Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Girija Vyas on Friday urged the Central Public Works Department to meet the challenges and aspirations of a growing economy with “efficient technology, transparency and dedication”.
Delivering the inaugural address at the 159th anniversary celebrations of CPWD here, the Minister said the Department has made enormous contribution in creating infrastructure in the National Capital and the difficult border areas. Sustainable development, Dr. Vyas said, is both an objective and a challenge and that should be the agency’s focus area.
While empathy for environment remains the cornerstone for sustainable development, CPWD should strive to conserve natural resources like water with efficient usage, she stressed.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit complimented CPWD for its contribution in changing the infrastructure and the skyline of Delhi. She acknowledged CPWD’s performance during the Commonwealth Games in building sports infrastructure and flyovers, which were game changers for the Capital.
Stating that green buildings are the answer to the fast-increasing power consumption, Ms. Dikshit asked the CPWD to bring out a manual to make houses environment friendly.
She said green buildings are going to be an appropriate solution to the depleting natural resources such as power and underground water levels. She also said that while techniques such as water harvesting, waste-to-energy and recycling were needed, the least expensive and least resisted measure towards sustainability were green buildings.
She added that simple measures like painting roofs of building could help in saving energy, which will bring down power consumption by one-third. The construction of houses as per “green building” concept requires no additional expenditure, she insisted.
