ANU(ChandigarhCityews)
CII hosts Green Conclave to promote environment-friendly approach to development
Smart Built Environment – Engaging Communities
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised an awareness programme ‘Green Conclave: Smart Built Environment – Engaging Communities’ at CII Northern Region HQ, Sector 31 A, Chandigarh, today.
Emphasizing upon environment-friendly approach to development, Mr Vivek Atray, Special Secretary, Monitoring & Coordination Department, Government of Haryana, said, “We must come together to protect and preserve the environment as it concerns the very existence and quality of our lives. Focus on the three areas of technology, innovation and creating awareness and engaging communities can help preserve a Green Planet for future generations.”
“With rapid industrial growth and developments especially over the past three hundred years, the resulting pollution and depleting natural resources has led to a grave threats like global warming, depleting underground water table etc. we need to take charge of the way our environment is headed by adopting Green technology in every way possible for a Green future. Is needed we must bring in stricter norms and encourage all stakeholders especially the industry to adopt Green technology,” he said.
“Innovation is the key to achieve a balance between development and ecology. If mankind is capable of such rapid growth and progress over past 300 years, we are also equipped to stem the damage we are causing to the environment. Innovation has to keep ahead of the requirements of the future generations. Thirdly, creating awareness and engaging communities towards the goal of nurturing our Planet is the key to a Greener, thus safer, future for the world. For this, we must start at the school and college level,” he added.
Mr Prabhat Mishra, Vice-President, Renew Power Venture Pvt Limited, said, “We must focus on designing our houses or industrial complexes based on green technology. The initial cost may be a bit high but it can save millions in the cost of production. Leading industry giants the world over are opting green buildings and technology and saving on their energy consumption costs. Industry the world over must also take into account the Green benefit of environment-friendly business establishments and practices. Besides being a very noble cause, preserving the environment is of great value to a better future for all stakeholders. Working in the direction of environment conservation must be given similar status as the fields of education and health.”
Mr Sofi Zahoor, Vice-Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council, said, “Climate change is increasingly becoming a central topic of debate and strategic decision making by Governments and businesses all over the world. The warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperature, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level. It impacts all countries, but is particularly severe for developing countries like India, given their vulnerabilities, inadequate means and limited capacities to adapt to its effects. Faced with increasing scarcity of resources, the construction sector is increasingly focusing on ‘green buildings as a solution’. As a result, India has emerged as one of the world’s top destinations for green buildings and has implemented a number of home-rating schemes and building codes, which open up a wide range of opportunities in construction, architecture and engineering design, building materials and equipment manufacture.”
Mr Abhimanyu Deswal, Co-Chairman, IGBC Chandigarh Chapter, said, “To truly usher in an era of Smart Cities, the focus must remain on sustainable living. It must integrate modern lifestyles of the people with sustainable living and judicious use of natural resources.
