Coimbatore has been shortlisted for another award – for reducing carbon dioxide emission through its initiatives, Mayor S.M. Velusamy said here on Saturday.
He told reporters here that WWF had selected Coimbatore under the ‘Earth Hour City Challenge 2014’ as one of the three finalists from 11 participant cities.
The selection was made possible because the Corporation had taken steps to bring down its reliance on conventional energy sources. The civic body had brought down its power consumption a year by up to two MW and expenditure by Rs. 2.62 crore.
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It had planned to install energy-efficient LED bulbs in streetlights in added areas at Rs.21 crore.
It had already replaced tube lights and CFL bulbs at Corporation establishments to save energy up to 30 per cent. This comes alongside the 13.6 KW savings on energy because of installation of LED lights in the Mettupalayam Road bus stand.
The Corporation used solar water heaters at its urban health centres, installed power saving equipment at JNNURM building to conserve 15 per cent power and erected solar photovoltaic panels at various establishments, he said.
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Mr. Velusamy also said that the Corporation had recently won the energy conservation award in the general category from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy sources.
The achievements in power conservation and energy efficiency come close on the heels of achievements in education, progress of works, etc. He said that pass percentage in Class X examination had increased by nine per cent in 2013 and by four per cent in Plus Two examination.
Students at the special school for the differently abled were undergoing tablet-based education, primary school students were being taught yoga, and Class X and Plus Two students given question banks, he said.
Mr. Velusamy also highlighted achievements in the health sector.