Two recently-opened Delhi Metro stations — Janpath and Mandi House — have been awarded the highest-possible platinum rating for their adherence to green building norms, as prescribed by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) power receiving substation at Faridabad has also been awarded for incorporating eco-friendly technologies.
In order to apply green concepts during design and construction of all Metro stations and buildings, the IGBC has devised a new rating mechanism, which is done on a scale of platinum, gold, silver etc. like Janpath and Mandi House, the DMRC is developing all its stations under Phase III as green buildings. Currently, the Delhi Metro is constructing 140 km of Metro lines as part of Phase III, along with 19 more km across the national Capital Region (NCR) with a total of 107 Metro stations. Out of these, 4.20 km of Metro lines from Central Secretariat to ITO comprising three new Metro stations have been made operational.
The awards were given on Friday to DMRC’s Managing Director Mangu Singh by the Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Prakash Javadekar during a daylong National Conference on ‘Green Metro Systems’ at Metro Bhavan. The conference was organised by DMRC and IGBC, a part of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
Five new solar power facilities with power generation capacity of 575 kWp (kilowatt peak), installed by Delhi Metro at different Metro stations, depots and residential enclaves were also formally inaugurated during the conference. The solar power plants, which were commissioned, are located at Anand Vihar ISBT, Pragati Maidan, Yamuna Bank and depot and Metro Enclave. DMRC already has a solar power facility with capacity of 500 kWp at Dwarka Sector 21.
Formally inaugurating the solar power plants, Delhi Environment Minister Asim Ahmed Khan said, “Delhi Metro is trying its best to improve Delhi’s environment and provide clean air to the people. I am pleased to learn about the various initiatives taken by them.” The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has approved Central Financial Assistance of Rs 25.50 crore (15 per cent of benchmark cost) for installation of solar plants for generation of 20 mWp. DMRC has already awarded contracts for installation of solar power plants with capacity of 11 mWp.
