Anagha Speaks

Since the Climate Change negotiations at Copenhagen in December 2009 and the subsequent promises by India to reduce its carbon footprint, it looks like the Indian government seems to be keenly following it up through actions being initiated at the state level. In Maharashtra, the building and construction sector is slated to become one of the sectors which has been asked to pull up its "green" socks! In a state level meet in February 2010 at Mumbai, it was announced that the Government of Maharashtra may look at making Green Buildings mandatory in the state. It means that the local municipal bodies or the building development sanctioning authorities may have to look at modified Development Control Rules, which necessarily follow prescriptions of a Green Building Rating System. Today, in India there are a multitude of Green Building Rating Systems that are being voluntarily adopted by project developers. USGBC's LEED, LEED India, IGBC Green Homes, Eco Housing and TERI GRIH...

Last week, I had a chance to visit and stay in Gurgaon, a new face of suburbia in India. I was appalled at the chaos that is Gurgoan. I had heard about the glitz and glamour of the city. The NH8 that connects Gurgaon to Delhi is lined with tall glass facade buildings, showing prominent corporate brands on their faces. The NH8 itself is a multiple lane freeway, where cars speed to and fro between Delhi and Gurgaon, carrying in them elite business class of India, churning wealth and pouring money into the country's economy. While this is happening at one end, where the private sector is complacent in its own wealth, the roads and the urban infrastructure is terrible. The minute you step out of your own glass building and stand on the road, you see a high speed vehicle access but no place to walk! Footpaths are not only non existent, its extremely unsafe to walk along the road sides at dusk. The dusty landscape of this region spills on to the new roads, so the road sides are sand fill...