Manipur reeling under climate change spell ? Experts predict more heatwaves, floods and droughts-II
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 27 2025: Climate change implications in Manipur : Climate change is expected to most significantly affect developing countries that depend on the agriculture sector, as they often lack the infrastructure and resources to adapt to changing weather patterns, says retired Professor of Economics of Manipur University, E Bijoykumar Singh.

Climate change accelerates desertification and shrinks farmlands, and in addition, it causes frequent floods and droughts which have negative impacts on the agricultural production, threatening food security and inflating prices of food, he says.

Significantly, the Manipur State Action Plan on Climate Change has predicted a 10 percent fall in crop yield including that of rice over the next few years.

It has also predicted failure of rain fed agriculture and identified limited adaptive capacity of farmers to new varieties of crop as major challenges.

Climate change also reduces underground water recharge, causes wetlands, springs and rivers to dry up threatening water security.

What is driving climate change in Manipur?

Burning of fossil fuels, cutting down of forests and farming livestock are known factors contributing to climate change and the earth's temperature.

Manipur State is susceptible to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, states the MSAPCC report.

Among other factors, the local climate change and accompanying extreme weather events in Manipur have been driven by massive loss of forest cover over the last few decades.

Forest Cover in Manipur

From 2011 to 2021, Manipur suffered a total loss of 820 SqKm of forest cover.

In 2011, the forest cover was 17,418 Sq Km covering 77.98% of the State's geographical area.

A decade later in 2021, it was reduced to 16,598 Sq Km (74.34%) .

According to the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, Manipur's forest cover has been further reduced to 16,585.46 Sq Km (74.29 %).

The sharpest decline occurred between 2019 and 2021, with a loss of 249 Sq Km.

In 2019, the State's forest cover was 16,847 Sq Km.

This massive loss of forest cover has been attributed to shifting cultivation, encroachment and illegal logging, infrastructure development and conversion of forest land for farming.

Significantly, large scale deforestation for poppy cultivation has been reported in the hill areas of the State, causing major environmental and drug problems.

According to Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB), Manipur, opium poppy cultivation had spread across more than 15,400 acres of land in the hills, and a total of 18,664 acres of poppy plantations had been destroyed from 2017 to 2023 .

Climate Action

Climate change has been accelerated at a much higher speed due to anthropogenic activities of rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, large scale felling of trees etc that threaten and damage the natural environment.

While efforts must be put in to mitigate climate change, steps should be taken up to identify the challenges and address them through specific policies, says Environment and Climate Change Director Dr T Brajakumar.

The Manipur State Action Plan on Climate Change (MSAPCC) has identified key sectors for mitigating and adapting to climate change, says the Director.

The State Action Plan focuses on managing water resources including rejuvenation of springs, addressing challenges in agriculture and allied sectors for food security, protecting and increasing forest cover, and preventing or combating climate sensitive health problems which include vector borne diseases, says Dr Brajakumar.

Climate change must be fought at every level.

Mitigating it requires concerted efforts of all sections of the society�legislators to formulate policies, State authorities, civil society organisations and the public.

Educating the masses and raising enough awareness is a priority, says the Director.

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