21 Green Budget projects on track, five to kick off: Sisodia

NEW DELHI: Nearly 21 Green Budget projects of the Delhi government are on track and five projects are all set to kick off, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday as he reviewed the progress of various Green Budget initiatives.

"The project of greening Delhi, by plantation of 30 lakh trees and shrubs, is in full swing and should be completed by September 30. This is being done through agencies of Delhi government, in partnership with RWAs, market association etc," said Sisodia.

Among the five projects which will start soon, two belong to the transport Department, two to the Public Works Department and one of the Forest Department.

"A meeting will take place with RWAs on Sunday to further develop a model by which each and every RWA can participate in this initiative," the Deputy CM said.

He further said that the work for bringing out a Group Net Metering policy to enable utilisation of huge solar potentials in government schools, mandis and other government buildings is also proceeding well.

"We are in the process of installing solar panels in roofs of 500 schools of Delhi government, and this project will be completed in nine months," he added.

Various incentives were announced in Green Budget 2018-19 to promote clean fuel in Delhi, such as enabling industries to move to piped natural gas, increasing adoption of clean tandoors, and promoting a switch-over from diesel generator sets to clean fuel-based ones.

Plans to finalise these incentive schemes are at an advanced stage and a special Cabinet meeting will be called next week to approve all the Green Budget proposals.

Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain on Wednesday directed his Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to strictly implement the ban on the sale, production, storage, supply, import etc, of Chinese Manja in Delhi during the upcoming festive season.