Delhi govt plans a green push to counter climate crisis

The Delhi government has drawn up a series of proposals to mitigate and tackle the climate crisis in the Capital as part of the new draft state action plan on climate change (SAPCC), environment minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
The suggestions in the document include installing solar panels on rooftops to generate 750 MW in solar power, ensuring all streetlights are LED-based by 2030, and installing low-cost sensors that can issue flood warnings. The proposals were prepared following a high-level committee meeting with 40 different government departments, agencies and expert institutions, Rai said.
The climate crisis plan, which is still in the draft stage, focuses on seven key sectors and has been in works for over two years now, Rai said. He said that it will be submitted to the Centre over the next fortnight, after incorporating fresh suggestions from experts, and said that the state plans to implement it as soon as the Centre approves it.
Delhi already has an SAPCC, which came into force in 2019 — after a delay of eight years, and formulated using data till 2011.
“Due to the rapid environmental degradation we have seen over the last few years, a decision was taken to revise the 2019 plan. A committee was formed for this two years ago, comprising experts who have been shaping this draft plan. The same committee is being overseen by the chief secretary too,” Rai said.
The minister said that the need to tackle climate crisis is a matter of priority, and noted that extreme weather events are becoming the new norm.
“We are seeing more extreme weather events, which are directly impacting people’s lives. This includes extreme heatwaves and this year, the monsoon broke several records too,” Rai said.

He said the government has identified seven key sectors which will require both mitigation and adaptation measures — the energy sector, urban planning, water management, forest and green cover, transport sector, agriculture, and the health sector.
The new plan has been prepared in collaboration with the German Technical Cooperation Group (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit or GIZ) and institutes such as IIT Delhi and GGSIPU. Further, an assessment, part of the draft plan, found the northeast, east and south Delhi districts to be the most vulnerable to climate crisis, Rai said.
Delhi was hard hit by extreme weather conditions this year — the first five months were the city’s driest since 2018, and the Capital recorded intense heatwaves in May and June. However, Delhi also logged extreme rain in June, July and August. In fact, when the monsoon hit Delhi in late June, the Capital received 228.1mm of rainfall on June 28 — the highest for a single day in the city since 1936.
A senior environment department official said the 2019 SAPCC was considered while making the new plan. “Several aspects of the new SAPCC use the 2019 plan as a base. We have added to that, using findings of the last decade. The 2019 plan is still in force,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
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Among other measures, the draft plan calls for include shifting power infrastructure underground, 100% waste segregation by the end of the year, increasing Delhi’s waste-to-energy capacity, increasing the number of climate-resilient buildings, eco-restoring and increasing Delhi’s Ridge and forest areas, and discouraging the use of private vehicles by improving public transport systems.
“Suggestions made in this latest meeting will be added to the draft plan, which we plan to submit within a fortnight. The Centre may make further suggestions and once finalised by them, we can implement it,” Rai said.
Experts said the plan appears to cover all aspects on paper, but will require extensive planning in terms of mobilising resources and funds. “Delhi already has a number of clean air plans and an existing climate action plan too. The new plan, once ready, will require detailed planning,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
“What we also need is to converge our existing plans, as measures like shifting to electric vehicles, improving public transport, improving waste management or cleaning the Yamuna are not new. All we need now is a scalable strategy and a clear idea of implementation. We also need a strong monitoring and evaluation network,” she said.