Vijayawada gets four stars in ‘climate smart cities’ rating

The city achieved a four-star rating in the ‘Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0’ by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

It was among the nine cities in the country that were given four-star rating and no city was given a five-star rating, said Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner V. Prasanna Venkatesh.

Mr. Venkatesh said that Vijayawada was the only non-smart city that got the four stars. It was a great achievement for the city as respective departments could get insights from the City Performance Report (CPR) through the CSCAF assessment and initiate necessary environmental practices.

CSCAF nodal officer and Additional Commissioner U. Sarada Devi said the CSCAF 2.0 consisted of five themes – energy and green buildings, urban planning, green cover and biodiversity, mobility and air quality and water and waste management.

The city got five stars in waste management, four in urban planning and water management and three in energy and green building and mobility and air quality. The city scored 1,880 out of 2,800 points in the assessment.

Ms. Devi said that the outcome was due to collaborative initiatives taken up with NIUA, UN-Habitat, UNDP, AIILSG and others.

City coordinator and urban planner from UN-Habitat Imran Basha said that ULBs (urban local bodies) could leverage CSCAF recommendations to enhance climate-oriented initiatives, mechanisms and adopt a roadmap to implement climate actions.