Stating that Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi are facing adverse climate conditions, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has called for a comprehensive policy to tackle the rising climate emergencies in the country.

“The cities Delhi, which is the national capital; Mumbai, which is the financial capital; Hyderabad, which is the pharmaceuticals capital, and Bangalore; which is the IT capital, are facing serious climate adversities today, despite being major economic powerhouses in the nation. This indicates that we have to chalk out a comprehensive policy to tackle the rising issue of climate emergencies in the country,” Reddy said on Wednesday while speaking on the second day of the Mumbai Climate Week (MCW).

Speaking during a session titled Accelerating Sub-National Climate Action: Key to Advancing Sub-National Economic Growth, Reddy said that post-Covid, rainfall in Hyderabad had increased drastically in the past five years. The average rainfall recorded in Hyderabad stood at 2 cm in 24 hours till 2020, but the city has been recording 40 cm of rainfall in a two-hour period since 2020, he added.

“From the time of independence till the early 1990s, our country focused largely on the aspects of irrigation and education. Later in the mid 1990s, liberalisation was introduced, and we focused on investment reserves and building our economy for the next three decades. Now, post-2020, our focus should be development coupled with sustainability because of the climate emergency and dealing with it is the need of the hour,” Reddy said.

Suman Bery, Vice-Chairperson, NITI Aayog, said that one cannot separate growth from inclusion in a democratic setup now. “Cities are the new frontier for growth and jobs. Therefore, the fact that how cities position themselves in the lines of sustainability is important because it’s on the basis of the position that they take up, political thoughts will be given,” Bery said.

Also present on the dais was Charity Kathambi Chepkwony, an MP from Kenya, which in 2016 became the first nation to enact a climate change law.