BENGALURU: The state government is formulating a plan that will soon prohibit industries from drawing fresh water from rivers and other water bodies, and instead force them to use recycled water.
Urban Development Department Secretary Anjum Parvez said on Thursday that the government is planning to create a 100-km-long network of recycled water along 10 cities with municipal corporations and that industries from now on will be required to use such water for their needs and not use fresh water.
Speaking at the 2018 Sustainable Buildings R&D Summit on Innovations for the Built Environment, he said: “Human requirement for water is less, so the issue is about how we use water rather than how much we need, which is where we believe the new policy will play a key role.”
He also spoke of slew of government measures including rainwater harvesting and smart cities plans on renewable energy. “Ultimately, the government can make regulations and try to enforce it, but it the other stakeholders and the citizens do not co-operate, we won’t be able to achieve much,” he said.
P Ravichandran, CEO, Danfoss, argued that blind aping of the West will do no good to sustainable development in the country. “There are five different climatic zones in India, and many years ago, buildings were built using local materials suited for these areas and architecture reflected that. Today, the buildings are the same everywhere, we need to go back in time a bit, and marry that to new technologies,” he said.
He also pointed out that a variety of things—materials used, energy efficiency, water management et al—must be kept in mind before designing a building and that how sustainable a building can be is determined right at the design state.
Ajay Mathur, director General of TERI, which organised the conference, however, said: “Tomorrow cannot be more of yesterday, we don’t have enough material, energy or water to do that. Also, the maximum demand for buildings is coming from the lower income groups, which means that they must also be the ones creating demand for newer technologies and materials.” He said that India needs both innovation and the demand for innovations.
Urban Development Department Secretary Anjum Parvez said on Thursday that the government is planning to create a 100-km-long network of recycled water along 10 cities with municipal corporations and that industries from now on will be required to use such water for their needs and not use fresh water.
Speaking at the 2018 Sustainable Buildings R&D Summit on Innovations for the Built Environment, he said: “Human requirement for water is less, so the issue is about how we use water rather than how much we need, which is where we believe the new policy will play a key role.”
He also spoke of slew of government measures including rainwater harvesting and smart cities plans on renewable energy. “Ultimately, the government can make regulations and try to enforce it, but it the other stakeholders and the citizens do not co-operate, we won’t be able to achieve much,” he said.
P Ravichandran, CEO, Danfoss, argued that blind aping of the West will do no good to sustainable development in the country. “There are five different climatic zones in India, and many years ago, buildings were built using local materials suited for these areas and architecture reflected that. Today, the buildings are the same everywhere, we need to go back in time a bit, and marry that to new technologies,” he said.
He also pointed out that a variety of things—materials used, energy efficiency, water management et al—must be kept in mind before designing a building and that how sustainable a building can be is determined right at the design state.
Ajay Mathur, director General of TERI, which organised the conference, however, said: “Tomorrow cannot be more of yesterday, we don’t have enough material, energy or water to do that. Also, the maximum demand for buildings is coming from the lower income groups, which means that they must also be the ones creating demand for newer technologies and materials.” He said that India needs both innovation and the demand for innovations.
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