GUWAHATI: A recent survey report released by IIT Guwahati and IIT Mandi identifies fifteen of India’s 25 districts of Assam as most vulnerable to climate change. The southern district of Assam, Karimganj, has topped the list. The city usually witnesses a hefty amount of rainfall but has received significantly less rainfall over the last two months. Two other adjoining districts of Barak Valley, Cachar and Hailakandi, fall under the same category.
Besides these three districts, Goalpara comes second in the list, followed by Dhubri and Sonitpur in the third and fourth places, respectively. The others are Darang, Sivsagar, Dibrugarh, Morigaon, Baksa, Tinsukia, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, and Golaghat.
Keshab Mahanta, the state’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Climate Change, stated that the government had launched Chief Minister’s Institutional Plantation Programme to enhance carbon stock through the plantation drive and create awareness of climate change mitigation. The program, launched on July 15, 2022, planted 2,43,451 geo-tagged saplings to monitor their growth for three years.
According to climate projections in the State Action Plan for Climate Change, extreme rainfall events will increase by 38% in the state. The annual mean temperature in the state has risen by 0.59 degrees Celsius in 60 years.