Action Plan worth Rs 322 cr to tackle climate change concerns

The draft Action Plan on Climate Change for industries has envisaged an investment of Rs 322 crore on the implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures to counter the adverse impacts of climate change.

The draft has suggested as many as 60 measures for industries with the government stakeholders in the implementation process being the state industries department, Directorate of Industries, Orissa State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), water resources department, Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA), Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Idco) and Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Limited (Ipicol).

One of the key priorities under the Action Plan is setting medium-term emission targets for the thermal power plants. A budget of Rs 30 crore has been indicated for this exercise with the funding set to come from the Government of India and external sources.

The other key initiative is promoting the use of bulk waste material like fly ash and slag which would entail an investment of Rs 10 crore. Besides, there is a plan to streamline institutional arrangement and strengthen OSDMA at a funding of Rs 110 crore to tackle extreme climate change events in the coastal areas.

Plans are afoot to implement a system of compensatory water harvesting at the industrial clusters at a cost of Rs 100 crore and preparation of GHG (Green House Gases) profile of these clusters with a budget of Rs 10 crore.

The other significant measures suggested by the Action Plan are integrating climate change concerns in policies and plans for industrial development, carrying out heat island study for Talcher and Jharsuguda area, training various stakeholders on climate change issues and carrying out energy efficiency study for iron and steel, thermal power, aluminium and cement sectors.

The draft Action Plan has been prepared by the state government in association with sectoral experts from the World Bank while the city-based consulting firm C-TRAN Consulting has been roped in as the knowledge partner.

Consultations have already been held with the state industries department, Directorate of Industries, SPCB and the state energy department.

The industry specific Action Plan has been formulated by a nine-member committee headed by the state industries secretary Saurabh Garg.

The objectives are emission reduction without compromising industrial growth, developing a climate resilient industrial system and capacity building and institutional realignment.