Environment department to assess sustainability of development projects in Karnataka with 'Green Index' toolkit

'Projects will get scores based on the mandatory provisions for use of recycled resources, energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, reducing environment and ecological impact, waste management, pollution control measures and steps taken towards sustainable management of resources,' said Environment Minister Khandre.

Bengaluru: The Environment Department on Wednesday launched Green Index, a toolkit, to assess and rank the sustainability of various government programmes, ranging from energy and infrastructure to social forestry.

As per the toolkit released by the department, the programmes will be analysed against 10 sub indicators under six themes. The total score will be divided by the number of sub indicators applicable for each project to arrive at the green index score.

Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre, who launched the programme, said the toolkit was aimed at encouraging departments to adopt environment-friendly measures while taking up projects. Development works will be given four ranks - Green, Light Green, Orange and Red -- based on their environment compatibility with the department describing it as the first such initiative in the country.

"The projects will get scores based on the mandatory provisions for use of recycled resources, energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, reducing environment and ecological impact, waste management, pollution control measures and steps taken towards sustainable management of resources," he said.

Khandre said Green Index includes analysing the carbon footprint of a project as well as its impact on biodiversity. "Projects will be awarded four rankings based on the steps taken to reduce their contribution to global warming and climate extremities," he added.

Transparency

Besides ranking the projects, the department will put the result of the analysis in the public domain. Khandre said the Green Index portal will soon become available for the public, showing the adherence of the programmes to the environment-friendly measures.

The Green Index programme was developed by the Environment Management and Policy Research Institute in association with the Indian Institute of Science. Chief Minister Siddaraiamaih had announced implementation of the programme in the 2023-23 budget.

For the project proponents and contractors, following the sustainable path will help get the Union government's Green Credit, an instrument introduced in October 2023 to incentivise environmental actions.