Hyderabad: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K. T. Rama Rao and Herrick Soleheim, under Secretary General of United Nations and Executive Director of UN Environment, flagged off the electrical vehicles at a function organized at Peoples Plaza on Friday.
GHMC Mayor Dr. Bonthu Rammohan, Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin, Corporator Vijaya Reddy, GHMC Commissioner Dr. B. Janardhan Reddy and senior officials of various departments also participated in the programme.
The Minister welcomed Herrick Soleheim and thanked him for his participation in an initiative to make Hyderabad pollution free. Addressing the gathering, the Minister said that the State Government was planning to take up electric vehicle policy soon.
He said several measures were taken to restore ecological and environmental balance. Under Telangana Harithaharam programme, more than 230 crores saplings are being planted in a period of 5 years to enhance the green cover from 22% to 23%.
KTR said that the project is not confined to planting the saplings but they are being geo-tagged and protected. Similarly, he said nearly 46,000 lakes and tanks in the entire state are been protected.
He said Hyderabad will be plastic free city by 2022. The GHMC has also taken up LED street lights with 420,000 LED bulbs.
The HMR project at L.B.Nagar will also be opened to the public by July end and the works pertaining to HMR will also be taken up at Hi-tech City very soon.
Herrick Soleheim, the under Secretary General of United Nations and Executive Director of UN Environment, welcomed the gathering with Swachh Namaskaram and recalled Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s slogan cleanliness is next to Godliness and also Swachh Bharath Mission of Prime Minister of India.
He assured of full support from the United Nations and UN Environment for taking up various initiatives for pollution free environment in the near future.
Earlier, the GHMC Mayor briefed about 100 various innovative projects taken up by the GHMC for pollution free like segregation of garbage waste and other major civic related issues for providing better civic infrastructure to the citizens.
Later, the Minister, other dignitaries and all the participants have taken oath for taking up moral responsibility for making the city pollution free. (INN)