Meenangadi grama panchayat in Wayanad district of Kerala has launched a climate change literacy campaign as part of the second phase of its carbon-neutral project after an interval of two years.
The project aims to offset greenhouse gas emissions through a series of environment-friendly methods. The initiative was launched on June 5, 2016 after assessing carbon emissions caused by electricity and fuel consumption in all the 9,000 houses in the panchayat and emissions from vehicles. This was followed by an assessment of carbon emissions from trees. However, the project was suspended following the outbreak of COVID-19.
“The climate change literacy campaign, the first such programme by a civic body in the country and being implemented with the support of NABARD and environmental advocacy group ‘Thanal’, is aimed at sensitising the public to climate change and its impact,” K.E. Vinayan, president, Meenangadi grama panchayat, told The Hindu. “We also plan to make them take steps to mitigate the crisis,” he added.
A panchayat-level sample survey was conducted prior to the campaign to assess public awareness about climate change. According to the survey, 46% of people were unaware of the phenomenon, but 70% agreed that there was a change in rain pattern and an increase in temperature in recent times, Mr. Vinayan said. “We are planning to make the panchayat a ‘filament-free region’ in the next phase, and the local body is expected to be declared a ‘carbon neutral panchayat’ by the end of 2025,” he added.
“Two volunteers each have been selected from 19 wards of the panchayat for the campaign. They will conduct door-to-door visits and sensitise the public. Talk shows, social media campaigns, and seminars will also be held,” said Ajith Tomy, coordinator of the programme. “We have designed 50 posters and nearly 25 short-term videos for the purpose,” he added.
The previous government had launched an innovative ‘tree banking scheme’ for farmers of the panchayat as part of efforts to develop it into as a carbon-neutral panchayat. As per the scheme, for each newly planted sapling, a farmer gets ₹50 every year from the third year onwards after the sapling takes root, as interest-free loans. The government had deposited a sum of ₹10 crore in the Meenangadi Service Cooperative Bank to run the scheme, and the interest is utilised for the project, Mr. Tomy said.
The scheme was initially launched in two wards, and 7,619 trees were geo-tagged with a unique number for each tree. As many as 159 farmers received a sum of ₹3,80,950 for conserving the trees.
“So far, we have planted 3 lakh saplings under the scheme with the support of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme [MGNREGS] workers. The first phase of geo-tagging will be completed in all the 19 wards this year. We are also planning to plant one lakh more saplings during the monsoon season. The panchayat has already prepared a greenhouse gas emission profile, and the current development plan is based on it, Mr. Tomy said.
