Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘State should tap clean energy’

Thiruvananthapuram: Additional Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar has stressed the need for Kerala to overcome its lethargy in harnessing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

He was addressing a national workshop on climate and development organised by the Kerala State Planning Board and the Kerala Agriculture University here on Monday.

Mr. Jayakumar said the State’s dependence on erratic supply of power from the national grid would affect industrial and agricultural growth and upset the social equilibrium. He said Kerala had underestimated the potential of renewable energy sources.

The intimidating dimensions of climate change on human existence should force political parties to accord high priority for environmental issues on their agenda, he said.

Mr. Jayakumar reminded the academic community of its moral responsibility to alert society to the dangers posed by climate change.

“Climate change has to be viewed as a signal and a warning against the reckless plunder of nature. It is a warning against deforestation, destruction of wetlands, waterbodies, habitats and ecosystems as well as our dependence on fossil fuels. It is a message for change,” he said.

The climate change phenomenon highlighted the need for corrective action. “It reminds us that it is time for a relook at the development paradigm that we have followed all these years,” he said.

Delivering the inaugural address, K.R. Viswambharan, Vice- Chancellor of the university, stressed the need to create better awareness among the public of the dangers of climate change. He proposed that climate change be included in the school curriculum.

The two-day workshop will discuss the generation of accurate meteorological data and its application in various sectors such as agriculture. Participants will discuss weather prediction and weather advisory services, crop weather information system and the impact of weather on human health and animal husbandry.

In a paper presented at the event, the former Director of the India Meteorological Department P.V. Joseph said the southwest monsoon was expected to pick up in the next four or five days and cover most parts of the country by the first half of July.

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