Govt declines report saying 11 out of 15 hottest places in world are in India

The government does not agree with a private weather agency’s report on climate change that 11 out of 15 hottest places in the world are from India, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday (June 21).

In response to BJP MP Jagdambika Pal’s questions, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government does not agree with the findings of the agency — El Dorado Weather — and the data on its website varies every day.

“The report of hottest places — 11 out of 15 hottest places in the world are from India — is based on a newspaper article quoting a private weather forecasting agency El Dorado Weather.

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“The agency in its webpage reports the 15 places with maximum temperature of last 24 hours on daily basis and the hottest places vary each day. Government of India does not authenticate nor agree to the findings of the report,” the minister responded.

The environment ministry also said to tackle the problem of climate change, the government is implementing the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which comprises missions in specific areas of solar energy, energy efficiency, water, agriculture, Himalayan eco-system, sustainable habitat, green India and strategic knowledge on climate change.

Climate actions at the state-level are based on the State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC), the ministry said.

“Thirty-three States/Union Territories have prepared their SAPCC on lines of the NAPCC taking into account states specific issues relating to climate change. These SAPCCs inter-alia outline sector specific and cross sectoral priority climate actions,” it said.

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The ministry said that another scheme — the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) — was being implemented to support adaptation measures of States/Union Territories in areas that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

“Under NAFCC, 30 projects have been sanctioned in 27 states to tackle the issues related to adaptation in agriculture, water, forestry, etc. The government has also embarked on ambitious actions in the areas of renewable energy, afforestation, energy efficiency, and urban development,” it said.

The ministry informed the House that to handle climate change, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has modernised its observation system by installing a network of doppler weather radars, automatic weather stations, automatic rain gauge stations, etc for monitoring abnormal weather patterns.

The IMD has also upgraded its forecasting skills so that advance warning can be provided to agencies concerned to tackle the adverse impacts of extreme weather events, it said.