facing the worst ever distress. (Image: Social Media)

India has been building its cities at the cost of the farmlands, forests, rivers, waterbodies, farmers, forest dwellers, fisher folk and other indigenous and local communities.  The urbanisation is rapid, rampant, aggressive and often destructive to all of the above entities we described. And then we seem to have lost the vision of making our cities sustainable and inclusive.  A recent image by NASA Earth Observatory is a case in point.

The just released image, that compares Delhi and its periphery between December 5, 1989 and June 5, 2018, shows how vast areas of croplands and grasslands are being turned into streets, buildings, and parking lots, attracting an unprecedented amount of new residents. https://go.nasa.gov/2Nk4GNK

This image shows that most of the expansion in Delhi has occurred on the peripheries of New Delhi, as rural areas have become more urban. The geographic size of Delhi has almost doubled from 1991 to 2011, with the number of urban households doubling while the number of rural houses declined by half. Cities outside of Delhi—Bahadurgarh, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, and Gurugram—have also experienced urban growth over the past three decades, as shown in these images.

There are many problems of such fast and unsustainable urbanisation.  So far, in India, urbanisation has been happening in an unsystematic way. It’s a trap for the farmers.  They are forced to migrate to cities because of distress and then the city grows to grab more of their remaining land.  Most of the farmers turn into workers and live in slums, unorganised settlements and in unhygienic locations.  While their rate of economic growth is marginal, the city grows at the cost and then destroys lot of the ecological resources which earlier provided the back-up services if they wishes to go back to their villages.

India seriously needs to debate this and see to it that urbanisation is inclusive and equitable and does not destroy the rural people and their resources. Delhi needs to show the way. 

Ranjan Panda

Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver  

Integrity of IPCC will determine if it can meet hopes of LDCs: Ranjan Panda




As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) prepares to release its 1.5°C special report on Monday 8 October, expectations are there that the IPCC will make a clear case for limiting the global warming to 1.5 degree C and suggest strong actions. 

The Chair of the Least Developed Countries Gebru Jember Endalew, in a release, has said that “It will be important that the report and the Summary for Policy Makers clearly sets out the scientific necessity of limiting global warming to 1.5° C as opposed to 2°C to protect people and the planet, and highlights the vast discrepancy between this goal and our current global emissions pathway .In doing so, the report will shine a spotlight on the scale of the challenge the international community must rise up to meet. A future where warming is limited to 1.5°C is a brighter future for all.”

Governments across the world need to take the report seriously and we need a fair and ambitious action plan to limit warning below 1.5° C, said the release.  The current plans are not enough, as we all know and Gebru too apprehends.  http://bit.ly/2RdNGfv  

From other reports we have seen how the US is trying to exert pressure on IPCC to dilute the report. http://bit.ly/2OA4bno The US has always played such tricks with the climate goals and actions in the international negotiation process.  The IPCC needs to stick to science and integrity!

Ranjan Panda

Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver  


India needs better rainfall predictions: Ranjan Panda



As the monsoon season gets over, the debate over monsoon predictions get louder.  This time the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast a normal monsoon, predicting a 97 percent rainfall (countrywide) of the long period average (LPA).  The monsoon season however ended, on 30th June, with a 9.4 percent deficit of this projection, making the IMD forecast off more than 4 percent margin of error. 

This also means, the projection of ‘normal monsoon’ did not come out true as the monsoon ended up being ‘below normal’.  Less than 10 percent of LPA is considered ‘deficient.’  This year’s monsoon has been almost a ‘deficient’ one.  It is argued that private weather forecast agencies such as SkyMet have been more accurate this time on certain counts.   http://bit.ly/2O0i3YT

We certainly need more accurate rainfall projections so that farmers can adapt to the variations.  IMD’s region wise projections have come up more accurate than others.  However, that does not really mean that farmers benefit a lot.  Take for example the crop failure and insurance claims against that.  The farmers are still at mercy of an ineffective system of monitoring, that deprives them of their genuine claims. India has miles to go on this.

Ranjan Panda

Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader
Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver  


Thursday, September 20, 2018

August 2018: 5th hottest August and 4th warmest year so far



According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of Commerce, the average global temperature in August 2018 was 1.33 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degrees. This was the fifth highest global temperature for August in the 139-year record (1880–2018). Last month was also the 42nd consecutive August and the 404th consecutive month with temperatures above average.

Further, the year-to-date average global temperature was 1.37 degrees F above average of 57.3 degrees. This is the fourth highest on record for the January through August (YTD) period, but 0.47 of a degree lower than the record high set in 2016 for the same period. http://bit.ly/2NoB6vw

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Ranjan K Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader
Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Monday, September 17, 2018

Hunger, undernourishment on rise due to climate change: let’s build local food security in ecological approaches: Ranjan Panda



Changes in climate are already undermining production of major crops such as wheat, rice and maize in tropical and temperate regions and, without building climate resilience, this is expected to worsen as temperatures increase and become more extreme, says a latest UN report. http://bit.ly/2QAMylH   

According to this report, 821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk.  The challenge: number of hungry people in the world is growing - reaching one in every nine people - while limited progress is being made in addressing the multiple forms of malnutrition!

According to the report, hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels from a decade ago. This trend certainly puts in jeopardy the proposed achievement of Sustainable Development Goals of Zero Hunger by 2030.

The annual UN report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic slowdowns.

Analysis in the report shows that the prevalence and number of undernourished people tend to be higher in countries highly exposed to climate extremes. Undernourishment is higher again when exposure to climate extremes is compounded by a high proportion of the population depending on agricultural systems that are highly sensitive to rainfall and temperature variability. 

Temperature anomalies over agricultural cropping areas continued to be higher than the long-term mean throughout 2011-2016, leading to more frequent spells of extreme heat in the last five years. The nature of rainfall seasons is also changing, such as the late or early start of rainy seasons and the unequal distribution of rainfall within a season. 

The harm to agricultural production contributes to shortfalls in food availability, with knock-on effects causing food price hikes and income losses that reduce people's access to food, according to the report.

In my opinion, local food security efforts that take into consideration indigenous good practices in conservation of local seeds, soil, forests, and water resources; and supported with decentralised rainfall monitoring plus weather forecasting, planning of multi-cropping climate variability response in farming; and a solid weather based crop insurance that takes care of complete cost of production are need of the hour for the farmers.  Unless we achieve local food security, global hunger and undernourishment will not decrease!


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Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Tweets @ranjanpanda
Tweets @MahanadiRiver

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Third hottest July in 2018!

(Image credit: youtube.com)


The NASA recently said that globally July 2018 was the third warmest July since reliable measurements began in 1880, 0.78°C warmer than the 1951-1980 mean. The warmest Julys, in 2016 and 2017, were 0.82°C and 0.81°C, respectively. July 2018 temperature was +1.06°C relative to the 1880-1920 base period, where the latter provides our best estimate of pre-industrial global temperature.

The last three Julys on Earth have been the three warmest ever recorded. But, they may also be the warmest months to occur on our planet in about 120,000 years, reports Mark Kaufman in the Mashabable India. http://bit.ly/2wzkUNN 

Even though it is incorrect to describe the July 2018 climate conditions in the global hotspots as a “new normal” climate for those regions, NASA study finds out that global warming has greatly increased the frequency or chance of an extreme hot summer, e.g., two standard deviations or more warmer than average 1951-1980 climate.

The NASA paper further said, “a strong El Nino contributed to 2015-2018 warmth. However, we will argue that the present 12-month running mean has already reached the inter-El Nino minimum global temperature, at a value that is above the trend line for the average”.  We may have entered a period of accelerated global warming, said the paper further.


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Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India


Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

If trees spoke a language that humans understood - Ranjan Panda




शोला था जल-बुझा हूँ हवायें मुझे न दो 

मैं कब का जा चुका हूँ सदायें मुझे न दो


जो ज़हर पी चुका हूँ तुम्हीं ने मुझे दिया 
अब तुम तो ज़िन्दगी की दुआयें मुझे न दो...

(Ahmed Faraz)

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Our freedom of movement vrs that of the Rivers - A thought by Ranjan Panda


Mahanadi severely distressed due to climate change: Ranjan Panda in India Climate Dialogue

Lack of water intensifies distress in Mahanadi river basin

,  16.07.18
Climate change at the global and local levels is reducing water flow in the Mahanadi River, severely impacting agriculture. Tackling that together is far more important than fighting over the sharing of its waters

The construction of the Hirakud dam in the 1050s started the decline of the Mahanadi River basin, experts say (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
The construction of the Hirakud dam in the 1950s started the decline of the Mahanadi River basin, experts say (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
The provincial governments of Odisha and Chhattisgarh have locked horns over the sharing of waters of the Mahanadi, India’s sixth largest river. Odisha, the lower riparian state, has seen a constant decline in flow from to Hirakud dam, which lies on the inter-state border with most of its catchment area in Chhattisgarh.
Odisha’s complaint is that Chhattisgarh has built many dams and barrages, most of them without its consent. The conflict that erupted in July 2016 has already been referred to a tribunal formed by the federal government under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act (IRWDA) of 1956. However, political parties heading both state governments have been continuing their fights on the streets.
The fight so far is about the remaining water that flows in the river, and the tribunal may come up with a formula for sharing water. The Mahanadi and its people, however, are facing challenges that go beyond the water obstruction and reduction due to construction of dams and barrages in Chhattisgarh. Climate change is one such challenge that has been affecting the river and common people in the basin for years now, and is a major cause of distress to the farmers and decaying of the river.
Farmer distress
Uddhaba Sabar, a smallholder farmer in one of the poorest districts of the basin in Odisha, has nothing to lose from the Chhattisgarh barrages. He has no assured irrigation and has to depend on the monsoon to farm. He is worried about the late arrival of monsoon showers and the failure of predictions by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“Last year, I had sown seed on June 18. It [the monsoon] is delayed this year and will negatively impact farming activities. Rain is still uncertain. It rained in Gandabaheli village last night, which is hardly 15 km away, but not here,” a worried Sabar told indiaclimatedialogue.net.
Nuapada district, to which his village belongs, is among the eight districts of the state that have faced a severe rainfall deficit — between 39% and 59% in June. Most of these districts are in the western region and in the Mahanadi basin, as per the data available with the government of Odisha.
Overall, Odisha received an average rainfall of 161.1 mm in June this year against the long-term average (LTA) of 216.5 mm, registering a deficit of 25.6%. According to government statistics available by the third week of June, the state had already experienced more than 25% deficit in sowing of lentils.
Uddhaba Sabar, a stressed farmer in poverty stricken Naupada district in Odisha, has been facing recurring droughts (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
Uddhaba Sabar, a stressed farmer in poverty stricken Nuapada district in Odisha, has been facing recurring droughts (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
“The rain-dependent farmers are reluctant to sow as they are not sure about the monsoon rains. The farmers from western districts of Odisha may still wait for one more month before deciding to migrate in search of alternative jobs,” Ajit Panda, a researcher and social activist in Nuapada, told indiaclimatedialogue.net. “Millions migrate out each year from this region due to the distressed condition of agriculture.”
Sabar’s worry stretches far beyond this year’s situation. He is experiencing a change in climate and an increase in frequency of droughts in the area. “Drought is not new to us, but the frequency in the last two decades is alarming,” he said. “Things started to change from 1965 and frequency of droughts has increased gradually. Between the seventies and nineties, we faced a drought in every eight to ten years, but in the last two decades, droughts are occurring in every 2-3 years.” If the crops fail this year, it will be a consecutive fourth year of drought for Sabar and most other farmers.
A dam can change the game
The Hirakud dam, which is at the centre of controversies in the current dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, might have played a big role in altering local climatic conditions, thereby exposing this region in the basin to more droughts. Arttabandhu Mishra, a retired professor of Sambalpur University and an expert on ecology and climate change issues of the state for long, believes this.
The Hirakud reservoir, completed in 1957, had initiated the process of desertification around the dam, Mishra said. Hirakud reservoir, like many other large reservoirs in the tropical and sub-tropical regions, is home to one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The reservoir submerged a vast stretch of rich and diverse forest, which included Jamda reserve forest and a large portion of the present Debrigarh reserve forest.
“At least 58,200 hectares of forest, rich in teak and sal species, got submerged in the reservoir water,” Mishra told indiaclimatedialogue.net. The trees were never cut and left to decay under the water, which caused huge methane emission, according to him.
Until recently, it was believed that dams and reservoirs contributed nearly 20% of the total man-made methane emissions. However, more recent research says that they contributed 25% more methane emissions than previously estimated.
Microclimatic changes
The woes did not end there. Besides desertification, the Hirakud dam has caused massive microclimatic changes in the region, asserts Mishra. “As a result of the forest submergence and creation of such a huge man-made water body, a lot of moisture gathers around the clouds. So, when the monsoon clouds pass over the reservoir in the northeast, there is a lot of rain. This causes severe and recurring droughts on the other side of the reservoir, that is in the KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) region,” he maintained. Nuapada, Sabar’s district, is in this region that has now become synonymous with drought.
Global climate change, inducing erratic rainfall, is also affecting the Mahanadi basin in a big way. Several scientific studies have been pointing out how global warming is causing severe distress to the basin. A 2010 study, which was conducted using various scientific models, presents a decreasing trend in monsoon rainfall and the flows of the Mahanadi at Hirakud dam.
An earlier study on the Mahanadi also observed a decrease in monsoon stream flow over a long time. One of the possible reasons for such a decreasing trend is the significant increase in temperature due to global warming. Analysis of instrumental climate data has revealed that the mean surface temperature over India has increased at a rate of about 0.4 degree Celsius per century, which is statistically significant.
The reduced flow in the Mahanadi River is causing widespread farm distress (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
The reduced flow in the Mahanadi River is causing widespread distress to farmers (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)
The state government’s own sources find a substantial increase in temperature in the Mahanadi basin. While in the year 1999-2000, the minimum and maximum temperature of the basin ranged between 7 and 45.5 degrees Celsius, it went up to a range between 13 and 48.8 degrees by 2012. It would have certainly impacted the water retention capacity of the basin in the negative.
A recent study finds that the water yields of major surplus basins, such as Mahanadi and Godavari, have exhibited decreases in recent periods. The water yields show decreases of more than 10% for the Mahanadi. This is mainly because of a significant decrease in rainfall.
Dispute resolution
There is an urgent need to integrate climate resilience models in the river basin management planning of the nation. For Mahanadi, the need is urgent because drought is expanding its grip, marginalising millions of farmers and forcing millions to migrate seasonally. Both Odisha and Chhattisgarh have climate change action plans that need to work in sync with each other to save Mahanadi River, its farmers and other dependent communities from climate impacts.
While the dispute between the two states has been fuelled by apprehension and experience of reduced water flow in the basin due to dams and barrages, the state governments need to recognise that climate change has an equally important effect and its impacts are going to grow manifold. Instead of waiting for the tribunal to come up with a water-sharing formula, the two governments will do far better by initiating joint activities to make the basin more climate resilient, as was recommended by the recently concluded Odisha River Conference, which was attended by community members and experts from across the nation.

This article is reproduction from India Climate Dialogue.  The original article can be accessed at http://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2018/07/16/distress-intensifies-in-mahanadi-river-basin/



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Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com

Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Short Film Contest on Children & Water: Call for films!


Short film Contest on Water & Children!

Hello Folks! This short film contest is for both professionals and amateurs. While you can get all details by visiting the website, you can also get a chance to interact with us and get live tips on filmmaking if you register in the site and are interested to participate in the orientation. Do register!

Plz log on to www.aaina.org.in/kallola. A micro site specifically designed to guide you through the whole process of the contest. You can also visit the FB page

Do spread the word!

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Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Water Initiatives
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com

Tweet @ranjanpanda
Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Extreme precipitation in Western Ghats and Kerala floods: NASA captures the images!


India Monsoon - August 13 to 20, 2018. Credits: NASA/JAXA/SSAI/Hal Pierce

The NASA has provided estimates of monsoon rainfall that affected India from August 13 to 20 that has devastated the south Indian state of Kerala, located in the southwest corner near the bottom of the peninsula. The huge rains marooned most of the state, about 370 or more people have reportedly died and about 800000 people have been displaced as a result of the extreme flooding and ensuing mudslides.

According to the NASA, “Accumulated IMERG rainfall estimates for the 1-week period from Aug. 13 to 20, 2018 showed two bands of heavy rain across India. The first band appeared much broader and extends across the northern part of the peninsula with weekly rainfall totals ranging from over 120 mm (~5 inches) towards the western half of the peninsula to as much as 350 mm (~14 inches) over parts of the eastern half towards the Bay of Bengal. This first band is associated with the general monsoon circulation”.

NASA said that, “The second band appeared more concentrated and intense and is closely aligned with the southwest coast of India and the Western Ghats where onshore flow was enhanced by an area of low pressure embedded within the general monsoon.  Weekly rainfall totals in this band are generally over 250 mm (~10 inches) with embedded areas exceeding 400 mm (~16 inches). The maximum estimated value from IMERG in this band was 469 mm (~18.5 inches)”.




Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com
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Average monsoon rainfall figures are of not much use! Climate change concerns remain: Ranjan Panda



It is being said that the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) predictions of a normal monsoon for 2018 may prove almost true.  It was being feared that a possibility of El Nino event developing in the second half of the season would bring a deficit monsoon.  However, the southwest monsoon has turned out to be a reasonably good one so far, as being reported.

The Indian Express on 23rd August (See the link at the end) reported that the country as a whole has, as on August 22, cumulatively received an area-weighted average rainfall of 605 mm during the current monsoon season from June 1. This is only 6.5 per cent below the historical long period average of 647.3 mm, which is well within the “normal” departure range of 10 per cent on either side.

IMD’s predictions are being considered right for this year looking into the average rainfall figures.  The Indian Express report says, “Moreover, as the accompanying table shows, the rains have been normal in all the three months of the season so far, making it as good a monsoon as in 2016 and 2017. Also, much of the country — barring Bihar, Jharkhand and the North-East states — received enough rains for farmers to take up kharif sowing operations. Some areas such as Marathwada, North Karnataka, Saurashtra-Kutch and North Gujarat have experienced dry spells, affecting crop growth at the vegetative growth phase, but the situation is nowhere as serious as it was during the drought years of 2014 and 2015”.

(Table Source: Indian Express, 23 Aug 2018)

However, it will not be good to be happy with such general average projections.  Actually the so called normal rainfall year is no more capable to provide the much needed support to our farmers as because the erratic nature of rainfall does a lot of damages that we don't take into account. The small and marginal farmers suffer most!

Extreme precipitation events have increased and there is rains have done heavy damages to the kharif crops in many parts.  That’s another dimension which needs to be taken care of while planning our crops.  Time has come to decentralise rainfall projections as well as related crop plans.  Climate change is already affecting small and marginal farmers the most, the impacts will aggravate.

Link to the Indian Express article: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/southwest-monsoon-el-nino-indian-monsoon-lok-sabha-elections-kharif-crop-farmers-5319978/


Ranjan Panda
Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

Tweet @ranjanpanda
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