T.N. officials to get trained in climate risk assessment

The Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management (CCCDM) at Anna University, Chennai, will begin a capacity building programme on climate risk assessment for officials from all districts of the State from Tuesday

The Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management (CCCDM) at Anna University, Chennai, will begin a capacity building programme on climate risk assessment for officials from all districts of the State from Tuesday.

The programme, which is part of the Climate Studio of the CCCDM supported by the State Department of Environment and Climate Change, will provide a comprehensive understanding of climate data, sectoral vulnerabilities, and future climate hazards. The five sectors that the Climate Studio will train district officers on are water resources, agriculture, forest, coastal ecosystem, and urban habitat.

Officials from the Water Resources and Public Works departments will undertake the capacity building programme on Tuesday. The module includes concepts to help stakeholders of climate action address challenges presented by climate change in the river basins of Tamil Nadu.

Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, departments of environment, climate change and forests, inaugurating a conference hall of CCCDM and releasing the training module on water resources, said the real purpose of this one-of-a-kind climate studio will be served when communities such as farmers and students get to use actionable data from it. “The State is in the process of preparing a detailed project report for 10 villages and towns chosen to be made climate smart. A simpler version of Anna University’s Climate Studio will be set up to provide localised climate data,” she said.

Deepak Bilgi, director, Department of Environment; Kurian Joseph, director, CCCDM; R. Velraj, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University; Nayanika Singh, UK PACT India Advisor; and A. Ramachandran, member of Tamil Nadu Governing Council on Climate Change, were present.