Encourage devlopment of green bldgs in Howrah, Hooghly: Hakim

kolkata: The Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) minister Firhad Hakim emphasised that developers and municipal bodies must encourage the development of green buildings in Howrah and Hooghly, where there is ample scope for real estate growth.

Speaking at an event organised by CREDAI Howrah and Hooghly, Hakim said that Howrah is now ahead of Kolkata in terms of real estate growth. “Kolkata has reached its saturation point with hardly any space left. There is now ample scope in Howrah and Hooghly,” he said.

Hakim added: “Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also likes Howrah and which is evident from her decision to shift her office (Nabanna) to Howrah. There are logistic hubs in Howrah that also paved the way for employment opportunities. We need to showcase Howrah and Hooghly.”

The UDMA minister further said: “Pollution level has also come down in Howrah. I was told by the pollution control board that air quality here has improved.” He added: “I would like to request the developers and the municipalities to encourage the growth of green buildings. I request the CREDAI Howrah and Hooghly chapter to lay emphasis on this. In Kolkata, we are already granting an extra floor area ratio (FAR) for green buildings. This also can be applicable to Howrah and Hooghly.” He added that green buildings can help us further improve the environment and help us fight pollution.

According to data from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Kolkata is one of the leading cities in terms of green building and an example of which is New Town, Rajarhat. This was made possible due to the West Bengal government’s decision to incentivise green buildings.

Shakuntala Ghosh, chairperson, IGBC Kolkata chapter, said: “There are now 55 IGBC-certified green building projects in Kolkata. Many more are in process. There is also pre-certification. If one has genuine intentions to build a green building then IGBC considers issuing a pre-certification. If one has this certification they will be able to avail of the 10 per cent additional floor area ratio (FAR) that the state government is offering.”

She added that there is a 15 per cent per year growth of green buildings in Kolkata and banks are giving preferences in terms of loans in cases of

green buildings.