Hyderabad: With a vision to make Telangana a more thermally comfortable and heat-resilient state, the Telangana government took an innovative step.
Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister K.T. Rama Rao launched the ‘Telangana Cool Roof Policy 2023-2028’ in Hyderabad on Monday. The Minister spoke about the benefits of the policy which is aimed at reducing heat island impact and heat stress. KTR said that the policy has long-term objectives which will be of use to future generations.
Telangana being the third most urbanized state in the country with almost 50% of the population residing in urban areas, there is a serious need to introduce cost-effective and climate-friendly cooling solutions to counter the urban heat island effect. Telangana is the first State in the country to launch a cool roof policy and it is the right step in the direction to address future climate challenges. The policy encourages and promotes the usage of cool roofs. These roofs reflect some of the sun’s incoming radiation back into the atmosphere thus reducing heat retention and cooling indoor spaces.
Speaking about the ambitious target the State set, KTR said, “By 2030, 200 square kilometres in Hyderabad and 100 square kilometres in the rest of the State will be brought under cool roofing”. In comparison, the target set by New York was to cover 10 lakh square feet or 0.1 square kilometres. Further, he said that the area under Outer Ring Road was over 1000 square kilometres and that about 20% of the area inside ORR will be brought under cool roofing. The Minister added that the State government’s ambition was to implement it in government housing schemes, government offices, roads, pavements, and cycling tracks.
On the occasion, KTR urged builders and individuals who construct buildings to take it up. Cool roofing can be implemented by using paints, tiles or other materials to reflect sunlight. It can be retrofitted in existing buildings. Recalling his conversation with tiles and paints company representatives, KTR said that people can recover their investment in cool roofing within two years, in the form of energy savings and others. The minister said that campaigns would be taken up to explain to people the benefits of cool roofs.Recalling the state government’s commitment towards environment conservation, KTR said that Telangana was the first State to adopt Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in 2014, the state government implemented Haritha Haaram and encouraged the usage of energy-efficient machines and systems. Also, the Minister spoke to the officials about incentivising urban farming and rooftop kitchens. (INN)