In the semi-arid landscape of Jamui district’s Khaira and Barhat blocks, climate change is felt most sharply in summer. Heatwaves have become longer and more intense, humidity drops drastically, and hot nights offer little relief. For farmers, working outdoors during large parts of the year has become exhausting and sometimes dangerous, directly affecting livelihoods. With little tree cover, cattle, birds and other wildlife also struggle, while shrinking water availability deepens the stress on people and ecosystems alike.

These shared concerns surfaced during Climate Resilient Panchayat Campaign meetings, as communities worked with their Gram Panchayat Mukhiyas to draft Climate Resilient Panchayat Action Plans. Ten Panchayats raised a common demand: increase green cover to moderate heat and restore balance. Roadside plantations emerged as a practical solution. But when forest officials pointed out that existing rules allowed plantations only along national and state highways, not village roads, the effort seemed to stall.

Instead, Panchayat leaders and community representatives pushed back. They approached senior forest officials and decision-making authorities, arguing that local roads were where shade was needed most. Their persistence paid off. The Forest Department agreed to initiate a process outside its usual mandate, with active support from the CRPC team, Mukhiyas and villagers.

The result was a 58-kilometre-long roadside plantation across five Gram Panchayats in Khaira and Barhat. Every sapling has survived. The landscape has visibly changed, offering shade and cooling where there was none before. Eleven community members have been hired for plant protection work on three-year contracts, earning ₹400 a day, and participation in Panchayat and forest initiatives has grown.

“The climate survivors are becoming climate champions,” says Pradip Kumar Yadav, a CRPC campaigner in Jamui and Nawada. “By drafting their own action plans and engaging the government, communities are proving that bottom-up climate planning is the foundation of real resilience.”