Bhubaneswar: Notwithstanding the concerns over the impact of climate change on different parts of the globe, the state still seems to be floundering with a concrete local study on the impact of climate change on Odisha.
State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi Friday informed the Assembly that the state government has not undertaken any scientific survey for scrutinising the impact of global temperature rise and climate change on Odisha
The response from the minister came in the House when BJD MLA Prafulla Samal sought to know if the state has been impacted by climate change. The minister told the Assembly that the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS) has conducted a survey of coastal areas of the state where they had categorised the region into low, medium and high risk areas, based on intensity and sensitivity.
As per their report, the 76-km area of Ganjam, Chilika, Puri and southern parts of Kendrapara come under the low category, while around 297-km area of Ganjam and northern parts of Chilka, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, southern parts of Bhadrak and northern parts of Balasore come under the medium category.
The northern side of Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara and southern Balasore come under the high category, he added.
A report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that due to increase in sea levels incidents of coastal flooding, coastal erosion and salt water intrusion will rise.