Green buildings essential for sustainable development: Khandre

Bengaluru: Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwara B Khandre opined that green building plays an important role in the era of global warming and climate change.

Speaking while inaugurating the 22nd edition of the 3-day Green Building Congress 2024-Green Expo in Bangalore, he said that adopting norms necessary for sustainable development is the need of the day, and green building is one of them.

Infrastructure should be improved and natural environment should be preserved. In this regard, care should be taken not to cause more damage to the environment. He said that green buildings play an important role in the field of building construction.

People need to create awareness about green buildings. Green Building Council of India is working hard in this regard. He opined that there should be new researches in the green building sector and the results of those researches should be made available to everyone at a cheap price only then it can be successful.

Green buildings are effective in reducing carbon emissions. Green Building Congress should create public awareness about this, he said, adding that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has officially launched the ‘Bangalore Climate Action and Resilience Plan’ (BCAP) as a major step towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Today there is pollution in the food, there is pollution in the water, there is pollution in the air which is the source of life. He said that the responsibility of controlling this pollution is on everyone.

City needs more parks

Bengaluru needs many more parks like Lal Bagh, Cubbon Park. In this regard, Eshwara Khandre said that 153 acres of land has already been identified near Yelahanka and the foundation stone will be laid by the end of this month.

Similarly, the legal process has started to take back the 443 acres of forest land which is said to have been given to HMT in the 1960s, and the aim is to build a huge botanical garden in this space as well, he said. The state currently has 22 percent forest area, and it is necessary to increase this coverage to 33 percent. That is why the government is planting more and more plants and nurturing them, he said.