Eastern India most vulnerable to climate change, says study

Assessment by two IITs and the IISc finds 24 of India’s 100 districts most vulnerable to climate change are in Assam

The greenest part of India is the most vulnerable to climate change, a study by two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has revealed. Along with Chhattisgarh in central India, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal — all in the eastern part of the country — are the eight most vulnerable States that require prioritisation of adaptation interventions, the report by IISc, IIT-Mandi and IIT-Guwahati said. Tamil Nadu and Kerala are among seven States that are the least vulnerable but there’s more to it meets the eye. The vulnerability indices (VIs) for these States range from the lowest of 0.419 for Maharashtra to 0.468 for Uttarakhand, which the experts involved in the study said is on the higher side.