The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), an international organisation offering technical consultation, training, and information services for capacity building and support to local governments in the implementation of sustainable development will soon come out with an action plan to reduce carbon emissions in the city.
The action plan is being drawn up as part of a project taken up by ICLEI, South Asia, with the support of the British High Commission, to formulate urban climate guidelines focusing on clean technologies to build sustainable low carbon cities. Tiruchi is one of three cities along with Coimbatore and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu where the project has been taken up, apart from Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
The project also seeks to develop an India-specific greenhouse gas protocol and a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system for carbon emission reduction in cities, besides trying to raise awareness of appropriate use of clean technologies among stakeholders.
The project would strive to enable the cities to follow the path of sustainable growth through the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and hybrid systems and achieving energy efficiency in households, government buildings, institutions and commercial establishments.
Representatives of the ICLEI made a presentation on the draft action plan at a stakeholders meeting, chaired by Mayor A.Jaya, at Tiruchi Corporation on Friday. The meeting was attended by representatives of various government departments, industry and trade organisations and voluntary agencies.
The project would focus on residential, commercial, industrial and government sectors, and come out with strategies for promoting renewable energy and achieving energy efficiency in households, government buildings, street lighting, water supply, sewerage system and transportation. It would also suggest strategies for use of renewable energy in hotels, hospitals, educational institutions and commercial/industrial establishments.
The project will come out with a report on financing opportunities for low carbon initiatives.
Asish Varma, Senior Project Officer, ICLEI, told The Hindu , that the guidelines and a final action plan would be prepared within the next 15 days after taking information from the stakeholders. ICLEI would also assist the corporation in implementing a few pilot projects.
At the meeting, Ms.Jaya said the corporation would initiate steps to promote renewable energy systems in the city. It has already taken up a project to convert all streetlights into compact fluorescent lamps in Golden Rock Zone. The civic body would also take up a pilot project to install solar energy systems at its buildings and also strive to raise the awareness levels among residents.
Commissioner V.P.Thandapani said as per a recent government directive installation of solar water heaters would be made mandatory for new buildings in the city. Commercial establishments would also be advised to go in for solar water heaters.
C.Chellakrishnan, manager, Ali Adil, research officer, ICLEI, Asick Meera, Deputy Mayor, and Corporation Executive Engineers R.Chandran and S.Arunchalam attended the meeting.
