India's 'no' to emission cap deadline is unfortunate

Reports from the UN climate meet in Lima say India has refused to accept a time limit for capping greenhouse gas emissions. This is really unfortunate.

Environmental Minister Prakash Javadekar was right in saying that carbon dioxide (CO2) has helped to improve grain yields in most of South Asia. At the same time, Javadekar must know that greenhouse gas emissions in the long term enhance the surface temperature. And when surface temperature increases, we need more ground water to irrigate our agricultural farms to achieve high yield.

The long-term implications will be serious considering that ground water table in recent years has already depleted, especially in the central parts of India and in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Some parts of the world are also not getting much ground water. This will certainly impact future generations.

To fulfill the energy demand of people living in the Indo-Gangetic plains, the density of coal-based power plants in that region is very high compared to rest of India. The Narendra Modi government is adding more such power plants which are good for the people living in India. At the same time, the government must think seriously about the long term implications and consider to cap greenhouse gas emissions in India.

Capping is urgent and important in view of the impact of emissions on human health and climate change. In the last one decade, the monsoon rainfall was very erratic.

Modi must consider all these facts and plan his strategy, on whether he wants to go short term or cap the greenhouse emissions in the long term.

By: Ramesh Singh