Rajkot lies in semi arid region of Saurashtra situated at 138 meters above Mean Sea Level (MSL). It is one of the fourth fastest growing city of Gujarat supporting large oil engine, textile industries. The city has number of high rise buildings impressively colonised and promotes high quality education of the State. Rajkot is famous for its jewellery market, silk embroidery and watch parts. The city hosts several small scale manufacturing industries.

Rajkot Municipal Corporation has successfully participated in Asia Pro Eco Programme of “European Commission” during 2004-2005 along with Leicester city of UK and Gaia city of Portugal. The project had focused on “Partnership Support for Renewable Energy between European and Asian Towns”. Identifying the work done by Rajkot Municipal Corporation in the field of non conventional energy sources, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy provided grant for construction of “District Level Energy Park” at Rajkot. Rajkot Urban Development Authority has revised its Building Bye Laws-General Development Control Regulations act (GDCR) in 2004 and included a clause for mandatory provision of “Solar Assisted water heating System”.

As Rajkot has been facing severe water crisis for last many years, Rajkot Municipal Corporation has recently passed resolution for “Recycling and reuse of waste water” in new developments coming up in the city and the use of potable domestic water for non potable uses. Rajkot Municipal Corporation has planned to set up 200 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar grid connect photovaltic(PV) system power station to be implemented in phases initially.

Rajkot is a participant in ICLEI's Urban Climate Project, funded by the United States Department of State. Through the Urban Climate Project, Rajkot has worked on implementing clean and efficient initiatives incorporated within their large scale infrastructure projects. Initiatives undertaken in Rajkot through the project have ranged from policy level interventions to pilot project implementation, showcasing waste water reuse, renewable energy adoption and energy efficiency. The project also models GHG deflections to showcase the benefits.

Rajkot is a participant in the national Solar Cities Programme. The Solar City master plan for Rajkot was completed by ICLEI South Asia in 2010 and outlines methods for Rajkot to reduce its energy consumption by 10% through energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes.

Howrah is situated on the west bank of the river Hooghly within the state of West Bengal. It is the second largest city in the state of West Bengal after Kolkata and is also part of Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Howrah is historically known as one of the leading economic centres in the country with largest concentration of engineering industries and a significant number of large, small-scale manufacturing and servicing industries. However the city started to suffer as many of these industries caused pollution problems. Enormous population pressure (a population of well over a million and density of nearly 20,000 per square kilometer) triggered by inward migration – the city has historically attracted many from its hinterland and even from other states searching for jobs – has also contributed to the pressure. 

The city environmentally has its share of problems – most being historical burdens - with factors like limited open space, high level of air pollution, industrial emission, population pressure and urban poverty and likewise. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has recently categorized Howrah as an ‘environmental hotspot’. According to the state of West Bengal report, Howrah city is a ‘Very Highly Sensitive’ area.

Howrah’s climate threats emerge from the fact that it is on the bank of river Hooghly, a tidal river, and any rise in water level is bound to impact the city and cause severe flooding. Howrah is only about 100 km away from the Sundarbans - the world’s largest mangrove forest – which has been internationally recognised as one of the world’s most vulnerable areas to climate change with rise in sea level being highest in the country and hotbed of tropical storms and cyclones.

Howrah became the first city in India to adopt a vision plan for climate proofing and environment management. As part of a Govt of West Bengal project to serve urban poor - Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor (KUSP) – supported by Department for International Development (DfID),  Howrah Municipal Corporation was selected as the pilot study area for “Preparation of State of Environment Report(s) and Environmental Management and Action Plan for KUSP Project area”  with an objective to prepare a pragmatic and usable environment management plan with focus on reducing environmental risks and an emphasis on sustainable usage of natural and environmental resources. Howrah is also going to be announced as a Solar City. Apart From this ICLEI South Asia choose Howrah as one of the South Asian city where climate change adaptation and mitigation project is suppose to initiate very shortly.

HOWRAH CITY’S PLANS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY:

• Improvement of drainage
• Communicating Climate Change Concern to Community
• Upgrade Public Utility Services including drainage; introducing climate friendly housing rules
• Traffic rationalization & road widening
• Emphasize on solar energy
• Implementation of Green Tax
• Industry relocation in Hubs & Parks
• Conservation & Development of river & river basin
• Solid Waste Management
• Upgrade Public health delivery system
• Disaster Management

HOWRAH CITY’S INITIATIVES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY:
These initiatives either already undertaken or in the pipeline – are as follows: 

• Installation of 3 KW  solar power plant within municipal building
• Energy audit
• Fixing timer in street light that will turn off the lights after 12 at midnight.
• Sprinkling of water on road
• Sanitary landfill site
• Rain water harvesting and recycling of waste water in buildings
• Increase of green cover
• More supply of surface water (fringe areas) to reduce pressure on ground water
• River Front development and beautification

Shimla was first constituted as a Municipal Committee in December, 1851 and is now a multifunctional city with prominent tourism, administration and institutional activities. As per 2001 census, Shimla is the only Class I town in the entire state of Himachal Pradesh.

Water supply system of Shimla was established in 1875 to serve the population of 20,000. At present the water requirement per day for Shimla city is 39.85 MLD as against the supply of 33 MLD.  Thus to remove the operational inefficiencies and meet the water demand SMC is planning a phased approach where Phase I would involve improving the performance of existing system through rehabilitation and upgradation and Phase II shall address the augmentation of water supply through exploration of new sources like river Pabbar to meet medium and long-term requirements. The estimated water demand of Shimla for year 2021 and 2037 is 62.78 MLD and 105.66 MLD respectively and to meet the water demand the following interventions are identified by SMC.

• Augmentation of existing water source form Nauti Khad
• Augmentation of water supply scheme for Shimla City from river Giri
• Sourcing of water from river Pabbar

Also in order to tackle the water scarcity problem Shimla Municipal Corporation is aiming at conservation of water through rooftop rainwater harvesting and creation of water bodies/storage tanks at suitable locations along the hill slopes through construction of check dams.

Shimla is covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which was launched by the Indian Government in 2005 for developing basic infrastructure in over 60 cities in India. Considering the infrastructure available in the town, the prevailing problems and future projections, Shimla Municipal Corporation has proposed some of the following basic infrastructure to be created under this mission period in next 20-25 years.

• Improving transport system, shifting of government and commercial establishments, Construction of vehicular parking lots, Development of tourist attractions, landscaping of the town, soil conservation by strengthening the main Nallahs of the town
• Augmentation of drinking water schemes and sewerage system (this includes replacement of old worn out water main lines, improvement of water distribution system by replacing ½” pipes and installation of bulk meters, augmentation of drinking water schemes, preservation of water bodies, laying sewerage lines in the town, remodeling of toilets, chanalization of nallahs and protection of Nallah bank)
• Solid waste management (shifting of Garbage Processing Plant presently situated at Shimla Bye-pass to Tara Devi Totu road and construction of scientific waste disposal facilities.
• Ashiana-I Housing Scheme for urban poor of Shimla town (under BSUP) consisting of 252 units and Ashiana-II Housing Scheme consisting of 384 units are being undertaken under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme.

As part of the Ministry of Urban Development “National Urban Sanitation Policy 2008” GTZ under Annexure II of the policy guideline is supporting the preparation of 17 City Sanitation Plans (CSP) in various cities. As a part of this on 15^th and 16^th of April 2010, officials from Shimla city attended a programme on “City Level Consultation Workshop for the Preparation of City Sanitation Plans” organized by GTZ-ASEM together with MoUD.

Shimla city also participated in the Service Level Benchmarking Pilot Project of the Ministry of Urban Development, GoI and is in the process of preparing ISIPs and PIPs (Information System Improvement Plan and Performance Improvement Plan) for measuring performance of service provision and augmenting performance to meet with benchmarks as suggested by the SLB pilot study.

Visakhapatnam, better known as Vizag, is a port city on the east coast of India handling the maximum cargo volumes in the country. Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) has been awarded the National Tourism Award by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for the year 2008-09 and the VMC has been awarded the CRISIL certificate for the second time in recognition for its efforts to involve the public in local self-governance and resolution of sanitation issues.

VUDA has been yielding remarkable achievements in the development of Urban Forestry and Greenery, Plantations & Landscaping, Green Environment, etc. Many programmes aiming at the development and conservation of eco-system and water resources, development of watershed, green belts, green zones, shelter zones, etc., are given utmost priority in the Master Plan for VMR-2021 to achieve a sustained eco-balance.

VUDA has developed many parks in its Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region limits and some of the eye-catching green lands are Kailasagiri, VUDA Park, Vaisakhi Jala Udyanavanam, etc. In addition to these VUDA has been initiating programmes for beautification of the Visakha Bheemili Beach Road to promote eco-friendly surroundings. Under Haritha Visakha project VUDA recently submitted proposals to the Government aiming at eco-conservation, environmental protection of all natural systems, green cover increase all over in the VMR, etc. At the latest, VUDA has submitted proposals for external aid to take up the GREEN VISAKHA project for greening the entire VMR by involving the local bodies, NGOs, Institutions, Colony Residents Associations, Women Groups and Individuals.

However, taking into account the environmental problems creating by “Pedda Tank” at Vizianagaram, VUDA has initiated the Rejuvenation of Pedda Tank and also developed a large number of check dams for preservation and promotion of water resources. About 26 check dams have been constructed by VUDA in its VMR limits.

GVMC has undertaken proactive measures for augmenting the water supply system through the Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Project (VIWSP). GVMC will be making investments to the tune of Rs. 1675 million in the current financial year in VIWSP and will be creating infrastructure to off take water and transmit it to the city after treatment. This measure would facilitate GVMC to achieve its goal of providing citizens with water twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And at present GVMC is proposing to undertake a study to prepare a storm water drainage master plan to alleviate the problems of flooding by providing adequate measures.

17 projects like slum rehabilitation package I and II, providing infrastructure in poor settlements, DPR for providing houses with infrastructure facilities, etc., have been sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) schemes at a cost of Rs. 1,575 crore for Visakhapatnam city. Under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) scheme, 10 projects with an approved cost of Rs. 1,159 crore have been sanctioned where these projects would lead to improvement and augmentation of water supply, storm water drains, bus rapid transport system and sewerage in the city.  

Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is one of the fastest growing cities in the country with a potential to become the Cyber capital of India. In April 2007 the main municipal authority Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was formed by including the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and 12 surrounding municipalities making it into one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country.

GHMC has strived hard in giving its citizens a clean and green city. It was the winner of the national “Clean City Award” for three consecutive years. Hyderabad city received an award for being one of the three best performing cities in 2008, from a review of 16 cities under the Urban Environment Accords (UEA).

In order to mitigate and control the burgeoning urban environmental problems which have led to the  depletion of green cover, decrease in the groundwater table and rising levels of air, water and noise pollution, the following components of environmental interventions and up-gradations are being implemented.

• Urban Greening
• Urban Parks and Open Spaces
• Urban Lakes Restoration
• Musi River Conservation
• Heritage and Conservation Zones

GHMC under its street lighting energy efficiency and automation project in Greater Hyderabad city limits is planning to implement an energy efficient management system by implementing latest technologies thereby contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions. There are 3.11 lakh street light fittings in GHMC area which are operated by 20, 800 on-off switches. Of the 20, 800 On-Off switches 3720 are timer controlled and the balance 17080 are manually operated. Under e-governance, GHMC is planning for a remote On-Off system for all the 3.11 lakh street lights from a single location and is planning to install an inbuilt dimmer facility whereby the street lights consume less power during prefixed hours. GHMC is also planning to implement a current consumption monitoring system whereby any light fused or not working can also be monitored.

The Rs. 434 Crore solid waste management project is being taken up by the GHMC under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The ISWM project is being taken up to dispose the solid waste in a scientific way. The project involves development of five new garbage transfer stations, operation and maintenance of transfer stations, transportation from transfer stations to the designated treatment and disposal facilities, treatment and disposal and reclamation and reuse of the existing dump sites for the solid waste management project.

HMWSSB has recently launched its Packed water- "METRO WATER" from its newly established water plant in Asif Nagar filter premises. Building additional storage reservoirs of 50.5 ML and 49.50 ML at 7 locations, Krishna Drinking water supply project Phase – II and rehabilitation and strengthening of sewerage system are the water supply and sewerage projects proposed under JNNURM scheme which are under implementation.  

Vadodara is the third largest city in the state of Gujarat, with an area of 149 Sqkms and a population of 13.06 lakh residents as per 2001 census.  

Vadodara city at present with two treatment plants is supplying 270 MLD of water covering 75% of the total area with a water distribution network of 700kms. The city has five major natural rivulets and 19 lakes in and around city limits. Most of the storm water is drained into the river either through natural drains or through storm water drains provided by Vadodara Municipal Corporation. At present with the intension of revitalising the lake water bodies and improve the environment, VMC intends to develop and beautify about six lakes in first phase and also proposes to inter link some lakes so as to reduce the flooding problems in the city. In order to avoid floods VMC also plans to divert water into Vishwamitri/Mahi Lake.

Vadodara city with the help of ICLEI South Asia has identified possible local solutions to urban environment and energy management. VMC has implemented many energy saving and efficiency measures where most of them are “No Cost” measures which includes

•  Conversion of T12 FTL into T8 FTL
•  Procurement of low watt loss ballast
• Conversion of HPMV into HPSV
• Design based lighting
• Time management
• A staggering/dimming of street lights during off peak hours
•  Installation of micro processor based intelligent street light controller with GSM technology for data transfer

Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, also known as the Temple City of India, was one of the first cities in India (along with Nagpur) to adopt a city level energy policy to promote conservation of energy and energy efficiency in 2007.
 
A participant is the project “Roadmap of South Asian Cities and Local Governments for the post 2012 Global Climate Agreements and Actions” project, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) shared city information related to energy consumption in various sectors that enabled ICLEI South Asia to prepare a City Energy Status Report estimating the city’s total carbon emissions to be 0.97 TeCo2 annually and with per capita emissions of 0.84 T/yr for 2007-08.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Hospital, the first municipal hospital in the country to explore energy efficiency and renewable energy for better service delivery, implemented new installations in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Inaugurated in August 2009, energy savings of 30-35% are expected. Another unique initiative undertaken by the city was the retrofitting of lighting fixtures in Lord Lingaraj Temple resulting in savings of 36.25% of the total electricity load.

Bhubaneswar has also received approval to be included in the MNRE programme on ‘Development of Solar Cities’. Through the programme, a master plan will be prepared to guide the city in reducing a minimum of 10% of conventional energy at city level by 2013.

Vijayawada,  being the first city in the country to achieve 100% door-to-door collection of waste, has presently taken up 3 SWM projects on Public Private Partnership to develop and adopt SWM technologies through which 550 MT of waste generated is processed, recycled and used to generate electricity. Presently the city is also setting up a scientific landfill in the outskirts of the city in order to serve the solid waste disposal needs to the city for the next 20 years.

Vijayawada being the second city in the country to implement energy saving technology in street lighting and the first to cover the entire city with this technology is expected to save Rs. 6.25 Cr over the next 5 years and Rs. 1.7 Cr annually by saving 42% of the present power consumption.

Among 13 cities, department of Non-Conventional Energy Resources had selected Vijayawada for the solar city project. Under this the central government has sanctioned Rs. 50 lakhs and the responsibility of this project has given to ICLEI-SA. Under this project VMC aims at reducing the present carbon emissions of 14,73,131 tons of CO2 by 3% within the city and 11% within the corporation limits by the end of 2014.

Kolhapur city which stands on the bank of river Panchaganga is well known for its Art, Education, Industry and Sports (particularly wrestling). Considering the agitations made by 10 lakh people from three tehsils (Shirol, Hatkanangale, Karveer) located down stream of Panchaganga river and also by people of Kolhapur city who are using contaminated water for drinking and irrigation purpose, department of Environment, Govt. of Maharashtra has submitted the revised detailed project report for Pollution Abatement work of River Panchaganga at Kolhapur to Ministry of Environment and Forests NRCD New Delhi on January 27,2009 under National River Conservation Project for approval. Currently the proposal is under consideration for approval.

The other ongoing project “E-governance” of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation is aimed at providing online citizen services, information to all hierarchies and monitoring performances of the Corporation. It is in practice that citizens are approaching the Corporation to pay taxes, get certificates, approvals etc. Kolhapur Municipal Corporation believes that on adopting E-governance, the above activities are simplified and made possible at their nearest citizen facilitation counters.