28 Haryana, Punjab, HP districts among 310 'most vulnerable' to climate change

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, December 6

A comprehensive assessment has identified a total of 310 districts nationwide as ‘most vulnerable’ to the challenges posed by climate change. Of these, 109 fell in the ‘very high’ vulnerability category while 201 were designated ‘highly’ vulnerable.

The categorisation has been meticulously carried out under the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture, an initiative aimed at fortifying the agricultural sector against the impact of climate change.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with the highest 48 vulnerable districts. Of these, 22 districts were ‘very high’ and 26 ‘highly’ vulnerable.

Following UP is Rajasthan with 27 districts —17 ‘very high’ and 10 ‘highly’ vulnerable. Next is Bihar with 10 ‘very high’ and 13 ‘highly’ vulnerable districts.

Even traditionally robust food grain-producing states like Punjab and Haryana are not exempt from the impact (see box). Eight of the total 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh too fall in this category.

Union Minister Tomar underscored the role played by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in developing climate-resilient crop varieties after 2014. A total of 1,971 such varieties had been introduced, comprising 429 that were tolerant to biotic stress and 1,542 resistant to abiotic stressors, he said.

Punjab (9 districts)

‘Very high’ vulnerability: Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Moga, Faridkot, Bathinda

‘Highly’ vulnerable: Muktsar, Mansa, Sangrur and Ferozepur

Haryana (11 districts)

‘Very high’ vulnerability: Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh

‘Highly’ vulnerable: Kaithal, Jind, Sirsa, Hisar, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Rewari & Gurugram

Himachal (8 districts)

‘Very high’ vulnerability: Chamba, Mandi

‘Highly’ vulnerable: Kangra, Kullu, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Shimla and Kinnaur

Contributing factors

‘Very high’ vulnerability

• Climate variability & extreme weather
• Low adaptive capacity & net irrigated area; projected decline in rainfall
• Rain-fed farming & vector diseases

‘Highly’ vulnerable

• High livelihood dependence on agri
• Low irrigation coverage; rise in temp
• Low extent of technological inputs
• Rise in unusually hot, cold, frost days