10 villages near tourist hubs in TN to be made climate smart

CHENNAI: To create working models to bring about grassroots-level changes in combating climate change, the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Department is planning to convert 10 villages in Tamil Nadu as ‘climate smart villages’ as a pilot project.

Department Secretary Supriya Sahu said the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission would be implemented among other initiatives taken up by the government to conserve the environment and fight climate change.

Ten villages have already been identified to be converted into climate smart villages in coordination with the World Resources Institute (WRI). “An action plan has been proposed to implement the initiative,” she said while speaking at a seminar on decarbonisation of the energy sector.

Speaking to DT Next on the sidelines of the event, Sahu said most of the identified villages are located near tourist spots, as the stress on natural resources in such areas is more due to higher footfall. “The initiative will concentrate on promoting renewable energy such as solar, and treating and reusing of wastewater among other initiatives. These 10 villages will act as models for the other villages to follow. The list of selected villages will be released in a few days,” she said.

Arivudai Nambi, Director, Climate Resilience Practice, WRI India, said the nature and requirements of the villages may vary. “The project will cover all the aspects like using treated water for agriculture and encouraging electric vehicles among the villagers, keeping specific requirements of those villages in mind, “ he said. Earlier, the secretary listed the measures that have been taken up by the present government in addressing climate change, including forming the Green Climate Company, launching TN Green Mission, TN Wetland Mission, and the proposed Wetland Conservation Centre.

“In the last few months, 13 wetlands in TN have been declared as Ramsar sites and measures have been taken to add seven others to the list. Earlier, there was only one Ramsar site announced 20 years ago,” she pointed out.