Green Delhi

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www.publicity.delhigovt.nic.in

DELHIINDIAAmongst the Greenest Capitals of the World


Delhi_CD Booklet Final update 22.06.07 6/22/07 1:10 PM Page 1

Advisory BoardR. NarayanaswamiChief SecretaryGovernment of NCT of Delhi

P.K. TripathiPrincipal Secretary to Chief Minister, Government of NCT of Delhi

Rakesh MehtaPrincipal Secretary, Public Relations, Government of NCT of Delhi

J. K. DadooSecretary, Environment & Forest Government of NCT of Delhi

Chief Photo EditorUday SahayDirector, Information & Publicity Government of NCT of Delhi

Chief Text CoordinatorS.S. YadavSpecial Secretary to Chief Minister, Government of NCT of Delhi

Text CoordinatorM. DwarakanathSenior Scientific Officer, Environment

Green Room TeamM.S. Shehrawat, Maneesh, Nalin, Kaanchan, Satpal, Vinod, Amit, Chandan,Puran, Shyam, Sudhir, Ajay

Design and Production theIdeaWorks


DelhiAmongst the Greenest Capitals of the World

01assured airqualityfor healthier life

02efficienttransport infrastructurereducing pollution and stress, increasingefficiency and safety

03smarter energy managementconservation and use of renewables

04wastemanagementreduce, reuse & recycle and integratedapproach formanagement

05water and waste waterstrategiesgoing beyond theconventional

06green buildingsand spreadinggreen covergreening the work place

07social andcommunityactiontowards a green future



5

Today, Delhi is among the greenest Capital cities of the worldand home to the Commonwealth Games-2010. Through varioussustained efforts undertaken by Delhi Government, it isemerging as one of the most sustainable human habitations.Balance between development and environment is the essenceof Delhi’s growth philosophy. The power of knowledge is beingblended with nature’s bounty to engineer solutions that willcombat serious issues like climate change and global warming.

16 MILLION PEOPLE. RISING ASPIRATIONS.RAPID URBANISATION. CHALLENGE OF INFRASTRUCTURE. COMMITTED ADMINISTRATION. RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS.DELHI. A CLEAN GREEN METROPOLIS.


DELHI | Amongst the Greenest Capitals of the World 7

Delhi faces enormous challenges with ateeming population of 16 million andunrestrained influx of nearly half amillion people every year. There arehuge opportunities for the talented andthe consequent pressure on land, water,air, space and environment, presentsstumbling challenges of developingappropriate infrastructure to meet thecivic amenities and requirements.Emissions from India's fastest growingautomobile population of 4.5 million iscausing the city to develop modern metrosystems, large number of flyovers, massrapid transit system and high speed bus

corridors to enable the large population tomove freely and smoothly with in the city.Balancing the need for incrementalinfrastructure and yet preventing theecology from deteriorating is the need ofthe hour for Delhi. So far it has withstoodthe onslaught of burgeoning populationand its consequential needs, and the cityis now gearing for meeting the futureneeds of the population in the nextdecade. A master plan till 2021 is in placewhich sets the tone and the pace forDelhi's development, which has to besustainable for the city to thrive and grow.

Annual variation of CO at ITO (high traffic intersection) in Delhi

Source: Environment Department, Delhi Government

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Con

cent

ratio

n in

mg/

m3

00

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Pre CNGPost CNG

CO




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DESPITE THE EXPONENTIAL RISE IN THE NUMBER OFVEHICLES PLYING ON DELHI’S ROADS, THE SULPHURDIOXIDE LEVEL IN THE AIR HAS COME DOWN BY 52%BETWEEN 2000 AND 2006.

01assured air qualityfor healthier life

Achieving and maintaining good air quality is crucial to themaintenance of public health and economic vitality of everycity. Accordingly, Government of Delhi continues to worktowards developing and implementing policies that provideresidents and visitors with the benefits of clean air and a healthy environment at home, at work and at leisure.


Today, over 130,000 vehicles that run on the roads of Delhi use CNG as fuel.


Construction of over 60 flyovers, 32 by-passes and underpassesto reduce the waiting time at busy intersections thereby reducing tail pipe emissions due to stalling on clogged roads.



Thousands of polluting industries havebeen closed down and others have beenrelocated to special industrial zones withcommon effluent treatment facilities,built on the outskirts of the city. Industrialpolicy has been changed to allow onlyclean, hi-tech, service oriented industrialunits in the city. The anti-firecrackerscampaign, launched has also added tothe improvement in the quality of air inDelhi.

Over 22% of Delhi’s land area is todaycovered by forests. Over the past tenyears, the forest cover of the city hasexpanded by more than 1500 %, leadingto the expansion of the environment’scapacity to safely absorb greenhousegasses and assure minimal damage to airquality. The Delhi’s Greening program isone of the largest city greening exercisesundertaken anywhere in the world.

Trend of Ambient Air Quality Parametres before and after the introduction of CNG in Delhi

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Con

cent

ratio

n in

mg/

m3

00

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Pre CNG

Post CNG

SPM RSPM NOx SOx

Source: Environment Department, Delhi Government



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DELHI IS HOME TO THE WORLD’S MOST ECO-FRIENDLY PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORK.

02efficient transport infrastructurereducing pollution and stress,increasing efficiency and safety

Delhi’s sustainable transportation network meets people’s needs for access to jobs, commerce and recreation withoptimum utilisation of resources. Delhi is home to the world’s most eco-friendly metro rail network, envisaged and implemented with the least possible damage to nature.


The High Capacity Bus System will enhance capacity, reduce congestion and augment Delhi’s mass transport system.


Delhi’s roads are being widened to ensure easy flow of trafficand thereby bring down pollution caused by vehicles stalled in traffic jams.


Stability in power transmisson has reduced dependence on diesel generators and release of greenhouse gases.


A unique scheme in Delhi provides power efficient lightingequipment to its consumers at subsidised cost.



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THE METHANE GAS RECOVERY PROGRAM HAS BEENIMPLEMENTED SUCCESSFULLY AND IT IS BEING USED AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY IN THE WASTE TREATMENTPLANTS.

04waste managementreduce, reuse & recycle and integrated approach for management

A campaign for minimising waste called the 3Rs (Reduce,Recycle and Reuse) was undertaken by the government withactive participation of citizens through over 2000 ResidentWelfare Associations and 1600 Eco Clubs in schools andcolleges of the city. A large number of Resident WelfareAssociations have taken up solid waste segregation andmanagement in their colonies at a decentralised level.


Garbage has been used at large land filling sites to transformwastelands into parks and add to the city’s green cover.



The World Bank has sanctioned grantunder Japan’s Policy and HumanResources Development (PHRD) schemefor gas recovery and reuse, to theMunicipal Corporation of Delhi. Theproject consists of landfill gas extractiontesting, feasibility study and technicaldesign of the project. It is expected that 3.0 million Tonnes of equivalent of CO2will be reduced. The methane gas recoveryprogram has been implemented success-fully and it is being used as a source ofenergy in the waste treatment plants. Thisnot only reduces the emission of green-house gases from the decomposition ofwaste, but also reduces the dependence ofthe system on external sources of power,thereby reducing energy consumption andsubsequent pollution.

Two major projects of waste managementare being implemented in Public-Private Partnership by the MunicipalCorporation of Delhi. 2000 tonnes ofsolid waste will be treated and convertedinto 16 MW of power in a 15 acre site inDelhi. Secondly, about 100 tonnes ofsolid wastes will be converted into bio-gas

and compost through a bio-methanationplant. Further, 1200 tonnes of solidwaste is expected to generate 10-12 MWof power in another project. If these twoprojects work well, they will be expandedto put all of Delhi’s 7000 tonnes of solidwaste into effective and productive use.

Plastic bags were a serious threat to thecity’s eco system and have been banned.Degradable plastic bags are promoted in abig way through both statutory and nonstatutory measures. The ‘Say no to Plastic’campaign has been a huge success with allhotels, shopping malls and otherestablishments shifting to paper bags.

Resources like paper have been recycledwithin government offices. Over 50 paperrecycling units have been set up in the cityincluding one in the Delhi Secretariat, theseat of the city government. Some of themhave been installed in schools anddemonstrate the value of recycling to thenew generation. Together, these plantsrecycle the waste paper that emanatesfrom government offices and schools,controlling pollution.



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ADVANCED METHANE GAS RECOVERY SYSTEMS FROM WASTE WATER TREATMENT AND USED TO MEET REQUIREMENTS OF THE PLANT.

05water and waste water strategiesgoing beyond the conventional

Delhi's water policy works towards sustainable water use,balancing the needs of the community with the ability to tapmore and more raw water and treat it in the most efficientmanner. Energy consumption for water treatment has also been subjected to tight audits.


In Sonia Vihar Treatment Plant, over 15% energy has beenconserved by applying stringent energy audit mechanismsleading to reduction in GHG emissions.


Delhi has implemented programmes to rejuvenate waterbodies by recycling waste water from sewage treatment plants.



37

THE EXPANSION AND CONSTRUCTION OF INTEGRATEDTERMINALS FOR DELHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITEDWILL ADOPT THE GREEN BUILDING CONCEPT.

06green buildings andspreading green covergreening the work place

Delhi has decided to adopt the Green Buildings technology across all its major construction agencies through a circularissued in 2003. The green building concept emphasizessustainable site planning, design and construction of buildingsto achieve maximum harmony with nature and at the same time reduce negative environmental effects.


Active efforts by the Government have led to the expansion in forest cover of the city from 26 sq. km to over 300 squarekilometers over the past 10 years.


14 city forests are being revived and 9 entirely new city forestsare being created.



along railway lines, railway stations,along the drains, village communitylands and villages, bunds of agriculturallands, farm lands etc were also selectedfor plantation in a coordinated effortswith the concerned agencies. Initiativessuch as free distribution of saplingsthrough 13 Departmental nurseries andthrough the nurseries of other greeningagencies were also taken. Novelapproach such as free distributionthrough petrol pumps and Mother Diarymilk vending booths during monsoonseason yielded fruitful results.

The abandoned mines in the outskirts ofDelhi were reclaimed and refurbishedwith half a million trees and today theentire 4000 acres is resplendent with abeautiful green cover where animals andinsects are finding their homes in largenumbers. It has become a renewed wildlife sanctuary and waste lands have beenconverted into verdant green space.

The Government of Delhi will utiliseevery inch of space to plant 1.8 millionsaplings in 2007-08 and this would be arecord for any city in the world. Thiseffort will be taken up as a separatecarbon financing project under the cleandevelopment mechanism.



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THE ‘CATCH THEM YOUNG’ PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT DISSEMINATES AWARENESSACTIVITIES ACROSS CITY SCHOOLS.

07social and community actiontowards a green future

From development to implementation to evaluation - effectivepublic education and information efforts at every step haveplayed a pivotal role in building a sustainable Delhi. GivenDelhi’s diversity of communities and cultures, the programs had to be consistently engaging, positive and inclusive.Accurate, usable information about sustainability has beenmade widely available, in many languages and formats.


Bhagidari Workshops involving Resident Welfare Associations,Traders’ Associations, Schools, NGOs and Corporates haveincreased citizen involvement in environmental issues.


Bhagidari Program involving Residents Welfare Associations,Traders Associations, Schools, NGOs and Corporates havecreated tremendous awareness among citizens of Delhi.




Published by:Directorate of Information and Publicity

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Green Delhi