Hyderabad, February 18 Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Wednesday that Hyderabad aims to achieve net zero by 2034, and that the state government will soon conduct a city-wide carbon footprint audit.
Speaking at the "Mumbai Climate Week" in the Maharashtra capital, he emphasized that growth, investments, and job creation must continue alongside sustainability.
"Within the next five years, there will be almost no industry or factory within the urban area," he said, highlighting the sustainability initiatives of his government for Hyderabad.
The initiatives include ambitious plans for the rejuvenation of the highly polluted Musi river, the restoration of lakes, the strengthening of water and energy grids, and the establishment of HYDRAA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency), the country's first dedicated environmental police force, according to an official release here.
Referring to the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the chief minister stated that both have changed the approach of governments, describing the current situation as a "climate emergency".
He also said that taxes on electric vehicles have been removed in Hyderabad, leading to high EV adoption, while discussions are underway with EV firms for manufacturing investments.
Over two lakh auto-rickshaws in the city are being retrofitted, and more than 3,500 state-run public transport buses are being replaced with EVs, and the Hyderabad Metro is being expanded from 71 kilometers to over 200 kilometers.
Industries are being progressively shifted from the core urban region to peri-urban zones, Reddy said.
