Climate change and its impact in Assam

 Average annual maximum temperature has increased; average rainfall has decreased

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: With Assam reeling under a severe heat wave for the past few days, climate change has become a topic of discussion. But Assam has been facing the impact of climate change since the past one decade. It is only now that the negative impacts of climate change have become a serious cause of concern.

In the last 30 years from 1990 to 2019, the average annual maximum temperature in Assam has increased by 0.049 degree Celcius. During the same period, the average annual rainfall in the State decreased by 10.77 mm. The increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall has mainly affected the agricultural sector. The State Agriculture Department is now holding discussions with various agencies to change the agricultural pattern to suit the changing climatic conditions.

The economy of Assam is largely agriculture based and agriculture is primarily rain-fed. But erratic rainfall in the past few years has compelled farmers to adapt to new cropping patterns. They are now focusing on cultivating Rabi crops and have decreased their dependance on paddy cultivation for livelihood.

According to the Assam State Action Plan of Climate Change study, in recent years, seven districts of Assam have recorded more than 10 heat waves and 12 districts have recorded drought-like situation. Sources said that to deal with the challenges of climate change, the Assam Government has come up with a draft action plan for 2021-2030 which includes compensatory afforestation, assisted natural regeneration, artificial regeneration and green brick production technology to replace the old system of brick manufacturing.

Sources further said that in the past few years, large-scale felling of trees has been done in the name of infrastructure development. Lakhs of trees were cut for the four-lane national highway project from Nagaon to Dibrugarh. Highway expansion projects are always executed by cutting down thousands of trees. However, sources said that adequate compensatory afforestation has not been done on time, which has accelerated the effects of climate change.

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