VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada shines brightly in the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0 results, bagging a 4-Star rating.
The Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India, has initiated the CSCAF 2.0 in October 2020. None of the 126 cities that were assessed could get the 5-star rating.
Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner V. Prasanna Venkatesh said that only nine cities across India got 4-star ratings and Vijayawada is the only non-Smart City in India in this category. He emphasised that only 2 cities from Andhra Pradesh, namely Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, achieved the 4-Star rating.
An elated Commissioner described it as a great achievement for the city of Vijayawada. He opined that further based on the City Performance Report (CPR) with recommendations, respective departments can get insights through the CSCAF assessment and help the city put in place the best environment practices for safe and healthy living.
U. Sarada Devi, the Nodal Officer (CSCAF 2.0) and Additional Commissioner (Projects) at VMC, explained that CSCAF 2.0 consisted of five themes namely, Energy and Green Buildings, Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity, Mobility and Air Quality, Water Management, and Waste Management. She observed that the results were due to collaborative processes adopted with the C-Cube at the NIUA, UN-Habitat, UNDP, AIILSG and city/state-level stakeholders.
Imran Basha, the City Coordinator and Urban Planner from the UN-Habitat (Nodal person assigned from UN-Habitat and NIUA), said that ULBs can leverage CSCAF recommendations to enhance climate-oriented initiatives, mechanisms and adopt roadmap in cities to implement climate actions.
Venkatesh along with other officials released the City Performance report on the occasion.
