NEW DELHI, October 8: The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) is exploring ways to improve the urban transport system with special reference to Smart cities concept in the country.
In an exclusive interview with Eastern Mirror at his office here on Saturday, Director General Dr Ajay Mathur of TERI said, “Some works are on in Shimla and Dharmashala and I hope the actual planning (in these hill towns) will teach us the best solution.” The popular luxury car and motorcycle maker of Germany - BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG-German pronunciation) which has 82 car models now have battery enabled and hybrid cars, has taken up steps for “sustainable mobility” in this changing world by introducing electric cars and care sharing initiatives for the global consumers, said Andreas Khegescheid, Head of steering government & External affairs, BMW.
“The world is changing faster than we think so car industries are also changing these days to decarbonisation and digitalization as the global trend is driving the future of sustainable mobility,” said, the BMW official while speaking at ‘Realizing the Electric mobility vision’ in the ongoing world sustainable development summit(WSDS) here.
“Sustainability is no longer a password but become a global necessity”.
On the water conservation front, Dr Mathur who is the member of the Prime Minister’s Office on Climate Change also expressed the need “to find specific community based solution for water conservation in the hilly terrains of North Eastern Himalayan region.”
Only 21% of households in the NE region which occupies 8% India’s landmass, having about 44.98 million across eight states, about 4% of the total population of India, as per the 2011 census, have reportedly access to tap water as though the main drinking water source in the region even though there is enough annual rainfall due to lack of conservation practices.
Interestingly most of the experts in the field of water management have also recommended efficient rainwater harvest system, proper conservation of water by developing required infrastructure for the proper management in the region during the 4-day World Sustainable Development Summit held under the aegis of TERI which concludes at India Habitat Centre on Saturday.
Country representative Dr Alok Sikka of International Water Management Institute, a scientific research organisation focussing on suitable use of water and land resources in developing countries, said,“I think you should write more on this issue as your region requires efficient rainwater harvest system besides enhancing conservation and storage facilities. We’ve been in Mizoram and Meghalaya. So we know the potentials there.”
Sharing a similar sentiment, Chairman Dr A Ravindra of Centre for sustainable development and Institute for social & economic change appealed to “capture the rain water” for sustainable development in NE region which gets high rain falls around 2,500 millimeters on an average.
