The city achieved a four-star rating in the “Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0” by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
It was among the nine cities in the country to receive a four-star rating and no city received a five-star rating, said V. Prasanna Venkatesh, commissioner for the Vijayawada municipal government.
Mr. Venkatesh said that Vijayawada was the only non-intelligent city that got the four stars. It was a great success for the city as the respective departments were able to gain insights from the City Performance Report (CPR) through the CSCAF assessment and introduce necessary environmental practices.
CSCAF Node Officer and Additional Commissioner U. Sarada Devi said that CSCAF 2.0 consists of five themes – energy and green buildings, urban planning, green spaces and biodiversity, mobility and air quality, and water and waste management.
The city received five stars in waste management, four in urban planning and water management and three in energy and green building as well as mobility and air quality. In the assessment, the city achieved 1,880 out of 2,800 points.
Ms. Devi said the result was due to joint initiatives with NIUA, UN-Habitat, UNDP, AIILSG and others.
UN-Habitat urban coordinator and urban planner Imran Basha said ULBs (Urban Local Authorities) could use CSCAF recommendations to improve climate-oriented initiatives and mechanisms and adopt a roadmap for implementing climate action.