Editorial

This was against Delhi University’s criteria which accorded 100 per cent weightage to the CUET and no interview. The matter went to court. As per the news agency PTI report, the Delhi High Court ordered St. Stephen’s to follow the admission policy prescribed by Delhi University, and The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to stay that ruling.

Hours after the Supreme Court rejected the St Stephen’s College petition against the admission process, the college removed the contentious prospectus from its website. When PTI checked the college website at around 4:00 pm, the prospectus was found removed. College principal John Varghese did not respond to calls and text messages. When it was still up, the prospectus stated, “St Stephen’s College will adopt the CUET as the eligibility criteria with 85 per cent weightage for CUET and the college’s interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15 per cent.”

The Delhi University opposed the prospectus and said that the college will have to follow the rules laid down by the government for admission. The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to stay the Delhi High Court order asking St. Stephen’s College here to follow the admission policy prescribed by the Delhi University.

The high court had directed the college to follow the university’s admission policy, according to which 100 per cent weightage has to be given to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-2022 score while granting admissions to non-minority students in undergraduate courses.

St Stephen’s College, however, wants to give 85 per cent weightage to CUET and 15 per cent to interviews for admitting students across categories. In a shift from the decade-old process, admission in DU this year is being conducted through CUET instead of Class 12th marks.

The college till last year used to follow a different admission process and schedule than the university and was also not part of the cumulative cut-off list issued by DU. St Stephen’s College, however, wants to give 85 per cent weightage to CUET and 15 per cent to interviews for admitting students across categories.

The Delhi High Court had on September 12 asked the Christian minority institution to follow the admission policy formulated by the Delhi University according to which 100 per cent weightage has to be given to the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-2022 score while granting admission to non-minority students in its undergraduate courses.

The University began admissions for over 70,000 seats last month. Meanwhile, the varsity confirmed the first list of seats for admission to undergraduate courses on Wednesday by 5 pm and there would be no further delay. The varsity has deferred the release of the list by a day as the SC was set to hear on Wednesday St Stephen’s plea against High Court’s order.

The spotting of critically endangered Himalayan brown bears in parts of Kashmir in the human habitations has delighted wildlife experts who say it indicates the rising population of the rare species. However, they blamed the rapid development and increased tourism activities in high altitudes for the presence of brown bears in the human habitations.

The brown bear is the biggest animal in Kashmir and an adult weighs more than 2.5 quintals. It is found at an altitude of 2,000 to 2,500 metres mostly above the tree line. Its species are found across the world, but its Himalayan counterpart in the northern mountainous areas of India and Pakistan, is critically endangered.

Wildlife conservationists in Kashmir have noted increasing sightings and spread of the brown bear in the last two to three years in a few of its habitats including the hills of Sonamarg, Drass, Kupwara, Pahalgam, Pir-Panjal range and Gurez area of Bandipora district.

A wildlife official told a local news agency KNO that such animals have been found in large numbers in the human habitation for many years, which is an alarming situation.

“Last year, two such animals were sighted in Dumail area of Baltal near Amarnath cave shrine, besides three were sighted in Drass sector of the Ladakh region,” he said.

He added that earlier, two bears were sighted in Pahalgam while reports about the presence of the animal are also being received from other areas as well.

“The number of these animals was very good even before, but the presence of the animal in human habitation was rarely observed.”

Recently, the official said that the bear was also spotted in Shahgund village of the Bandipora district. However, the wildlife department successfully managed to catch the animal. Also, several critically-endangered Himalayan Brown Bears were sighted in Gurez Tehsil.

He said brown bears were sighted in Khandyal village of Gurez while another similar bear was seen crossing the Kishanganga dam site.

The wildlife official believes that the latest sighting indicates the population of the endangered animal is increasing in J&K.

He said that his team had to trek a difficult border terrain for three hours to spot these animals but now they are also commonly found near the human habitations.

Aaliya Mir, Project Head, Wildlife SOS, said that the rapid development of the area and increased tourism has significantly disrupted the habitat of the Himalayan brown bear, forcing the animal to venture close to the human habitation for survival.

“Numerous bears started relying on trash and food waste generated by humans at campsites, hotels, and restaurants for sustenance,” she said.

Aliya, while citing destruction of its habitat due to massive construction, increased military and nomad footprint, besides trekking destinations, said that such animals have been seen in residential areas for the last few years now.

She said that there have been frequent sightings of the brown bears in the cropland, market places, hotel premises, security camps, and residential areas.

Mir further said that “the more we interfere with the habitat of these animals, the more it will come down to the residential areas. The survival of the brown bear depends on the availability of suitable habitat, food, and water in the sanctuary.” KNO

AFTER three decades of getting shut, a multiplex made its way into Srinagar’s Sonwar area. The inaugural ceremony closed with the screening of Laal Singh Chaddha, a movie that was to be Bollywood’s messiah for commercial resurrection.

Laal Singh Chaddha is a 2022 Indian film directed by Advait Chandan. The film sets out by introducing the protagonist, a boy named Laal who needs leg braces to walk. He faces ableism– discrimination against disabled people in the favor of able-bodied people– in school, both from the students and the administration. Even as his mother helps him build a resilient outlook on his condition, he continues to face sidelining. The film treats Laal’s disability as a shackle to break out of. Instead of affirming the disabled protagonist’s life and his rights to accessibility, the narrative takes an ‘inspirational’ turn, treating disability as something to be fixed.

Laal is shown to be chased by bullies as a kid. In order to escape them he starts walking fast. Suddenly, he finds himself running as Rupa, his close friend, watches. This ableist narrative is coupled with music that marks this event as one of rising action. The sunlight falls on his face as he finds himself sprinting. The braces he used as a mobility aid are run over by the bicycles of the boys chasing him, a final discardation. Rupa can’t believe her eyes as Laal is ‘fixed.’

Laal tells this story later in his life, and follows up his recollection with, “You won’t believe it, I run faster than the wind.” Not only is a disabled person fixed to match an able-bodied standard, but the expectation is to exceed the standard, to serve as a spectacle of inspiration. The scene is shown as a breakthrough for him, symbolized by him running through sesame fields, saturated with color, like Moses running through the parted Red Sea. Laal says “After that day, I ran everywhere.” There is a horizon of expectation where the disabled boy flies out of his ‘bindings’ and enters a life of possibility. His college coach closes the scene by remarking, “Is that a human or a rocket?” Thereafter, in his adulthood, Laal is shown as expressing his masculinity through races, i.e. through physical and muscular capacity. The film constructs his story such that the rejection he faces due to ableism as a boy is followed up by a recovery arc of masculinisation which culminates in the heterosexual family unit.

Ramaswamy, in her essay, Visualizing India’s geo-body argues that when the nation is constructed as a motherly geo-body, the territory falls under the guardianship of her loyal sons, like all women are in a paternalistic world. Laal steps up into dominant masculinity through joining the army, a masculinist institution. This not only makes him combatant but also heroic, he is shown to rescue his fellow fighters on the battlefield, saving the lives of other men defending the nation. Moreover, Rupa tells Laal he looks handsome in his army uniform. The aesthetic signifier gets attached to him for the first time in the film when he is in the most masculine garb imaginable.

Ableism is an ideology that functions in tandem with capitalism and hence colonialism. This is not to say that there is a linear relationship between them but that the ideas that govern the three are the exact same: the commodification of the human body for capital ends. The nation-state is the colonial manifestation of this ideological triad. Laal instrumentalizes his body for the nation, stepping into dominant masculinity as a result.

Masculinised Indian vs Emasculated Pakistani 

Mohammad, a Pakistani commander Laal saves from the Kargil war is constructed in opposition to him. Laal is chivalrous enough to carry the enemy to safety while the latter tries to shoot him in the back, Laal offers Mohammad a kulfi while he throws it away.

Mohammad is brought down from a position of aggressive masculinity to one of a person whose life falls apart after he loses his legs in the war. He is shown with disheveled clothes and hair, drinking from a bottle, self defining as “still a cripple.” While this Muslim enemy-of-the-nation is ‘brought down’ to the level of a meaningless man, Laal is shown to travel around the world as a part of the Indian army, and is even awarded with a medal of valor for saving his comrades. Leaving Mohammad to die would have been too neat a choice in the film. By keeping him alive, he serves as a constant reminder of everything Laal ‘rose’ out of.

Laal remembers the promise he made to his friend Baala on the battlefield and goes to great lengths to fulfill that promise. Mohammad on the other hand becomes a homeless man without any valor to his name. As opposed to Laal being fashioned out of his own intrinsic goodness as well as the support of those around him– his mother, Rupa, co-combatant Baala– Mohammad is shown as a man who is disposable to his community. After settling down in India, he states, “They (Pakistan) disowned the dead, let alone the living… there was no longer any need for us.”

The idea here is that the Indian nation makes moral men and gives back to them, while Pakistan treats its fighters like chattel after reaching ideological ends.

As Mohammad gets a redemption arc through Laal’s business ventures, he thanks Laal for saving him, not only physically but from the fate of those involved in the Taj attack. He asks Lal why he never worships to which he replies, “Religion spreads malaria,” an allusion to violence. The villainization of religion in order to create peace is a typical secular-liberal argument that refuses to engage with the colonial history of secularism itself, pitting a changing, secular self against the rigid, fundamentalist other.

Mohammad says he was brought up with the belief that everyone there was an enemy and a disbeliever. But he met Laal which changed him, that he himself was a victim of “malaria,” another allusion to extremism. Here we see an articulation of what was manifest visually all along. Mohammad says he plans to become someone who saves others from ‘malaria’ through schooling. The conversation of ‘teaching’ them ‘there’ about ‘good friends here’ paints Pakistan as a land full of hateful people who don’t know better than being brainwashed into violent praxis. Mohammad subscribes to the idea that they then require Education about better ways of being from one of them enlightened by a dutiful Indian man. Deepa Srinavas, in her essay on the figure of the Muslim Other in popular culture says that this portrayal has never been free from an underlying anxiety of belonging/ unbelonging to the idea of the nation. The Indian nation and its moral, dutiful citizen, Laal are both constructed through articulating what they aren’t, Pakistan and its violent, barbaric citizens.

Man as Provider 

Rupa’s life moves from her father’s abuse due to monetary constraints to a gang member Abbas’ abuse. As Rupa fails to make the life she wants for herself and is victimized by multiple men, Laal steps in to rescue her. He beats up any man who dares to touch Rupa. He shows up whenever she needs him with an uncanny foresight. Later down the line, Laal tells her about his successful endeavors and how she doesn’t have to worry about money anymore. Not for a single moment does the film sit in the possibility that Rupa could provide for herself, not until the very end. Joane Nagel, in theorizing the construction of men in relation to the nation states that women are relegated to symbolic roles while men defend their honor, their homeland and their women. In Laal’s journey as an army official and later as a businessman, Rupa becomes a beneficiary rather than an agential subject.

Rupa’s later separation from Laal due to associations with Abbas, a murdered and gang member, only reinstates their roles with respect to the nation. Laal continues to be a nation wide spectacle of masculinity, this time by running for four years straight. Rupa, as a less threatening yet supportive role to nationalism, testifies against Abbas, the violent Muslim germ in the nation and gets him arrested.

As Laal and Rupa enter the family unit, the one thing Laal asks at the get go is if their kid is smart or ‘like him.’ Any deviation from being able-bodied is seen as a regression. Rupa assures him that the kid is the smartest in his class.

Akhand Bharat 

At the tail end of the film, as Rupa lies sick in her deathbed, Laal speaks of how watching the Himalayas glow and witnessing the sunset at Kanyakumari was what took away the fear he felt while in the army. The map of India is affirmed here – from Kashmir to Kanyakumari- a material reality to attach oneself to, to quell fear. Ramaswamy articulates how patriotism requires persuasion and it happens most potently through the map. Rupa’s fears are laid to rest through attaching herself to the map of a monolithic, stable entity of the nation, of an akhand bharat. The complexity of illness, death and separation are flattened through the mythos surrounding India as an absolute entity to look up to.

This film visualizes the inseparability of nationalist and masculinist discourses, in the way they articulate each other. Manliness becomes the rhetoric of the nation in the film, becomes an epic of endurance through running, becomes a singular story of a man. Rupa and Lal’s mother stay static in their roles and never shift from the margins into the center stage. However, the film moves Laal from disabled, subordinate masculinity into an abled, dominant masculinity characterized by muscularity, valor and patriotism. KNO

• by Saadia Peerzada for KNO, she is a student of English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has revised the power tariff from the third quarter of current financial year and it will be effective from 1st October 2022.

In this regard, an order issued by the Commission states that the new tariff has been designed in such a way so as to ensure minimum inconvenience to the citizens, while at the same time protecting the interests of the domestic, commercial, agricultural and industrial sectors.

The order adds that the average overall nominal increase over the previous tariff last revised in 2016-17 is just 8%, whereas the inflation rate in the corresponding period is 24% (the CPI Combined: All India General Index (All Groups) has risen from 131.1 in April 2017 to 162.5 in July 2022), thus it being safe to say that there is an effective decrease in tariff by 16% (adjusted for inflation).

The order further reads that it has been ensured that the tariff in Jammu and Kashmir is significantly lower than any other neighbouring state, and is in fact almost half when compared to states like Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

According to order, “the rates for Below Poverty Line consumers have been kept unchanged at Rs 1.25 for upto 30 units per month while as for domestic category consumers, for upto 200 units per month, the rate will be Rs 2 per unit, almost unchanged from before, for 200 to 400 units per month, the rate will be Rs 3.50 per unit, an increase of 6% in 5 years and for more than 400 units per month, the rate will be Rs 3.80 per unit, an increase of 8% in 5 years”. “The corresponding rates for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi are Rs 5.95, 6.25, 7.30, 7 and 8 per unit respectively”, it adds.

The order also reads that the fixed charges shall be marginally increased from Rs 5.50 per kW per month to Rs. 8, the charges for flat metering shall be Rs 175 for the first quarter kW, then an increase of Rs 200 for every quarter kW till a load of 2 kW, beyond which the charges will be Rs 500 for every quarter kW.

In the commercial category, for Single Phase connections, for upto 200 units per month, the rate will be Rs 3.10 per unit, increase of 7% in 5 years, for Single Phase connections, for 200 to 500 units per month, the rate will be Rs 4.70 per unit, increase of 9% in 5 years and for Single Phase connections for more than 500 units per month, and for Three Phase connections at any usage, the rate will be Rs 5.10 per unit. The corresponding rates for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi are in the range of Rs 5.50 to 9 per unit. It adds that the fixed charges shall be marginally increased from Rs 44 per kW per month to Rs 60 for single phase connections, from Rs 104.50 per kW per month to Rs 130 for three phase connections and the charges for flat metering shall be Rs 500 for every quarter kW.

In the agricultural sector, the charges have been rationalised at Rs 0.80 per unit for connections upto 10 HP, Rs 1.00 per unit for connections from 10 to 20 HP and Rs 5.25 per unit for larger connections beyond 20 HP. The fixed charges have been rationalised at Rs 30 per HP per month for all connections. The rate structure has only been simplified as the increase in agriculture category has been minimal.

In the LT Industry category, applicable to connections below 100 kW, the charges have been rationalised to Rs 3.65 per kVAh, and fixed charge of Rs 60 per kVA, an overall increase of about 11% in 5 years. There will be a special category called LTIS-II for connections less than 15 HP given to certain small industries eligible for concession as per government notification and for this category, the fixed charges will be Rs 30 per kVA per month.

In the HT Industry category, the charges will be Rs 3.60, Rs 3.50 and Rs 3.44 per kVAh for 11 kV, 33kV and 66 kV connections respectively and the fixed charges will be Rs 175 per kVA per month for all connections. The increase is about 22% in 5 years, less than the inflation increase of 24% and still significantly less than any other state in the country with an aim to incentivise industrial investments.

In the HT Power Intensive Industry category, the charges will be Rs 4.35, Rs 4.30 and Rs 4.23 per kVAh for 11 kV, 33kV and 66 kV connections respectively and the fixed charges will be Rs 225 per kVA per month for all connections and the increase is about 21% in 5 years.

In the Bulk consumer category, the charges will be Rs 4.90 and Rs 4.85 per kVAh for 11 kV and 33kV connections respectively. The fixed charges will be Rs 225 per kVA per month for all connections and the increase is about 23% in 5 years.

For supply to the Government sector establishments, the rates will be Rs 6.90 per kVAh and the fixed charge of Rs 40 per kVA per month for all central and state government departments. The rates will be Rs 7.50 per unit and the fixed charge of Rs 60 per kW per month for pubic street lighting, or Rs 3500 per kW per month on flat rate. The rates will be Rs 7.50 per unit and the fixed charge of Rs 60 per kW per month for LT public water works. The rates will be Rs 7.10 and Rs 7.00 per kVAh for 11 kV and 33kV connections respectively and the fixed charge of Rs 250 per kVA per month for HT public water works. The average increase in these rates has been around 25%, at par with the rate of inflation over the past 5 years.

Pertinently, the average rate of power purchase for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 4.54 per unit and the Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss for the FY 2021-22 stands at 46 % for Jammu division and 60 % for Kashmir region against the prescribed ceiling of 20%. Infrastructural improvements, technological interventions such as smart metering and a revised yet simplified tariff schedule are keys to improving the financial health of the distribution companies. The department aims, with all necessary interventions, to bring the losses within the acceptable limits and to provide 24*7 electricity to all consumers by 2025.

The tariff has been revised with an aim of providing round the clock power supply to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well reduce the massive losses. The JERC has also kept the tariff rates lower for Jammu and Kashmir than other State or UT across the country.

Notable to mention, that the rates for industrial categories vary from a minimum of Rs 4.70 to a maximum of Rs 7.75 per kVAh in the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. In order to ensure incentivize industrial development, the price of the highest rate slab of industrial supply has been kept less than the lowest rate slab in any neighboring state.

The new tariff schedule is designed to minimize the burden on the end consumer while at the same time ensuring the financial health of the power distribution companies. It has been ensured that the tariff is competitive for industries, and the interests of the average farmer, small shop-keeper and an average household have been given the prime importance. The department is committed to modernise the billing and metering system, in order to maximize compliance, minimize power theft and to provide best service to the end consumer. The consumers are encouraged to shift from flat metering to normal metering, since it will be economical for the consumer as well as good for the robustness of the distribution system.

There has been a high death and morbidity rate in all regions due to extreme heat events. Over 2,000 people died in Spain and Portugal from heat-related causes over roughly a week by an unprecedented heat wave in July this year. In 2018 alone, the EU recorded 104,000 heat-related deaths among the elderly people, over one third of the global total, according to the Lancet Countdown report published in December 2020.

The occurrence of climate-related food-borne and water-borne diseases has increased. The spread of animal and human diseases, including zoonoses, is occurring in new locations. Climate-sensitive cardiovascular and respiratory distress has been linked to increased exposure to wildfire smoke, atmospheric dust, and aeroallergens.

Some losses have already become irreversible, whereas others are on their way to irreversibility, such as the impacts of hydrological changes resulting from the retreat of glaciers, or the effects of permafrost thaw on mountain and Arctic ecosystems.

It is becoming increasingly difficult and complex to manage the effects and risks of climate change. There will be multiple climate hazards occurring simultaneously, and multiple climatic and non-climatic risks interacting, compounding overall risk and cascading across sectors and regions.

Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing an increase in a number of extreme events from the past 10 years. Massive flood in 2014, river Jhelum crossing the flood declaration mark five times in 2015, 2 dozen cloudbursts in Kashmir valley in 2015, cloudbursts at Kishtwar and Amarnath Cave Sonamarg in 2021 and 2022, respectively, extreme snow and rain spells in 2021 when the south Kashmir plains were buried under up to five feet of snow within a period of three days, untimely heavy November snowfall in 2018 and 2019, October snowfall in south Kashmir plains in 2021 and April snowfall in Kashmir plains in 2017, are a few of the extreme events that I have mentioned here. There have undoubtedly been many more. This agrees with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’ – a 3,949-page report based on more than 14,000 scientific papers, written by 234 scientists, which states that extreme temperature events that used to occur once every 10 years are occurring 2.8 times more frequently nowadays, extreme precipitation events with 1.3 times more frequency and agricultural and ecological events with 1.7 times more frequency and their frequency will only increase as the temperature rises further.

By limiting global warming to less than 1.5°C in the near future, human systems and ecosystems will have substantial reductions in projected losses and damages as compared to higher warming levels.

Adaptation, as defined in the second part of the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, in human systems is the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or take advantage of beneficial opportunities and in natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects. It plays a key role in reducing exposure and vulnerability to climate change.

The adoption of effective adaptation options and public policies will help enhance food availability and stability, reduce climate risks, and increase the sustainability of food systems. Cultivar improvements, agroforestry, community-based adaptations, farm and landscape diversification, and urban agriculture are among the effective options. Agroecological principles and practices, ecosystem-based management in fisheries and aquaculture, and other approaches that work with natural processes support food security, nutrition, health and well-being, livelihoods and biodiversity, sustainability, and ecosystem services. These services include pest control, pollination, buffering of temperature extremes, and carbon sequestration and storage. Adaptation strategies that reduce food loss and waste or support balanced diets contribute to nutrition, health, biodiversity, and other environmental benefits.

The combination of non-structural measures like early warning systems with structural measures like levees has reduced the number of people killed in inland flooding. Further reducing flood risks can be accomplished by restoring wetlands and rivers, implementing land use planning measures such as no-build zones, and managing upstream forests. The management of on-farm water, storage of water, soil moisture conservation, and irrigation are some of the most common adaptation responses that reduce vulnerability as well as provide economic, institutional, and ecological benefits. Several livelihood benefits can be derived from irrigation, which reduces drought risk and climate impacts in many regions. However, proper management is required to avoid adverse outcomes, such as accelerated depletion of groundwater and other water sources and increased soil salinization.

Measures to conserve, protect, and restore natural forests are part of forest adaptation. Sustainable forest management, diversifying and adjusting tree species compositions to build resilience, managing pest and disease risks, and managing wildfire risk are examples of adaptation strategies used in managed forests. In general, improving sustainable forest management, restoring natural forests and drained peatlands, restoring and conserving natural ecosystems and biodiversity, reforestation and avoiding deforestation, agroforestry, soil carbon management, and reducing CH4 and N2O emissions from livestock and soil in agriculture can boost the resilience of carbon stocks and sinks.

A combination of conservation, protection, restoration, and targeted management to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change reduces the vulnerability of biodiversity to climate change.

In order to promote urban and rural system transitions, inclusive, integrated, and long-term planning is essential at the local, municipal, sub-national, and national levels, together with effective regulation and monitoring systems in addition to financial and technological resources and capabilities. The ability of vulnerable people to adapt to changing conditions is improved when governments, civil society, and private sector organizations work together across scales.

Human health and well-being will be protected and promoted by strengthening health systems’ climate resiliency. An effective adaptation option for extreme heat is a Heat Health Action Plan that includes early warning and response systems. Improvements in access to potable water, reducing exposure of water and sanitation systems to flooding and extreme weather events, and improving early warning systems are some of the most effective adaptation options for water-borne and food-borne diseases. In the case of vector-borne diseases, effective adaptation options include surveillance, early warning systems, and vaccine development. Improved surveillance, access to mental health care, and monitoring of psychosocial impacts of extreme weather are effective adaptation options for reducing mental health risks under climate change.

By improving knowledge of risks, impacts, consequences, and available adaptation options, societal and policy responses will be strengthened. As a result of a wide range of top-down, bottom-up, and collaborative processes and sources, climate knowledge and sharing can be deepened, including capacity building at all scales, educational and information programs, use of the arts, participatory modelling, climate services, indigenous and local knowledge, and citizen science. In addition to raising awareness, these measures can influence behaviour and heighten risk perception.

A substantial reduction in overall fossil fuel use, the adoption of low-emission energy sources, the use of alternative energy carriers, and energy efficiency and conservation are all essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the full energy sector. By moving toward net-zero emissions through low-emission development pathways, urban areas can increase resource efficiency and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is possible for cities to reach net-zero emissions, but only if they reduce emissions within and outside of their administrative boundaries through supply chains, which will then have positive cascading effects across other sectors.

The most significant potential for decarbonization in land-based transport is offered by electric vehicles powered by low-emissions electricity. The use of sustainable biofuels in land-based transport can provide additional mitigation benefits in the short and medium term. It is possible to reduce CO2 emissions from ships, aircraft, and heavy-duty land transportation by using sustainable biofuels, low-emission hydrogen, and derivatives (including synthetic fuels). However, improvements in production processes and cost reductions are needed in order to achieve these goals. A number of mitigation strategies in the transport sector can have various co-benefits. These include improved air quality, improved health, equitable access to transportation services, a reduction in congestion, and a reduction in material consumption.

Urban planning and infrastructure design that is sustainable, such as green roofs and facades, parks and open spaces, the management of wetlands and forests, urban agriculture, and water-sensitive design, can be used to mitigate and adapt to climate change in settlements. These options can improve air quality and benefit health as well as reduce flood risks, pressure on sewage systems, and urban heat island effects.

The mitigation of land-related impacts with adaptive benefits may include agroforestry, cover crops, intercropping, perennial plants, restoring natural vegetation, and restoring degraded land. By maintaining land productivity and protecting and diversifying livelihoods, these measures can increase resilience.

A number of feasible and effective adaptation options exist which can reduce risks to people & nature, and the people & government of Jammu and Kashmir can implement some of them at least.

• Source – Article By Faizan for KNO