British Deputy High Commissioner Scott pays courtesy visit to Governor Patel

Staff Reporter

British Deputy High Commissioner Christina Scott paid courtesy call on Governor Mangubhai Patel at Raj Bhavan on Friday. Governor Patel was apprised about the Infrastructure for Climate Resilient Growth Programme run by the Foreign Common wealth and Development Office of the British Government. Minister of Science and Technology Omprakash Sakhlecha and international stakeholders associated with the Infrastructure for Climate Resilient Growth Programme were present. Dr Anil Kothari, Director General, Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology, informed that under the Infrastructure for Growth Programme Portfolio, the climate information service tool Crisp-M has been designed by the Council in collaboration with the International Institute for Environment and Development. CRISP-M has been developed in collaboration between Ministry of Rural Development and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the British Government to essentially support the rural communities which are potential challenges of climate change. Madhya Pradesh is a pioneer in the country, where its pilot project was launched in Raisen and Sehore districts in October 2021. The CRISP-M tool helps rural households respond to the climate crisis by facilitating access and sharing of local climate data.

It facilitates access to resources to safeguard their livelihood. By making the communities aware about the effects of climate change, about the future climate scenario, groundwater status of the land, surface rain water flow and rainfall patterns etc., it helps in making long-term plans for water conservation. In view of the wider utility and acceptability of the tool in the pilot project, a global version of the tool has been developed jointly with the International Institute for Environment and Development for the general public, which can be used universally by any stakeholder at the global level.

Ritu Bhardwaj, Team Leader and Chief Researcher of the International Institute for Environment and apprise Development, told that a resource center has been established in MAPCOST to about the usefulness of the tool to the government officials and communities working at the field level and to increase their capacity. The center will aid in better management of climate impacts in the future by using the CRISP-M tool.