New Delhi: A detailed carbon emission survey of gram panchayats and a local climate action plan of villages under them are part of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) being worked out by the panchayati raj ministry for the larger goal of carbon neutrality, ThePrint has learnt.
Only a few gram panchayats such as Palli in Jammu and Kashmir, which is India’s first gram panchayat moving towards becoming carbon neutral, Meenangadi in Kerala have taken the initiative, so far.
“But as of now, there are no guidelines or SOPs for gram panchayats on what all needs to be done to become carbon neutral,” Chandra Shekhar Kumar, additional secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, told ThePrint.
The ministry is working on preparing the SOPs to provide assistance to gram panchayats in planning their initiatives towards carbon neutrality. “This will be a step-wise guide for the gram panchayats in implementing projects and becoming carbon neutral,” Kumar said.
According to ministry officials, a local climate action plan for a gram panchayat has to be prepared after a detailed carbon emission survey of its villages for which ground-level data is collected following a house-to-house survey. “It is then analysed by experts to understand how much carbon emission is there and what all efforts have to be made so that the emission level can be counter-balanced. The experts then accordingly suggest measures that are needed,” said an official.
At present, the ministry is assisting a few states in preparing plans for carbon neutrality of gram panchayats. In 2022, it carried out the first carbon neutral initiative in Palli, in collaboration with the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (of the education ministry) and the J&K administration.
Senior officials said that the local action plan was prepared after a detailed survey and implementation of key projects is underway. “The SOPs will make it easier for other panchayati raj institutions to plan initiatives. Currently, work is going on in Hasuri Ausanpur village (Uttar Pradesh), Kanha village (Telangana) and Bonaigarh village (Odisha),” said a senior ministry official.
In 2022, a concept note was shared with all states and Union Territories on carbon neutrality in which the ministry listed out measures such as conducting surveys to get a panchayat’s Greenhouse Gas emission profile done, assessment to identify vulnerability of communities, natural resources etc to extreme climate events, revival of sustainable traditional practices, among others.
Push for solar installation on commercial basis
As part of its Gram Urja Swaraj initiative, launched in 2021, the ministry is exploring the possibility of developing sustainable business models for solar initiatives in gram panchayats. Last week, Panchayati Raj, Secretary, Vivek Bharadwaj held a meeting with industry leaders in this regard.
“Discussions revolved around the development of sustainable business models for solar initiatives at the grassroots level and strategies for aggregating demand within Panchayats to streamline the adoption process,” the ministry said in a statement.
A total of 2,080 gram panchayats have implemented renewable energy projects till December last year, according to the panchayati raj ministry’s portal. Around 2,020 gram panchayats have fully functional solar energy systems while another 69 have wind energy systems.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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