Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

After the recent visit of Union minister for new and renewable energy, Piyush Goyal to Germany, the Centre has decided to implement a new plan in Varanasi to make the city green.

Varanasi is largely dependent on fossil fuel resulting in an increase in the air pollution, with the initiative to make the city environment-friendly, the major steps that will be taken are solar power generation plants and green energy initiatives. The idea was originally suggested by Piyush, who was highly impressed with the green energy initiatives undertaken by Germany and thought of implementing the same in Varanasi.

In his statement to the ET, Varanasi’s divisional commissioner Nitin Ramesh Gokarn said that the plan has been initiated at the ministry level and it will be executed in the city as a part of the smart city mission. He further added that earlier only the government buildings were planned to be included in the green energy initiatives, but now the entire city will be covered under the plan.

Further giving the details of the execution Nitin said that “the first step will be to gauge power loss in transmission and the total energy requirement of Varanasi. This will be followed by an assessment of how much energy can be generated through solar power, which is being looked at as the most viable option for the holy city. The Centre has been keeping a close watch on implementation of urban development programmes. Sanitation and solid waste management will be closely linked to efforts to turn Varanasi green.”

Union secretary (urban development) DS Mishra also stated that since the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath has come to power in Uttar Pradesh, implementation of schemes proposed by the Centre for overall development has seen significant progress in the state.