President Murmu lauds govt efforts to mitigate climate change

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said the government has undertaken several initiatives to mitigate impacts of climate change, including releasing climate-resilient crop varieties and launching river interlinking projects to provide water to drought-affected areas.

The government has released 109 climate-resilient, bio-fortified and high-yielding advanced crop varieties to farmers in the past six months, Murmu said while addressing a joint sitting of Parliament which marked the start of the Budget session.

"To build a weather-ready and climate-smart India, my government has launched Mission Mausam at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore which will also benefit our farmers," she said.

The President said that following the vision of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the government has made headway on historic river interlinking projects to provide irrigation and drinking water in the drought-affected areas of the country.

"The Ken-Betwa Link Project, with a cost of over Rs 44,000 crore, will benefit millions of brothers and sisters in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh," she said.

Murmu further said the government has introduced the BioE3 Policy to boost bio-manufacturing which will serve as the facilitator for the next industrial revolution.

The focus of bioeconomy is on the efficient utilisation of natural resources to create new employment opportunities while preserving the environment, she said. PTI GVS DIV DIV

Source: PTI