Gujarat govt, TERI join hands to spread climate change awareness

New Delhi, Sep 19 (UNI) In an effort to face the challenges posed by climate change, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said his government was promoting the concept of 'green credits,' under which the corporates are expected to acquire land and develop green patches first before embarking on their manufacturing plans.

''Instead of carbon credits, wherein the Western world commits the crime first and looks upto us for redemption, the green credits scheme will first make sure that the companies first make amends for the emissions their factories would make in the future,'' stressed Mr Modi while speaking at the inauguration of an orientation programme on climate change being jointly organised by the Gujarat government and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) for senior Gujarat government officers here.

Mr Modi said the Gujarat government was also encouraging the concept of urban development projects. ''For every ring road to be constructed, they must evolve a Green ring too. We will ask people in villages who want road connectivity to plant trees along the route first, before we construct the roads.'' Highlighting the steps taken by his government to combat global warming, he said his government has started the 'Baal Urja Rakshak Dal' to raise consciousness among school students on energy conservation through quiz, elocution and poster-designing competitions.

''We also distribute plants at the Ambaji Temple among devotees and by appealing to their religious sentiments, we urge them to plant trees at their homes. This way we would be able to increase the green cover,'' Mr Modi said.

He said it has been made mandatory for new projects to have their own rain water harvesting programmes.

The Chief Minister said he wanted Gujarat to become a destination for renewable energy industry, and offered to provide all institutional and policy support for this goal.

He said his government has initiated large-scale introduction of CNG in vehicles in order to reduce emission levels in transport sector.

He said a special focus was on massive development of solar and wind power in the state.

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