Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has called upon the developed countries for assistance in collectively fighting the problems arising out of climate change.
“My vision as the Chief Minister to address climate change is based on the principle of 3 Cs – Conservation, Connectivity and Clean Cities,” he said while speaking at one of the sessions on climate change at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
The CM said, “Our concern for the cause of climate change is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of One Earth, One Family, One Future,” he said adding that India is working on strategies to cut emissions. “The steps include incentives for wind and solar energy, increasing forest cover, effective waste management and climate education in schools,” he said.
'Need for strong public private partnerships'
Shinde added that as per the sustainable development goals, there’s a need for “strong public private partnerships, and Maharashtra is leading the way through the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme”.
Although Mumbai has the largest natural forest in any metropolitan area in the world, it also has some of the largest slums, said Shinde. “I would like to highlight one case study to make Mumbai a slum-free city. The government is providing each slum dweller a 300 sqft house cross subsidised against free vacant land and the entire programme is executed by private developers,” he said.
Calling it the largest public-private partnership real estate programme ever to be undertaken in India, Shinde said that Maharashtra has so far built almost 1 lakh houses. “Some portion of land in this redevelopment project has been kept for gardens and afforestation,” he noted.
Shinde said that the more than 800 hectares of mangroves have been protected through slum redevelopment. “Our government has initiated the largest slum rehabilitation programme in Dharavi, spread across 300 hectares, to rehabilitate 56,000 families. Through slum rehabilitation we plan to promote housing for all and reduce pollution through reclamation of land and its conversion into urban forest,” he added.
The CM said, “We also believe in collective action to combat climate change by involving civic society. We have 834 community-based organisations that create awareness amongst people about sanitation.”
